They felt it—not just as pressure, but as story.
The others gasped.
Not out of fear, but awe.
Even beings that had never known wonder found themselves momentarily still.
Because something had changed.
It was not merely Aiden defying the Outer Gods.
This time, the void had blinked first.
"Did it…" Myne whispered, standing slowly beside him. "Did it hear you?"
Aiden didn't answer immediately.
He could still feel the echo of that first response—not a word, not even a sound—but the undeniable weight of awareness.
A being who had never been anything now knew it had made a decision.
And that was more terrifying than any cosmic threat.
It meant possibility.
He stepped forward.
The Book of What Was hovered beside him, pages fluttering like wings caught in celestial winds. It no longer fought the presence of the void. It welcomed it now, as if it, too, had been waiting for this moment.
Aiden spoke again—not with dominance, but with gentleness.
"You are not what they made you."
