Jace collapsed to his knees, hands clawing at his face. His form flickered, unstable—he was rejecting the gods, but they weren't letting go.
And then—they left him.
But not entirely.
The shadows ripped away from Jace's body and coalesced into a towering figure behind him.
A half-formed divine entity.
Its body shifted, unfinished—faces stretched and twisted across its surface, mouths whispering ancient prayers. A thousand eyes blinked open, glowing with cold, unnatural hunger.
Jace gasped, shuddering as he collapsed, free from its grip but barely alive.
Eren forced himself up, his heart pounding. The entity loomed over him, its presence suffocating.
"You defy us, mortal."
The voices overlapped, thick with rage. "You will not unmake what has already begun."
The entity moved.