Under the watchful eyes of Alfred and Michael, Radiance arrived at the center of the temple.
At last, the end of his long journey had come into sight.
He paused briefly, allowing the weight of his ordeals to surface in his mind.
The moment he attacked Arabella, a fierce battle with Alfred erupted. From that fight, he lost his body—and even the vessel that had once sustained his power of absorption shattered.
From that point onward, Radiance had ceased to be a complete being.
To fill that void, he had consumed countless fragments of foreign gods.
But those shards clashed with his will, creating fractures in his mind—distortions in his identity—rising madness with jagged edges.
To keep himself together, he had collected innumerable human souls.
That, in truth, was the real reason behind his relentless purge of heretics.
Not for faith, but for survival.
He harvested their souls to patch together his own.
