"Pei Min! Pei Min! Wake up! Pei Min!"
Cries mingled with anxiety, excitement, and disbelief struck the edges of Pei Min's sunken consciousness like blows chiseling through thick ice, wrenching him with difficulty from that warm, dark, boundless abyss of peace.
His eyelids felt weighted with lead. Every attempt to lift them brought tearing soreness and dizziness.
Blurry patches of light swayed and overlapped in his vision, gradually resolving into familiar faces filled with concern and excitement. Ding Xiu and several other White Scars veterans surrounded him, their dark gray Power Armour covered in battle scars and grime, but their eyes shone brilliantly.
"Ha! You finally fucking woke up!" Ding Xiu's face, painted with war markings and split by a broad grin, nearly pressed against Pei Min's. He clapped Pei Min hard on his uninjured right shoulder. Though he held back somewhat, it still made Pei Min bare his teeth in pain.
The Legion warrior's booming laughter made Pei Min's eardrums ring.
"You were fucking incredible! Pei Min! You bastard! You're a goddamn monster!"
"What...?"
Pei Min's throat was dry and tight, his voice so hoarse it scarcely sounded human.
He struggled to turn his stiff neck, trying to make sense of the situation. His last memory remained fixed on that moment of despair.
Agony in his chest, blurred vision, Rahn's dark red Greatsword raised high, the breath of death chilling him to the bone...
Then, endless darkness.
Yet now... he lay on the ground. Although every part of him hurt, especially the burning pain where his ribs had broken, he was undeniably alive.
And the comrades around him...
"You killed that winged, red-skinned monster all by yourself!" another White Scars warrior added excitedly, fresh burn scars marking his face as he pointed toward the horrifying wreckage nearby.
Collapsed walls,