Chapter 26: what the people saw

The world Umbra had been thrust into was nothing like the ones before. It felt different here, almost as if the very fabric of this reality was waiting for him to make a move. His surroundings were unfamiliar, the air tinged with the scent of damp earth and the sound of distant thunder. The ground beneath him was soft, muddy; he was moving, but where and why did it feel all so wrong?

He didn't know. Not yet.

The happenings in the last world had gotten him still reeling. Akari… her death, her words, the pain of watching her broken in front of him. it was just too much. The image of her shattered form, the cruel laughter of the gods still echoed in his mind, but that spark had been enough to keep him going-that little flame of resistance. He could feel it deep inside of him, and that small part of him, the one which refused to give in, refused to let it all come to an end, had brought him here.