Beyond the Eternity

Miyuki froze due to shock.

On the screen, a horrifying montage unfolded.

The brutal images of people she knew, some even her friends, being burned, whipped, beaten, and devoured played out in nightmarish detail. Each gruesome scene etched itself into her mind, with a merciless shiver spreading across her skin, and clenched her fragile heart with a suffocating terror.

All her party members had fallen victim to the Sisters' cruelty, condemned to fates that would forever intertwine with their stories, leaving haunting memories seared into her consciousness.

The defense mechanism within Miyuki's mind, designed to block out trauma, activated with force, attempting to eliminate and seal the horrific images deep in the depths. However, it was quickly overwhelmed by the weight of the despair she felt deep in her heart.

"Hah...hah..."

Miyuki staggered backwards. Her face had turned deadly pale and she felt sick to her stomach with something within emerging to the surface.

She felt the urge to vomit as though someone had stuck a finger down her throat. She used all her willpower not to vomit, but it was futile.

The burned body of Kim Jakga. Soo Jinyoung's back, lashed by merciless whips. Yoo Rin's skull seemingly crushed under a brutal blow. The pool of blood that marked Moon Jiyeon's passing as though it was a grim reminder of her existence.

Perhaps, had Miyuki been stronger, more developed, she could've fought back against the onslaught of those haunting images. But the mental resilience of a child could only go so far.

"Bllaaaarrgh!"

In that instant, her body doubled over, and with a violent retch, the contents of her stomach exploded from her mouth, spilling onto the floor.

She vomited.

It wasn't the first time she had witnessed such violence. In order to survive, she had been forced to commit acts of brutality herself, to take lives and become a murderer. But this was different. This wasn't just the violence of strangers, it was the people she gradually began to know, torn apart before her eyes.

That alone was enough to turn the gears inside her head.

With a disgusting sound, her vomit splattered onto the floor. The vomit spread, forming a pool of partially digested contents, and the stench of bile and rancid food filled the passage.

Luxuria's expression twisted in distaste. "Ughhh... How unsightly. Why did you have to vomit here? Don't you know how much effort the servants put into cleaning this floor?"

She looked at Miyuki with a mixture of disgust and contempt, her lips curling as though the very sight of the girl's weakness offended her.

But Miyuki wasn't listening.

Miyuki's body trembled uncontrollably as she continued to vomit onto the floor. It wasn't until several minutes later that she finally stopped and gradually managed to regain some composure.

Then, with trembling hands and a fiery glare, she lifted her head to meet Luxuria's gaze.

"You... How could you..."

"Ah, hmm... Why are you looking at me with such profound hatred? I truly wonder." Luxuria lazily moved the lollipop from one corner of her mouth to the other as she spoke with disinterest. "As you can see, it's my sisters who are responsible for that mess, not me. I don't always agree with their methods, you know... But it's not as if they have much of a choice."

Luxuria shifted the lollipop in her mouth before responding, "Have you ever heard of a deadly disease called boredom? It's truly frightening. Frightening, I must say! How can one survive without any form of stimulation? You might try various activities or learn new skills, but what happens when you've mastered them all?"

Miyuki frowned. "What are you even saying?"

"Ah, I guess you wouldn't understand since you haven't experienced such a deadly disease." Luxuria said in a bored-sounding voice despite the fact that she was smiling. "Imagine staying in a single place for a very, really long time without seeing the sunlight or sunset. At first, you might find ways to entertain yourself if you have company. But that excitement would slowly die down as you get used to those faces, and then you slowly become bored. The Sisters of Darkness are such existences. From the moment we were born, everything was clear. It was our duty to serve our master and take care of this house. Can you even imagine the absolute boredom that we had to face on the regular just for the sake of our mission? Experiencing the profound emptiness that consumes one's soul. Without challenges or new experiences, life becomes monotonous, leading to a sense of despair. In fact, you can call it despair in its truest sense."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

She paused, letting her words sink in. "So, to alleviate our boredom, we sometimes... indulge in certain activities. It's not out of malice, but rather a necessity to maintain our sanity. We, sisters, are not terrible people you know. In fact, we can even joke around as we're speaking now."

Miyuki asked with widened eyes. "You mean... all those things you did... were because you were bored?"

"Well, I suppose you can look at it that way." Luxuzia shrugged nonchalantly. "When you live as long as we do, boredom can be a powerful motivator. It's a deadly disease, after all."

"..."

Miyuki's astonishment deepened. Luxuzia's casual justification for such extreme violence was beyond comprehension.

In this world, saints did not exist; the First Narrative had eradicated any semblance of innocence.

But did that mean morality was completely discarded?

What distinguished a murderer from a monster?

A murderer kills with purpose or reason, whereas indiscriminate killing without cause is mere slaughter, marking one as a monster. But Luxuzia didn't fit neatly into either category. She simply viewed violence as a remedy for the 'deadly disease' of boredom.

Luxuzia, along with her sisters, committed atrocities to alleviate their ennui.

That was much more unreasonable and beyond cruel than an animal hunting for survival. Applying such logic elsewhere would imply that one could kill another person simply because they stepped on their favorite shoes or bumped into them by accident.

Had her party members been ruined for such a trivial reason?

The thought that her companions were hunted based on someone's boredom made her feel like the nerves of her brain were going to burst.

"Damn you....!"

She gritted her teeth, hard, and with a growl, unleashed the shadow wolves upon Luxuzia. They sprang from the lurking shadows of the passage, leaping toward her with jaws wide open, while others launched themselves as deadly projectiles.

It was an assault from all directions with no possibility of escape.

But the target herself didn't seem too bothered. It was as though she had already anticipated the assault.

Still smiling, Luxuzia gently tapped her cane on the floor, and a mysterious phenomenon was suddenly summoned into the passage without warning.

Thud!

The shadow wolves were struck by an unknown force, collapsing to the ground before they could even reach their target. In an instant, they were "flattened," annihilated without a trace.

Miyuki didn't have time to admire or question what had just happened, as she was suddenly slammed to the ground with overwhelming force.

No matter how hard she tried to resist, she couldn't even lift a finger from the ground.

It felt as though an unknown heavy weight or an invisible pressure from above was pinning her down. But the pressure wasn't just felt on her body, the strain was also felt on her soul.

On the other hand, Luxuzia seemed rather intrigued.

"Oh, isn't this interesting? I was planning on crushing you with just that, but you somehow managed to survive."

"Ack! What... is... happening..."

"And you're still talking in a situation like this? Ha ha! You're even more impressive than I thought. Not only did you tame my shadow wolves, but you also withstood my spirit pressure. No wonder you've managed to survive on your own for this long. Here I was thinking you were just an ordinary lost child. You're one sneaky little brat~"

"What...?"

"Ah, I see. You have that look in your eyes that says you don't understand what's happening." The lollipop in Luxuzia's mouth wobbled about happily. "Let me explain it in simple terms so you can understand, okay~? There's something called mana. It exists everywhere, whether within the body or the atmosphere, and it's omnipresent on the outside. If magic power is the energy within the body, then spirit pressure is the magic power released outside the body. I just released a bit of my spirit pressure and then manipulated the magic power I evoked, along with the mana in the air, to pin you down. Do you get it~? It's rather simple, so I would be surprised if you didn't understand that much."

Of course, Miyuki did not respond and focused on escaping the unknown pressure pinning her down.

Drawing on every ounce of strength, she summoned her remaining power and focused it on raising her body. Slowly, inch by inch, she attempted to push herself off the cold floor.

But before she could gain any ground, the force surged again, slamming her back down with even greater ferocity.

Luxuzia shook her head as if her attempt was pitiful. "No, no, no! That's a nice attempt, but you're doing it all wrong! Why are you trying to resist with your body and face, instead of your mana? At this rate, you're just going to end up crushed. How boring~"

"Come on, come on. I know you can do better than that! Or was I wrong about you? Hmm..." She paused, her smile twisting into something far more mischievous. "Oh, I know! Let's make this a little more interesting, shall we~?"

Still wearing that same unsettling smile, Luxuzia pointed the bottom tip of her cane directly at Miyuki, then swung it slightly to the right as though it were a sword.

That cane was a spiritual item that carried an mysterious power.

Miyuki suddenly felt an intense pressure on her right arm. Though she was already immobilized, the added force made her skin prickle with pain.

"…?!"

Sensing imminent danger, Miyuki tried to roll away, but her body remained locked in place.

"As I said, running won't work. You can only defend yourself with mana. Even if you're not a Witch, you should still be able to manipulate it. I'm merely moving the mana around your body. It's easier for you to control it than it is for me. So, try harder, or… I'll break your arm."

The pressure became even stronger. Miyuki had no clue on how to manipulate mana, but she tried her best to resist the pressure with all her might.

A few minutes later, the mana particles moved around her arm and lessened the pressure. The pain slowly began to subside, and the overwhelming pressure seemed to fade.

Somehow, without any understanding of mana, Miyuki had successfully managed to push back.

Luxuzia's eyes gleamed with interest as she licked her lips. "That's good! You're starting to get it! I knew you could withstand this much pressure. But…" Her smile widened cruelly. "Let's make things a little more fun, shall we~?"

She increased the pressure on Miyuki's arm. This time, however, Miyuki's feeble resistance crumbled. The overwhelming force emerged once more, leaving her utterly helpless.

Crack!

The unbearable weight pressed down on her arm, and the excruciating sensation of bones grinding against one another surged through her right hand. Finally, her arm was dislocated.

"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!"

A scream.

A soul wrenching scream that emerged from the bottom of Miyuki's stomach rather mere whimpering.

But that didn't move Luxuzia at all. Her face twisted into a look of visible disappointment as she gazed down at Miyuki.

"What a shame," she muttered. "You can't even withstand pressure of this level. My sisters always say this is weak. And here I even went out of my way to adjust my strength appropriately."

She let out a long, theatrical sigh.

"Honestly, this is such a waste of time. If I had known you were this pathetic, I would have gone somewhere else. Truly, what a pity. I wouldn't have minded letting you go, but since you're an enemy... I won't hold back."

With those cold words, Luxuzia raised her cane again.

This time, she didn't aim for the ground. She pointed it directly at Miyuki's head. She was going to end this here and now.

Tears welled up in Miyuki's eyes before she could even process what was happening. The overwhelming complaints of why she had to endure such torment, the paralyzing fear of facing an unstoppable and mysterious force, and the regret for her inability to resolve the situation. All these negative emotions intertwined, and weighed down on Miyuki's mind.

"I'm... sorry."

Miyuki muttered, apologizing to nobody in particular.

It wasn't for the monster standing before her, nor was it for herself. Perhaps it was for the people she had failed.

She waited. She waited patiently for the devastating blow that would completely crush her head and end her existence at once.

Right on cue, the cane that could manipulate a mysterious phenomenon was swung.