Rudra's vision swam as the last remnants of the battlefield faded.
The battlefield, the blood, Iris's screams—everything still clung to him like a second skin. His hands trembled as he clenched them into fists, trying to ground himself in the present.
He had almost killed her. His sister. The thought sent a violent shudder through him.
And now, she was gone.
Not dead. No, he knew that much. But separated. Taken somewhere else for their final trial.
He found himself in an endless void, suspended in air, or perhaps standing on an unseen surface.
It was eerily silent—no howling winds, no pulsing blood, no distant roars. Just… silence.
The air here felt thick, yet it seeped into his lungs like a cool mist. It wasn't normal air—it was something else.
Ki.
He could feel it now, wrapping around his body, clearing his thoughts, soothing the burn in his muscles. But the lingering horror of what he had almost done refused to leave him.
