Claude's eyes cracked open, only to immediately squint as the piercing light stung his vision.
Blinking several times, he forced himself to adjust before slowly rising to his feet.
A vast expanse of white stretched endlessly around him.
No sky. No ground. Just an empty void, like an isolation room in a mental hospital—cold, sterile, and suffocating.
"Oh… right. I'm dead," he muttered, the memory surfacing with a dull ache.
His gaze swept the void, lips curling into a wry smirk. "What is this place? A waiting room before judgment? Am I finally about to meet that so-called Goddess of the bastard church and be condemned for my sins?"
He rubbed his chin, feigning thoughtfulness. "I did kill plenty of Her people."
Despite his sarcastic tone, a heavy sigh escaped him. Strangely, he felt calm. Yet beneath that thin veil of indifference, something twisted inside him—a bitter, unspoken regret.