The high-pitched scream that erupted from the High Avatar was not human. it was the sound of a star collapsing.
As Elias tore the "Invisible Anchor"—the metaphysical tether connecting the Avatar to the Seventh Hanging—the golden entity began to unravel. The molten bronze of its skin turned into grey, lifeless ash. The six wings of solar fire flickered like dying candles before snapping into cold, black sparks.
"IMPOSSIBLE," the Avatar's voice distorted, sounding like a broken radio. "A... MORTAL... CANNOT... SEVER... THE... WILL... OF... APOLLO."
"I didn't sever his will," Elias growled, his hand still buried in the "Void-Spot" on the ground. "I just cut his leash. You're not a god. You're a projection. And I just turned off the light."
With a final, violent yank, Elias ripped the Anchor completely out of the reality of the Middle Layer.
The High Avatar shattered. It didn't explode; it simply disintegrated into a pile of fine, golden dust that smelled of ozone and scorched honey. The blinding light in the tunnel vanished, replaced by the oppressive, cold darkness of Nyx.
[Synchronization Rate: 8.2%]
[Condition: Divine Backlash]
[Status: Subject's nervous system is being "Rewired" to handle Void-Energy.]
[Identity Loss: Memory of your first teacher's voice – DELETED.]
Elias collapsed. His obsidian skin didn't flake off this time; it seemed to sink into his pores, leaving his veins permanently black and visible through his pale, sweating skin.
"Elias!" Sarah ran to him, her hands hovering over his charred shoulder. "You... you killed it. A High Avatar. No one has ever..."
"They know now," Elias whispered, his eyes rolling back. "The Seventh Hanging... they didn't just 'lose' an Avatar. They felt a void where their power used to be. They're coming. All of them."
Suddenly, the air in the tunnel grew heavy—not with heat, but with Gravity.
In the far distance, above the surface, a massive, celestial hum began to vibrate through the earth. It was a sound that didn't come from a throat; it was the "Harmony of the Spheres" being played by a vengeful orchestra.
"The Investigation has begun," the whisper of Nyx giggled from the shadows, her form becoming more distinct. "The Olympians are not stupid. They know that a Sumerian Echo alone couldn't have killed a Solar Avatar. They smell Me on you, little King."
[New Event: Divine Audit]
[Scanning Entity: The Eye of Argus (The Surveillance System of Zeus).]
High above the clouds of the Middle Layer, a massive, ethereal eye with a thousand pupils opened. Each pupil was a "Search-Beam" that could scan the soul of every living being in the Heptarchy.
"We have to hide," Sarah said, her voice frantic. "The Architect's vault. It has 'Lead-Soul' shielding. It's the only place the Eye can't see."
"It's... too... late," Elias groaned.
He looked at his hand. A golden mark—the Mark of the Deicide (God-Killer)—was burned into his palm. It was glowing with a persistent, holy light that even Nyx's shadows couldn't cover.
"I'm a beacon," Elias realized, his voice cracking. "Every step I take, I'm screaming my location to the Seventh Hanging."
"There is a way to dim the Mark," Nyx whispered, leaning over him like a dark mother. "But it requires a Sin of Sacrilege. You must travel to the 'Graveyard of Idols' in the Zero Layer. There, you can wash your hand in the blood of a Dead God. Only the 'Death of an Old God' can mask the 'Murder of a New One.'"
[Next Destination: The Zero Layer (The Void)]
"Sarah," Elias said, grabbing her hand with his blackened fingers. "Go back to the Under-City. If you stay with me, they'll erase your soul just for looking at me."
"No," Sarah said, her jaw tightening. "You're the only thing that's made the gods bleed in a thousand years. I'm not leaving the only hope the 'Blank Canvases' have."
Elias looked at her, and for a second, he felt a pang of fear—not for himself, but for her. But that feeling was quickly swallowed by the rising tide of Enkidu's Primal Rage.
"Then hold on," Elias growled.
He stood up, the ground beneath his feet cracking from the sheer weight of his presence. He looked up at the ceiling of the tunnel, his obsidian eyes piercing through the miles of rock, directly into the thousand-pupiled eye of the sky.
"Look all you want, Zeus!" Elias roared, his voice echoing through the entire Under-City. "I'm coming for the Throne!"
With a surge of violet energy, Elias didn't run. He dived. Not into the tunnels, but into a "Void-Rift" he tore open with his bare hands—the gateway to the Zero Layer.