And with every race reaching the end of their paths, the Universe itself had nowhere to go. It simply became what it was, a Universe with no path forward and no regression. It was no different from existing in stasis.
Anthony immediately understood. Creation had not failed because it made imperfect races; it had failed because it made races that were too perfect.
At that realization, the cracks across the Universe increased as Galaxies shattered in real time. Planets burst into nothingness, Stars exploded into supernovas, as though the perfection they had achieved had ultimately become their undoing. As everything was being destroyed, an unknown light, no, a spark that wasn't born from any explosion or anything of the sort, appeared from the deepest part of the collapsing Universe.
