I woke with a start, gasping as if I'd just fallen from an endless height. My breath hit my throat, raw, too real to belong to a dream. I opened my eyes—and for a moment, I thought I had gone insane.

All around me, there was nothing. Nothing but an infinite white—no horizon, no ground, no sky. A suspended space where light seemed to exist without a source. Even my shadow was gone. I was standing on something I couldn't see, a surface that felt solid yet had no shape, no texture. And the silence… the silence had no end. No sound, no breath—just that perfect void where my heartbeat thundered too loud.

I raised my hands before me. They glowed faintly, crossed by golden reflections as if mana itself had seeped into them. My fingers looked translucent, almost unreal. It felt like the smallest movement might dissolve me.

A shiver ran through me.

—Where… where am I?

My voice died the moment it left my lips. No echo. No answer. The sound was swallowed whole by the light.

Panic began to rise—dry, acidic. I took a step, then another. No sound. No landmark. This wasn't a place—it was oblivion. And suddenly, my heart clenched. An image flashed through me—blue wings, golden blood, dust and light.

I jolted upright, stomach tight.

—Sylvara…?!

I spun around, breath caught in my chest.

—SYLVARA!

My cry vanished into the void, devoured like everything else. The silence came back, merciless. Panic crushed my ribs. Everything blurred in my mind—the battle, the King, that light… and then that arm, huge, descending from the sky.

I buried my face in my hands. I was burning up. My heart pounded like it wanted to escape. I didn't know if I was breathing or still dreaming.

Then the light grew stronger—so bright that there was no longer any difference between eyes open or closed. It wasn't natural light anymore—it was a radiance that seemed to come from everywhere at once, the breath of a world turned into light. I raised an arm to shield my eyes, but my fingers disappeared into that shadowless glow. Even the white was shining now.

And then, at the center of that luminous sea, something took shape.

A silhouette.

At first a blur—a ripple of outlines—then, slowly, a presence. It wasn't an apparition. It was a birth. The light gathered, coiling upon itself, as if it wanted to give its own beauty a face.

When she appeared, I forgot how to breathe.

It was a woman—or at least, that's what my mind tried to believe, so it wouldn't shatter. Her skin radiated a damp glow, pearled with reflections of gold and green, like the dew of an eternal dawn still clung to it. Her hair—long, almost liquid silver—floated around her, moving as though in invisible water. And her eyes… gods, her eyes. Two spheres of emerald and amber intertwined, so alive that it felt like entire forests could grow within them.

Every curve of her body seemed to breathe—not with human rhythm, but with the pulse of a world. Her chest rose and fell slowly, calmly. Her hips, full and soft, looked made to cradle life. Yet there was nothing indecent about her—only that dangerous perfection, almost unbearable. What covered her wasn't fabric—it was light itself, gentle and alive, tracing her form like dawn's veil laid over flesh.

She smiled. And when she spoke, her voice didn't leave her lips—it vibrated through the air, through my skin, into my chest.

—The woman who was with you… you want to know if she's safe, don't you?

I flinched, throat dry.

—You… you know about Sylvara?! Is she okay? Where is she?

She tilted her head softly, and her hand—slender, translucent—rose. At once, the white floor beneath me stirred. The light thickened, gathering, and an image bloomed—not painted, but alive. A vast field, woven with multicolored grass beneath a sky no painter could ever invent. In the middle, Sylvara rested—wounded but peaceful. Around her, Miyu, Ayame, Reina, and Hikari moved about. They talked, smiled—their gestures bathed in gentle glow.

I froze, breath trembling. It felt so real I could almost smell the flowers.

—They're alive… I whispered.

My heart loosened all at once, as if I'd just escaped a chasm.

—That's… something, at least.

I closed my eyes a moment, letting that sight wash through me. Then, without knowing why, the words slipped out:

—Then… am I dead?

She laughed softly. It wasn't human laughter, but a clear, liquid tone. She covered her lips with a graceful motion.

—No, son of Balance. You still breathe.

Her voice carried a perfect calm—the kind belonging to beings who never needed hope.

—If I brought you here, she continued, it's because I wished to see you. You… the one chosen by Father.

Her words floated in the air—tender, yet heavy with meaning. I stood still, caught between awe and fear.

Chosen by Father.I couldn't move. The word she'd spoken echoed endlessly in my head.

—Father?

She tilted her head, and I thought I saw a veil of melancholy pass over her face. Her light had softened—almost sad.

—Yes, she murmured. My father… the one who granted you the blessing you carry. But I don't have much time. The dungeon is collapsing, and I should never have slain its guardian. That was a mistake… a grave mistake that will end our talk sooner than I wished.

Her voice trembled with a regret I couldn't understand.

I clenched my fists, rage and confusion twisting inside me.

—I don't understand anything! Who are you really? Why call me that? And how are you even here? That dungeon… that hand tearing through the sky… was that you?!

She approached slowly. With each step, the air around her rippled, contracting as if reality itself struggled to hold her shape. Her radiance pulsed—gentle, yet infinite. When she spoke again, her tone had changed—low, enveloping, almost maternal.

—I am Lyseria, goddess of Nature.

She paused, as if the words pained her.

—Or at least… what's left of her.

A chill ran through me. My lips parted, but no sound came.

—A fragment of my soul survived my death, she continued softly. Scattered among the broken skies you just crossed. That world you saw wasn't a trap, Kaito. It was my tomb.

I stepped back, heart hammering.

A goddess. A damned goddess. And I was trapped inside her memory.

—A goddess… a fragment… I muttered to myself.

Lyseria nodded, a faint, sorrowful smile curving her lips.

—Yes. And this fragment is fading. My memory unravels, my roots fracture. But I had to see you before I vanish.

She raised her hand and pressed her fingers to her chest. Her skin began to glow—first softly, then brighter, until the world itself seemed dull beside her. From her heart burst a pure light—liquid, warm, pulsing like a living thing.

I couldn't move. I was transfixed.

She drew the light out of herself, slowly, tenderly, almost humanly—and brought it toward me.

I wanted to step back, but the halo already reached me. It entered my chest like a warm breath—no pain, no resistance. A gentle, boundless heat flooded me, filling every vein, every fiber, every memory.

—This, she said, is to atone for the sins of my child, corrupted by the dungeon's power.

Her voice carried solemn calm.

—Take it. It will grow with you.

My body trembled. The world around us began to change. Thin, glowing cracks climbed into the sky like roots of fire. The ground quivered, ready to split.

Lyseria was fading. Her light broke apart in places, like a flame beaten by wind.

—Listen carefully, Kaito, she said, her eyes fixed on mine. Your eye doesn't consume you because it's cursed.

I froze. Every word struck deep.

—It consumes you because you refuse to accept what you truly are.

Her gaze burned with a brilliance almost painful.

—Your power is neither creation nor destruction. It is balance itself—two faces of the same truth. Learn to understand it… and you will finally understand yourself.

I wanted to speak, but my throat locked. The light was unraveling around her, golden dust carried off by unseen wind. For the first time, her voice trembled.

A single tear slid down her cheek—liquid gold. She whispered:

—Farewell, son of Balance.

—Wait! Lyseria! I still need you!

I reached out desperately, but my hand met only air.

Too late.

Her body broke apart into petals of light, dissolving one by one into the white. Each fragment drifted slowly before vanishing, as though the world itself mourned her passing.

I stayed there, hand frozen in midair, heart pounding against my palm—with the crushing certainty that I had touched something far beyond me.

Then, suddenly, everything vanished.

I came to with a scream, torn from the void like a drowning man dragged out of water.

—AAAAAAAH!

My chest burned. Each breath ripped my throat raw. My body weighed a ton, but the pain proved I was alive. I heard voices—faint at first, distorted through a deep buzzing.

—Kaito?!

—I'll heal him!

—Move him! The dungeon's collapsing!

Hands grabbed me. One arm slid beneath my neck, another around my shoulder. I felt the warmth of a body pressed against mine—the human presence inside the falling chaos.

—You're going to be fine, Kaito… just hold on!

I didn't know who was speaking, or if that voice even came from the real world anymore. Everything trembled, swayed. The ground faded, light broke apart into shards of gold and blood floating like dying fireflies. The roar of the collapse drifted away, replaced by a strange, soft slowness.

I was cold. Then hot. Then nothing. My body floated in warm fog. My limbs no longer obeyed. I could feel faintly that I was being carried, called to—but the words were muffled, warped, like underwater echoes.

A strange thought crossed my mind: What if I'm already gone?

My eyelids felt heavy. My breath—so faint I wasn't sure it existed. Reality was slipping, dragging me with it.

The world shuddered one last time. Then nothing. Absolute silence.

And suddenly, a jolt. A sharp pain.

A slap.

Then another.

My face whipped to the side. The taste of blood rose on my tongue—bitter, metallic. A sting burned my cheek. My heart, which I thought had stopped, kicked hard, wild.

I gasped, air bursting back into me, cold and brutal.

My lungs seized. My chest jerked. I coughed, breath ragged—and my eyes snapped open.

Light blinded me—not the white light this time, but something warm, golden, alive. And within it—four faces. Miyu, Reina, Ayame, Hikari. Their eyes were red, their cheeks wet.

I blinked, disoriented.

—Why… why are you crying?

Their lips quivered—and then all at once, they shouted:

—Idiot!

The word hit me like a caress. They laughed through their tears, shoulders shaking, their hands gripping me, hair tangling with mine. Warmth flooded me all at once. A chaotic, messy, beautiful embrace—where fear, exhaustion, joy, and relief all blurred together.

I could feel their hearts against my skin, their trembling breaths, the scent of blood and dried mana. It was the most beautiful chaos in the world.

I turned my head, still dazed. A little further away, Sylvara stood. Her left wing hung torn—but she was there. Alive. A wave of relief nearly crushed me.

—I'm glad you're okay, I whispered.

She turned away, chin lifted with that awkward pride of hers.

—Me too, she replied softly.

But I saw it—the faint blush on her cheeks. A trace of shyness behind the steel. I smiled.

I turned to Ayame. Her eyes met mine—filled with a tender guilt. I sighed, exhausted but sincere.

—No more "visions," Ayame… ever again, okay?

A brief silence. Then laughter again—light, alive, filled with a warmth I hadn't felt in forever. The mana still hanging in the air shimmered faintly, then dimmed, fading like a star falling asleep.

I stayed there, surrounded by them—covered in dust, muscles burning, heart hammering too fast.

Around us, the portal to the Garden of Broken Skies gave its final breath.

I looked up.

The sky above was blue. Not golden, not cracked, not streaked with light—just blue. Simple. Human. No rift crossed it, no scar of mana marred its calm. For the first time in a long while, I saw a real sky.

I stood there for a moment, staring at it, chest aching, breath uneven. And without thinking, the words came out in a whisper:

—Rest in peace, Lyseria… and thank you for everything.

The wind rose softly, brushing my face—as if answering.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.