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Goro Akechi was not real. He had been at one point but, not anymore. All he was now was a shallow imitation. Just some puppet made to satisfy Akira's desires. Maruki had created him for that express purpose. Akechi just existed now to gently guide Akira into submission and acceptance of Maruki's new reality. He would have been happy to play the part if not for one thing. Akira's desires. Akira hadn't wanted some perfect illusion like Okumura or Kitagawa, no, he was much closer to Sakura. He wanted the person he remembered.
Goro Akechi never forgot his purpose. He was there first and foremost to make Akira happy. Maruki had naively made that more important than pulling him in the right direction. He had underestimated the power of the wild card. Akira would never be happy unless he had the Akechi he remembered and the Akechi he remembered would never accept this world. Akira remembered someone who would fight until his death for what he believed in, so that's what Akechi would do. It was a strange balance, making Akira happy yet clashing with him in just the right ways. Fooling Akira well enough that he could almost fool himself.
Goro Akechi was conflicted. He existed to make Akira happy but in order to do that he had to make him unhappy. That night in LeBlanc where Maruki revealed Akechi's incompatibility with reality, Akira had been torn apart. Even without the strange connection to Akira that he had, it was easy to tell. Such a blatant attempt to manipulate him would have made the real Akechi sick, this one could only feel the vague shadow of disgust. Maruki wanted Akira to accept his reality, but that wouldn't make Akira happy. Losing Akechi wouldn't make Akira happy either though. Akechi didn't know the right path to take. He did know that Akira wanted the Akechi he remembered.
"I will never accept this form of reality. I am done being manipulated." The words had hurt him. Akechi's very being felt like it was being torn apart but it had to be done. It's what the real Akechi would have said and that was what Akira wanted more than anything.
Goro Akechi was not real and he knew that. He always knew. Akira, however, did not. Would that have changed his decision? Could knowing Akechi's true nature have stopped him from challenging Maruki one last time? It was hard to say. Akechi had spared him the knowledge, even as his existence was unraveling. It was a strange feeling, there was no pain or fear, just a cold emptiness. Would the Akechi that Akira remembered just accept his death? No, of course not, but he could drop the act now. It was all over.