The Cabin Hidden Deep in the Devil's Mountain

The cabin was hidden deep in the devil's mountain. As night fell, an even deeper silence settled over the forest. Yua's terrifying gaze and her final scream still echoed in my ears, but I spent the entire night emptying one glass after another. My comrades from the battlefield sat beside me—the ones who'd bled with me in that hell. They understood. They asked no questions. They simply kept my cup filled in heavy silence.

The sweet liquor tore through my mind in an instant. "You know what I want to be~? A bird! I wanna be a free bird!" I shouted toward the sky, still clutching my cup. The cold air that sank deep into my lungs felt like ecstasy. The low ceiling of the cramped cabin suddenly looked like the distant night sky scattered with constellations. Freedom. The kind that binds you to nothing. The freedom that should have been mine finally felt like it rested in my grasp.

When I finished, Caron, the rough-faced man sitting across from me, let out a low chuckle. "Looks like someone's drunk. Young Master Leo."

Huh? Me, drunk? No way. I could drink way more than this and stay fine. My heart's just... at ease, that's all.

Claire, seated beside him, jabbed the sergeant in the ribs. Caron groaned. "We'll tease him plenty once he sobers up~"

Her voice seemed to overlap faintly with someone else's. Yua. That head maid. No, it's not Yua. She wouldn't be here teasing me. It's just my imagination.

I shook my head. The alcohol must be hitting harder. "Huh? I'm not drunk at all~"

Without realizing my tongue was slurring, I kicked an empty bottle rolling on the floor. "Yeah, yeah, sure thing." My comrades burst into quiet laughter as they watched me. Their laughter felt like gentle mockery, yet somehow it put me at ease. They understood me. They might not know all my chaos, but in this moment, they did.

"Then, Lord Leo, you're up for round two, right?" Caron looked at me with sparkling eyes. His face flushed red from the drink made him look like the boy I once was. "Of course I am! Let's goooo!" I laughed heartily and shot up from my seat. My body swayed. Whoa, why am I staggering? Maybe I didn't sleep enough last night.

"Then let's head to the tavern in town. No need to drink in this mountain shack," Caron said, steadying me. Town. The word struck deep. This mountain cabin was my only refuge. But even that refuge felt suffocating now. Ever since I'd fled under the pretense of an inspection, I'd been hiding here. All night, I'd been crushed under the weight of Yua's eyes.

"Huh? To town?" I tilted my head. This cabin was a secret place. If we went to town... Yua... Nah, forget it. There's no way Yua followed me all the way here. She caused that huge scene this morning. She couldn't possibly know I ran all the way out here. No matter how persistent Yua is... to the village? No. She's the mansion's maid. There's no chance she'd show up in some rural village. Right now she's probably tearing the mansion apart looking for me.

Under the influence of alcohol, Yua's image in my mind shrank smaller and smaller. She became nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum. I interpreted her obsession as nothing more than 'excessive worry.' Yeah. Sweet Yua. There's no way my good Yua would chase me all the way out here~.

I nodded firmly once more. My will was set in stone. The mountain cabin was no longer a prison. "Alright! Let's go!" I staggered forward, leading the way among my comrades. We pushed through the mountain path lit only by faint moonlight, searching for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tavern's glow. For some reason, my steps felt strangely light.

I was making a colossal mistake. Without knowing where this choice would lead me, from that moment on, time flowed like a blade—for me and for them.

My eyes were fixed on the clock tower's hands. One hour. The crime of losing Leo, and the crime of failing to obey my orders. I had to make up for all of it within this single hour.

My anger had not cooled. On the contrary, the colder my blood ran, the more frigid and intense the rage that surged within me. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Thirty minutes...

Finally, the first servant came running, his face slick with sweat. His shoulders trembled violently as he gasped for air. Several other servants followed right behind him. In their eyes I saw terror mixed with a faint spark of hope. They bowed their heads, avoiding my gaze as though I were a man-eating demon.

My eyes pierced through every one of them. There was only one question. The young master's location. They exchanged glances before the oldest-looking butler finally spoke, his voice trembling as if soaked in water.

"Y-yes... th-that's correct."

"He's at a small tavern... at the edge of the forest... on the outskirts of the capital... so we've been told."

The sound of my pen scraping across the paper rang coldly. My eyes bored into the butler's pupils. I could feel his heart pounding violently. Lies. I despise lies more than anything. Those who try to deceive me cannot be forgiven.

"E-eh? O-of course not! H-how could I dare lie to you!" He shook his head frantically and waved his hands. His whole body shuddered. His face had already turned deathly pale. The servants beside him all nodded desperately, trying to prove their innocence.

The corners of my lips curved upward slightly. A faint laugh almost escaped me. I had shown him hell. He had seen my abyss.

I looked up at the clock tower. Time had not stopped. From the moment I stood before the stable door where Young Master Leo had vanished, every second had been under my calculation.

The moment I wrote those words, their eyes widened dramatically. Shock and despair. Only now did they realize they had failed. They remembered my command of 'one hour.'

"Y-yes... that is correct..." Their voices had gone beyond sighs into utter resignation.

My pen slowly wrote the next sentence. Their eyes trembled. They seemed to think there was no longer any escape. Only now did they truly understand that their lives rested in my hands.

"P-please no! I have an elderly mother..."

"I have served the Heavenfield family for three generations... I have devoted my entire life to this mansion..."

"I have worked in this house for over sixty years...! I have never once left the mansion in my life...!"

The servants' desperate cries burst forth. They fell to their knees before me, begging. These people who had spent their lives in this mansion, clinging to it for their families, for survival—it was a pitiful sight. But in my eyes, they were nothing more than incompetent servants who had let my Leo escape. People who had interfered with my plans.

My pen stopped decisively. The servants' screams and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sobs froze instantly. Their terrified eyes locked onto ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me once more. Hope and despair churned wildly in their pupils.

I threw them a thin thread of hope. A faint relief crossed their faces. They still didn't know what I truly wanted.

My pen scratched through the air. This was the real beginning. Their eyes shook with unease. They tried to read my true intentions, but my face remained utterly expressionless.

The moment my pen finished that sentence, gasps of shock and horror erupted among the servants. Not Her Grace the Duchess, not even Young Master Leo—but me? A mere maid? They rubbed their eyes as if they couldn't believe what they had read. But I savored their confusion. Now they would learn who the true master of the mansion was.

My final words on the board were as decisive as a period at the end of a sentence. New terror bloomed alongside confusion in their eyes. Only now did they realize their master had changed. The guilt of losing Young Master Leo and the terror of dismissal had driven them to their knees before me.

"Y-yes! We understand!!!!!" All the servants shouted in unison. Their voices carried overwhelming obedience laced with pure fear. They were now completely mine. They had entered fully into my control.

I quietly set the wooden board down. My breathing was calm. My heart was ice-cold. Leo... you cannot run from me... Everything I am will hold you in place...

My gaze turned toward the distant place where Leo had vanished. The space I needed to control had already become a wasteland. Shattered plates, a broken dining table, cracked windows... All the destruction mirrored my own heart. It was a complete mess.

"Hehe."

But a laugh slipped through my lips. It was quiet, skin-crawling laughter. The rage that had shaken my entire body moments ago had vanished, leaving only cold satisfaction behind. Slowly, I walked toward the place where Young Master Leo had disappeared. My steps never faltered. It was like walking across frozen ice.

I crushed the broken table fragments beneath my feet and walked across the shattered glass. The glass shards screamed sharply under my soles. Crack! A piece of the broken window pierced through my shoe and stabbed my foot. Terrible pain surged from my sole. I felt blood welling up. Sticky, hot blood soaked the inside of my riding boots.

"M-Maid Head! B-blood! You're bleeding!" A servant who had been hiding somewhere in the mansion finally screamed. His voice was thick with horror. Too shocked by the sight of my blood to approach, he simply stamped his feet in panic. But I did not stop. It doesn't hurt at all.

Blood? Pain? Such things meant nothing to me. Compared to the pain of losing Leo, this physical agony was less than dust. They say a person can only feel one pain at a time. Someone had said that once. It was true. Right now, Leo is stabbing my heart far too deeply.

All my senses were focused solely on him. The pain of my heart being torn to shreds. The fact that he had abandoned me dominated everything. No external stimulus could penetrate my inner world. As if my senses had gone numb, the pain in my sole felt like nothing more than a faint tickle. No pain, no emotion could reach my heart.

I was numb. My steps carried me toward the mansion's main gate. Beyond the open doors lay the direction in which Young Master Leo had disappeared. I mounted a horse and rode in that direction. After riding down the mountain path for a while, I arrived at a shabby tavern on the outskirts of the village. Though it was late, bright lantern light spilled from within, accompanied by the loud, boisterous voices of patrons.

Rough wooden tables were covered with large beer mugs and piles of bones. The air here carried a different kind of thickness than the battlefield—one filled with raw, human liveliness.

"Another chicken over here!!!" Caron bellowed with a hearty laugh. His face was already flushed bright red.

"Three more beers as well~!" Claire shouted, waving her glass. Her voice was thick with intoxication.

"Aren't you all eating too much~?" I scolded, not realizing how badly my tongue was slurring. But I myself was already drifting in a hazy fog. It felt like my feet weren't even touching the ground.

"Of course we have to eat a lot! Our Young Master Leo promised to pay for everything!" Another comrade beside me nudged me as he spoke. I burst into loud laughter.

"That's right~ That's right~ How many lives do I owe you all? I have to buy everything!" Even though it was late, the tavern remained noisy and lively. Laughter, clinking dishes, and the smell of grilling meat assaulted every sense. To me, all of it felt both utterly unfamiliar and strangely invigorating—like standing in the middle of a battlefield.

In this moment, I felt as if I had escaped the oppression of the mansion and Yua's shadow.

"Oh, right. What are you going to do about school?" Caron suddenly asked out of nowhere. Despite his drunkenness, his voice carried a strange seriousness.

"School?" I narrowed my eyes. My head was spinning. School? I hadn't had the luxury to even think about that.

"You're old enough to attend the Academy now. The Empire treats its war heroes pretty well, you know." Caron tilted his glass. "A noble like you who's also a war hero could probably get into the Imperial Academy. Graduation would guarantee you a high position. As the legitimate heir of the Heavenfield family, isn't it a path you can't avoid?"

His words made the tavern's clamor fade for a moment. There was real weight behind them.

"Umm... I don't really know about that...?" I scratched my head. The truth was, while I was on the battlefield, Duke Ricardo had sent me a recommendation letter for the Imperial Academy. But at the time, I hadn't cared about any of that. I was too busy trying to survive the endless battles. I must have passed that letter to Yua. She would have handled it.

"I think a recommendation letter or something did arrive before..." I muttered. A hazy memory rose and vanished in the haze of alcohol.

"Oh, that's right~ I'm enrolling in the Imperial Academy this time~!" Claire chimed in. Her face was full of both drunkenness and pride.

"Wait, really?" I looked at Claire in surprise. She was a comrade who had fought across the battlefield with me. She wasn't a noble, but her tactical mind rivaled any aristocrat's.

"Well, it's not that strange. She's a war veteran too, and she comes from a noble family. The Imperial family gave out quite a few recommendations under the pretext of not forgetting those who contributed to the Empire." Caron nodded.

"What about you, Caron?" I looked at him. He was from a simple farming background. The Academy must have seemed like a dream to him.

"I'm not from a noble family, but my mercenary record was recognized, so I got in too. I'll be starting at the Imperial Academy next spring semester." Caron smiled awkwardly. There was quiet pride in his voice.

What? So both of them are going? I thought my friends would just farm, wander as mercenaries, or drink their lives away. But they've chosen a whole new path.

My heart began to race. A mixture of unknown emotions swirled inside me. Surprise at my friends, pride in them, and a strange sense of deprivation toward myself.

"What?? So you're both going together~?" I shot to my feet. My body swayed, but I managed to hold myself up through sheer willpower despite the alcohol.

"Then I can't be left out!" The words tumbled out under the influence of drink, but somehow my chest grew warm. "I'm going too~! To the Imperial Academy!"

"That's the spirit, Leo~" My comrades cheered. I could feel their expectations for me in their voices. The tavern reached its peak of liveliness. They seemed to be celebrating the beginning of my new life. I told myself this decision was for me.

"That's right~ That's right~ How many lives do I owe you all? I have to buy everything!" Even though it was late, the tavern remained noisy and lively. Laughter, clinking dishes, and the smell of grilling meat assaulted every sense. To me, all of it felt both utterly unfamiliar and strangely invigorating—like standing in the middle of a battlefield.

Glasses were emptied and refilled again and again. I forgot that time was even passing. That was when Caron leaned in, peering at my face and snickering.

"This guy would be perfect if he just kept his mouth shut."

"Exactly, ahahahahaha!" Claire joined in, laughing so loudly the entire tavern rang with it. Her laughter felt less like amusement and more like mockery.

This guy would be perfect if he just kept his mouth shut. Who are they talking about? Hmm. They're drunk, so I'll let it slide. Normally I'd have disciplined these bastards by now. Haha.

Everyone seated around me had faces flushed bright red. Empty bottles towered on the table like a monument. I had no idea when I'd drunk that much. All I knew was that my stomach felt unpleasantly full of liquor.

"Urrrrgh!" Suddenly a horrible sound erupted from Caron's thick throat. He staggered, trying to stand, but his legs gave out and he slammed his head into the next table with a dull thud.

"Hey! Caron, I told you to drink in moderation!" I slapped him on the back. His body swayed before he collapsed into a chair beside us. He was already completely unconscious.

Only then did I realize how much time had passed. The clock had long since passed midnight. The tavern's patrons were gradually thinning out. It was time to leave.

"Hey everyone. Let's call it a night. The tavern needs to close." At my words, they all rose. They staggered like a flock of baby chicks. Drunk out of their minds, they linked arms just like they had on the battlefield, singing incomprehensible songs as they stumbled forward. Drool dripped from their chins, and their clothes were stained with liquor and dirt. Yet their faces wore an inexplicable look of satisfaction.

Freedom. The kind that binds you to nothing. They looked like triumphant generals returning from war. My own heart pounded along with theirs. Every sense in my body was cheering. My body was drunk, but my heart was soaked in strange liberation.

Then Claire tapped my shoulder. She stared straight into my eyes. Beyond the drunken haze in her pupils lay a strange seriousness.

"Leeoo... are you... *hic*... okay...?" Her voice was soaked in alcohol, yet it sounded strangely desperate.

"What?" I narrowed my eyes. My mind was clouded with drink. What was she even saying?

"That contract. That! Damn! Contract." Claire's voice dropped. Her eyes burned fiercely. The words "damn contract" sent an unpleasant sensation crawling up my spine.

"Hey, I have no idea what you're talking about." I shook my head. My tongue was even more tangled. I pretended not to understand. What contract was she even referring to?

"Stop pretending you don't know. There's no one here but us." Claire grabbed my arm tightly. I could feel strength in her grip that went beyond mere drunkenness.

My gaze naturally swept the surroundings. The tavern was already empty. A chilling silence enveloped us. Caron staggered over to us. His eyes were just as cold as Claire's.

"We were all... included in that contract." Caron's voice was much lower and rougher than usual.

"That's right, Leo. There will be a price for you too." Claire stared directly into my eyes.

Price. An ominous word. A chill ran down my spine. The effects of the alcohol seemed to be fading.

"So what exactly are you—" I couldn't finish. My voice was already shaking from the drink.

"Stop pretending you don't know!!!" Claire suddenly shouted. Her voice echoed through the alley. The silence grew even heavier.

"Listen, Leonardo Heavenfield." Caron called my full name. All the alcohol in my system vanished in an instant. Their eyes were deadly serious.

"We know." Claire spoke in a low voice.

"Because 'it' came to all of us that day." Caron spoke as if sighing. The word "it" sent that same unpleasant sensation crawling over me.

The battalion commander and the recruits—thirteen in total. The numbers rang clearly in my ears.

"The battalion commander and the recruits—thirteen in total." Claire approached and whispered. Her breath brushed my cheek. It was cold.

"Six of us are still alive now." Caron recited the number. Thirteen down to six. More than half had died. A flash of that day's horrors shot through my mind. The dark cave that reeked of rot. Unidentifiable screams. Excruciating pain. My hands soaked in blood.

"This is not a story you can avoid just by running from it." Claire's voice had become completely cold.

"...Yeah. I know." I had no choice but to admit it. The things I had tried to avoid. The things I had tried to forget with alcohol.

"I was there too. It came for me as well." My voice was now dry, completely free of drunkenness. The nightmare of that day unfolded before my eyes.

"A devil." Claire said quietly. My heart plummeted. A bitter taste filled my mouth. A devil.

"Yeah. I figured someone who wanted to live more than anyone else would have definitely encountered one." Caron spoke coldly. His eyes were filled with strange pity and resignation.

"We need to share information." Claire gripped my arm tightly. Beyond the alcohol, I could feel the weight of shared trauma in her grip.

"We..." Caron paused. The silence in the tavern had become unbearable pressure. My heart raced madly. An unknown fear swallowed me.

"Because we are heretics who made contracts with devils." My mouth opened and closed wordlessly. A contract with a devil. Heresy. I shook my head. No. I was not such a being. But the terrible brand engraved on my palm did not betray me. It was an inescapable reality.

A flash of that day's horrors shot through my mind again. The dark cave that reeked of rot. Unidentifiable screams. Excruciating pain. My hands soaked in blood. The voice that had whispered to me.

"The fact that we—with no power or mana to speak of—became war heroes was no coincidence." Caron's voice sounded as if he had given up on everything.

"That day, the devil made me an offer. In exchange for taking what you want to protect..." He stared into empty space. His eyes held a deep despair that could not be explained.

"It would give me the power to end this war."

"And those words were true." Caron's voice was so dry it sent shivers down my spine. I swallowed hard. The terrible brand on my palm burned hot. I had hidden it.

"What ability did you gain? What did you offer as payment?" Caron asked.

"But the contract was never fulfilled for me."

"The devil took nothing from me."

"Which means it can take it from me at any time." Caron trembled with fear. His body shook uncontrollably. His face twisted in terror. This was the first time I had ever seen Caron—who had roamed battlefields his entire life without flinching at any pain—look like this. Thick tears rolled down his face.

"Calm down, Caron. What if someone hears you? Huh?" I tried my best to stay composed and looked around. Fortunately, no one was there.

"What if someone hears? Leo. Are you afraid of that?" Claire asked in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a cold voice. Her eyes burned fiercely. "Even with that power?"

"I wiped out an entire division by myself. With just one of those damned contracts." Caron spoke with a sneer. His voice carried both self-mockery and an indescribable scream.

One contract to annihilate an entire division. Heretic. Devil. All those words carved themselves into my mind.

"Yes, I'm afraid, Caron." I had no choice but to admit it. The fear I had buried deep in my heart crawled upward. "Unlike you, a wandering mercenary with nothing to lose..."

"We have many things we want to protect." Caron slammed his fist on the table. The table shook. Claire's eyes were filled with terror.

"The Empire may not be able to kill us..." Claire's voice grew even lower. Eerily so. "But it is entirely possible for them to kill the things we hold dear..."

Her words stabbed my heart like a blade. My entire world shook in an instant.

"I acknowledge that a conversation is necessary." I barely managed to speak. My voice was hoarse. My body trembled. I had to calm them down. I had to regain my composure.

"But not right now." I looked around the empty tavern. Someone might be listening. "You're too drunk." I grabbed Claire's shoulder. She stared at me blankly.

"Let's end it here for tonight and talk again at the Academy. We'll say everything we want to say then." My voice was firm, but it could not hide the desperation beneath it. This conversation had to end here.

"...Alright." Caron sighed.

"Understood. We'll talk next time." Claire nodded. Her face still held fear mixed with a strange madness.

"It was good to see you." I looked at them. Heretics who had contracted with devils. Were they still the comrades I knew? I couldn't tell where this night's conversation would lead me.

After parting with my comrades, I trudged through the dark alley toward where I had tied my horse. Ugh, I drank too much...Yua's probably really worried.I'll just apologize...

As I muttered to myself, the alley grew deeper into darkness. An eerie chill climbed from my toes. When I finally reached the corner where my horse was tied—

"Huh...? Huh?!!!!"

"My horse!!!" I couldn't believe my eyes. The horse was gone. My beloved steed 'Shadow,' who should have been waiting for me, was nowhere to be seen. Only a limp rope lay on the ground. It hadn't even been cut.

Did the horse break the rope and run away by itself...? That doesn't seem likely...

A thief...?

My mind was filled with confusion. An unknown sense of dread washed over me. I'll have to issue wanted posters across the territory later. I tried to organize my thoughts as I turned the corner of the dark alley. I was about to enter the next alley when I heard a familiar sound from the other side.

"Hiiihiiing!"

"Oh, what? So you were here."

"You silly thing, what were you going to do if you got away?"

Beyond the corner, my beloved horse was standing perfectly still in an oddly obedient manner. I should have realized something was wrong then... but whether it was the alcohol or my muddled head, I approached without suspicion, mounted the horse, and kicked its sides.

"Yah!"

...

"Yah!!!"

"Prrrrr..."

...?

"What's wrong with this guy? Why isn't it moving..."

The moment I turned around to check what was happening—

"Hup...!!!"

My heart nearly stopped. In the darkness of the alley, only a pair of violet eyes glowed.

"Y...Yua?"

"It's Yua... right?"

"Why did you follow me all the way here? So troublesome."

"Why are you holding the horse's tail... Let go, we need to go home..."

I tried to pull her hand away from the horse's tail. Yua's hand was as solid as iron chains. It didn't budge.

My name. The way it was written on her board. That single word seemed to pierce right through me. Goosebumps erupted across my entire body.

"Uh...uh?"

"No, I didn't run away..." I tried to make excuses. The body that had been swaying from alcohol was now trembling with fear.

"That's not what I meant!" I tried desperately to explain, but her next words on the board cut me off.

"I'm not getting down! Why are you ordering me around?!"

"Hah. So you're going to use force then..."

At that moment, the world flipped upside down. Before I could even finish speaking, a massive force engulfed me. I couldn't resist it. The scenery before my eyes inverted instantly. As if the world itself had turned upside down—Crash!—I tumbled across the ground. Terrible pain shot through my back. It felt like my spine had snapped.

"Uaaagh, ugh, ugh!" I writhed in agony. I could barely breathe. Through the pain, I faintly heard her voice. A cold voice.

"What the hell are you doing?! How dare you!!!"

"Of course it hurts!" She asked again. My heart was still pounding wildly. An unknown terror had swallowed everything.

Something was terribly wrong. I struggled to push myself up from the ground. "All that... just because of this?"

"Just because I left alone today?"

"Yeah, just because."

"Hey, not even eight hours have passed. How long were we apart for you to call it abandonment..."

Suddenly, rage exploded inside me. After everything I had done for her—going to war for her, becoming a heretic for her, selling my soul to be with her—and this was her response? The brakes in my brain snapped.

"Shut up! I won't have anything to do with you anymore. We're through!" It was just a single sentence I spat out.

Yua's eyes widened. She lifted the wooden board. The tip of the pen touched it. Every letter that passed by became distorted. She scratched at the board as if trying to break it. Unreadable symbols and numbers were mixed together. As if her sanity had completely collapsed. A single tear fell from her eye. It flowed from eyes already bloodshot red, tracing a terrifying path down her face.

And then—

"Ha... ahahahahahahahahaha"

What burst from Yua's mouth was laughter. Cold, dry, yet bizarrely full laughter. It was the laughter of someone who had transcended everything. That laughter tore through the dawn's silence and burrowed into my bones. Every hair on my body stood on end.

"Y...Yua?"

She slowly approached me.

"D-don't come near me!"

"Heh... hehihaha"

"Wait, Yua, let's talk properly for a second...!"

Her wooden board slammed down on my head. The impact was impossibly heavy for a mere board. My vision exploded in white light. At the same time, I heard the horrifying sound of bones breaking. With one strike, my body collapsed. I crumpled to the ground. But she didn't stop. My skull rang violently. The pain of being hammered repeated again and again.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The impacts continued without pause. My vision had already gone dark. I could feel hot blood flowing from my head. A cold sensation ran down my cheek. My body no longer felt like my own. All pain had become numb. As if even the agony itself had abandoned me. From far away, Yua's laughter sounded faintly. That was the last thing I remembered.

Darkness. And within that darkness, glowing violet eyes. My consciousness shattered into pieces.