I sat quietly on the grass. Except for the patch where I was, the rest of the land had withered completely. Rainwater fell and seeped straight into the cracks, leaving no puddles. I tilted my head back, a heaviness settling in my heart, and a bitter smile crept onto my lips.
At this moment, what I thought about most was my wife, my parents, and my friends—especially the matter of Basil Bertram. Sadness welled up inside me; so much had happened while I was gone, far beyond anything I had imagined.
A massive war was unfolding in the Living World, sweeping everything into its chaos. Everything was beginning to fall apart.
When I came to my senses, I was already standing here. But now, I could do nothing. An evil smile surfaced on my face.
"It's not that I can do nothing, but that I'm finally doing what I always wanted to do."
I clenched my fists, smiling faintly, but the smile quickly turned bitter. A red flower swayed in the wind before me, its petals scattering to the ground, withering into black dust. I lowered my head, staring at my hands.
"What else can I do? What can I possibly do?"
Long ago, I began to wonder about the meaning of my own existence. In this vast crucible of the world, I am but a grain of dust, powerless before its enormity. I cannot stop anything.
Bitterness surfaced on my face. I smiled and stood up.
Gradually, I felt my body still unresponsive. A cruel smile appeared on my face.
"Do you still intend to resist? Such resistance is meaningless, isn't it? No matter how you persist, the outcome remains unchanged. To me, you're nothing but a grain of dust lost in this world—powerless, incapable of changing anything."
Gradually, my expression contorted into a grimace. I burst into manic laughter, then roared in fury.
"Did I not say it already? You can't do anything. Did you really think you could bring an end to all this? Stop resisting. Accept your fate, Ethan Zhang."
The last patch of blue in the sky vanished. The wind grew savage, and the rain poured down like a flood—black droplets now falling as thick columns from above.
Soon, the ground beneath me was nothing but a tangle of withered grass. I was close to completing everything. Yet the Infernal Will before me was still merging in completely, and I smiled helplessly.
"It's over now—your story, everything, should end here. Yes, I let the Wraithlord succeed on purpose, just to trap you in the prison named Ethan Zhang. It worked well; I awakened ahead of schedule, and the timing is perfect. Now, it's time."
I spoke, raising a hand, but realized I couldn't move my body. A trace of sorrow appeared on my face, but soon my eyes turned skyward and a faint smile touched my lips.
"Indeed, everything should end. My story ends here, but this is my story—no one else can claim it. I am myself. Long ago, I understood: this is my story!"
In that instant, my eyes widened. A radiant white light slowly emanated from my body. The wind halted, the rain faded, and the clouds overhead parted bit by bit, revealing a bright sky.
Smiling, I gazed at the Infernal Will before me—this was me. I raised my hand, and the Infernal Will, with only eyes and no face, stared back at me.