The truth of her Bane, Vanitas Infinita, was not merely a hollow sense of victory. It was a part of an erasing of the soul itself. And also, her victories always came with a price.
Every time she won, every time she bested an enemy or overcame a seemingly insurmountable challenge even inna day-to-day expérience, she felt nothing but the cruelty didn't stop there. Over the years, she had begun to notice a deeper decay.
Her own emotions were fading.
The joy, the sorrow, the pride, the fear, everything that made a being alive in a meaningful sense was slowly corroded by the endless cycle of perfect victories. It was subtle at first but then it grew more insidious, creeping into the edges of her heart and mind, leaving her detached from even the simplest of normal joys. She would have been completely hollow by now if not for Veneri.
In her entire life, from the day she had become a Divine, she had never once truly won against him. It was a relentless, perfect counterpoint to her Boon. For all the inevitability of her victories elsewhere, he was the one who could always make her taste defeat. Every time she tried to impress him with skill, wit or effort, he had found a way to humble her.
Without him, her Bane would have consumed her entirely. She would have been a hollowed Celestial walking through existence, mechanically fulfilling the Codex, achieving victory after victory with no joy, no warmth, no laughter, and no sorrow. She would be completely and utterly emotionless.
It was because of the love she bore for him, the companionship of the beloveds and that of the Sentina Erideae that she had escaped the most destructive consequences of her Bane. This kept her alive emotionally. Every loss to him did not wound her ego but inflamed her heart. Every concession she made to him deepened her feelings of love, attachment and obsession.
No one knew this. Only her half-brother and his wife knew of the full scope of her Boon and Bane. Everyone else perceived her as aloof, cold and untouchable but inside, she was vibrant with emotion, carefully managed and filtered through a lens of devotion, obsession and love.
Her system pinged and she glanced at it. It was a message from Veneri.
[How are you doing?]
She exhaled softly, almost as if speaking to the fire instead of the screen.
[I'm fine. Just saved two Xypelians. That's the last batch for now. After this, I'll try to find a way out of Frostdeath.]
Almost immediately, a new message arrived, this one a selfie. The image showed him at the edge of a beach at nightfall. He was alone. She knew he was supposed to be 'honeymooning' with Asenane as he called it, but he had taken a moment for himself, and for her.
[I miss you.]
She tilted her head with a wry smile tugging at her lips. She typed back.
[How many times have you said that to others before you said it to me?]
There was a pause before his reply came.
[I really do miss you. But you already know I like teasing the strongest Divine of the Third Generation.]
She let out a quiet sigh. She had lost yet again. Once again, he had outmaneuvered with the simplest of gestures and yet, instead of frustration, warmth bloomed in her chest. Her Bane, for once, had allowed a sliver of life to filter through.
[You always know how to make me lose, don't you?]
[Always. But isn't that why you like me?]
[Maybe… yes.]
[I thought so. Don't worry. I'll always find a way to make you lose. But I'll miss you every time too.]
Her lips curved into a genuine smile.
[I miss you too. Don't let Asenane see this.]
[Never. It's our little secret.]
[Fine. But next time, I will win.]
[I'll be waiting.]
------
Morning came without warmth.
There was no sunrise worth naming in Frostdeath. The fire from the night before had burned itself into a nest of embers, barely alive. That was when Narisva noticed the silence was wrong.
Erythiel and Eelren were huddled together near the far wall, far closer than comfort or modesty would normally allow. Their blankets were pulled tight around their shoulders. Their bodies trembling and not from fear this time but from something far more insidious. Their breaths were shallow and uneven, misting rapidly in the air despite the spatial insulation coating the cave.
Narisva stood. She took two steps closer and stopped. She didn't need to touch them. She didn't need to ask. She could already feel it. She exhaled slowly through her nose and closed her eyes for a fraction of a second.
"Tch."
Erythiel's eyes fluttered open at the sound. Her pupils were dilated. Her skin was pale beneath the flush of fever. Sweat clung to her forehead despite the cold, soaking into her hair.
"Lady Starisnova… it's… it's cold…"
Eelren coughed beside he. He tried to get up and failed, collapsing back against the stone with a groan. His teeth were chattering so violently Narisva could hear it over the wind outside.
She didn't rush to them. She already knew what this was.
The Krepsuna Virus claimed them.
This was a parasite older than most civilizations, carried in the black blood and fractured flesh of the Krepsunas themselves. It wasn't merely a disease. It was a rewrite. It didn't kill its host outright. That would be merciful.
It replaced them.
Once infected, the victims were not dying. They were being overwritten. Their race, their biology and souls were slowly realigned until there was nothing left but another Krepsuna added to the swarm. That was why the Krepsunas never ended. That was why eight millennia of extermination had accomplished nothing.
For mortals and low Ascenders, the transformation completed in less than a day. For higher beings, it took way longer which made it easy for them to cure it. Without proper treatment, they would also turn to Krepsunas.
Unless you were one of the Four Ancient Races. Narisva was a Celestial. She was immune.
The four races could not undergo race change. Their existence was fixed too deeply into the foundational laws of the universe. The virus couldn't rewrite what existence itself had defined as immutable.
Erythiel and Eelren were Xypelians. They were not immune.
Narisva crouched in front of them at last.
"You're infected," she said plainly.
Erythiel swallowed hard. Her throat bobbed visibly as her breath hitched.
"I know. I can feel it. Something… crawling. Like my bones don't belong to me anymore."
Eelren let out a humorless breath that turned into another cough.
"We saw it happen... back there. The others. One moment they were screaming… the next they were quiet. Then they stood back up with black eyes."
Narisva nodded once.
"There are two outcomes. You die here quickly or you endure the infection until we reach the base. The virus can be removed. But I cannot promise you will remain the same afterward."
That was the cruelest truth.
Even when the virus was purged, it left scars. Some lost their memories. Some lost emotion. Some lost the ability to feel pain or joy. A few woke up screaming because their bodies no longer felt like their own.
"I will not use teleportation for this. I won't burn Spatial Energy to rush two people already standing on the edge of death. My vow is to protect Xypelians but whether you live or die is not something I control."
The cave fell silent. Erythiel closed her eyes as she made her decision..
"Kill us."
Eelren didn't protest. He only nodded once.
"We don't have a choice. We've... seen how this ends. We don't want to wake up as that. If there's even a chance we become Krepsunas without ourselves… then I won't take it."
She forced herself to meet Narisva's eyes.
"Please."
Narisva looked at them for a long time. This was the part no one talked about her vow to protect her people. Her vow of protection also meant ending someone before they could become something worse.
Her Boon guaranteed victory and her Bane stripped it of meaning. After all, her Bane made sure her victory had a price and this was it.
She rose to her full height.
"Very well," Narisva said softly.
Narisva knelt again, resting a hand briefly on each of their foreheads as she summoned Spatial Energy on them. Erythiel let out a shaky breath.
"Thank you..."
Eelren managed a faint, crooked smile.
"Guess… we didn't make it after all..."
Narisva's voice was quieter than usual.
"You made it farther than most. You should be proud. May you find your way to the embrace of Naranq."
She unleashed her Spatial Energy.
When Narisva stood again, the cave felt emptier in a way no spatial metric could measure. Two souls were spared from becoming monsters.
She turned toward the mouth of the cave with the endless frost stretching before her.
As she stepped forward into Frostdeath once more, the wind swallowed the last warmth they had left behind.