Cold stone pressed against Akiha's bare feet.
That was the first thing he noticed when consciousness returned—not pain, not fear, but temperature. The air was frigid, heavy with the scent of iron and something faintly sweet, like wilted flowers left too long in water.
Where am I? he thought.
I remember I was in my classroom just now.
He stood exactly where he had stood in his recent dream.
The same vast chamber stretched around him, illuminated by pale, unmoving moonlight with no visible source. The same towering walls, carved with symbols so intricate they made his eyes ache if he stared too long. And at the center—
The enchained girl.
The chains coiled through the air once more, thicker than tree trunks, narrowing gradually as they wrapped around the slender figure bound upright at the chamber's heart. They pulsed faintly, alive, reacting to his presence.
Only this time, Akiha's senses were fully his.
He could move.
He swallowed. His throat worked. His voice came out hoarse, but real.
"…So it wasn't just a dream."
Crimson eyes lifted toward him.
A smile bloomed on her lips—slow, satisfied, unmistakably pleased.
"You're awake," she said. "Truly awake this time, I see."
Her voice was exactly as he remembered—low, intimate, curling around his ears. But now, instead of freezing him in place, it stirred something restless in his chest.
"You can talk?" she added.
He nodded. "…Yeah."
"Good," she said softly. "That makes things easier."
Akiha exhaled sharply and dragged a hand through his hair. "I remember you biting me. I woke up. Then my class got swallowed by some freaky magic circle—like isekai itself decided to grab us all and toss us into another dimension." He looked straight at her. "And now I'm here again."
His eyes hardened.
"Who are you exactly? You're involved in what just happened, right?"
For the first time, her smile softened—not playful, but weary.
"It was not I who called forth that summoning circle," she replied. "But yes. You and your classmates were in the process of being transferred into a world that is not your own."
She paused.
"My name," she continued slowly, "is Carmendeil Noctyra Val'drakht."
Akiha blinked rapidly.
"…Yeah. I'm not remembering that."
A quiet, genuine giggles escaped her lips.
"You may call me Carmendeil," she said. Then, after a moment's thought, "Or—if that tongue of yours finds it troublesome—choose something simpler."
He considered it for half a second. "Carmen."
Her eyes widened, just a fraction.
"…Carmen," she echoed, as if tasting the sound. Then she nodded. "Very well. Let us go with that."
The chains shuddered faintly, as if reacting to the name itself.
Akiha glanced at them. "You said you're sealed."
"Yes."
"By who?"
"By the very people I saved."
Her expression darkened—not with rage, but with something colder.
"Long ago," Carmen said, "the world you are about to enter was ruled by a Demon King whose dominion stretched across all continents. Humanity was reduced to cattle. Extinction was inevitable."
She met his gaze.
"They prayed for salvation. And I answered them instead of their revered gods."
Akiha frowned. "You fought the Demon King?"
"I ended him," she said calmly. "I tore his soul apart and scattered it beyond the cycle of reincarnation. I did what no gods dared to do."
Her gaze lowered.
"But when the war ended… they looked at me and grew afraid."
The chains tightened almost imperceptibly.
"They said my power was far too great. That immortality erodes the mind. That one day, inevitably, I would become their next calamity." Her lips curved in bitter amusement. "Guided by their petty gods, they betrayed me—heroes, kings, priests. All smiling as they carved the seal into my flesh."
Something hot twisted in Akiha's stomach.
"…That's just— fucked up." he said slowly.
Her eyes snapped back to him, startled.
His fists clenched as memories surfaced—Renji's grin, the knee to his gut, the classroom's silence—daily occurrence of his life.
"You save them," he said, voice low, "and they decide you're the problem? That's not justice. That's convenience. Fear wrapped in excuses, what a bunch of scumbags."
For a long moment, she only stared at him.
Then she smiled again—different this time. Softer. Warmer.
"You truly are interesting, Akiha," Carmen said quietly. "Perhaps that is why fate allowed our paths to cross."
She straightened as much as the chains allowed, metal rattling softly.
"Let me ask you properly this time," she said softly. "Please—free me from this bind."
Her voice dropped.
"If you do, everything I promised you before, I meant it. My Love. Power. Authority. All of it, will be yours."
His heart pounded—not just from temptation, but from something sharper. Angrier.
"You sounds quite desperate," he said. "But why me? I'm not special. Back home, I'm not even try to defense myself as I get stepped on by trash like Ren—"
"Because," she interrupted gently, "you are frustrated."
He froze.
"You are angry at a world that rewards cruelty and punishes kindness. You have tasted injustice deeply enough to recognize it instantly."
Her eyes glowed faintly.
"And because when I marked you, you did not resist."
Akiha swallowed hard.
"That means only one thing," she added softly. "Our fates are intertwined."
She effortlessly raised her bound hand and cupped his cheek.
"During our first encounter, I placed something within you. A fragment. Dormant. Unawakened."
She smiled knowingly. "A covenant, sealed in blood."
The world began to blur.
Symbols ignited across his vision, burning without pain. Something shifted inside him—like a lock turning for the first time.
The chamber cracked.
White fractures spiderwebbed through the air itself.
"Wait—!" Akiha stepped forward. "I'll free you, I promise! There's no way I won't!"
How could he refuse her request? She asked so nicely—promised that once he freed her, she would be his completely. A healthy young boy had no reason to refuse an offer like that… especially when it came from a divine beauty like Carmen.
Her cheeks tinted faintly pink.
"…Bold," she murmured. "Very well."
The world shattered further.
"But listen carefully, Akiha. Freeing me will not be an easy task. The seal binds not only my body, but my authority—my very existence. You will be hunted. Opposed by gods, and the world itself."
"I will!" he declared.
She smiled, leaned forward as far as the chains allowed. "Then, I'll set my expectations high."
"And one more thing," she added. "Do not speak of me to anyone unless you can trust them completely. The seal reacts to awareness. If the wrong ears learn of me, the backlash will fall upon you, too."
He swallowed. "…Got it."
"Oh—and check your pocket later," she said with a small smile. "I left you a small gift."
The chamber collapsed into blinding light.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Akiha woke gasping.
He lay on polished marble beneath a vaulted ceiling of gold and white. Incense burned thickly in the air. Around him, familiar voices rose in confusion.
"…Where are we?!"
"…Is this a set?!"
"…What the hell is going on?!"
"…Hell yeah! Isekai'd, dude!"
He sat up.
Then, a dignified voice echoed through the chamber.
"Attention."
At the far end stood an elderly man in priestly robes, a staff resting in his hand.
"Welcome," the man intoned, "heroes from another world."