Evelyn clasped both hands together as though scraping every last trace of healing power from within her body, gathering all her strength into her dantian.
The veins at her temples bulged.
Her entire body felt as though it were burning.
The pain had become so intense that she could no longer even scream.
Flash!
A holy light swirled around her small kneeling figure.
As a fierce wind rose, her dazzling silver hair fluttered through the air like a river of stars, illuminating the darkness.
Her slowly opening eyes flashed with white light.
Then, at last—
From the hands she stretched toward Kallian and the Mors, who were tangled together as they fell—
A brilliant burst of light erupted.
Fwaaash—!
As though the Goddess of Light herself had descended.
The holiest...
Yet also the most corrupted pillar of light in existence fell from the heavens, surrounding Kallian and the Mors just as they were about to strike each other with their final blows.
Boom!
The light spread outward like a vast protective barrier, stirring clouds of dust in every direction before finally fading away.
Then...
After a silence so profound it was terrifying—
Crackle...
The adult Mors began to disintegrate into glittering particles, scattering like powdered jewels.
Above it, the Gate twisted violently before collapsing and disappearing.
Every moment unfolded before Evelyn's eyes in slow motion, as though time itself had stopped.
“Ha... ha...”
I did it.
Overcome with emotion, Evelyn stared at her own hands in disbelief.
Then she slowly lifted her head.
As though everything that had happened moments ago had been nothing but an illusion—
The sky, once completely black, had already cleared.
And then—
“Urgh...! Cough!”
Her stomach lurched violently.
A mouthful of foul-tasting blood surged up her throat.
It felt as though her throat were being crushed shut.
She struggled desperately to breathe.
“Evelyn!”
As her vision slowly tilted sideways, she saw the silhouette of a man running toward her as though throwing himself across the ground.
Within the eerie silence where the entire world seemed frozen—
She remembered riding together with him.
The steady hands that had supported her like a great tree firmly rooted in the earth.
The heartbeat she had felt through his chest against her back.
The cool, familiar scent that had surrounded her.
Yes...
Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.
To give my life for that man.
Her loose tunic whipped violently in the dusty wind.
Feeling blood pour from both her nose and mouth, Evelyn collapsed onto the ground.
And everything went black.
