The world was nothing but a blend of light and ash.
A golden glow shimmered above me, too bright to be real. I tried to move, but my body refused. Every breath burned my throat, every heartbeat struck my skull like a hammer. The air tasted of iron. And blood.
I cracked my eyes open. Everything was drowned in a golden haze. The ground, the shadows, even my hands seemed to float in that thick light. I couldn't tell if I was still alive or already gone.
Sounds leaked through the veil — a hiss, a crash, something like a muffled roar.
Then another noise: the breath of mana — heavy, pulsing, almost animal.
I squinted, trying to focus.
Before me, through the halo, a shape moved. Slim. Fast. Wings. Yes, wings. Azure, torn, beating amid a cloud of luminous dust. A spear cut through the air, shattering a monstrous figure into a rain of golden particles.
I couldn't make sense of it.
A hallucination? An angel? Or just the last flicker of my mind before the end?
