Erian simply… stopped feeling anything.
The burn of the poison faded, the trembling in his hands subsided, and his breathing, once searing like fire, ceased without resistance.
There was no pain.
No sound.
No heat or cold.
No darkness or light.
That's it… Erian thought with a strange calm. I'm dead.
There was no fear in that thought. In fact, it was almost comforting. For the first time in his life, the weight he had carried since childhood stopped crushing him. No more sacrifices, no more expectations, no more bearing the hopes of others. No more trying to be strong.
Nothing but silence. Nothing but rest.
At last, he would sink into that void and never rise again.
But then, something changed.
In the midst of that nothingness, a point of light emerged. Small at first, like a golden spark in the distance. Then, slowly, it began to grow. It swelled and intensified until it enveloped him completely.
