Vykekard's ntal shout ca a fraction of a second too late.
I didn't even see her move—one mont Kiera was seated across from , and the next...
"Ah…"
I didn't realize I was falling until I was already halfway to the floor.
My limbs felt impossibly heavy, disconnected from my will.
The ceiling swam above , the plain dormitory lighting fixtures blurring into streaks of gold against institutional white.
It was strange how slowly my thoughts moved, like honey dripping on a winter morning. I should be panicking, I knew that much.
But all I could focus on was how beautifully the light seed to fracture around her silhouette as she stood over .
"Fascinating," I heard her murmur, though the word seed to stretch across an eternity.
"It's still there, after all this ti."
What's still there?
I wanted to ask, but my lips wouldn't move. My tongue lay useless in my mouth, a dead weight.
The edges of my vision began to darken, shadows creeping inward like ink spilled on parchnt. I fought against it, trying to keep my eyes open, to maintain consciousness. But it was like trying to hold back the tide with my bare hands.
The last thing I saw before darkness claid completely was Kiera's face.
[SYSTEM ALERT: CRITICAL ERROR DETECTED]
[DAMAGE ASSESSNT: INITIATED...]
[IMPACT ANALYSIS: UNCONSCIOUSNESS DETECTED]
[SOUL WORLD INTRUSION: DETECTED]
[ACCESS DENIAL: ATTEMPTING...]
[ACCESS DENIAL: FAILURE]
[SOUL WORLD ENTRY: AUTHORIZED]
[As a result of a critical error, a penalty has been applied…]
***
The world Julian's consciousness had created was unlike anything Kiera had ever encountered.
Where most souls constructed landscapes of comfort—childhood hos, favorite hideaways, or fantastical realms—Julian's inner world was extraordinarily abnormal.
An endless ocean stretched in every direction, its waters so clear they seed more like liquid crystal than actual water.
Above, a pristine blue sky extended without a single cloud to mar its perfection.
The horizon where they t was a seamless gradient of blue, making it impossible to tell where one began and the other ended.
Kiera stood upon the water's surface, her reflection perfect beneath her feet. The stillness was absolute—no waves, no wind, no sound, but that of her own breathing.
"There's nothing here? But how..."
Her voice carried across the empty expanse, undisturbed by any echo. This defied everything she knew about soul worlds.
Even the most disciplined minds created so form of structure, so symbolic representation of their psyche. But this—this was emptiness given form, simplicity elevated to art.
"Um, excuse , miss? Who are you?"
The small voice behind her sent a jolt through Kiera's composed exterior. She turned sharply, her eyes widening at what she saw.
A child stood there—no more than five years old—with hair as white as fresh snow and eyes of such a deep blue they seed to contain the very essence of the ocean surrounding them. He wore simple white clothing that seed to ripple despite the absence of any breeze.
"AH!"
Kiera took an involuntary step backward, her foot slipping on the water's surface. She fell ungracefully, a gasp escaping her lips as she hit the surface with a splash that sohow made no sound.
"G-get away from !"
She trembled visibly, her usual composure shattered by what stood before her. Those features—that coloring—it was unmistakable to anyone with knowledge of ancient bloodlines.
[The Godford Clan]
Legends spoke of their distinctive appearance: hair white as bone, eyes that held the depth of midnight skies.
They were said to be inherently malevolent, their very existence a corruption upon the world. Yet this was just a child, looking at her with nothing but innocent curiosity.
Kiera forced herself to calm, to think rationally.
This couldn't be a demon—not here, not within the soul of a student. This had to be a representation, a symbol of sothing within Julian's psyche.
As she collected herself, she caught sight of her reflection in the water beneath her.
Her own appearance had changed; her hair was no longer its usual shade but sothing different, altered by the rules of this inner world.
"Why is my hair..." she began, then stopped abruptly.
She looked back at the boy—at Julian's inner representation of himself. The clarity of this world, its pristine emptiness... it wasn't emptiness at all, she realized.
It was freedom.
"Um miss? Are you okay?"
Standing barefoot on the water's surface, he tilted his head with childlike concern.
Kiera's breath steadied as she gathered her composure.
"If it's just a child..." she whispered to herself, rising gracefully back to her feet.
"No, I need to do it, anyway."
Her hands moved in a practiced pattern, fingers tracing crimson sigils in the air between them. Power flowed from her core, along her arms, igniting the symbols with malevolent light.
"Spell Arts Of Magica - 40: Red Ribbon."
The sigils exploded outward, transforming into glowing scarlet ribbons that sliced through the still air. They wrapped around the child's small form with vicious precision—binding his arms, torso, legs, even circling his throat. The boy's eyes widened in shock and pain.
"Ahhh! It hurts! It hurts! I can't breathe, miss... why are you doing this?!"
Julian struggled against the ribbons, his small body twisting in agony. Each movent only tightened their grip, the magic responding to his resistance with increased pressure.
Tears welled in those impossibly blue eyes, spilling over to run down his cheeks.
"Fascinating," she murmured, circling the bound child.
"Most souls would have shattered under this pressure or counterattacked. Yet you maintain form despite the pain."
The endless ocean beneath them remained undisturbed, not a single ripple spreading from their confrontation.
The sky above stayed perfectly clear, showing no response to the violence unfolding below. It was as if this pristine world refused to acknowledge the intrusion of conflict.
"Please," the child gasped, his voice strained against the ribbon constricting his throat.
"I don't understand what's happening..."
"You are not Julian's consciousness," she stated with certainty.
"At least, not his current one. You're a fragnt, a mory perhaps, preserved in his soul world."
Her words hung in the air as she reached out, her fingers poised to make contact. She hesitated for only a mont before pressing her hand directly against his head.
WAM!!
The impact was imdiate and cataclysmic.
A surge of unimaginable force exploded from the child, shattering the ribbons binding him and sending Kiera hurtling backward.
Her consciousness reeled, torn violently from Julian's soul world as she struggled to grasp what was happening.
Then everything went dark.
One mont she had been in the soul world of Julian, and the next she found herself back in the dormitory room, gasping for air as if she'd been drowning.
The transition had been violent—not a gentle withdrawal but an outright expulsion. Her body trembled with the aftershock, perspiration beading on her forehead.
Julian lay unconscious on the floor, his breathing shallow but steady.
Looking at him now, Kiera couldn't reconcile the ordinary-seeming student with what she'd witnessed in his inner world.
"Impossible," she whispered, pressing her fingers to her temples.
"No one has ever ejected from a soul world before."
***
[Julian's POV]
[SOUL INTEGRITY: CRITICAL BREACH DETECTED]
[UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS: ANCIENT RESONANCE DETECTED]
[PENALTY: FORCED VISUALIZATION - THE PAST OF CONVERGENCE]
I was floating.
Or falling.
The world around spun violently, like being caught in a whirlpool, with colors and sounds rging into a chaotic hole.
My mind struggled to make sense of the barrage, but it was like trying to hold water in my hands—slipping away faster than I could grasp it.
Then, as if an unseen hand had snapped its fingers, everything stopped.
I found myself standing on a desolate island in the middle of a vast ocean.
The land was barren and lifeless, jagged rocks protruding like broken bones from the earth.
Waves crashed around it, furious and unending, though they made no sound that reached my ears.
And there, on this empty stage, two figures stood at the very centre of it all.
One was a monstrous being—a terrifying fusion of human, devil, and beast—with a presence that seed to dwarf everything else around it.
Jagged horns jutted from its skull, and its skin shimred with sickly tones, as if alive with so dark energy.
Though this monster was on the ground, pinned against the blade made of light.
Standing over the creature was a human figure of equal stature.
He wore the regal attire of a king: a white-and-gold coat lined with fur and a floating crown shaped like crosses made of blinding light.
A massive sword carved entirely from light itself hung poised above his head.
The vision was surreal, yet unnervingly vivid.
I'd never seen these people before, yet sothing about them was hauntingly familiar.
What did this penalty an?
WAHAHA!
The demonic figure erupted into grim laughter that echoed across the barren sea.
"One thousand years! Two thousand! Or three thousand years! I don't care how long it will take; I will co back!"
His voice bood with malevolence as the human descended the brilliant blade towards him and—
SLASH!
The demon's body split cleanly in half, but not before another person appeared out of nowhere behind the human.
STAB!
A blade pierced through his chest—the weapon held by soone hidden in shadow save for their betraying eyes gleaming with resolve.
"Sorry ⬛⬛⬛… I lied to you,"
The traitor said softly as life drained from the human's eyes.
"But I had made a promise that I must keep."
"…!"
"I'll make sure to take care of your family," he continued coldly.
"But you... you need to go..."
The blade twisted viciously before being pulled free.
STAB!
The regal figure crumpled forward lifelessly while the demonic form dissolved into mist.
"Goodbye… ⬛⬛⬛ "
[VISUALIZATION SEQUENCE: TERMINATED]
[RETURN TO CONSCIOUSNESS: INITIATED]
[Returning to world...]
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