I was at the end of my rope, vision spotting black at the edges, lungs screaming for air that wouldn't come.
If I'd known this was how it'd play out—if I'd glimpsed even a shadow of Caligula's grudge festering—I'd have schemed a dozen ways to sidestep her, bury her under legal knots or leaked dirt that'd keep her leashed for good.
Heh, all that potential churning inside me, the same relentless brain that clawed its way to the top of the national exams with perfect scores across the board—it meant nothing now.
Everything I achieved, every effort I put on the table, all of it was useless against true talent, true strength, the kind that was forged in bloodlines and Egos that bent the world to their whim.
The vise on my throat eased, just a fraction—not enough to slip free, but enough to drag in a ragged breath that tasted like rust and regret.
Then I heard him, voice cracking through the din like a thunderclap laced with raw fury.
"Caligula!"
Violence Tamer staggered into view, his bulk was a roadmap of bruises and gashes, muscles corded and quivering under torn fabric as if every fiber fought to hold him upright.
Blood wept from his eyes, staining his cheeks in rivulets, while he ground his teeth so hard I swore I heard his jaw crack.
His gaze locked on us, unblinking, that telltale hush rippling outward—his Ego in full throttle, smothering any spark of volatile harm within his sight.
Caligula let out a low chuckle, the sound curling like smoke from her lips. "Oh, look at you. Still playing the noble fool. How utterly dumb. Do you even grasp how many ways I could dismantle that little parlor trick of yours?"
She ticked them off on her fingers, casual as listing groceries, her voice dripping with the thrill of superiority. "Starting with the basics—I can shatter some of this delightful rubble, kick up a smokescreen thick enough to blind a bat. Or simply bolt skyward, loop around faster than your thick skull could track, you know, all of the physical stuff.
"And that's without dipping into my Ego, the one that toys with perspective like it's clay~"
"Caligula." He didn't flinch, didn't so much as blink through the crimson haze in his eyes. "A Hero wouldn't do what you're doing right now."
"Duh, do you think I'm as dumb as you?" Caligula smirked. "Also, how's the subjugation of the villain going?"
"Reinforcement has arrived, alongside you, around 12 Heroes has been deployed to vanquish the Swell level threat."
"Alright, thank you for the report. Now, shoo, what are you waiting for?" Caligula mockingly tilted her head. "I have a private business to take care, and it sure as hell not related to you."
Yet, despite the warning from the infamous Caligula, Violence Tamer stood on his ground.
"Regardless of how vengeful you are to this little journalist, your existence is beyond mere mortal. For us Heroes to step so low as to enact a punishment on those who aren't even assigned a level threat yet, this is unbecoming of us, Caligula."
I'm sorry, Violence Tamer, but this bitch was beyond saving.
Caligula tilted her head, index finger tapping her cheek in mock contemplation, the gesture almost girlish if not for the venom glinting in her crimson stare.
"Maybe you're right. Killing this brat outright? It lacks... the punishment to pay for all of her sins, mmm~"
Hysteria bubbled up then, her laughter echoing off the shattered walls like shattering glass—wild, unhinged, the kind that hollowed out the air around us.
She wiped at an invisible tear, composing herself with exaggerated poise. "Thank you, Violence Tamer. You've just made me realize that I can do more!"
Space folded in that nauseating lurch again, the district vanishing in a smear of gray ruin.
When reality snapped back, we hung above a sprawl that defied every map I'd ever studied.
Towering spires of obsidian and bone-white stone piercing a sky that was bruised eternal crimson, arches and gargoyles leering from every ledge in gothic excess.
Streets wound below like veins, pulsing with distant shadows that moved too fluidly to be human.
It felt like I had entered an alternate world.
"Welcome to the Demonic Realm," Caligula murmured, her breath warm against my ear as she cradled me like a discarded doll. "Beautiful, isn't it? All that jagged elegance, those endless architecture coated in darkness. And the inhabitants... oh, they're exquisite for my purposes when it comes to make you pay~"
I forced my gaze to hers, defiance coiling tight despite the throb in my gut.
She leaned closer, lips brushing my temple. "A journalist like you should be thrilled. Seekers of truth, always poking into the dark. Now you'll see the other side up close—what brews beyond the gates, the machinations that make our little skirmishes look like playground scuffles~
"Imagine the fun they'll have with you, Those Demons, the moment they spot fresh meat like yours~
"Maybe they start with torture, peeling back layers until you beg for death. Or violation, twisting your body into shapes mercy forgot, defiling every inch of your being until you're mindbroken beyond repair~
"Maybe they'll go for experimentation, perhaps—carving you open to see what makes a mortal tick, reshaping you into some mindless beast, all claws and hunger.
"The possibilities are endless," she purred. "Demons are such wonderful beings, aren't they? To think that they possess a semblance of civilization while acting like a ravenous beast the moment they invade our Districts. Maybe they are misunderstood, who knows?
"Not that I care~!"
I gathered what spit I had left—bitter, metallic—and hawked it square in her face.
It splattered across her cheek, dripping slowly like a honeyed curse.
A grin cracked my bloodied lips anyway, wide and feral through the haze of pain.
"Hah, better than dying by your hands, you fraud."
She froze for a beat, then threw her head back, laughter booming across the crimson void—deeper this time, triumphant, as if I'd handed her the punchline to her favorite joke.
"Oh well, there's no reason to talk back to a doomed person."
Her fingers sprang open, and I plummeted, down, and down to the land of the never.
To my new and precious hell.