Silence settled over the flower field after the Goddess disappeared.
Only a few golden particles remained where she had stood, drifting above blossoms that no longer moved with the wind.
Hajin released a long breath and lowered himself into the grass.
No amount of ordinary sleep could repair the exhaustion inside his thoughts.
One conversation had torn apart his understanding of the world and rebuilt it around truths nobody else seemed to know.
The gods who ruled Ouro had become corrupt beyond denial.
The Shard system was counterfeit, the reincarnation cycle was broken, and a dead Goddess had called him her son before dissolving.
'At least I learned a lot today.'
He dragged one hand down his face.
'Quite a lot, in fact.'
The system had been the first thing to answer him after the Flint family threw him away, and he had followed it because power offered a path forward.
Now the woman who created its foundation had shown him the souls being stolen from Ouro.
