The battlefield fell silent after the gate shattered. The swirling vortex of reincarnation was gone, its light snuffed out. Only blood and ruin remained.
The Godslayer knelt in the ruins, one hand gripping his sword, the other hanging limp at his side. His chest heaved raggedly, his body pierced and bound by countless chains of law. His wife's body lay only an arm's reach away, her hair matted with blood, her face peaceful in death.
He reached for her. His fingers brushed her cold hand, but the chains pulled him back.
A tremor escaped his throat—half laugh, half sob. His head bowed, shadow veiling his broken eyes.
"All I ever sought… was freedom. For myself. For those I loved. And this… this is how you answer me."
The golden-eyed brother staggered forward, clutching his severed arm. His voice trembled with rage and fear both.
"You should have known. No one is above heaven. Not even you."
The Godslayer lifted his head. His lips parted, as if to speak, but only blood spilled down his chin. His body swayed, then steadied.
Above, the patriarch raised his palm once more. The chains tightened, dragging the Godslayer upward, lifting him into the torn sky. His voice was cold, final:
"Enough. He will not die by mortal blade. Let him be cast into the Dead Zone. Let him vanish, forgotten."
The words echoed like judgment.
The heavens split open, not with light but with abyssal darkness. A rift yawned wide, a pit of endless void. From within spilled whispers of things older than gods, hungrier than demons. Even the betrayers flinched back, their faces pale.
The Dead Zone.
The Godslayer dangled at the edge, chains dragging him into its maw. He did not resist. For the first time, his sword hung silent. His body, though unbowed, had nothing left to strike for.
He closed his eyes. Images flashed in the darkness behind his lids: his wife's final smile, the warmth of her hand, the faint cry of his son as the gate swallowed him.
"My son…" his voice broke, softer than a whisper, almost a prayer. "I sent you into a world without me. Forgive me. Forgive this useless father."
His head dipped. A single tear fell, vanishing into the abyss below.
The rift swallowed him whole. The chains dragged him into nothingness, his form dissolving into shadows until there was no trace of the man who had shaken heaven.
Silence fell. The Dead Zone closed.
And in that silence, the heavens above felt… smaller.