The blinding flash of the shard's activation consumed Elias, tearing his body apart with the backlash of cosmic severance. His consciousness flickered, hovering on the brink of non-existence. He felt the cold void of his own karmic unraveling, the agonizing end of his journey.
But then, a presence.
Not a feeling, not a sound, but an overwhelming, undeniable entity coalescing from the very fabric of the ley line nexus. It was a being of living karma, a vast, formless presence of shimmering light and absolute balance, drawn by the immense, singular act of the primordial shard. It was a karmic primordial itself, materialized into the Realm.
It didn't speak with a voice, but with a resonant pulse of pure thought that bypassed language, flowing directly into Elias's shattered consciousness. Its gaze, vast and ancient, scanned Elias, not judging with human morality, but with the cold, absolute logic of cosmic law.
It saw every sin he had committed: every manipulation of fate, every lie woven into the Ledger, every life indirectly impacted by his machinations. It saw the forged records, the instigated conflicts, the burdens of his deception.
But it also saw his every sacrifice: the healing of Mei Lin, the preservation of Jadeheart, the absorption of his own karmic debt, the ultimate act of self-annihilation to stop Arthan and prevent the consumption of the Realm. It saw his profound guilt, his unwavering determination, his desperate pursuit of a twisted justice. It saw the paradox of his existence.
The primordial's judgment was not one of rage or punishment, but of cold, impartial truth.
Its thoughts pulsed into his fading mind: "You broke the laws. You dared to interfere with the natural flow, to manipulate the threads of fate. You were an anomaly, a disruption to the ancient order."
A moment of silent, cosmic pause. Then, the verdict: "But you also restored them. In your transgression, you unmade what was unnatural. You severed the flawed connection. You returned the balance, however brutally, to its primordial state. Your existence was a paradox, a necessary disruption to correct a greater one."
The primordial was not angry. It was merely stating fact. Elias, the Accountant, had created an imbalance, then, with one final, devastating calculation, restored the ultimate balance, albeit by resetting the entire karmic system. His mission, in the primordial's ancient eyes, was complete.