Nobody moved.
⸻ The underground chamber had gone completely silent.
⸻ The torches flickered.
⸻ A chill swept through the room.
⸻ And in the darkness beyond the light— two pink-crimson eyes stared at them.
⸻ Watching.
⸻ Studying.
⸻ Amused.
⸻ “…Interesting.” A soft voice echoed.
⸻ Everyone immediately became alert.
⸻ Jakel stepped forward.
⸻ War hammer in hand.
⸻ Thomas drew his sword.
⸻ Morgan raised her staff.
⸻ Lancelot’s hand rested upon his blade.
⸻ Eidra’s gaze sharpened.
⸻ Arthur peered into the darkness.
⸻ “…Hello?” ⸻ Several heads turned toward him.
⸻ Arthur tilted his head.
⸻ “What?” ⸻ “You greeted it.” Thomas said.
⸻ “It talked first.
Same thing.” ⸻ A Visitor The pink-crimson eyes slowly moved.
⸻ Then.
⸻ A figure stepped into the torchlight.
⸻ A woman.
⸻ Tall.
⸻ Pale.
⸻ Long black hair trailed behind her.
⸻ Pink-crimson eyes.
⸻ Dark clothing.
⸻ Beautiful.
⸻ Wrongly so.
⸻ She looked less like a person and more like something reality had reluctantly given shape.
⸻ And her smile was… ⸻ Troubling.
⸻ Deeply troubling.
⸻ Thomas immediately took another step backward.
⸻ “No.” ⸻ Arthur frowned.
⸻ “What?” ⸻ “I know this type.” ⸻ “What type?” ⸻ “The kind that ruins lives.” ⸻ The woman laughed.
⸻ A soft.
⸻ Almost musical laugh.
⸻ “I have been called far worse.” ⸻ Morgan frowned.
⸻ There was mana around her.
⸻ Strange mana.
⸻ Familiar.
⸻ Disturbingly familiar.
⸻ Then she went still.
⸻ “No way.” ⸻ The woman looked pleased.
⸻ “Oh?” ⸻ Morgan pointed.
⸻ “You’re the mana.” ⸻ The woman looked genuinely surprised.
⸻ “…You discerned that remarkably quickly.” ⸻ Morgan stared at her in horror.
⸻ “I was guessing!” ⸻ Selene Voss The woman bowed politely.
⸻ “Selene Voss.” ⸻ Lancelot frowned.
⸻ “I’ve never heard of you.” ⸻ Selene smiled.
⸻ “You were never intended to.” ⸻ That answer somehow felt ominous.
⸻ Like a door that should never have been opened.
⸻ Arthur studied her.
⸻ “Did you take the village?” ⸻ A collective glance shifted toward him.
⸻ Straight to the point.
⸻ Again.
⸻ Selene arched a brow.
⸻ Then smiled.
⸻ “Yes.
I was instructed to.” ⸻ Nobody expected that.
⸻ Even Arthur blinked.
⸻ “And why?” ⸻ “And I wished to observe the consequences.” ⸻ Thomas paled.
⸻ “She somehow makes Morgan look normal.” ⸻ “I heard that.” Morgan said.
⸻ Folded Reality Arthur stepped forward.
⸻ “What did you do to them?” ⸻ Selene’s eyes followed him.
⸻ Curious.
⸻ Unexpectedly so.
⸻ “I relocated them.” ⸻ “Where?” ⸻ “Elsewhere.” ⸻ Morgan looked disturbed again.
⸻ “You folded reality.” ⸻ “Yes.” ⸻ “You can do that?” ⸻ “How?” ⸻ Selene regarded her for a moment.
⸻ “By doing it.” ⸻ Morgan looked deeply unsatisfied with that answer.
⸻ Inside Aethelion.
⸻ Leona was staring.
⸻ Utterly bewildered.
⸻ “…That should not exist.” ⸻ Arthur glanced upward.
⸻ “People keep saying that.” ⸻ “I am not being figurative.” ⸻ “You usually aren’t.” ⸻ Leona ignored him.
⸻ The Duke’s Anger Lancelot stepped forward.
⸻ For the first time.
⸻ He looked angry.
⸻ Not irritated.
⸻ Not frustrated.
⸻ Angry.
⸻ “Are they alive?” ⸻ Selene met his gaze.
⸻ Then nodded.
⸻ “Yes.
Unharmed.
Frightened.” ⸻ Lancelot slowly exhaled.
⸻ The tension in his shoulders eased.
⸻ Only slightly.
⸻ “Take us to them.” ⸻ Selene smiled.
⸻ “No.” ⸻ Lancelot stared at her.
⸻ “What do you mean, no?” ⸻ “She sounded entirely too cheerful.” ⸻ “You kidnapped an entire village.” ⸻ “I relocated it.” ⸻ “That isn’t better.” ⸻ “I disagree.” ⸻ Interest Selene looked toward Arthur.
⸻ Again.
⸻ Then slowly circled him.
⸻ Arthur pivoted to keep facing her.
⸻ Like a confused puppy.
⸻ Everyone watched.
⸻ Mostly with concern.
⸻ She stopped.
⸻ Then looked him directly in the eyes.
⸻ “…Fascinating.” ⸻ “You already said that.” Arthur said.
⸻ “I know.” ⸻ She smiled.
⸻ “You are considerably weaker than I expected.” ⸻ Arthur grimaced.
⸻ “…Thanks?” ⸻ “That was not a compliment.” ⸻ “Oh.” ⸻ She studied him.
⸻ Then: ⸻ “And yet…” ⸻ She leaned closer.
⸻ “…I can see it.” ⸻ Arthur frowned.
⸻ “See what?” ⸻ She smiled.
⸻ “Potential.” ⸻ Nobody liked the way she said that.
⸻ Not even Eidra.
⸻ Especially not Eidra.
⸻ A Proposal Selene stepped backward.
⸻ Then stretched.
⸻ “I have decided.” ⸻ Nobody liked that sentence either.
⸻ “I will observe you.” ⸻ “What?” Arthur asked.
⸻ “You interest me.” ⸻ “I have not encountered anything interesting in centuries.” ⸻ Everyone somehow disliked that even more.
⸻ Then.
⸻ Selene raised her hand.
⸻ Space rippled.
⸻ The air distorted.
⸻ A crack appeared.
⸻ Not in stone.
⸻ In reality itself.
⸻ Everyone froze.
⸻ Beyond the opening.
⸻ For just a moment.
⸻ They saw it.
⸻ A dark sky.
⸻ Floating pieces of land.
⸻ And lights in the distance.
⸻ Then it closed.
⸻ Complete silence.
⸻ Selene smiled.
⸻ “The villagers are there.” ⸻ Arthur stepped forward.
⸻ “You can take us?” ⸻ “No.
My Lady forbade it.” ⸻ “My Lady?” Lancelot said.
⸻ Selene smiled.
⸻ A dangerous smile.
⸻ She looked toward the darkness.
⸻ Then back at them.
⸻ “One infinitely beyond me.” ⸻ For the briefest moment, something like reverence crossed her face.
⸻ And beneath it.
⸻ Fear.
⸻ The chamber seemed to shrink.
⸻ The woman before them could fold reality.
⸻ She could hide entire villages.
⸻ She had torn open space as casually as opening a door.
⸻ And she obeyed someone else.
⸻ Someone she would not defy.
⸻ Morgan’s face had gone completely white.
⸻ “…Infinitely beyond you?” ⸻ Selene glanced at her.
⸻ “Yes.” ⸻ Morgan took an involuntary step backward.
⸻ “That’s impossible.” ⸻ “No.” Selene said calmly.
⸻ “It is merely incompatible with your current model of reality.” ⸻ Leona was no longer bewildered.
⸻ She looked afraid.
⸻ Genuinely afraid.
⸻ “…Arthur.” ⸻ He looked up.
⸻ “What?” ⸻ Her voice was quiet.
⸻ “If she is telling the truth… then that thing she called her Lady is not simply powerful.” ⸻ “It exists on a level this world should not be able to contain.” ⸻ Nobody answered.
⸻ Thomas swallowed.
⸻ “…Can it come here?” ⸻ Selene smiled.
⸻ “Oh, certainly.” ⸻ The words settled over them like ice.
⸻ “Would it want to?” ⸻ “That,” Selene said with precise delight, “is the only question here that matters.” ⸻ No one spoke.
⸻ If Selene was merely a servant, then what stood above her?
⸻ A being that could erase kingdoms with a whim?
⸻ Move nations like game pieces?
⸻ Notice lives only when they became entertaining?
⸻ Lancelot’s hand tightened around his sword until his knuckles whitened.
⸻ Jakel looked grim.
⸻ Thomas looked ill.
⸻ Morgan looked as though she wanted to deny everything she had just heard and could not.
⸻ Eidra never took her eyes off Selene.
⸻ Arthur simply stared.
⸻ Because for the first time since entering the chamber, he had the distinct feeling that something vast and ancient had turned its attention toward him.
⸻ Then Selene smiled again.
⸻ It was somehow worse than before.
⸻ “Oh.” ⸻ She looked into the darkness behind them.
⸻ And her expression brightened.
⸻ “…She’s waking up.”