Meanwhile, in Libretãnhya...
A door opened.
And when her discouraged face appeared, Aurora and Victoria immediately recognized Ferinish's expression.
The robotic armor's voice echoed, asking for permission to enter. Ferinish stepped aside to let them in, so the two figures entered the place.
They sat at the table, and Victoria invited her to sit across from them. The redhead took the chair, resting her arms on the table. Her hair was messy, her body tense, her chest almost exposed in the casual shirt she wore, revealing the dark flame-shaped mark spreading across the area.
Victoria stared at the mark, reached out and asked for permission to touch it. When allowed, she placed a finger on the darkened spot and felt her own skin burn. Startled, she pulled her hand back and asked where that burning sensation came from.
Ferinish explained that she did not know the exact origin. She had searched ancient books and learned she had become a Sinner of Krythos, someone who had pushed past her limits beyond what was allowed and was now being suppressed.
Her tired voice, so different from the determined tone of the warrior, revealed that she could no longer fight. Every time she pushed herself, it felt as if her body caught fire. No, it was not just a feeling. It was real, completely real.
She stood, reached for something in the distance, and threw it on the table. It was her kimono, burned across the chest, shoulders, back and the long skirt of the garment.
The Pillar of Combat, with her voice growing more desperate, showed the burn marks on her fingers and in her hair, as if she were being scorched alive.
Before she could collapse, Aurora quickly wrapped her arms around her. The cold metal met the fragile body of the other woman, who was more vulnerable than ever.
It was not only her body. It was her mind. It was everything. She hated herself for believing she could connect with someone, she hated herself for wanting to protect someone who had caused so much harm, she felt like a monster who needed to isolate herself to avoid hurting anyone.
Aurora wished with all her heart she could hold her with a real body, but for now this was all she could offer. Victoria pressed her lips together, crouched beside Ferinish and told her she could trust them. She did not know her past, of course, but she knew deep inside that the woman before her was remarkable.
And that they would help her with everything they could so she could overcome this.
With her breathing and expression calming a little, Ferinish sat on the sofa and glanced toward the training area where her disciples usually practiced. It was empty.
She ran a hand from her face to her hair and told them not to worry about her. She was grateful for everything, but this battle could only be won in isolation.
She did not want to abandon her responsibilities as the Pillar of Combat, yet it was necessary for everyone's sake.
Nodding with understanding, Victoria guided Aurora out and insisted that Ferinish call them if the loneliness became too much. With a slightly forced smile, Ferinish thanked them and said she would call if needed.
When silence filled the dojo, Ferinish walked to a secluded room. She bent down, lifted a rug and revealed an entrance.
When darkness covered her, she closed her eyes and focused on touch and hearing. Her bare feet felt the damp mud on the floor, her fingers brushed the stone walls, and her ears followed a distorted sound.
Upon reaching the place she wanted, she opened her eyes and frowned at the sight ahead.
A portal covering the entire room.
She crossed her arms, thinking of the work it took to isolate this place from her dojo. Then, with determination returning to her face, she stepped into the dimension.
An Inferius realm without a floor, only a shifting quicksand that rocked a single platform where she sat cross-legged. On the sides, blasts of icy wind slipped through the frozen walls. From the ceiling, lava dripped from magma, while demonic insects crawled, their many eyes fixed on her.
This was where her true mental battle would take place.
***
In an unexplained void...
A man sat in a chair, silent. The place trembled constantly and the murmurs never stopped.
Why didn't you save them? asked a pair of siblings.
Why didn't you protect her from him? cried an investigator.
Why didn't you heal her? sobbed a brown-haired woman.
Why did she have to be your experiment? whispered a Destroyer.
And of course, there were the voices claiming victory over his mind.
How does it feel to be guilty for deaths you did not cause? mocked an investigator.
How does it feel to be discarded? questioned a group of scientists.
How does it feel to be dead? a queen asked, her cold presence suffocating.
How did it feel to be used? taunted a familiar ghostly figure.
And how does it feel to be the home of the devil himself? shouted Satan amid laughter.
If the man had a mouth to answer, if he had eyes to see, if he had strength to respond...
But he did not. All he could do was listen, feel and shrink before those questions.
What should have been his refuge, what should have been his, was completely taken by those voices, those cursed voices—
Then two voices echoed from outside his mind, breaking through the place like an escape. He finally woke up.
It was them... what a relief.
With his head tilting, Shaphira asked why he had fainted so suddenly. Elisa, beside her and still recovering from the intense training session, said he had simply frozen while teaching them about the True Potential of Magic.
Leaning against the tree he had been sitting by, Slady tried to reassure them, saying everything was fine...
But the cold sweat dripping from his forehead to his chest, the tension in his skin and his unsteady breathing made one thing clear:
He needed help.