Inside the strange, void-like space, Caelen blinked a few tis as the figure before him shifted slightly.
Her presence was exactly as he rembered it, and for a brief mont, he almost forgot everything else.
"Wait... how are you here?" Caelen asked. His voice ca out steadier than he felt.
The woman tilted her head slightly, shadows clinging to her features like a veil, but her eyes glowed faintly, teasing light in the endless dark.
She gave him a faint smile, one that felt warm but distant at the sa ti.
"You shouldn’t get too excited," she said evenly. "I’m not really here. Just a mory, a fragnt stored in your system core.
Temporary, fading. I ca only to finish so adjustnts—since you are undergoing a primordial awakening."
Caelen blinked, not fully grasping her words but catching enough to piece it together. His chest tightened slightly, though he forced a smile anyway. "I see. I understand." His gaze stayed fixed on her, unblinking. "Still... you look real."
She smirked faintly. "Of course I do. I made sure of that."
With that, she raised her hand, and in front of her appeared a hovering black screen, edges faintly glowing.
Beneath it, a strange lattice unfolded, sothing like a keyboard, but alive, every press echoing with a ripple in the air. Her fingers moved across it in an effortless rhythm, symbols shifting and reshaping faster than Caelen could follow.
Instinctively, Caelen tried to move closer, but his body refused to respond. No matter how hard he willed his legs, they felt like stone locked to the ground.
"Don’t bother," she said calmly, without even looking at him. "You can’t move here. Not right now."
"...Right." Caelen exhaled slowly. "I understand."
But his eyes lingered on her. There was sothing he never had the chance to ask before, sothing that had stayed buried at the back of his mind since their first eting. "Hey... back then, when we t... I never asked. What’s your na?"
For the first ti since appearing, her hands paused. The tapping stopped. Silence stretched between them, and her expression shifted, as though she had to search for the right answer. Finally, she spoke softly.
"...Just call Lyss. Not that it really matters. I’m dead."
Caelen felt sothing pull in his chest, but he nodded slowly. "...I know. But... you changed my life, so I needed to know your na at least."
Her eyes narrowed slightly at that. "I didn’t. She did. I’m not her, Caelen. I’m just mories, reacting based on her experiences. Nothing more."
The words struck him harder than he expected. He wasn’t sure what to say, and for once, silence clung to him.
But Lyss lifted her gaze from the screen and looked at him directly, her expression sharper now.
"Speaking of behaviors... I’ve been watching you."
Caelen frowned. "What?"
"For a lust demon," she said dryly, "you certainly don’t live or show to be one."
"...Where did that even co from?" he asked, brow furrowing.
She smirked slightly, tilting her head again. "I’m almost done with the adjustnts, so I thought we could change the subject. Besides, the system is like my eyes. I’ve seen plenty. You’ve surprised ."
Caelen’s eyes narrowed. "...And what exactly were you expecting?"
"Sothing closer to a beast of love," she replied smoothly. "Or sothing shaless. Relentless."
"I’m not like that," Caelen said plainly, his voice carrying more bite than he intended. "And you know I’m inexperienced, I’m not so lustful animal. I’m not like... your husband, who’s probably thousands of years old."
Lyss gave a soft laugh, short and low. "I see. Well... that’s about to change."
Her hands stilled, and with a sharp flick, the black window closed, vanishing into the void. She smirked as she looked back at him, eyes glinting with sothing unreadable.
"...What’s that supposed to an?" Caelen asked, already unsettled.
"You didn’t really expect a normal life after taking the primordial seed, did you?" Her voice carried amusent, but also weight.
Caelen felt sothing twist inside him. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t. "...I knew. I guess I just didn’t think it through."
"That’s what I thought." Lyss’s expression softened only slightly. "You jumped past being a true demon and went straight to a primordial demon. That’s not normal. But maybe... it’ll make things easier for you now."
Confusion filled Caelen again, though he stayed silent.
She tilted her head, studying him one last ti. "The primordial demon of lust... interesting. Maybe even I’ll find sothing different myself, through you."
Her edges flickered, shadows thinning, as though she was unraveling before him.
"Wait—" Caelen said quickly, his voice carrying urgency. "Don’t just vanish like that. There’s so much I still—"
But she was already fading. Her body was breaking apart into fragnts of light and shadow.
"Almost out of ti," she said. Then, softer, almost playful: "Oh, and that angel woman of yours..." Her eyes glinted. "I left a gift for her. So wake up soon and see. I put a lot of love into it."
She chuckled lightly, and then her form finally scattered into dust, gone completely.
Caelen stood frozen, staring at the empty space where she had been. "...What the hell is up with her?"
Before he could think further, the system flashed in front of him.
[Notification]
You will undergo a Primordial Awakening.
>Entering deep stabilization sleep.
>Estimated Duration: 80 minutes.
The countdown began ticking imdiately, numbers falling fast.
Caelen’s body suddenly felt impossibly heavy, his eyelids dragging down against his will. A strong pull wrapped around his mind, urging him into darkness.
"Wait—I wan—" His voice slurred, cut short as he collapsed onto the unseen ground.
The void dimd, silence swelled, and his breathing slowed.
And then—he fell asleep.
[Demon cave entrance.]
Another place, another shift.
Seralyth erged again, her body sliding through the layers of shadow until she reached the mouth of the cave that marked the entrance to her demon realm.
The air shifted as she surfaced. She paused for a second, sensing sothing unusual. Her gaze swept the path that stretched from the cave’s opening.
There, not far ahead, she spotted them, Emma, Evelyn, and Elunara, who were standing still, facing outward like statues.
"What are you doing just standing there?" Seralyth called out as she stepped closer. Her tone was sharp, but not hostile.
They didn’t answer right away. The closer she ca, the stranger the world looked.
The usual brightness outside wasn’t there. The light that should have reflected inward... was gone. Her eyes narrowed.
When she reached them, she finally saw it.
The sky.
It was black. Not night-black, not the comforting darkness she commanded, but a flat, hollow void stretched across the heavens.
A blackness that felt wrong. And yet, the forest below was visible, every tree and stone sharply outlined as if caught in so pale twilight. It was like reality had lost its ceiling.
From where they stood, the entrance jutted out along the side of a mountain.
And far below, maybe thirty minutes away on foot, the silhouette of the castle stood stark and quiet against the uncanny world.
"...What happened?" Seralyth asked at last, her voice low, dangerous.
Elunara answered first, though her voice held a tremor. "We think it’s Caelen. Or maybe... the realm itself, the one you made. This has to be connected to him sohow."
Seralyth’s brows furrowed. "...Really." She tasted the word. Then her eyes drifted back toward the deadened sky.
It’s possible, she admitted silently. She didn’t know what that orb inside him was truly doing. Didn’t know what it would trigger during his... entanglent with Lucy.
Evelyn spoke then, hesitant but clear. "If that’s the case... shouldn’t you be back at the castle? Aren’t your citizens panicking over this?"
Elunara’s expression flickered. The girl was right. Chaos would already be spreading if the entire sky had turned to void.
She exhaled sharply, snapping her fingers once. "Yes. You’re right. They’ll be unsettled."
Seralyth’s gaze hardened, first on Emma, then Evelyn, then finally Elunara. "You two don’t belong here and are not needed right now."
Before any of them could protest, shadows pooled beneath their feet.
The ground swallowed them whole, dragging them through layers of darkness until they spilled back out inside familiar walls the grand lounge that Elunara favored.
The sudden shift left Emma unsteady, but Elunara quickly and easily regained her footing.
Seralyth appeared only long enough to give orders. "Keep them here. It’s better if they aren’t seen, not until I stabilize the outer realm. Deal with them. Then et at the throne room once you’re finished."
And then, without ceremony, she sank into her own shadow and vanished again.
Silence followed, broken only by the faint hum of magical wards protecting the lounge.
Elunara sighed, glancing at the two girls beside her. "...Fine. I’ll take you to your rooms. It’s safer than letting you wander now."
Neither Emma nor Evelyn argued. They followed as Elunara led them from the lounge, steps echoing faintly down the polished halls.
But as they turned a corner, almost colliding with another figure, Emma’s breath caught.
She stumbled back instinctively, eyes widening. "S—sorry, I didn’t see you." For a heartbeat, she almost said Caelen—the silver hair caught her off guard, made her chest jolt with recognition.
But the height wasn’t right. And the skin... the skin wasn’t his.
It was darker, tinged like Evelyn with a brown color.
Evelyn froze as well, her voice dropping into a whisper. "Dark elf...?"
The stranger turned, smiling pleasantly as if their alarm was amusing. His silver hair shifted with the motion, and his blue ocean eyes locked onto them with sharp familiarity.
"Well, well." His voice was smooth, sharp around the edges. "What is this I’m seeing... my dearest sister?"
The words snapped Elunara into imdiate action. She moved in front of Emma and Evelyn, her arm outstretched, protective and commanding. Magic flared around her, the air vibrating with its intensity.
Her eyes narrowed, fury spilling through her voice. "...You."
The stranger only smiled wider.
Elunara’s blue eyes pulsed, light thrumming and growing hotter, stronger, fueled by rage.
-
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[See ya in the next Chapter.]
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