The mansion towered like a fossil from another era, its curved roofs and red pillars straight out of an ancient Chinese dynasty. Darius drifted through the quiet halls, each step echoing like a memory. No guards. No footsteps. Just emptiness.
He stopped in the center of the chamber and hugged himself, a crooked smile pulling at his lips.
"Ashel… my darling Ashel," he murmured. "That look in your eyes… it's terrifying. Gives me this sweet, burning feeling."
He lifted his head.
"The future's about to shift. You feel it too, don't you?"
He exhaled sharply and walked out into the world beyond the mansion.
He didn't need directions. His feet led him like instinct.
Eventually, he found her.
Outside the walls, the villagers had formed a trembling circle. A priest stood at the center, clutching a worn bible as if it could shield him from nightmares.
Darius slipped through the crowd, catching fragments of their fear.
A woman whispered, "Look at her… it's horrifying. I can't watch…"
A man muttered, "Poor child… some evil spirit's got her."
Another clasped his hands in prayer. "God help her. God help this whole town."
An old lady, voice quivering, sighed, "Heaven have mercy on that girl's soul…"
And then he saw her.
Two men were wrestling with a shaking wooden chair, sweat dripping down their foreheads.
"Hold her!" the priest snapped. "She's too strong!"
The chair jerked violently, and Ashel's voice burst like a demon's laugh.
"Aaaarrrhh! Hahaha!"
Gasps and screams rippled through the crowd.
Darius stepped forward. The old lady grabbed his sleeve.
"Young man, don't go near her! Death follows that girl!"
He didn't respond. He didn't even blink. He simply walked forward and knelt in front of Ashel.
The priest stumbled back.
"Do you value your life at all?!" one of the men shouted.
Darius glanced at him, His eyes were a hypnotic target of color: a black pupil ringed by three blazing orange circles, all set inside a vivid purple iris that seemed to glow from within.
"Not interested in your opinion."
He turned back to Ashel.
"I know you can hear me," he whispered.
Ashel's eyes rolled down, red light piercing through the slits. She slammed the chair again, but Darius grabbed her hands and held them steady.
One man panicked. "You're out of your mind! She killed two villagers! She slaughtered the cattle!"
"I said," Darius murmured, "don't make me repeat myself."
The man froze at the look in Darius's eyes.
The priest swallowed. "Let him do what he wants."
The men stepped aside.
Inside Ashel's mind, her wrists kept slipping against the ropes, skin burning. A sharp chime cut through the darkness as a translucent screen flickered into existence.
"System! System! Can you hear me?"
SYSTEM: YES, ASHEL.
"How did you even find me—forget it. Just tell me how to get out!" Her voice cracked, panic spiraling. "It hurts, aaah—System, help!"
SYSTEM: THERE IS A WAY. BUT YOU MUST ENDURE THE SEVEN-DAY TRIAL.
"Fine, whatever, as long as I'm alive. But what am I supposed to do?"
SYSTEM: YOU MUST DIE.
Her breath stopped. "…Die? With what life? I only have two left!"
SYSTEM: YES. YOU HOLD TWO LIFELINES.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Beyond her, Tsukuko stood in silence, eyes empty, watching nothing. Ashel narrowed her gaze. Something about that expression sparked a wicked idea, pulling a slow grin across her face.
Still dangling from the rope, she glanced at the glitching screen showing the outside world. Darius stood there, unaware.
Tsukuko suddenly raised her bow and fired. The arrow slammed into the wall, and the screen convulsed, pixels scattering like shattered glass.
A faint voice curled into Darius's mind.
Darius… Darius…
I hear you, he replied silently.
Villagers gasped. "He's talking to the demon…" someone whispered.
Darius rose to his feet.
"There's no need for fear," he told them, voice steady.
But a small figure darted from the crowd.
A little girl, holding a rusty knife with both hands, tears streaming down her face.
"You monster!" she screamed. "You killed my mother! My father! I'll kill you!"
Darius grabbed her before she reached Ashel.
Ashel shrieked again, the sound cutting through him.
He crouched to face the child.
"Let me handle this," he said softly.
"She took everything from me!" the girl cried. "I have no one!"
An old woman rushed in, pulling the girl into her arms.
"Hush, child… there is only grief here…"
Ashel's voice trembled through Darius's mind, thin and breaking.
Darius… kill me. Aah—just do it. There's no time to argue.
Another arrow whistled toward her. It looked aimed for her hands, but Tsukuko's true target was the rope.
Darius's breath hitched.
No. Ashel, stop. There's another way.
There isn't, she answered, her voice steadying with grim certainty.
"You know there isn't. If that girl stabbed me, it wouldn't work,You're the only one who can do it. Now."
Ashel…
"Hurry up, I don't have time!" Ashel's voice cracked into the void, raw and furious.
The rope finally snapped. Her body dropped straight into the darkness below, swallowed before she could even catch her breath.
Darius closed his eyes for a heartbeat.
Do it!
He stood.
"I'll make it painless."
He pulled off his gloves. The air trembled. Wind swirled around his hand, twisting, forming, until a blade materialized like a whisper of steel.
The crowd fell silent.
He lifted the sword.
"Ashel," he said quietly, "forgive me."
In a single, clean stroke, he severed her head.
It smiled..and nothing happened.
Her head hit the ground. The body slumped. Silence swallowed the village.
Night arrived like a curtain falling.
A figure stumbled toward them, breath sharp, eyes wide.
Edward.
He dropped to his knees the moment he saw her.
"Ashel… no… you monster… you took her from me!" His voice cracked, raw with grief.
Darius lifted Ashel's head in both hands.
He turned to leave.
"Stop!" Edward shouted. "Don't you walk away!"
"I'll explain later." Darius met his eyes, face unreadable.
"I swore to protect her!" Edward's voice broke. "Why… why would you…?"
Edward clench his hands in fist and hit the ground.
Edward lunged at Darius, rage tearing through him like something feral. He aimed straight for Darius's throat, breath shaking, eyes wild.
Before Edward could reach him, Darius sensed the attack, shifted Ashel out of the way with one hand, and spun. His kick snapped upward, smashing into Edward's face and sending him skidding across the ground.
Edward coughed blood but forced himself up again.
"A sneak attack, huh?" Darius muttered, barely impressed.
Edward charged once more. Darius met him head-on, fists landing with brutal precision. Each hit drove Edward lower, until his legs finally buckled. He collapsed, bleeding and dazed, still trying to rise.
"You're still so weak," Darius said, his voice flat. "You can't even protect yourself."
"You wanted revenge," Darius said. "Now you have it."
The little girl who lost her parents watched him with hollow eyes. No relief. No victory. Just emptiness.
The villagers drifted away in silence.
And Darius walked into the night, Ashel's blood dripping down his arms, her head resting against his chest like something precious.