It was a finality within a finality, an endless halt that bound me tighter with every passing instant.
Each breath I drew felt borrowed, each heartbeat stolen.
I could feel time itself grinding me down, a verdict written long before this moment.
And then, like the faintest flicker in the abyss, I saw her. Veronica.
Her blade gleamed as she lunged toward Satire, her face carved with determination that bordered on desperation.
For a heartbeat, I believed.
For a heartbeat, I saw the impossible. She aimed directly for Satire's chest, her strike flawless, her will unwavering.
Hope swelled in me.
But the strike never landed. Her sword stopped an inch from its mark, frozen in the cruel theater Satire commanded.
My hope broke.
Satire's chuckle was soft, almost amused, as her pale fingers coiled around Veronica's neck. Her eyes shimmered with cruel delight.
"It's almost poetic," she said, her voice dripping with mockery.
"Death, I mean. Such a fragile, cruel thing. Yet liberating all the same."
She wouldn't, would she? My mind screamed denial, but the truth crushed me all the same. Of course she would.
She planned to kill Veronica. Right here. Right now.
Satire, if left unchecked, would destroy this entire world!
I had no choice. The despair hollowing me out left only one action, an act not against Satire, but against Veronica herself.
I activated my ability.
As Satire's fingers twisted, as the sickening snap reverberated through the air, I felt my Regalia take hold.
The act of death meant for her was mirrored into me.
Veronica collapsed like a puppet whose strings were cut, and I staggered in her place, my body shuddering.
Satire's gaze snapped toward me, her expression shifting into something that almost resembled awe.
My vision blurred, my eyes rolling back, the weight of the exchange crushing me.
Then came the darkness.
Not ordinary darkness, but a primordial abyss.
An ocean without horizon or depth, where lies and truths bled together, where death and life coiled into one, where time itself dissolved.
A sea that consumed everything.
This was not Heaven. This was not Hell.
This was the Astral Sea.
The resting place of all things. The place where concepts went to die, where death itself laid down to sleep, where even time met its end.
A silence so infinite it screamed.
I thought I would rise beyond, that my final breath would take me into Heaven's light.
But no. My soul was cast into this nothingness, into the graveyard of reality itself.
Perhaps that meant Satire, and all like her, truly did follow the will of God. Perhaps this was how it was always meant to be.
And yet… what did it matter?
My death was sealed. My final act had already been written.
There was no escape.
Only the endless sea, swallowing me whole.
I had no grand ambition. No throne to seize, no world to conquer. I only wished to live a life shaped by my own choices.
I wanted to see something, anything, made of my efforts, even if it was meaningless in the eyes of others.
Guarding that place never fulfilled me. Fighting against holy men and false prophets felt empty.
Straining my blade with training and tutelage was nothing more than an accumulation of effort.
A mountain of sweat and scars I stacked higher and higher without ever knowing why.
And now… this was the end. The end of my efforts. The end of my life. The end of myself.
So why… why did I feel a hand holding onto me?
My eyes opened. Light poured down like a miracle breaking through the abyss.
Veronica was there, her arms wrapped around me, her voice raw with anguish as she screamed my name.
My body jerked as instinct returned, and I shoved her head down, sparing her from Satire's descending blade by a fraction.
Satire looked down at us, not with anger, but with amusement, like a predator entertained by prey that refused to accept death.
"She brought you back? No… it seems you simply cannot die."
Veronica pushed herself up, her armor cracked and smeared with blood, her face pale but unyielding.
She clung to me as I staggered upright, pulling her behind me.
My own body felt like splintered glass, but still, I forced a smirk. "Damn it. I just can't seem to catch a break, can I?"
The battlefield told its own truth. Veronica had fought Satire for some time while I was gone.
Her body bore wounds deep enough to break lesser warriors, her breath ragged, her spirit wavering yet unbroken.
She was beautiful in her defiance.
"Satire," I said, my voice heavier than my body, "you toyed with the life of my student. For this, I must give you punishment."
Satire chuckled, stepping closer. Her presence pressed against my skin like ice.
She raised her blade and let its edge rest at my throat, her smile curving into something inhuman.
"And what punishment could you muster? Death? Life? Salvation? All meaningless, all fleeting. In my eyes, everything you value is dust."
Her words slithered into my bones, but I refused to flinch.
"No," I said, my voice steady even as my vision swam. "I shall punish you with an endless gift."
Veronica's hands trembled against me, but her resolve did not.
She clutched my shoulders and poured her mana into me, her energy sinking into my soul like fire searing flesh.
Every heartbeat of hers felt like it was bleeding into me, giving me what she should have kept for herself.
"Sansir…" Her voice broke, raw with both fear and devotion. "Don't you dare die again. Don't you dare leave me here alone."
At the same moment, Satire moved. Her blade cut through time itself, faster than thought.
I answered with my gift.
Space folded, and my power tore into reality itself.
Mana erupted, multiplied an infinite number of times until it became a torrent, an unending storm of light and ruin.
The blast overlapped itself endlessly, striking Satire over and over again in the same instant.
This was an infinite punishment condensed into a single breath.
Her eyes widened in the storm's brilliance. For the first time, she looked shaken.
"Smart little lamb," she hissed, her voice dissolving under the pressure of my power.
"But fret not. I'll be back!"
Then her body broke apart, collapsing into blood and flesh scattered into nothingness.
If I hadn't used infons to break down her defense, I'm sure of one thing.
That attack just now, it would have failed.
Now I have time before she can come back, the damn cockroach refuses to die, so this is the best I can do.
I dropped to my knees, my lungs clawing for air, but Veronica caught me before I hit the ground.
"Sansir!" she cried, her tears falling hot against my cheek. "I thought, I thought you were gone. You can't keep doing this to me!"
I coughed blood into her lap, my voice a rasp. "Fuck… I'm pretty sure I was gone."
At the last moment, I had given Veronica my ability and commanded her to turn it on me.
I had meant to take her burden, but somehow, she had given me something greater in return. She had given me life itself.
It should have taken hers. Instead, it drained her in ways I couldn't bear to look at, spiritually, mentally, physically.
Her body sagged against me, her breath faint.
She whispered as her strength left her, her lips trembling against my chest. "You… idiot… don't ever… try to leave me again."
Then she collapsed, limp in my arms, still beautiful even in her exhaustion.
I chuckled weakly, forcing a grin through the blood on my lips.
I shifted her down gently onto my chest and rolled onto my back, holding her close.
"Damn you, Mirabel… next time, I swear I'll reject all of your annoying plans."
She said we wouldnt fight, should have known she was lying based on her expression.
With what little remained of me, I poured my life force into a teleportation.
I aimed for the castle, but in my weakness I faltered. We landed instead at the gates of the capital.
Guards rushed forward in confusion as we fell to the ground.
They surrounded us in waves, their healing magic pouring over us, but none dared to lift us, none dared to carry us.
And so I blacked out in her arms.
***
[Anstalionah's Castle of Darkness and Might.]
When my eyes opened again, Cassio's sharp gaze was the first thing I saw. She hit my chest with her fist, jarring me upright.
Mirabel sat nearby, clad in armor of silver and black.
Her expression was calm, but her presence filled the chamber like a storm waiting to break.
"Good. You're awake," she said. "Veronica was gravely drained. Her awakening will take weeks."
I ran my fingers through my hair and let out a bitter laugh. "Griffin… he can bring back his fallen allies, at least some of them."
Mirabel nodded. "I know. That is why I've informed the others. Tomorrow, I will march alongside Madikai, Malachi, and Cole."
I blinked, uncertain I had heard correctly. "Don't tell me…"
She smiled, the kind of smile that carried thunder behind it. "By tomorrow's nightfall… the Golden Authority shall fall."