Dancing on the golden ashes-Chapter 249: Pierced by Heaven’s Wrath

This world hates me. Well, not just this one—I believe the previous world hated me too. And for what reason? I still don't know. I don't know how she, the other me, lived her life in that world, but I can't imagine she was discarded the way I was. Trashed, spat on, cast aside by everyone she once knew. No… she must have been different. After all, she still knew love. Even if it ended in tragedy, at least she felt it. But me? Was I supposed to live the life of redemption she never finished? Was I born to suffer in her place?

Not that it matters now.

I raised my head toward the sky, my eyes meeting the storm that tore through the heavens. It looked as though the sky itself was being split apart, clawed open by some furious god. Clouds churned like a sea of shadows, and thunder screamed loud enough to make the earth tremble. For a moment, it felt like the entire world would collapse onto me, crushing me out of existence. But I didn't care. That was fine too.

"Come then," I muttered coldly, eyes narrowed as I stared up at the chaos. "Show me what's so special about you." I was talking to the heavens—no, I was mocking them. They say the heavens are not to be insulted. That they watch over their chosen ones with love and grace. But why should I care? They never treated me like their child in the first place.

Something flickered in my vision. It happened so fast, I didn't even have the time to blink, let alone react. A streak of blinding light—a pure arrow forged from lightning itself—pierced through my skull in an instant. There was no warning, no sound, only impact. Pain exploded within me. A violent surge of electricity rushed through my body, trying to melt me from the inside out. It wanted to fry my organs to ash, to reduce me to something so broken not even the system could repair it.

But my soul refused.

It surged forward, wrapping around my body like invisible threads of warmth, protecting and healing everything it could. The system reacted too, overclocking itself beyond its limits, desperately trying to stabilize me. I felt it pumping life into me, struggling to keep me conscious—but I still couldn't move. Not a finger. Not even a twitch. I was trapped in place, helpless, as the storm raged on above.

I was left staring into the sky, frozen in place. And there—high above—I saw it. A figure, towering in the heavens, easily one hundred meters tall. It stood as if sculpted from lightning itself, yet it bore the unmistakable shape of a human. Its body crackled with blinding energy, limbs outlined by veins of pure electricity, and in its hand rested a massive bow, long and elegant, burning with golden fire that shimmered against the storm.

I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. All I could do was watch as the figure slowly pulled the string back again—this time drawing not one, but two arrows. My eyes widened, but my body remained locked in place, as if the world had wrapped chains around my limbs. The moment those arrows were loosed, they vanished from sight, crossing the distance in less than the blink of an eye.

And then, they struck.

My body convulsed as a fresh surge of lightning tore through me, more violent than before. It didn't just burn—it shattered me from within. I felt every spark explode in my veins, each bolt eating away at what little strength I had left. I knew I couldn't endure this. No matter how strong my soul or how hard the system tried, there was no way to fight back. I couldn't run. I couldn't raise a hand in defense. I could only stand there and watch… as I was slowly destroyed, piece by piece.

What a fate, right?

I laughed inside. It was bitter, hollow, but somehow… funny. Of course it would end like this. I knew my body wouldn't survive another strike. I was going to die. It was obvious now. But at least they were safe. And maybe—just maybe—if the system still worked the same way, if my passive ability hadn't been broken by this world's wrath… then maybe I'd return. Revived after nine days, like before.

Or maybe this time, I'd simply perish. Erased by the decree of the world itself.

Yet even as I waited for death to claim me, it never did. The figure kept firing. Arrows rained down, again and again. And still… I was standing. Barely. I was hanging on by a single thread—fragile, invisible, fraying by the second—but it was still there. The pain that had once screamed through my body was gone now, replaced by something far worse.

Numbness.

I couldn't feel a thing. No agony, no fire, no heartbeat. My nerves had already been fried beyond recognition. I was hollowed out from the inside, and it was a miracle I was still upright.

A miracle… or a curse. Only fate knew the answer. But even as I stood there, broken and numb, something deep within me refused to die. It was faint, but it burned. A flicker of resistance, a whisper in the void, screaming that I couldn't fall here. Not yet. Not like this.

It was the will to live.

I still wanted to breathe. To walk this world with my own two feet. To see my friends again, to laugh, to cry, to feel. I wanted to see the stars with my own eyes, touch the edge of the universe, reach that impossible eternity I once dreamed of. I still had goals. I still had something to fight for.

A fire awakened inside me. It wasn't just rage or desperation—it was something far greater. It burned with colors I couldn't describe, like fragments of the cosmos itself had ignited in my soul. The flame was alive, and it was spreading fast. It devoured me. Not my body—but everything I was. My thoughts, my fears, my doubts. It consumed it all.

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And then… I felt it. My world began to slip away.

It started with my feet. They turned to ash, disintegrating softly, the wind carrying the remains into the storm above. Then it spread—legs, arms, chest—until only my head remained. The rest of me scattered like dust beneath the heavens.

But I wasn't afraid.

I didn't know if I would return. I didn't know if there would be a "me" left at the end of this. But even so… I was ready. Ready to face whatever came next.

I think the last of me faded soon after.

Darkness swept in like a tide, cold and absolute. It swallowed everything—my thoughts, my memories, even the fire that had burned so brightly.

And then, there was nothing.

I was gone.