Chapter 122: Shattered and Reforged
The light that had swallowed Ethan swirled violently, folding inward like a collapsing star. From within, a new shape began to take form—limbs, spine, chest, face—slowly sculpted out of pure brilliance.
Inside that forming shell, Ethan's mind screamed.
His body was not yet whole, but his consciousness was intact—too intact. His nerves felt as though they were being peeled out thread by thread, then set ablaze. Every bone shattered, ground into powder, then pressed back together only to be broken again.
It was like being skinned alive while drowning, like fire and ice gnawing his marrow at the same time. His veins burned as if acid replaced blood, while invisible blades carved symbols into his muscles. His very soul was being hammered against an anvil of light.
He tried to grit teeth that didn't yet exist, to clench a jaw that hadn't fully formed. Endure it. Bite it down.
But the pain didn't allow silence.
