The Lord Of Calamity's Legacy

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.