Swen buried her face in her hands for a moment, muttering to herself:
> "Alright… fine, I believe it."
"There's definitely something strange about your body. No ordinary person could do that."
She took a deep breath; her voice was trembling now.
> "Three years of work… gone."
"And Mikail's Spear is missing too…"
Swen leaned back and started laughing — a bitter, broken laugh.
> "Mission failed… I'm screwed."
She spoke in a low voice:
> "Or maybe…" she whispered, lips barely moving,
"Maybe this lunatic… could actually stand against Lord Mikail."
Fear and hope flickered in her eyes at the same time.
> "I've got no other choice anyway."
Swen took another deep breath. She was still angry, but the panic in her eyes slowly turned into cold determination.
She spread her arms and raised her voice:
> "Now listen to me carefully… both of you!"
Koharu and Shinju froze.
Swen's tone was sharp.
> "Because you — yes, both of you — are ignorant!"
"You don't understand anything!"
She took a step forward, pointing a finger at Shinju.
> "You don't even understand what's in that eye of yours!"
Shinju shrugged.
> "My eye? Well, I'm not sure what it is either, but from what I can see, it looks pretty damn good."
Koharu couldn't help but smile.
> "I agree."
Swen's face suddenly tensed.
A drop of sweat slid down her temple.
> "Ugh… enough of this nonsense!"
"I'm talking about a catastrophe that could devour your world, and you two are still flirting!"
"I'm going insane… absolutely insane!"
Then she took another deep breath; her voice shifted into a lecturing tone.
> "Let me start from the beginning."
A short pause.
Swen's face turned grave.
> "Legends say the universe was born from the union of two opposing energies."
"One was the essence of life — Yang energy."
"The other, the essence of darkness — Yin energy."
Shinju muttered in disbelief:
> "Yin… you mean the energy of the void?"
Swen nodded.
> "Yang energy gave birth to stars, planets, and living beings; those worlds were rich in Yang but almost barren of Yin."
"Yin, on the other hand, filled the emptiness between worlds."
"But in the farthest, coldest corner of the cosmos, Yin grew so dense… it finally solidified."
She gestured toward Shinju's eye.
> "That substance… is the same as what's inside your eye, Shinju."
Shinju's breath caught.
He lowered his head slightly; the dark veins around his right eye trembled faintly.
Swen continued, her tone dropping to a near whisper:
> "And one day… that dark matter gained consciousness."
Koharu's eyes widened. Shinju's jaw tightened.
Swen's lips moved slowly, each word heavy as stone:
> "We call it… the Lord of Darkness."
Koharu whispered:
> "You mean… that thing is still alive?"
Swen lifted her gaze, staring into the distance.
> "Not alive," she said softly. "It is the greatest power in the universe right now."
> "The Lord of Darkness depends on Yang energy to survive."
"So, it created the most terrifying technique ever conceived."
Shinju raised his head, listening intently.
> "We call it the Planet-Devouring Technique."
"It absorbs all the Yang energy of a planet in just a few hours."
Swen drew a deep breath before continuing:
> "Countless worlds have fallen to it. The last known target…"
"was the planet closest to you — Mars."
Koharu's eyes went wide.
> "Mars…" she whispered.
Swen nodded.
> "Yes. There was life there once."
"But after that technique… nothing remained."
A short silence.
Swen's voice grew heavier.
> "When it turned its gaze to Earth, it realized Earth was too rich in Yang energy — too vast to consume efficiently."
"So instead of devouring it all at once, it sought a way to feed endlessly."
Her eyes turned toward Shinju and Koharu.
> "And it found one."
"Mikail's Spear."
Koharu frowned.
> "What do you mean?"
Swen's lips curved into a bitter smile.
> "It turned Earth into a Yang farm through Mikail's Spear."
"An endless source of life energy. Think about it — your breath, your pain, your very existence… all harvested to feed him."
Koharu's voice trembled.
> "You mean… like our pig farms?"
Swen lowered her head, her eyes darkening.
> "No," she said quietly.
"In his eyes, you're less than pigs."
"Less than ants."