Even in the darkest of moments, hope still shines through.
Location: Unknown Domain:
Blaidd blinked.
Darkness surrounded him.
Nothing but an endless void surrounded him. The air was silent--or was there even air? He couldn't feel anything but his own body, floating somewhere between standing and falling.
"...Guys? ...Rikushi? ...Mysha?" he called out.
Only his own voice echoed back, fading into the abyss.
Seconds felt like hours, or maybe days.
And then--
click... click... click...
Footsteps.
Deliberate, Heavy, and Sharp.
Like high heels tapping against polished marble.
The sound grew louder, approaching steadily.
A faint glow appeared above him--a spotlight.
And into it stepped a mysterious figure.
A tall woman, wrapped in a long trench coat, walked forward. Her glasses glinted in the soft light, and her bright red hair was tied neatly into a side ponytail that rested on her shoulder. But her most captivating feature were her eyes--shimmering, sharp, and glistening like pure blue ice.
She stopped directly in front of him, offering a gentle smile.
"You've finally reached the level."
Blaidd furrowed his brow. "What.. level? What is this!?"
The woman ignored his question, speaking calmly as though this was all part of a ceremony. "The pain, the illusions, the fractures of your mind--all of it has brought you here. To this threshold."
She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small, glowing dagger. The blade pulsed with a calming, cool light, as if made of frozen starlight. Without hesitation, she gently pressed the tip into Blaidd's chest.
Surprisingly, it was painless.
Instead, a surge of warmth and power spread through him.
His body felt lighter. His mind clearer. His heart steadier.
The woman leaned in closer, her voice barely a whisper:
"We'll meet again soon... Mr. Frostwalker, The Last Full-Blood."
With a soft push, she sent him falling backwards.
But as his back touched the ground--
He blinked--
--and opened his eyes, now laying in the snow where he last stood.
No bodies, No hill of false Myshas, and No blizzard.
Only the sound of the wind and the feeling of snow accumulating on him.
But something was different.
The glowing light in his chest suddenly pulsed violently, spreading a scorching burn throughout his body. He gritted his teeth and yelled as the pain exploded across his back.
Wings tore from his shoulder blades--enormous, ethereal, and edged in shimmering purple frost.
His hair grew longer, its color turning to the purest snow-white, while delicate icicles formed in his strands, arranging themselves like a natural crown of ice.
Before him, his daggers floated upward, glowing brighter and brighter, they merged together--spinning, reshaping, elongating--until they formed a magnificent spear of gleaming frost and steel.
He stumbled to his feet, clutching the spear as the glowing symbol on his chest stabilized.
He had ascended.
He had become Boreas - God of the Winter.