Chapter 25
Gods are not born.
They are created—by expectation, by fear, by the refusal of others to take responsibility.
And when gods grow tired, the world panics.
---
The signs were subtle at first.
The Enigma misjudged distance. Forgot minor probabilities. Needed more time to stabilize after exertion.
None of it was visible to the public.
Kai saw everything.
"You're slowing yourself," he said one night as they walked the quiet perimeter.
"I'm choosing where to move," the Enigma replied.
"That's not the same thing."
"It is when speed becomes annihilation."
Kai stopped. "You don't have to carry this alone."
The Enigma turned to him. "If I don't, someone else will try to carry me."
---
External pressure mounted.
Night Pack envoys returned—this time not with threats, but concessions.
Trade access. Mutual defense clauses. Recognition of neutrality as a sovereign entity.
All with one unspoken condition.
Contain the Enigma.
Crescent followed suit through intermediaries.
They had learned fear was ineffective.
Control, however, was still tempting.
---
The council debated for hours.
"We need guarantees," a Beta leader argued. "Stability."
"At what cost?" Kai asked.
"At least with oversight, we know where power sits."
Kai's voice sharpened. "You want a leash."
Silence.
No one denied it.
---
The Enigma listened from the gallery.
They said nothing.
But when Kai found them afterward, their expression was closed.
"They're right," the Enigma said.
Kai stiffened. "About what?"
"I am a single point of failure."
"No," Kai replied immediately. "You're a choice."
The Enigma looked at him. "And what happens when I'm too tired to choose?"
---
That night, the Enigma made a decision without consulting anyone.
They began the partition.
Not of territory.
Of themselves.
They sealed off entire strata of power—locking them behind internal constraints that could not be overridden without irreversible consequence.
When the system registered the drop, alarms went off across neutral command.
Kai ran.
---
"You did this without telling me," he said, breathless.
"I needed it done before anyone stopped me."
"You're dismantling yourself."
The Enigma met his gaze. "I'm making myself survivable."
Kai's voice broke. "At what cost?"
"Possibility," they replied.
---
The political fallout was immediate.
Night Pack withdrew their offers.
Crescent called it weakness.
Neutral factions split again—some relieved, others terrified.
A god had stepped down.
And no one trusted what replaced it.
---
Kai sat with the Enigma as the effects set in.
Their aura dimmed—not gone, but quieter.
"You didn't have to do this," he said.
"Yes," they answered softly. "I did."
Kai clenched his jaw. "You're not expendable."
The Enigma reached for his hand. "Neither is the world."
---
That night, Kai dreamed of a future without shortcuts.
Where leadership meant bleeding slowly instead of ending wars quickly.
Where love did not solve power—but endured it.
When he woke, the Enigma was still there.
Weaker.
Present.
Human.
And the world was more afraid than ever.