The golden light coming from the Archon was not blinding, but warm and deep, like the light of a distant but friendly star. It filled the entire clearing, and the advancing Void, colliding with this ancient radiance, slowed down its movement. The cracks on the edges of the forest stopped spreading.
Now they could see his "eyes" —two bottomless wells of pure light, in which sparks of a different understanding of the universe danced. His voice sounded in their minds again, not just one word, but a whole phrase, smooth and melodious, like a song.
"You... brought noise with you. Beautiful, chaotic noise. I forgot what it tastes like."
Leng Wei was still standing with his palm pressed against the crystal. He felt not just a voice, but a whole stream of sensations: the cold, ruthless logic of Emptiness and the warm, stubborn beating of life, which he himself imagined.
"We call ourselves life,— Leng Wei replied mentally... We call them True Masters. Our enemies.
"Enemies..." there was a deep, timeless sadness in the Archon's voice. "It's a word... it describes them too weakly. They are Silence. The antithesis. The final note in the symphony of being. They don't hate. They... simplify it. They return everything to its original, untouched state."
"They're destroying cities!" Whole worlds are being erased! Han exclaimed in his mind, unable to contain his emotions, although he wasn't sure if they would hear him.
The Archon slowly turned his obsidian head towards the Khan. He seemed to be looking through it.
"yeah. They're doing the laundry. How do you dust off the stove? Without malice. Without a goal. This is their nature. Your anger, your rage, your pain... For them, it's just chaos that needs to be sorted out. A gift that makes them stronger."
— How to deal with them? Jin asked, his analytical mind searching for a practical solution. — If the force feeds them, what remains?
The Archon turned his gaze back to Leng Wei.
"You already know. You've already shown me. You didn't attack the Void in the tunnel... the luminaries. You weren't creating a shield, but a statement. The affirmation of one's own "I". You've proved that your reality has a right to exist."
Suddenly, the crystal capsule crackled. A gossamer-thin crack crept across its surface. The golden light inside faded.
— His power is running out! Ling Mei exclaimed, "Conservation is broken!
The void began to move again, sensing a weakness. The black tentacles of darkness crept across the clearing faster, devouring the light of the crystal trees.
The Archon looked at Leng Wei, and there was a determination in his gaze that was as ancient as the universe itself.
"My shelter is being destroyed. I won't survive his fall. But I can give you one last gift. A lesson, not a weapon."
He extended his obsidian hand, and it passed through the crystal as if it didn't exist. His fingers touched Leng Wei's forehead.
The world exploded with information.
It wasn't just knowledge or images—it was awareness. The realization that reality is a fabric woven from an infinite set of probabilities. The true Masters are the needle that seems to unravel this fabric. And life… Life is the one who weaves it. Not by force, but by a simple but persistent act of existence.
"Don't fight the void. Mend the hole she leaves. Fill it with color, sound, and memory. Every time they erase a part of the world, create it anew. This is the only war you can win."
Then the Archon turned around and looked at his crystal prison, at the whole shining forest.
"This place… My last memory of home. It was heavy. But it's time to become light."
He raised his arms, and the golden veins in his body flashed with such force that they turned white. The energy accumulated over millennia of stasis surged out. The crystal of the capsule did not break — it simply evaporated, turning into a shining cloud of particles.
A wave of pure, primordial creative energy spread from the epicenter, like the last breath of an entire civilization, sweeping away the impending Void. The darkness retreated with a painful hiss, unable to withstand such concentrated light.
When the glow faded, the Archon was no longer visible. In its place, there was only a faint golden halo. A portal opened in front of the squad, right in the air. It shone not with darkness, but with a bright light, like the entrance to a supernova.
A final, fading voice whispered in their thoughts:
"Go ahead. The portal leads to the border of your world. But remember... The final battle... This is not a battle... It is an act of creation. Someone who can rewrite reality... he will win."
The halo went out. The forest, stripped of its heart, began to slowly fade, its light fading.
Leng Wei took a deep breath and looked at his friends. They had just witnessed the greatest sacrifice and gained the greatest knowledge. They now understood the true rules of this war.
—Let's go," he said firmly, and led the way into the shining portal.