The darkness surrounded Eyeless.
His body stood completely still.
The battlefield around him had disappeared.
There was no Ravenholt.
No castle.
No guards.
No Levi.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
The violet glow beneath the black cloth grew brighter.
Then...
A woman's voice whispered beside him.
"Why are you fighting?"
Eyeless froze.
He knew that voice.
His breathing stopped for a moment.
"...You."
The purple spirit appeared behind him.
Her long black hair floated in the air.
Her violet body shimmered like smoke.
She reached toward him.
"You don't need to fight anymore."
Eyeless clenched his fists.
"You're my wife..."
The spirit smiled.
"Yes."
Eyeless's breathing slowed.
For years...
That voice had been the only thing that remained with him.
When the world had abandoned him...
She stayed.
When he couldn't see...
She became his eyes.
When he couldn't walk...
She told him to keep going.
When he thought there was nothing left...
She whispered that he still had a purpose.
"I've been with you all this time."
She placed her hand against his back.
"You don't need anyone else."
Eyeless lowered his head.
"...I know."
The spirit smiled.
"Then stop fighting."
Eyeless's fingers twitched.
"Stop resisting."
His body suddenly stiffened.
Darkness wrapped around Eyeless.
His arms were pulled behind him.
His legs locked in place.
Chains formed from the darkness.
One around his arm.
Another around his chest.
Then another around his legs.
CLINK.
Eyeless struggled.
"What..."
The chains tightened.
He tried to move.
Nothing.
"Let me go."
The spirit's smile disappeared.
"Why?"
Eyeless pulled against the chains.
They didn't move.
"Let me go."
The spirit stepped closer.
"You belong to me."
His eyes widened beneath the black cloth.
"No..."
The spirit placed her hand against his chest.
"You've always belonged to me."
The chains tightened again.
Eyeless gritted his teeth.
"You're not..."
He struggled harder.
"...my wife."
Silence.
The spirit stared at him.
For several seconds...
She didn't move.
Then she smiled.
A completely different smile.
Cold.
Twisted.
Almost inhuman.
"Finally..."
Her voice changed.
"You noticed."
Eyeless's breathing stopped.
The warmth he had always felt from her presence...
Was gone.
"What are you?"
The spirit leaned toward him.
"Does it matter?"
Her violet form began changing.
The smoke around her body became darker.
Her shape became less human.
Her fingers stretched slightly.
Her smile widened.
The gentle presence he remembered...
Was gone.
Something darker stood before him.
Something that had never been human.
Eyeless shook his head.
"No..."
The spirit tilted her head.
"You really believed I was her?"
Eyeless didn't answer.
"You believed I was the woman you lost."
She laughed softly.
"You believed I was the one who stayed beside you."
Eyeless clenched his fists.
"Stop."
"But you were never alone."
She moved closer.
"I made sure of that."
Eyeless's head lowered.
Memories flashed through his mind.
Her voice.
Her comfort.
Her presence.
Every time he thought he was alone...
She was there.
Every time he was afraid...
She calmed him.
Every time he wanted to give up...
She told him to keep walking.
Every time he woke up from a nightmare...
She whispered his name.
Every time he questioned whether he still had a reason to live...
She gave him one.
Eyeless's hands trembled.
"All this time..."
The spirit smiled.
"You needed me."
Eyeless lowered his head.
"...You weren't protecting me."
"No."
"You were controlling me."
The spirit's smile widened.
"Yes."
Eyeless suddenly pulled against the chains.
CLINK!
They held.
He pulled again.
CLINK!
Nothing.
"You can't escape."
Eyeless's breathing became heavier.
"Shut up."
"You have nowhere to go."
"Shut up."
"You have no one."
Eyeless stopped.
The spirit whispered.
"You lost everything."
Silence.
Those words...
They struck something deep inside him.
Eyeless stood motionless.
The darkness around him seemed to become heavier.
The spirit continued.
"Your home."
Eyeless's fists tightened.
"Your friends."
His breathing became unsteady.
"Your old life."
His head lowered.
"And your wife."
Silence.
Eyeless slowly raised his head.
"...I had a wife."
The spirit's expression changed.
For the first time...
She said nothing.
Eyeless's voice trembled.
"I remember her."
The chains trembled.
"I remember her voice."
CRACK.
One chain fractured.
The spirit's eyes widened.
"No."
Eyeless's breathing became steadier.
"I remember..."
He pulled against the chains.
"...her hands."
CRACK!
Another chain broke.
The spirit stepped backward.
"No."
"I remember..."
His voice trembled.
"...her smile."
The spirit shook her head.
"Stop."
Eyeless pulled again.
"I remember the way she used to..."
His voice suddenly became quiet.
He couldn't finish the sentence.
But he remembered.
He remembered sitting beside her.
He remembered the sound of her laughter.
He remembered her telling him to stop being so stubborn.
He remembered her telling him that he didn't have to carry everything alone.
He remembered promising that he would come back.
Eyeless's fists shook.
"I promised her..."
The spirit's expression darkened.
"Don't."
"I promised her I'd come back."
"Stop remembering."
Eyeless raised his head.
"I promised her..."
The darkness around him began trembling.
"...I'd protect her."
CRACK!!!
The chains around his arms fractured.
The spirit stepped backward.
"No."
Eyeless pulled harder.
"You aren't her."
CRACK!
Another chain broke.
"You don't have her memories."
CRACK!
Another.
"You don't have her voice."
The spirit screamed.
"ENOUGH!"
Eyeless's voice became stronger.
"And you don't have her heart."
The chains around his arms shattered.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The spirit was thrown backward.
Eyeless stumbled forward.
He almost fell.
But he caught himself.
His breathing was heavy.
The remaining chains still held him.
One around his chest.
One around his legs.
The spirit stared at him.
"You can't win."
Eyeless looked down.
His hands trembled.
But...
They were his.
His body was his.
His mind was his.
For the first time in years...
He was himself.
Eyeless slowly reached toward the chain around his chest.
His fingers wrapped around it.
The spirit's eyes widened.
"No."
Eyeless pulled.
Nothing happened.
He pulled again.
Still nothing.
The spirit smiled.
"You're too weak."
Eyeless lowered his head.
Then...
He remembered something.
Not from the Black Church.
Not from the war.
Not from his suffering.
His wife's voice.
A memory.
A simple one.
A moment before everything went wrong.
She had looked at him and said something he had forgotten for years.
You don't have to be strong all the time.
Eyeless froze.
His grip tightened.
"...I don't."
The spirit frowned.
"What?"
Eyeless raised his head.
"I don't have to be strong."
Dark mana began gathering around his hand.
"I just have to be myself."
The chain began cracking.
The spirit stepped backward.
"No..."
Eyeless pulled.
CRACK.
The chain fractured.
He pulled again.
CRACK!
The final chain around his chest shattered.
The chain around his legs immediately broke afterward.
Eyeless fell forward.
He caught himself with one hand.
The darkness around him began disappearing.
The spirit screamed.
"YOU BELONG TO ME!"
Eyeless slowly stood.
"No."
"You need me!"
"No."
"I gave you your sight!"
Eyeless touched the black cloth covering his eyes.
"...You gave me a lie."
The spirit screamed.
"You would be nothing without me!"
Eyeless clenched his fist.
"I was something before you."
The spirit lunged toward him.
Eyeless turned.
And raised his hand.
Dark mana surged forward.
The spirit was forced back.
She screamed.
Eyeless didn't listen.
She tried to approach again.
He pushed her away.
Again.
And again.
Until the distance between them became impossible to cross.
Eyeless stood alone.
The battlefield was silent.
His breathing slowly calmed.
The darkness around him began fading.
Then...
Something bright appeared above him.
Eyeless slowly raised his head.
He couldn't see.
But he could feel it.
Warmth.
A light unlike anything he had felt before.
It wasn't the cold violet glow of the spirit.
It wasn't the darkness that had surrounded him.
It wasn't the fire he remembered from the battlefield.
This light felt different.
Pure.
Warm.
Almost peaceful.
Eyeless stood still.
"What..."
The light continued gathering.
Levi stood in the distance.
Azhir was raised toward the sky.
Light surrounded the blade.
Not fire.
Not darkness.
Something pure.
Something overwhelming.
The blade itself seemed to disappear beneath the brightness.
Levi's clothes moved violently in the pressure.
His hair lifted.
His eyes remained fixed on Eyeless.
The darkness around the battlefield began retreating.
The shadows beneath the trees disappeared.
The black mana in the air was being swallowed by the light.
Across Ravenholt...
People looked toward the battlefield.
The night sky had changed.
A bright glow rose above the castle.
Guards stood along the walls.
Children who had been watching from a distance stared upward.
Even the people inside their homes could see it.
Something was happening.
Something enormous.
Back on the battlefield...
Eyeless remained still.
He could feel the light growing closer.
He couldn't see it.
But somehow...
He wasn't afraid.
The spirit's voice suddenly became desperate.
"Kill him!"
Eyeless said nothing.
"Kill him!"
Still nothing.
"YOU NEED ME!"
Eyeless lowered his head.
"...No."
The spirit screamed.
"You'll die!"
Eyeless smiled faintly.
"Maybe."
The light grew brighter.
"But at least..."
He slowly raised his head.
"...I'll die as myself."
The spirit became silent.
Levi looked down at him.
For a moment...
Their eyes met.
Even though Eyeless could not see him...
He knew.
This was the end.
But there was no hatred in his heart.
No rage.
No desire for revenge.
Only acceptance.
Eyeless took a slow breath.
"...So this is what the light feels like."
Levi raised Azhir higher.
Light gathered around the blade.
The entire battlefield began glowing.
The ground beneath Levi's feet illuminated.
The castle walls reflected the light.
The trees surrounding Ravenholt turned bright beneath the overwhelming glow.
Eyeless stood beneath it all.
For so long...
He had lived in darkness.
He had fought in darkness.
He had suffered in darkness.
He had been manipulated in darkness.
And now...
The darkness was disappearing.
Levi's voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Eyeless."
Eyeless turned toward him.
The light became blinding.
"Everything hidden..."
Azhir began shining like a second sun.
"...will eventually be revealed."
Eyeless stood beneath the light.
No chains.
No spirit.
No darkness controlling him.
Only himself.
The spirit screamed behind him.
"NO!"
Eyeless didn't turn around.
"YOU CANNOT LEAVE ME!"
He remained still.
"YOU NEED ME!"
Eyeless closed his eyes beneath the cloth.
"...I don't."
The spirit screamed again.
Levi brought Azhir down.
"LUX..."
The sky erupted with light.
The darkness that had covered the battlefield was completely swallowed.
The spirit's scream disappeared beneath the roar.
Levi's final strike descended.
"...REVELAT OMNIA!!!"
A massive wave of light tore across the battlefield.
Eyeless stood within it.
And for the first time...
The darkness had nowhere left to hide.
The light consumed everything.
Eyeless couldn't hear the battlefield anymore.
He couldn't hear the wind.
He couldn't hear the screams.
There was only light.
Pure, endless light.
His body stood completely still.
Then...
For the first time in years...
He felt something warm against his face.
A hand.
Gentle.
Familiar.
Eyeless froze.
"..."
Another hand touched his.
Smaller.
He slowly raised his head.
His vision was filled with white.
Then...
Something began to take shape.
A woman.
Standing before him.
Long hair.
A gentle smile.
Eyes filled with tears.
Eyeless's breathing stopped.
"...You?"
She smiled.
"I'm here."
His hands began trembling.
"No..."
He reached forward.
His fingers touched her hand.
It was warm.
Real.
Not smoke.
Not darkness.
Not a spirit.
Her.
His wife.
Eyeless's voice broke.
"I..."
A small voice came from beside her.
"Dad."
Eyeless froze.
A little girl stood beside her.
She smiled shyly.
His daughter.
The child he thought he would never see again.
Eyeless fell to his knees.
His hands trembled as he reached toward them.
"I remember..."
His wife knelt before him.
Their foreheads gently touched.
Eyeless began crying.
"I'm sorry..."
His daughter wrapped her arms around him.
He held her tightly.
For the first time...
He wasn't alone.
The light slowly surrounded the three of them.
And Eyeless smiled.
A genuine smile.
"...I found you."
The three figures slowly disappeared into the light.
Leaving behind only silence.
And peace.
---
The light slowly faded.
Silence returned to Ravenholt.
The battlefield was almost unrecognizable.
The ground was scorched.
Smoke drifted through the air.
The torches had gone out.
Levi stood alone.
Azhir rested at his side.
He looked across the training grounds.
And there...
Eyeless's body lay motionless.
He was barely recognisable.
His long white hair was scattered across the ground.
The emerald-green tips were stained with ash.
Levi slowly approached.
Step by step.
He stopped in front of him.
For several seconds...
He said nothing.
His eyes moved toward the broken greatsword.
The blade that Eyeless had carried throughout the battle...
Was shattered.
Only a large broken piece remained.
Levi crouched down.
He picked it up.
It was heavy.
Cold.
Cracked.
Levi looked at it for a moment.
Then...
He stood.
He walked several steps forward.
And drove the broken sword into the ground.
THUNK.
The broken blade stood upright.
Right in front of Eyeless.
A marker.
A final tribute.
Levi lowered his head.
"You fought well."
The wind passed through the training grounds.
Levi looked toward Eyeless again.
"You were strong."
A pause.
"And you never stopped fighting..."
His grip loosened around Azhir.
"...even when you weren't fighting for yourself anymore."
Levi took a slow breath.
Then quietly...
"How fitting."
He looked at the broken sword.
"That in the end..."
His eyes returned to Eyeless.
"...you died as yourself."
Silence.
Levi lowered his head once more.
"Rest."
He turned away.
Behind him...
The broken greatsword remained standing.
And for the first time...
Eyeless was finally free.
Levi stood there for another moment.
Then he turned toward the guards who had gathered at the edge of the training grounds.
"Nobody touches that sword."
The guards looked at him.
Levi pointed toward the broken greatsword.
"Leave it exactly where it is."
One of the guards nodded.
"Yes, my Lord."
Levi looked back at the blade.
"Do not repair it."
He paused.
"Do not move it."
Another pause.
"And don't let anyone treat it like scrap."
The guards bowed their heads.
"Understood."
Levi turned away.
The broken greatsword remained planted in the ground.
Its cracked blade reflected the faint light of the rising sun.
A weapon that had once been carried by a warrior feared across the battlefield.
Now...
It stood as his memorial.
Levi walked away without another word.
Behind him...
The guards remained silent.
No one touched the sword.
No one dared to.
It would remain there.
Exactly as it was.
A reminder of the man who had fought until the very end...
And finally died as himself.