Her body started dissipating—what was going on?
I looked at Ren. He turned his face away.
He knew.
This… this was what he had been hiding.
I ran toward her and wrapped my arms around her trembling form.
"What's happening?" I asked.
She smiled faintly. "Night… thank you. I never knew sorrow could be this beautiful."
My heart cracked. Her voice was fading.
"You wanted the truth… but I'm sorry. Even I don't know. The decades I spent here… they've taken most of my memories. All I can tell you is this: reach the Heart, and kill the Wraith."
She placed something in my hand. A strange, glowing key.
"This is the only gift I can give you. But it was… truly wonderful to meet you, Night."
And with that, Sylvia vanished.
I stood there, frozen. I wiped the tears from my eyes as the hex echoed around me:
[You have completed the task]
[Learn the Art of the Cursed Immortal]
[You have unlocked the First Art of your Path]
I could feel it. My grasp of the Sorrow Style… had deepened.
And Ren's did too—I could tell.
I clenched the key in my fist.
"Ren… let's go."
---
I approached the veil.
It rose like water flowing upward, parting the air like a dream.
What lay beyond… was unknown.
I stepped through, Ren at my side.
When I opened my eyes, the world had changed.
It was even stranger than the Sapphire Abyss.
The sand shimmered like scattered glass. The trees swayed in the wind—but stopped without warning. Leaves fell… and froze midair.
The hex rang out again:
[You have crossed over to the Second Region of the Sorrow Veil]
[You have entered the Echoing Vestige]
[Your presence has been acknowledged by the ruler of this realm]
[He is forcing you into his timeline]
The sand began to swirl.
A storm was rising.
Ren immediately tensed.
"Ren—return to my soul!" I commanded.
He obeyed without hesitation.
And then… the storm pulled me in.