The emptiness stretched on, feeling both infinite and transient at once.
The agonizing writhing had ceased, and with it, the coldness that consumed him.
Antara tried to open his eyes, they felt unbearably heavy, as if the void itself was dragging him back into its endless grasp, his thoughts wandered aimlessly through the vast blankness of nothingness.
Still, he tried again, he had to act, he still had more to do.
When his eyelids finally parted, the sunlight flooded his vision, blinding and overwhelming. Yet, the sun was strange, it resembles a crude drawing, rendered with colored pencils.
"Where I am?"
He rose unsteadily to his feet, his gaze shifting to his surroundings.
The forest and its flora, too, appeared unreal—sketched, like a collection of rough, hurried strokes. Beneath him, the colossal white flower he was standing on also seemed drawn.
He glanced down at himself, unlike the world around him, he wasn't a sketch.
'Is this afterlife?'
Antara felt an immeasurable wave of disappointment.
He sensed something and carefully lifted his shirt, exposing his abdomen.
There it was: the horrific stitching, pulling together his torn flesh. Chunks of meat were missing, leaving grotesque gaps that made his insides feel as though they'd been crudely pieced together.
"You're alive?"
The beauty spoke noncommittally as she emerged—the same one who had strangled him to death, the brute who had yanked out the Devil Maggot as effortlessly as plucking a flower.
She was clad in white suit intricately adorned with ornate patterns and trinkets. Golden chains draped her epaulets, leaving no trace of skin exposed. She still wore the same chain-silver eyeglasses, her hair neatly tied back into a ponytail.
She wasn't sketched.
Antara looked at her, studying her face—it was truly flawless, an anomaly.
Why had she saved him? What reason could there be? Perhaps… she was considering his offer?
"Are you considering marrying me?"
The beauty's expression twisted in pure disgust, her face contorting as though she ate a fly.
It was the first time he had seen anything other than indifference cross her features. Instead of rejecting him outright he had expected, she simply scrunched her face in revulsion.
'You could have just said no, you know? That would've hurt less.'
The atmosphere grew awkward.
"I guess… thank you for saving me?"
Antara's mind quite perplexed to the situation, eradication of the Devil Maggots had spared him, and for that, he was grateful, he made no effort to probe, survival alone would suffice.
"What's the catch?"
He knew free charity didn't exist. Growing up in a world devoid of kindness, he'd learned that everything had a price. For someone like her—somewhat similar to him—time was precious to waste, especially pursuing improbable goals.
Seconds passed by.
A quiet unease settled on him.
Surely, she wouldn't go through the trouble of healing him just to kill him... would she?
"Wbat's your affliation again?"
"That's the catch?"
"Answer my question."
"I'm a Soulmate Enhancer."
Silence descended, as the minutes crawled by.
"Did you say something?"
He gave a subtle nod. She was judging him—he could feel it. He guessed he must look insane, or something.
'Did she catch the discrepancy?'
This was the consequence of revealing his affiliation, it felt as if merely uttering those words was enough to unmake them, the intricacies of his ability didn't even seem extraordinary enough to justify such secrecy.
Nonetheless, he resented it, his life could have been so much different—simpler, perhaps—if his ability had been crafted for him alone, but no, not with these damned prerequisites whatnot.
Disinterested, she turned away and gazed into the distance.
"If you marry me, you'll understand."
Antara's words slipped out like a devil's whisper, taking a chance.
She turned back to him, her heterochromatic eyes—one silver, one crimson—gleaming like a reaper's scythes.
"Marry these, marry that once more, and I'll immolate you."
Antara nodded; he knew her words were no empty threat.
The woman descended from the colossal flower, her movements as fluid as water.
"Hey, wait…"
Antara followed suit without hesitation.
***
As Antara walked, trailing behind the white-clad beauty, the world around him dissolved into a haze of hurried strokes, blurred and abstract, stripped of meaning or depth — except for the two of them.
Her natural, sweet scent set her apart, a striking contrast to the monotonous, bland scent that clung to their surroundings.
Ahead, a colossal black sphere loomed—a monolithic behemoth radiating dread and dominance. Its ominous presence seemed to devour the fractured landscape as they moved steadily toward it.
"Im Antara, Whats your name?"
The woman continued to walk, as though she hadn't heard him.
"Whats your name?"
She kept walking, utterly unbothered.
"Whats your name?"
Repeating himself like an insistent parrot. The woman halted and turned to face him, her expression coldly detached, as though weighing the consequences of her decision.
"Quivara."
Without another word, she resumed her stride.
Antara's throat itched, one question still lingering in his mind. His instincts warned him that questioning her might cost him his head, yet he needed to be certain—he already had an idea of where they were.
"Are we in Veilreach?"
She gruffed, as though the answer was yes.
Their world is dying.
The only way to secure resources is by raiding a mysterious realm known as 'Veilreach,' a place teeming with monstrous creatures and strange beings. He knows little about its depth, grasping only surface knowledge.
'She was a Beyonder.'
The Beyonders — those who venture into this perilous world.
'If I unlock my affiliation, I could be one too. I need to focus on unlocking it.'
He didn't know how or why she had brought him here, but he didn't dwell on it; she was unreadable to begin with. What mattered now was the present. For now, he had no choice but to stick by her side. Mortals were far too fragile in a place like this.
Quivara stopped walking, and he instinctively stopped as well.
There's an orgy.