West's mind drifted backward in time... to the moment the chamber fell silent after she vanished.
The divine pressure that had crushed his lungs, bent the air, and made the world feel unbearably small was suddenly gone, as if it had never existed.
The gargantuan goddess, her six arms, her blinding rings of light, her dismissive arrogance... all of it... had disappeared without leaving even an echo behind.
Only destruction remained.
West lay there for a long while, floating half-submerged in the pool, staring up at a ceiling that no longer existed. Steam hissed from scorched stone. The chamber had been carved open violently with its edges melted and rough.
He exhaled slowly.
"…Back to square one," he muttered.
There was no triumphant fanfare or feeling of victory.
Just exhaustion and the sobering realization that he had failed to contract a very powerful being.
West understood what that meant.
