(Location:- Soul mountain Libeus)
(Yuuta's POV)
My head felt like it had been cracked open and stuffed with fog.
I wasn't dreaming—but I wasn't really awake, either. It felt like I'd been drifting for days, maybe weeks, floating in an endless void with no beginning, no end. Weightless. Thoughtless. Empty.
But then—slowly—sensation started to return.
Cold.
A deep, bitter cold that wrapped itself around my limbs like wet cloth. My fingers twitched, and something scraped against them.
Metal.
I tried to move, and a heavy clank echoed through the stillness.
Chains.
A dull ache bloomed in my wrists, then spread across my back and shoulders. Soreness layered on top of pain, like my body had been stretched out and left too long to rot.
I forced my eyes open.
The world was dark at first. Blurry. But after a few seconds, shapes started to form. Shadows. Stone. Moisture dripping from above. The ceiling—if it could even be called that—was jagged rock, uneven and cracked, damp with years of condensation.
I blinked hard, trying to clear the fog from my vision.
The air was thick. Heavy. Tainted with a mix of smoke, ash… and blood. It curled in my nose, dry and metallic, making my throat clench.
I groaned and shifted, pain lancing down my spine like fire.
Chains rattled.
Real chains. Thick and old, rusted to a reddish black and glowing faintly red-hot where they wrapped around my skin. Like they had been forged not to bind but to burn.
"What the hell…?"
The words came out dry. Croaking. Like I hadn't used my voice in days.
My gaze drifted downward.
I was on the ground—half-sitting, half-slumped—my wrists chained to a ring in the floor, ankles bound and locked together. Blood—some dry, some not—stained the stone beneath me.
I swallowed hard. My lips cracked. My heartbeat was starting to race now, hammering against my ribs with growing panic.
Where was I?
I slowly turned my head, scanning the space.
A cavern—massive and hollow, stretching farther than the eye could follow. The walls were rough stone, covered in strange symbols and glowing markings I didn't recognize. Some were pulsing softly. Others were nearly hidden beneath thick, crusted trails of blood.
And at the center of it all… a ritual circle.
Enormous. Geometric. Precise.
Fresh.
It looked like it had just been used.
That's when I saw them.
Bones.
Not just one or two—piles. Human skeletons slumped against the walls, skulls stacked in corners like decorations. Some bones were melted into the stone, fused as if the rock itself had swallowed them whole.
My blood went cold.
This place—this wasn't a dungeon. It was a graveyard. A feeding ground for something far worse than death.
"What… what is this place?" I whispered, my voice trembling.
The silence answered me.
Thick. Suffocating.
I pulled against the chains again. Harder this time.
Clank.
Still nothing. No give. No weakness.
Panic bubbled up in my chest, rising fast.
"Hello?!" I called out, louder now. "Is anyone there? What the hell is this?!"
Silence.
Then—a breath.
Slow. Measured. Not mine.
My chest seized. My fingers curled into fists.
No. No, no, no. I'm not alone.
My eyes darted around, trying to pinpoint the sound. But it was too dark. Too quiet. The breath had come from somewhere nearby—too nearby.
I strained against the chains, desperation turning into adrenaline.
I had to get out. I had to find Elena. She was still out there—she had to be—and I wasn't going to rot in this pit while she needed me.
"Who did this to me?!" I shouted, my voice cracking. "You want a fight?! Show your face!"
From the far edge of the ritual circle, something moved.
A figure stepped forward.
And I froze.
He wasn't human. Not anymore.
Tall. Unnaturally tall. Clad in armor that looked like it had been scorched in a thousand fires. Blackened and cracked, the metal steamed where it touched the air. From beneath a broken helm, glowing red eyes watched me—unblinking, inhuman.
He moved like he didn't walk, but floated. The ground beneath him hissed.
A demon.
Or something worse.
"You're awake," he said.
His voice was deep. Distorted. Like it echoed from the bottom of a well filled with ash.
"Good," he continued. "Now I can begin the torture."
My mouth dried instantly.
"What?" I managed to croak. "Torture? You're out of your damn mind—let me go!"
He didn't respond.
Instead, he reached behind him and produced a small iron needle. Then another item—something jagged, cruel, like a twisted hook meant for tearing flesh.
Panic overtook me.
"Wait—wait, hold on! We can talk! There's no need to—"
He kept coming.
Step by step.
"You want money?" I shouted. "I've got money! I'll pay you! Anything! Just stop!"
And suddenly, I understood why people in stories always begged before they died. Why even villains offered gold and sliver.
It wasn't cowardice.
It was instinct.
He didn't slow.
He raised the needle.
And then—
"Stop."
The word cracked through the cave like thunder.
The armored figure halted mid-step.
I turned toward the voice, my chest still heaving.
Footsteps echoed through the cavern—slow, confident.
Another silhouette emerged from the shadows beyond the circle. And at first—just for a second—I thought maybe, just maybe, I was being rescued.
But then he stepped into the light.
And my heart dropped like a stone.
No.
Not him.
Anyone but him.
I saw him.
Aaron Muru.
And for a moment, I couldn't move.
I'd told myself, if I ever met him again—I'd kill him. I pictured it more than once. The moment we'd lock eyes, I'd spit every ounce of fury I had in his face. Fists clenched, heart pounding, no hesitation.
But now?
Now, in this choking cave of blood and stone, chained and half-conscious, I wasn't filled with rage.
I was filled with confusion.
And something worse.
Dread.
He didn't look real. Not like the Aaron I remembered. That version—the one plastered across magazine covers and movie screens—was long gone. He'd been flawless back then. Camera-ready. Charming. A poster child for success.
But the man standing in front of me now?
He looked like a hollowed-out shell.
His skin was pale, almost sickly. His once-sharp jawline sagged under stress and sleepless nights. His designer clothes were torn and dusty, hanging off his body like they didn't belong to him anymore. Eyes sunken. Movements twitchy. Like he hadn't rested in years.
"Aaron...?" I muttered.
He didn't answer. Not at first.
He just stood there, staring at me like I was a ghost. Then, without warning, he grabbed my Mobius jacket collar and yanked me forward. The chains around my arms clanked in protest.
His hands trembled. His eyes—wild.
"Why, Yuuta?" he said, his voice low, fraying at the edges. "Why did you do this to me?"
I blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't act like you don't know!" he snapped. "Look at me! Look at what you've done! You ruined me!"
His voice cracked, like it couldn't hold the weight of his rage.
"What the hell happened to you?" I asked quietly.
He flinched like I'd hit him.
"It's because of you!" he snarled.
My brow furrowed. "Me?"
He jabbed a shaking finger in my face. "You and your wife. If you hadn't come to the zoo that day, my life would've stayed perfect! I would've been a global icon! The world was mine!"
My stomach twisted.
"Are you serious?" I said, stunned. "You stalked my wife. Your assistant pushed my daughter. You separated me from Erza. You endangered my child. And when Erza confronted you—you ran. Like a coward."
"No!" he cried, clutching his head. "No, that's not… that's not how it happened…"
He took a step back, shaking violently. His fingers dug into his scalp, eyes darting as if trying to escape his own memories.
"You're lying! You've twisted it! This is a lie—this is a lie!"
"It's not," I said, calmly but firmly. "That's the truth."
His legs gave out beneath him. He collapsed to his knees, still gripping his head. His body shook, breath coming in shallow gasps.
"Then… then it's my fault?" he whispered.
That was when I truly saw it.
He wasn't just broken.
He was conditioned. Like someone had taken a scalpel to his brain and started cutting out the inconvenient truths. His memories were jumbled. Warped.
This wasn't guilt—it was programming unraveling.
And then—
Clap.
A single, deliberate clap echoed through the cave.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Slow. Mocking.
Then, a voice—smooth and smug—cut through the silence.
"Subharshi… subharshi," the voice drawled in a language I didn't recognize, but the tone said it all: remarkable.
My breath caught.
Footsteps echoed off the stone floor, and a figure emerged from the shadows like a serpent uncoiling.
Tall. Impeccably dressed in black. And wearing a grin that chilled the blood in my veins.
His eyes gleamed with delight. Not joy—no. Something colder. Like he was watching a performance he'd orchestrated from the start.
"Yuuta Kounari," he said, his voice rich and amused. "You really can change people's minds."
My muscles tensed. "Who the hell are you?"
He bowed, mockingly elegant.
"As I mentioned earlier… I am Allen Manster."
No.
No, no. That smile—I knew it.
Suddenly, I was back at the zoo. The crowd. The screaming. The assistant.
I squinted at him.
"You… you were Aaron's assistant," I said, voice shaking with realization. "You were there that day."
Allen's smile widened, like a magician revealing the final card in a long con.
"Was I?" he asked playfully. "Or was that just the mask I wore that day?"
Allen smiled at me.
But it wasn't the kind of smile you'd see in a photo, or the polite grin people wear in crowded rooms.
No.
It was the kind of smile that curdled the blood.
Cold. Confident. Cruel.
The kind of smile that said he'd already seen how this would end—and he liked it.
Something in my chest twisted. I couldn't breathe right. My lungs tightened. That look in his eyes… it wasn't human.
I knew predators when I saw them.
And this time?
I was the prey.
Before I could speak, Aaron dropped to his knees beside me with a wet thud.
Then came the sound.
Wretches. Chokes. Vomit.
He doubled over, clutching his stomach as he vomited violently onto the stone floor. His whole body shook, bones rattling beneath thinning skin. His breath came in short, desperate gasps.
Allen cocked his head, watching with mild curiosity—like a man surprised his favorite toy had suddenly malfunctioned.
Then, with a sigh that sounded almost… disappointed, he stepped forward.
Not rushed. Not concerned.
Just… calm.
Like a teacher about to scold a child for coloring outside the lines.
"Ohhh, my pitiful master," Allen said softly, kneeling beside Aaron. "You really shouldn't have tried to break free from my spell. That wasn't very smart of you."
Aaron gagged again, too weak to respond. His fingers clawed uselessly at the floor.
Allen reached out and gently placed a hand on his head.
The air around them shifted—shimmered—with a faint, eerie distortion. Like heat waves… but black.
Magic.
"Looks like I'll have to start from scratch again," Allen murmured, almost to himself.
Then he leaned closer to Aaron's ear and whispered something I wasn't meant to hear.
But I did.
"Everything I told you… was real. Everything Yuuta said… was a lie."
Aaron's lips twitched. He tried to fight it—I could see it in the way his fingers curled, the way his jaw clenched.
But slowly… he went still.
His face slackened.
His eyes glazed over.
And then he repeated the words like a puppet on strings.
"Everything Allen told me is real…
Yuuta lied…"
My heart sank like a stone in water.
"Aaron," I said, taking a shaky step forward. "No. Don't listen to him. That's not true. You know me."
He didn't even blink.
Allen stood up, dusting off his coat like nothing had happened. Like he hadn't just erased a man's identity in front of me.
I clenched my fists, still bound in chains. "Allen," I said, my voice shaking but sharp, "why are you doing this?"
He turned his head slowly.
Then he laughed.
But it wasn't a normal laugh. Not even close.
It burst from his chest like something feral. A high, manic cackle that echoed off the stone walls, bouncing around the cave until it felt like the sound itself was mocking me.
When he finally calmed, he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and smiled again.
"It's because of your wife, Yuuta."
I froze. "…What?"
"That day," he said, with a casual wave of his hand. "When she threaten my puppet and place a cursed on him."
He glanced at Aaron's empty expression.
"He snapped. Couldn't handle it. Couldn't process the humiliation and madness. The collapse. He drank himself into madness. Screamed at ghosts. Tried to claw his way back to the top. But my contract with him? It needed a stable mind. And his was shattered."
His voice turned colder.
Sharper.
"So, I rewrote the story. Gave him a new villain. You. I inserted your name into his memories. Twisted the truth. Made you the reason for everything. Said you plotted it all. Said you ruined his life out of jealousy. It's took me, 49 chapter to make him my loyal puppet."
I stared at him, sick to my stomach.
"You're a devil."
Allen tilted his head slightly. "Takes one to recognize one, doesn't it?"
Then—snap.
He snapped his fingers.
And the cave… shifted.
The air thickened. Grew heavy.
I felt it before I heard it—the presence.
A cold, ancient wrongness, rising from somewhere deep.
Footsteps.
Slow. Heavy. Not human.
Allen's grin widened.
"I think you're ready now," he said, voice gleaming with cruel satisfaction.
Then, turning toward the darkness, he spoke the name like a curse.
"Xemon… begin the torture."
Panic surged in my chest. My chains rattled as I twisted, desperate.
"Wait—Allen, why are you doing this?! What do you even want from me?!"
He didn't turn around.
Didn't even pause.
He just bent down, scooped up Aaron like a sleeping child in his arms, and began walking toward the shadows.
"For my freedom," he said simply.
And with that—
He walked into the shadows, disappearing with Aaron.
Leaving me behind.
Alone.
With Xemon.
To be continue....
Elena: stomps tiny foot
Hey!! You!!
Yes you, the meanie with the cool shiny stuff!
I'm super duper MAD!! (≧皿≦)
You didn't give me the power stone!!
That's illegal in baby law!! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
crosses arms, puffs cheeks
Hmph! I'm not talking to you anymore!!
turns around dramatically and peeks back after 3 seconds
...
Elena:
Umm... heyyyyy~
Sooo... maybe if you're not too busy being a big meanie…
Can I pwetty pwetty pleaaase have the power stone now? ^_^
I made a dance for it! wiggles arms
Look! I'm even using my super cuteness attack!!
activates MAXIMUM SPARKLE MODE >.<
You can't say no now... right? Right??
^_^