Chapter 208
He paused, his body stilled as if the words had struck him, somehow deeper than he’d expected. For a moment, the room was thick with tension.
Astra stood there, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths, waiting for a response that might never come. His mask, still clutched in his hand, glinted in the dim light like a weapon ready to strike.
He turned his head slowly, his sharp gaze cutting through the shadows. The air grew colder, heavier. His voice was low, dangerously calm when he spoke.
"I don’t need a name."
Astra froze, her heart skipping a beat at the finality in his words. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice fragile, uncertain. "Everyone has a name."
He let out a soft, hollow laugh, his eyes gleaming with something dark and unreadable. "Not everyone is meant to be defined by one." His grip tightened on the mask, the golden edges creaking under the pressure. "Names are for those who still cling to the illusion of identity. I have no use for one."
Astra took a step back, a mixture of confusion and fear churning inside her. She had heard of beings who lived beyond the usual laws of the world—ones who refused to be shackled by something as trivial as a name. But this? This felt different. This man or whatever he truly was, wasn’t like anyone she had encountered.
"No name," she whispered, more to herself than to him. "What are you, then?"
His lips curled into a faint sadistic smile, but there was no warmth in it. "I am... what I am. A force, an idea, a shadow." He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming her. "Call me whatever you wish. It will not change what I am."