"What's wrong?" Akara was still dazed. She had no idea decades had passed, much less what had happened in that time. The Goddess of the Night had deceived her into becoming a Fanatic Believer and suppressed her original personality. Her memories were still stuck decades in the past.
She saw Grand Duke Mora smiling through his tears and grew anxious. She tried to raise a hand to touch him and wipe the tears from his cheeks.
But the moment her arm moved, it shattered into countless points of light. She watched helplessly as it dissolved completely.
Shock filled Akara's face, and fear filled her eyes. She did not know what was happening, but in that instant, she understood: she was about to die.
Once she realized it, her fear of death fell away. She relaxed in Grand Duke Mora's arms, gazed at his tearful smile, and murmured, "Has it been many years? Mora, you've grown old... What a shame I couldn't stay with you... I love you... I wish I could have given you a child..."
Akara rambled peacefully, her thoughts drifting free. She gazed at Grand Duke Mora as her body slowly turned into countless points of light. At last, only her head remained. The corners of her mouth lifted into a faint smile. She whispered "goodbye," then scattered completely.
Grand Duke Mora watched it happen. He did not wail in grief or cry out in madness. He merely closed his eyes and tightened the arms that had held Akara, as though he could gather those scattered lights into himself.
After an unknown length of time, darkness fell over the deathly still Void World.
A half-destroyed moon rose in the sky. It was no ordinary phase: the Lord of Light had blown half of it apart with a single