The ground beneath Eren and Jace shifted again. The air crackled with strange energy, a hum that seemed to pulse through their bones. The arena they had just escaped had disintegrated, leaving them in a vast, unending void. The landscape was alien, with jagged peaks of stone rising from the ground, glowing with ethereal light. Jagged rifts in the air stretched to the horizon, where the sky was a swirling mix of colors, impossible to comprehend.
Eren staggered as he took a step forward. His head was still spinning from the battle they'd just fought—the deity that had nearly killed them both, its decaying form flickering into nothingness. He could still feel its cold eyes, even though it was gone. It had been defeated, but the power that remained was undeniable. The universe itself seemed to recoil from the loss of its former masters.
"Where are we?" Eren muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Jace didn't immediately respond. His eyes scanned the landscape, his posture rigid, always alert. "This is… a realm. Not one created by the gods, though."
Eren's gaze snapped to him. "What do you mean? I thought everything here was tied to the deities."
Jace's eyes softened, though his expression remained guarded. "The deities are dying, yes. But the realms… they weren't created by them. These worlds are remnants—fragments of what once was. Some are older than the gods themselves. Some are born from the memories of those who have fought in the Crucible, warriors and beings who have lived and died across countless cycles."
Eren frowned. "But the Crucible brings them here, doesn't it? How is it not their doing?"
Jace's voice was low, almost reverent. "The Crucible is a mechanism, but it's not the source of these realms. The deities used to pull warriors and creatures from these realms to fight, drawing from different places, different times. But they didn't create them. They just exploited them."
Eren took a step forward, peering into the swirling abyss. "So these realms… they were already here?"
"Exactly. The deities could manipulate them to some extent, bringing contestants from different worlds, but these worlds—these realms—exist outside of their control. They are born from the memories of beings who once lived here, creatures from forgotten wars, lost civilizations, and forgotten lands. Now, with the deities fading, they have started to collide."
Eren didn't know how to process what Jace was saying. Everything he had known and uncovered about the Crucible so far, the gods, the realms—they were just half of it. The more he uncovered, the more it felt like he would crumble
"Then what does that mean for us?" Eren asked, voice thick with uncertainty. "Where do we even go from here?"
Jace was quiet for a moment, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "It means we need to keep moving. The realms are fractured, but we're not safe. The gods may be weak, but their influence lingers. And we're far from done with them."