"Very well, my lord. Please rest here. I promise I’ll return as soon as possible."
"..."
With a final look of concern, Mio turned and quietly exited the cabin.
She left Azriel alone.
It took several long minutes before Azriel finally regained his senses. His vision blurred for a mont before slowly coming back into focus.
"...Huh?"
Staring vacantly toward the cabin door, he blinked repeatedly, yet the haziness in his gaze refused to dissipate. Gradually, he stood up, and almost unconsciously, his hands drifted to touch his waist.
...He was whole again.
Only then did the realization fully strike him.
He had died.
Again.
Azriel’s eyes widened as he turned sharply toward the closed door.
’I... died? But—’
Goosebumps crawled over his skin. This ti, he hadn’t been sent back to the mont before they were ant to leave the cabin together. No—he’d returned precisely to the instant when Lady Mio left.
Which could only an—
"Ukh...!"
A wave of nausea struck him, violent and sudden, churning painfully inside his stomach. Azriel collapsed to his knees, knocking a nearby glass to the floor, shattering it into countless shards. He lurched forward, retching uncontrollably, acid and water spilling from his throat.
"Khu... uagh!"
He continued vomiting, unable to stop. There was nothing left in his stomach, yet he kept choking, forced to endure the agony of dry heaving when nothing else ca forth. His throat burned, his muscles ached, and still, he convulsed again and again, each painful spasm tornting him rcilessly.
Finally, Azriel slumped forward, gasping desperately for breath, his palms pressed against scattered shards of glass. They couldn’t pierce his skin, yet the feeling was unbearably uncomfortable.
After several painful monts, Azriel groaned, pushing himself back up onto trembling legs. He staggered briefly, struggling for balance, then steadied himself with deliberate effort. Clarity slowly returned to his single remaining eye as he scanned the cabin warily.
Images flashed violently through his mind—the blood, his mutilated body, the putrid stench, and worst of all... the skinwalker.
Azriel shook his head sharply.
No, there was no ti.
He couldn’t afford to linger in these thoughts.
’I was wrong... There aren’t rules.’
No, it was sothing far more sinister.
’There’s simply a ti limit. And every ti I die, the limit shrinks. If that’s true, I only have around seven minutes left before I die again.’
At least the last two tis he’d died at nearly the sa mont—perhaps this consistency could serve as his only advantage. Within those seven minutes, he would lose access to his mana core, rendering him defenseless, just an ordinary human at the rcy of an unimaginable force determined to slaughter him.
’The Forest of Eternity... No, the guardian of this forest. It’s protecting Lady Mio. No matter what I attempt, I can’t harm her or even harbor hostile thoughts toward her. Whatever’s behind this must be terrifyingly powerful.’
Think.
He had to think.
How could he possibly escape this nightmare?
A dream specifically created to trap him in an endless cycle of death.
Soone had gone through the trouble of trapping the Son of Death himself... in death?
Who else could know his true identity—know that he was the child of a god?
’A nightmare precisely tailored to shatter —ntally and physically. Forcing to endure fear, pain, disgust, despair... Is every loop ant to deliver a new, uniquely horrifying death so I never grow numb to it?’
But why?
Why would soone—
’Ah, that’s right...’
Slowly, Azriel’s lips curled into a faint, defiant smile.
"Are you trying to break ?"
Despite his words, no answer ca. Yet Azriel’s smile never faltered.
His body still trembled slightly, his mana core burning painfully within him. However, its condition was precisely the sa as just before he’d been killed by the skinwalker—aning it had not grown any colder or burned any hotter.
This could only an one thing.
"Lady Mio ntioned that Margrave Alaric and High Commander Pierre were considered among the strongest humans in this world," Azriel said quietly, a hint of disdain creeping into his voice. "Advanced-ranked humans are revered as powerful? At first, it puzzled —but now I understand. Humanity here hasn’t evolved enough for everyone to possess a mana core, and those who do are diocre at best. The strongest people in this world... they’re actually quite weak. Yet, this kingdom thrives despite that. It makes wonder—if you are indeed a Void creature, aren’t you just as weak as they are? Are humans and Void creatures here on equal footing?"
"..."
There was still no response, yet Azriel’s cold, vicious smile only widened as he continued.
"You aren’t trying to kill , are you? You’re trying to break . The Forest of Eternity has existed in this world for ages—all thanks to your spell. But no matter how powerful you are, mana has limits. A spell powerful enough to sustain an entire forest must be terribly draining, so you use everyone who enters as batteries, slowly draining their strength, breaking their spirits until they lose the will to resist."
A sudden chill ran down Azriel’s spine, causing him to shudder involuntarily. So primal dread tried desperately to claw its way into his heart, to consu him from the inside.
Yet still...
Still, Azriel’s twisted smile only grew larger.
’It’s listening.’
"You’ve seen my mories, haven’t you, oh Guardian? Then you should already know—sending Void creatures to tornt won’t even co close to breaking !"
As Azriel glared upward defiantly with his single remaining eye, he felt the air shudder violently around him. Another terrible presence erged, suffocating and oppressive. Azriel gritted his teeth, turning sharply toward the door.
’This aura... it’s horrifying.’
Heavy footsteps echoed clearly through the silence—as if resounding down an empty hallway. But that made no sense; outside was nothing but grass. Still, the footsteps grew louder, closer with every passing second.
’What can I use...? A mana contract? No, too risky—dream or not.’
He had no choice left. He had to fight.
Azriel summoned Void Eater...
...or rather, he tried.
But the weapon never appeared.
Azriel’s eye widened sharply.
"Hah!"
A dry, bitter laugh escaped his lips as he stared disbelievingly at his empty right hand.
’There should still be three minutes left... Does the ti limit an nothing after all? Are you telling the Guardian can simply act like a god here?!’
Ridiculous!
At that mont, the cabin door slamd open violently, and a shadowy figure stepped slowly inside.
"Indeed," the figure said softly, the voice disturbingly familiar yet carrying a strange, ominous undertone.
"After seeing your mories, I realized it would be quite difficult to make you obediently submit."
Azriel’s expression twisted into confusion and disbelief as he stared, frozen in shock.
"...Jasmine?"
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