"Why?" Noel's lips quivered.
"You too?" he whispered, voice cracking under the weight of betrayal. He shut his eyes, unable to bear the searing pain radiating from the wound—the cruel gift of his dearest companion.
All around him, the dungeon was engulfed in flames. The inferno roared, and each breath was a struggle, heavy and suffocating, as though he were being consumed alive by the fiery sea. Yet, the blaze within him burned even hotter—a storm of rage and anguish that far surpassed the destruction surrounding him.
"I never wanted to!"
A heart-wrenching cry tore through the fiery chaos, a mournful howl like a wolf grieving the loss of its lifelong mate.
"You made me do it! It was all because of you, Noel! You were too cruel to be alive!"
Their voice cracked with anguish, each word drenched in bitterness and sorrow.
"Did you ever realize how many people lost their lives serving you?" they shouted, their pain sharper than the blade they had driven into him.
A face stained with tears and blood, yet still blurred and unrecognizable.
"Ahhh! How on earth did you become like this? What happened to the Noel I knew?" The voice trembled, cracking under the weight of despair as the figure spiraled into manic rambling.
"No, no, no... it can't be—it can't happen! What have I done?" they cried, their hands trembling violently as they clutched at their head, consumed by the torment of their own actions.
Noel's breath became shallow, erratic, his chest heaving as his body gave out beneath the weight of his wounds. The burning air clawed at his lungs, his heartbeats growing weaker, slower, until even his fury flickered like a dying ember.
In the midst of the chaos, he exhaled one final, ragged breath, his body falling still as the flames roared on around him.