The void stretched on, endless and suffocating. Shree Yan had walked for what felt like ages, his eyes fixed ahead, though nothing ever seemed to change. The weight of his immortality was beginning to suffocate him—not in the way death would, but in a slow, draining realization that all he had fought for, all he had sacrificed, was meaningless. He was a king without a kingdom, a conqueror without an empire. The world, which he had so ruthlessly bent to his will, was now as desolate and empty as his heart.
It was then that the voice came again.
"Shree Yan."
The voice was familiar, yet it carried a tone of something else—something dark and ancient, as though it had been waiting for him to hear it.
He turned, but no one was there. The wind blew, sending whispers through the cracks in the earth. And yet, he could feel it—a presence.
"You still refuse to see the truth?" the voice asked, its tone amused yet laced with sorrow.
"Who are you?" Shree Yan's voice was cold, void of emotion. It had become a reflex by now, the indifference, the numbness.
"You know me," the voice said softly. "I am the price of immortality, the consequence of all your choices. The shadows that follow you."
Shree Yan's heart skipped. He had heard this voice before—Nihara. The Keeper of the Broken Realms.
"You've come to remind me of my mistakes, then?" Shree Yan sneered. "I have no need for your pity."
A dark form materialized in front of him, its shape shifting in the shadows. It was Nihara, though her appearance was far more unsettling than before. Her eyes glowed with an ancient power, her face a mask of sorrow.
"You think you have won, Shree Yan, but your immortality is but a prison," she said, her voice filled with grief. "Every life you destroyed, every soul you devoured, has fractured the very fabric of existence. And now, the price must be paid."
Shree Yan clenched his fists, frustration boiling in his chest. "I will not be shackled by your pity," he snapped. "I will not be ruled by anything. Not by you, not by anyone."
But Nihara's smile remained, serene yet haunting. "Then walk your path. But know that every step you take will only draw you closer to the darkness you can never escape."
And with that, she vanished, leaving Shree Yan standing alone once again, the silence of his existence the only response.