Chapter 81 The Emptiness I Choose
That night, the Gaia Castle was enveloped in an unsettling silence.
The wind dared not to stir, as if time itself was holding its breath, thickening the chilly air with palpable tension.
Iris stood at the edge of the balcony, her gaze fixed upon the vast, inky ocean sprawling beneath her, the waves dancing with an ethereal shimmer in the moonlight. Beyond the veil of floating white mist, the ominous silhouette of a leviathan began to emerge, a legendary creature from the depths of the ancient sea. All eyes of the realm were drawn to the figure of the Last Queen, the solitary guardian, unyielding and resolute as she prepared to confront the dark legend rising from the depths.
Fitran's footsteps whispered softly behind her, each sound seemingly shattering the profound stillness of the night. Clad not in armor nor the familiar battle cloak that usually adorned him, he stood bare—just a man, stripped of all except his skin and flesh, relinquishing even the right to be called human.
"I already knew," Iris said, her voice steady yet resolute, without turning to face him. "That you would ask for it back."
Fitran held his breath, the words frozen in his throat as he battled the conflicting emotions of hope and fear that waged war within him.
"Voidwright," he murmured, his voice raspy and filled with the weight of unfulfilled desires. "You wish to reclaim that title, even if just for a fleeting moment."
He nodded slowly, an unspoken acknowledgment of the truth that hung heavily in the air, realizing there was no point in hiding.
"To face the Leviathan... I must transform into a monster," he confessed, uncertainty lacing his voice like a shadow.