The girl squatting among corpses lifted her head. Eyes golden like coins, blood-smeared lips, and a human heart still clenched in her hand — as if she were peacefully having dinner.
> "Oh... a walking teddy bear..." Lyre whispered.
Then she lunged — no warning, no signal. A wave of energy burst from her palm, slicing the air into fluttering cuts — blood-shaped butterflies swarming toward him.
Lioren instantly shifted to the left, stepped onto a runestone, and spun his right hand — a pillar of earth rose up to block the first wave. He snapped his fingers:
> "Flame Array – Blazing Inferno Break!"
A ring of fire erupted from beneath him, sending a wave of brilliant blue flames in all directions.
But Lyre didn't dodge — she let the fire engulf her.
> "So hot... like Geal's hand when he touched me... hehe."
And then she laughed. Her flesh bubbled, then regenerated — as if her blood were... growing back.
---
Lioren backed off, forming a seal with both hands. The air rippled. Four elemental circles appeared around his body:
Ice – Freezing Leaf Seal
Fire – Heartburn Lotus
Earth – Obsidian Armor Formation
Lightning – Heavenpierce Pillar
> "It must end quickly."
He stomped the ground. A bolt of lightning struck down from nowhere, touching his hand like a living blade. Lioren shot forward — each step shattered the floor, his speed breaking the sound barrier.
Lyre tilted her head. She split into three forms — each a different "Lyre": a child, a maiden, and an old crone — all laughing, all charging.
> "We're one little family~!"
---
Lioren swung — ice slashed across. One Lyre vanished into smoke. The other two twisted midair, blood spikes growing from their backs like tendrils.
He spun midair — Heavenpierce Pillar – Lightning Spear Through the Heart!
A five-meter lightning spear launched from his hand, piercing one Lyre — only for it to turn into a hollow puppet and drop lifelessly.
> "It's not real... This is just a puppet show."
Hundreds of blood threads hooked into his shoulders, back, and wrists. He was yanked toward Lyre — floating in midair like a blood-soaked butterfly, laughing wildly.
> "You'll be my dance partner this time~?"
---
Lioren activated the Ice Seal with his left hand — Shattered Star Frost Armor.
The air temperature dropped to -50°C. In an instant, everything froze — blood threads shattered, and Lyre paused for a heartbeat.
Lioren didn't hesitate — he punched her in the gut — Flame Shift – Heart Cleaver!
An explosion burst from within her body. Blood sprayed. Her hair sizzled and burned.
She hissed. Lioren staggered back, blood dripping from his ears — he had pushed too many elements at once.
---
Lyre still stood. Her hands soaked in blood. She laughed to herself.
> "Delightful... It's my first time fighting a moving doll."
Lioren panted, hands trembling. He lowered his head.
> "...Enough."
His breath froze in the thick stench of death. His shoulders quivered, unclear whether from exhaustion — or something else rising.
Then he looked up.
His eyes opened wide — triple irises spiraled with chaos: earth – ice – fire – lightning — all being sucked into a bottomless vortex. His pupils became interlocked rings, endlessly shifting, obeying no law of physics or reason.
> "Chaotic Eye Awakening."
It was not a voice. It was an awakening. Not a roar. A sentence of judgment.
Reality cracked.
Shapes became... wrong. Lyre's outline blurred like a soaked drawing. Her dress drooped like melting wax, each strand of hair turning to smoke. Her arms shrank, legs curled inward, her face lost all human structure — as though she were being reversed back into her original concept.
She flinched. Her smile remained, but her eyes showed panic.
> "What... is this...?"
"Geal... help me…"
No one answered. The teddy bear crumbled to dust. Candies around her fractured like eggshells, breaking without a sound. Every shard that fell was a memory: her laugh, her hungry gaze, the call of Geal's name… All fell like ash, like dirty snow.
A deep boom echoed — not an explosion, but the sound of the universe exhaling.
Lyre's body was compressed.
Eyes, ears, nose, mouth burst open — spewing blood, not red, but black as ink. It rose instead of falling, forming strange symbols midair, then self-combusted in white fire.
She did not scream. No human sound remained.
Only an entity — being erased from definition.
Flesh was no longer flesh. Skin no longer skin. They were fragments of memory — childhood images — lullabies — loneliness — twisted, kneaded, crushed. A massive surge of blood exploded — but did not fall. It hovered, frozen in time. Each drop bore her face, her many smiles, glances of love, desire, rage — all turned to pink dust when they met Lioren's gaze.
> "There's no princess here,"
"Only a shattered thing no one loved."
Lioren took one step. The air around him fell completely silent.
Lyre — or what remained of her — curled into a small pink dot, trembling like a fetal heartbeat.
He raised his hand.
A lightning bolt, a wave of ice, a tongue of flame, and a slice of earth combined into the final cut.
She dissolved, without a sound.
Only the wind moved. And Lioren stood there — eyes closed, arms hanging, blood trailing from the corner of his lips.
> "It's done."
As Lioren turned toward the exit, he saw Geal standing there.
He had witnessed it all — the moment Lioren compressed her entire existence.