Splash.
Sonia fell into the deep sea, the impact slicing across her face and cinching tight around her waist and abdomen.
Seawater invaded her eyes and nose, the sour sting spreading from her airway all the way to her eyeballs.
Gurgling bubbles brushed past her, escaping to the surface and bursting one after another, bursting, bursting, bursting... When the last bubble broke, Sonia could no longer hear anything. It was as if the whole world held only her and the pitch-black deep sea.
This was death.
Sonia felt unexpectedly calm inside.
She could hear nothing, so she did not have to be troubled by words.
She could see nothing, so she did not have to worry about facts.
All that remained was herself, falling alone through the deep sea, so the entire world had nothing to do with her.
Her heart was empty, yet she felt incomparably at ease.
But she did not think she had reached such calm enlightenment. The truth was probably that everyone who passed through the Curtain of Death could obtain eternal peace. After all, death was already life's greatest tragedy; if even after dying one still could not escape death's shackles, that would be far too cruel.
If not for this wonderful serenity, Sonia felt she should already have sunk into inescapable regret. She had no reason not to regret it. She was only twenty. She had so many wonderful friends. Even if she did not step into Heaven, she was still a Demigod Arcanist standing above all living beings. She still had many things she wanted to do, many places she had not been. Her life had only just begun... only for it to come to an abrupt end here.
She was like a lonely meteor, a brilliant firework. Even if it had shone