"So, what do you think of my story?" Lust's voice echoed throughout the room.
She stood at the center, surrounded by walls of pure white, the floor etched with countless magic circles meant to guard this place.
But the very fact that Lust was standing here meant only one thing—those circles no longer worked.
That's right… no longer effective.
"Hey, are you guys still breathing?" Lust groaned, peering forward.
Before her eyes lay bodies sprawled across pools of blood.
"This is bad. I should've been a little more gentle," Lust muttered with disappointment. "Never mind… I can revive them anyway."
She opened her mouth, and from the cage of her clasped arms, something slowly extended outward.
Hands—thin and pale—unfolded, revealing a book resting between them.
As soon as they finished their task, the hands crawled back into Lust's mouth.
"Now… let's see what you've written down."
She flipped the book open with her foot, pages fluttering one after another until she stopped at one marked with a magic circle.
"Well, you really write everything down here," Lust smiled faintly. "Then I'll excuse you."
She pressed her foot onto the circle. A powerful light burst forth, swallowing her whole.
When the radiance faded, all that remained was the sight of her tails coiling tightly together, weaving into a cocoon.
Silence descended.
"Where is this?" Lust's thoughts flickered. "He likes this kind of hinting."
She opened her eyes. A void stretched endlessly before her, filled with nothing but darkness.
"So this is the origin space of Heart and Reason," she murmured, glancing around. "How boring."
She stepped forward—yet before she could take more than a stride, a figure appeared.
"What the hell is this ghostly trick again?" Lust complained.
Without hesitation, she lunged, claws slashing through the figure.
It vanished instantly.
"What a childish trick."
She waited. The figure appeared again—silent, unmoving.
Lust narrowed her eyes, creeping closer. But each time she advanced, the figure faded; when she stepped back, it returned.
"Tch. So there's no way to approach it?"
She tried again and again—ambushes, long-range strikes, anything she could imagine. Nothing worked.
She even tried to find more information from the book but she couldn't find it no matter how many times she tried.
"This is bad, I should have seen this coming," Lust said, annoyed. "He always likes these things."
Then she stood still for a while, seemingly thinking about something.
She stilled herself, thinking.
"Attacking doesn't work. Getting close doesn't either…"
An idea surfaced.
"This is the space of Heart and Reason. I should use that to my advantage."
Closing her eyes, she steadied her breath, emptying her mind until her body felt light as air.
"Show me what I need."
A strange sensation rippled through her.
She opened her eyes—only to find the figure right in front of her.
Shock jolted her backward, but too late: the figure's grip closed around her, pulling her into a swirl where everything turned upside down.
"What the—"
Darkness swallowed all. Silence followed.
"Who are you?" A voice thundered.
Lust blinked awake. Looming above her was a tall man clad head to toe in armor.
"What are you staring at, bastard?" Lust growled.
Yet something was wrong—her voice. No longer deep and venomous, it rang soft, fragile.
"What… is going on?" she whispered.
Before she could gather herself, the armored man seized her by the hair.
"Who do you think you are to set foot on this sacred land?" The man shouted loudly and dragged Lust's body. mercilessly.
"It hurts—let me go!" Lust struggled, but his strength dwarfed hers.
At last, he stopped before the edge of a great wall.
"Never come back here, rat. That is—if you're still alive."
"What did you say?" Lust snarled, but her words went unheard.
With a heave, the man flung her over the wall.
Her body plummeted. The crash rang out like thunder when she struck the ground.
She lay motionless, vision blurring.
"It hurts… this feeling again… the feeling of death… I hate it."
Her eyes closed.
Everything fell into the quiet darkness again.
.....
"Hey, what are you doing bringing this dying thing back?"
"You know I can't just leave someone hurt like this!" another voice argued.
"Injured? She looks like she's about to die." The voice continued to ring out in anger.
The two quarreled louder and louder, their voices stabbing at Lust's ears.
"Shut up, it's too noisy," she muttered.
But they didn't hear.
Finally, she gathered her strength and roared:
"Shut up, all of you!"
The other two immediately stopped and focused their gazes on her.
"See, he's not dead yet." The voice rang out again.
Lust slowly turned her head towards the source of the voice.
What she saw were two children, a boy and a girl, standing in front of her.
"Who are you?" Lust whispered.
"You say that to the person who just saved you?" The girl spoke up in anger.
"Now now calm down she might still be in shock" The boy tried to calm the other person down.
The girl scoffed and turned away. "Whatever. Just don't become a burden."
The boy only smiled wryly as she left, leaving him alone with Lust.
"Please don't mind her," he said gently. "She's just cautious with strangers."
Lust ignored his words, her head spinning with questions.
"Hey, you," she spoke at last.
He turned. "What is it?"
"Where is this?"
He tilted his head. "Hm… seems you're not from around here."
"Maybe."
His eyes brightened with excitement. "In that case, let me introduce myself. My name is ___, and this place is ___."
"What?" Lust blinked in confusion.
"What's wrong? Did I say something strange?"
"Very strange," she muttered.
"Ah, then maybe our languages are a little different."
"Different—"
A sudden spike of pain split her skull.
"Hey, are you okay?" the boy asked, worried.
"I'm fine. Just… a headache."
He sighed in relief. "Good. Anyway, since I introduced myself, shouldn't you tell me your name too?"
"Why bother?"
"So we can communicate better, of course."
"Nosy kid," Lust grumbled. "Fine. But don't be scared when you hear it."
The boy grinned. "Scared by a name? Sounds exciting."
"You… never mind."
She drew a breath. "Listen carefully. My name is… is…"
The boy leaned forward, still smiling. "So? What is it?"
Her expression froze.
"My name… why can't I remember? No… no way… why is this happening?"
Her voice trembled. Her face darkened.
There was no way someone like her could forget so easily.
Or.
Was this… trial the book had set for her?