Chapter 142
Ayaka fell.
Down, down through the golden void where the heavens had once been, through the ruined remnants of sky and shattered light. Her body, bruised and broken, was barely more than a silhouette trailing wisps of ice in the golden haze. The warmth of divinity above faded into an endless cold emptiness.
Her sword was gone. Her will shattered. Her brother—no, whatever Ayato had become—stood beyond reach.
"I failed..." she whispered to the wind, voice trembling and lost among the spiraling descent. "I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t protect what we were. I..."
She clutched at her chest, where pain throbbed deeper than any wound. Her heart, heavy with sorrow and guilt, seemed to drag her down faster than gravity. The cold no longer comforted her. It only reminded her of her isolation.
The light above dimmed as clouds formed below her, endless and oppressive. The skies she once danced across as a warrior of elegance and honor now seemed like a distant dream, broken by golden arrogance.
Her eyes closed. She let herself fall.
But then—
A glimmer. Not external. Not divine.
It stirred within.
A breath.