The endless white world began distorting violently. Countless spirals of color spread through the empty space like corrupted static bleeding directly into reality, twisting around Lucien in unstable patterns that made the void itself appear incomplete.
It was as though the space were reacting to his emotions. For a brief moment, Lucien's expression subtly wavered. His fingers tightened around the umbrella handle and a faint crease appeared between his brows, then, just as quickly, the disturbance vanished. Calmness returned.
Meanwhile, the grotesque hand continued thrashing against its restraints. Its fingers bent unnaturally at broken angles, twisting fiercely against reality itself. Inside its flesh, the endless voices kept chanting.
"It's your fault."
"It's your fault."
"It's your fault."
The overlapping whispers echoed through the void like a curse. As the chains trembled harder, Nuri collapsed onto his knees.
The overwhelming pressure flooding the space had become too much to endure. His hands slammed against the white floor while his breathing turned shallow and uneven.
'What did I do to witness something like this?'
His thoughts felt increasingly unstable. The impossible magic, the fractured reality, the existence of that creature, everything occurring before him completely shattered the worldview he had carried his entire life.
Instinctively, Nuri clasped his trembling hands together and began praying again, simply because it felt like the only thing keeping him sane. Yet as the words left his lips, a dark thought slowly emerged.
'Why is the God of Fate still not responding?'
This was no ordinary disaster. If a creature like this escaped into the real world, the balance maintained by the heavens could collapse entirely. Then where were they? Where was any of them? The captain had explained it countless times during training: the gods maintained order, controlled the flow of magic, and watched over the balance of the world.
Then why were they absent now?
Nuri's eyes slowly lost focus as doubt took root deep inside him.
Beside him, Lucien's attention remained completely fixed on the thrashing hand. Gradually, a sharp fascination returned to his expression. His golden eyes reflected the distorted creature like someone witnessing a whole new world unfold, practically shining as he tracked every movement, every fragmented prayer, and every impossible distortion.
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To Lucien, it was beautiful.
'Even the gods can descend into madness,' he thought. 'How wonderful.'
"Oh well," Lucien said softly, breaking the silence. "I would love to experiment on you further right now... but unfortunately, that wouldn't be very convenient."
He slowly lifted the black umbrella once more. This time, instead of swinging it, he calmly traced a circular outline through the empty air.
Instantly, the surrounding space violently warped. Colors exploded outward around him, reality bending unnaturally as static-like ripples spread through the atmosphere. His long golden hair swayed despite the complete absence of wind. Amidst the distorted colors, Lucien appeared almost divine, and far crueler than the monster before him.
The grotesque hand began struggling harder, its fingers desperately clawing against the invisible floor, but it could not resist the pull. The beautiful chains violently dragged the creature toward Lucien, inch by inch, until the burned fingers were desperately reaching outward for an anchor that didn't exist.
Slowly, violently, the hand collapsed inward. Its entire existence twisted unnaturally before being forcefully sucked into the small charm hanging from Lucien's umbrella.
Absolute silence followed.
The charm softly swayed, its original vivid golden color slowly darkening into a deep, bruised black. Lucien quietly observed it for several moments, a faint smile gracing his lips.
"Don't worry," he whispered softly, his fingers lightly brushing the darkened metal. "I'll take good care of you. After all... we're quite similar."
"What... what did you do?" Nuri's voice trembled as he forced himself back onto his feet.
Now that the creature had disappeared, the suffocating pressure had finally weakened. His legs still felt like lead, but his thoughts were gradually stabilizing. He looked toward Lucien instinctively, toward the person who had just saved his life, admiration quietly mixing with confusion in his gaze. The man standing before him was overwhelmingly, terrifyingly powerful.
"That," Lucien replied with a soft smile, "is a secret."
He began walking toward Nuri, his steps deliberate. With every pace he took, the distorted colors surrounding the white void gradually faded.
"I truly hope you can keep today's events between us," Lucien said gently. "But more importantly... I hope you carefully think about everything you witnessed here."
Nuri's breathing slowed. Once again, he found himself staring directly into Lucien's golden eyes, and once again, he fell for the warmth in them. Perhaps he was simply foolish. Or perhaps part of him desperately wanted to trust the person who had pulled him from that nightmare, even if that person remained deeply unsettling.
"This space won't last much longer," Lucien quietly continued.
As if responding to his words, jagged cracks began spreading through the endless white world around them. The surrounding space started collapsing piece by piece, fragments of a broken reality drifting away into nothingness.
Nuri looked around in alarm, but before everything disappeared into a blank void, his gaze returned to Lucien one final time. The last thing he saw was a gentle, flawless expression, and golden eyes carrying something far too deep to describe.