Aric's world collapsed into darkness, the pain in his body slipping into a dull, distant ache.
Blood seeped from the wound, but it was no longer his concern. The voice had returned, as chilling as it was familiar, weaving its question into the silence that surrounded him.
"Is this the fate you wanted?"
In that instant, the battlefield vanished.
The clash of steel, the roar of ki, the sneer of Aszer—all dissolved as though swallowed by the void itself. Aric hung suspended in nothingness, his mind struggling to grasp the sudden shift.
For a moment, he wondered if this was death's cold embrace. But no—this felt different.
He blinked, and when his eyes opened, the world had changed.
He stood in an endless expanse, not of earth or sky, but of something far stranger. Above him stretched countless threads—shimmering, infinite, weaving themselves through the air. They extended beyond sight, glowing faintly, as though alive.
