The rewrite was closing in.

  Darius and Ais ran.

  The chamber behind them was already fading.

  Not crumbling. Not breaking.

  Unraveling.

  The walls, the floor, the very air colpsing into nothing.

  They had only minutes—**seconds—before the Thanatarchy erased this pce entirely.

  Ais sprinted ahead, her boots pounding against the stone as they pushed toward the temple’s underground passage.

  Darius followed, his breath ragged, his mind racing.

  The presence they had encountered—the thing that remembered nothing but absence—

  It was gone. Not dead. Not erased.

  Just... no longer here.

  And that terrified Darius more than anything.

  Because it meant the Thanatarchy hadn’t just erased it.

  It had undone its presence entirely.

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The exit was near.

  A narrow tunnel that led back toward the surface.

  But even as they ran—the walls around them shifted.

  The passage was changing.

  The Thanatarchy was rewriting reality faster than ever.

  Ais swore. "They’re sealing us in!"

  Darius clenched his teeth. "Keep moving!"

  The path ahead twisted, shifting as they ran.

  The hallway that had been there seconds ago was gone.

  Repced by a dead end.

  The rewrite was trapping them.

  Ais skidded to a halt, cursing. "Damn it!"

  Darius turned, scanning their surroundings.

  Walls that hadn’t existed a moment ago were now closing in.

  The exit was gone.

  The temple was becoming something new.

  Something that did not include them.

  Darius' chest tightened.

  They weren’t just being erased.

  They were being repced.

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Ais pulled a dagger, her breathing sharp.

  "This is it, isn’t it?"

  Darius’ fists clenched.

  No.

  Not yet.

  His mind reeled.

  Every erasure had rules.

  The Thanatarchy did not destroy.It rewrote.

  If this pce was being rewritten...

  Then there had to be a way out.

  Darius closed his eyes, his heart hammering.

  He focused—not on what was gone—but on what was changing.

  The walls were not solid yet.

  They were still in flux.

  Still becoming something new.

  That meant—they could still slip through.

  Darius opened his eyes.

  "Ais, trust me."

  Ais turned sharply. "What?"

  Darius grabbed her wrist.

  And without another word—he ran straight at the wall.

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Ais swore as they moved.

  The stone was solid.

  But only for a second.

  Then—it flickered.

  Just for an instant.

  Just long enough for Darius to pull them through.

  The moment they passed—the wall behind them solidified.

  Ais staggered, breathing hard. "What the hell was that?!"

  Darius exhaled, his hands trembling.

  "They’re rewriting too fast. If we move at the right moment—we can pass through the transitions."

  Ais wiped sweat from her forehead. "That’s insane."

  Darius gave her a small, sharp grin. "Then let’s keep doing it."

  They ran again.

  The walls shifted around them.

  Paths appeared, then disappeared.

  Exits opened, then sealed shut.

  But Darius and Ais moved between the changes.

  Each time a passage flickered—they slipped through.

  Each time the rewrite hesitated—they ran faster.

  And finally—

  They saw light ahead.

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The surface.

  The ruins were colpsing.

  But beyond them—the world still existed.

  Ais grabbed Darius’ wrist. "We’re almost out!"

  Darius pushed forward, forcing his legs to move faster.

  And just as the st passage began to close—

  They leapt through.

  They nded hard on the dirt outside the temple ruins.

  Dust and stone rushed past them as the entrance sealed shut.

  The temple was gone.

  Not just buried.

  Erased.

  Ais coughed, pushing herself up. "That was too close."

  Darius y on his back, staring up at the sky, his breath unsteady.

  He had felt it.

  The rewrite had nearly taken them.

  They had barely escaped.

  But now—they knew something dangerous.

  The Thanatarchy could be outrun.

  Its rewrite was absolute.

  But it was not instantaneous.

  There were gaps.

  There were cracks in the process.

  And that meant—Darius had a chance.

  Ais looked over at him, her expression sharp.

  "You’re thinking something crazy, aren’t you?"

  Darius sat up, wiping dust from his face.

  "Yeah."

  Ais smirked. "Good. What is it?"

  Darius exhaled.

  "We’re going to find the next rewrite."

  Ais blinked. "You want to run toward the next pce they’re erasing?"

  Darius’ eyes darkened.

  "If I want to understand what I am, I need to see it happen again."

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Ais studied him for a moment.

  Then she ughed. "I can’t believe I’m saying this—but I’m in."

  Darius smiled.

  And as the st traces of the temple faded from existence—

  They turned toward the horizon.

  The next rewrite was already beginning.

  And this time—they would be ready.