Chapter 30: what the people saw

Umbra's life was a never-ending cycle of death and reincarnation. Every cycle started and ended the same: he would snuff out an entire universe to absorb the pain and suffering, freeing uncounted souls from their torment, only to destroy himself in the process. The gods had designed this torment as his eternal purpose, and he had accepted it-at first.

For over 100 million lives, Umbra lived and died. He carried the pain of countless beings, their suffering merging with his own until there was nothing left inside him but a void of despair. Each life was a mirror of the last: the same agony, the same hopelessness, the same emptiness. His soul had grown so accustomed to torment that even death offered no solace. It was not a reincarnation for him but the reminiscence of his sufferings, which never had an end.