Chapter 8
A girl who never showed emotion, yet was too alive to be called merely a character in a game.
Theo knew that Erietta had connections with the secret blacksmiths of the Academy—those who understood the ancient art of forging spiritual weapons such as Mahtu.
Thus, with half-hearted resolve, Theo approached her.
Their meeting took place in the Academy's glass garden, beneath a rain of blue light from glowing mushrooms that hung from the ceiling.
Erietta was sharpening her sword, the reflection of its cold gleam slicing through the air like a whisper of frost.
Without preamble, Theo made an offer.
Help Ilux obtain Mahtu, and he would grant her something she had long been searching for.
Not victory in a duel, but a true challenge—one that only a world without its script could provide.
Erietta stared at him for a long time, her gray eyes like bottomless pools.
Hesitant, yet intrigued.
The girl raised her chin slightly, and with a calm but piercing tone, she said she would help—on one condition.
Theo himself had to find the main material for Mahtu.
She would buy time for Ilux, by whatever means necessary.
And thus, their pact was sealed.
Two people equally stubborn in silence, equally twisted in intent, now bound by an agreement that should never have existed in the lines of the story.
Erietta left without turning back, walking with an almost military grace, while Theo watched her back with a mixture of relief and dread.
He knew that in the game's version, Ilux always fought alone.
There was never any aid from a cold girl like Erietta.
But here, in a world beginning to breathe beyond control, Theo had just rewritten the line of fate.
'Come to think of it, this woman is beautiful.
Graceful in her calmness, with eyes that never waver even when chaos unfolds around her.
Erietta Bathee, the loyal supporter of Ilux Rediona—at least until the game's system determined her fate and turned her into a chess piece bound to the player's will.
I know exactly how it ends.
After the first arc of episode twelve, Erietta will lose.
Her body will be frozen for three whole days, and when she's released, the Lu Core inside her—the source of her yin and yang balance—will slowly be drained into Ilux's body.
Absorbed.
Squeezed.
Drained until Erietta completely disappears.
And when the second arc, episode one begins, all that remains of her will be just her name.
I can't say I don't pity her.
Ilux may be the protagonist, but his difficult childhood is no excuse to take someone's life, especially that of a woman like Erietta.
But well, this game was programmed that way.
A world said to have free will, when everything was already written in a script only I, Theo Vkytor, could read.
Ironically, though I know the story better than anyone, I can do nothing—only record and watch it unfold before my eyes… or perhaps someday, I might even sabotage the main storyline myself?'
Fuuuuu!
'And thinking back, this is my fault too.
Because of my foolish negotiation with Erietta—who was supposed to appear only in the first arc of episode four—and that was meant to be Ilux and Erietta's first meeting, I pushed it forward.
I forced the world's timeline to bend, hastening their encounter before episode three even ended.
As a result, their bond grew too quickly, and a relationship that should have felt natural now formed out of a deal I made to save one small moment that was never mine to touch.'
Erietta Bathee—at least in the original scenario—was destined to be the true heroine, a woman meant to embody sacrifice and tragedy for Ilux Rediona.
She was the gentle light amidst ruin, and also the sword that one day would be turned upon herself.
Yet ironically, behind the game code built from affection and regret, Erietta's fate was not a love story—it was a warning.
After the first arc ended—after the duel that shook half the Star Academy—Erietta lost.
Her body was frozen for three whole days, cold as a statue without a soul, before being released into a world that no longer remembered her.
And there, in the first episode of the second arc, Ilux—having reached a high level within the Human Change system—used the life energy from Erietta's frozen body.
He absorbed it, turned it into fuel for unnatural power, as if devouring his own past without remorse.
The world called it "evolution."
Theo called it "a sin disguised as a game mechanic."
But now, that timeline has been scrambled.
Because of the negotiation Theo made a few days ago, the meeting that should have taken place in the fourth episode of the first arc happened much earlier—forced into reality before its time.
In the original version, Ilux didn't even know who Erietta was.
But since Theo interfered with the scenario, the two would now cross paths much sooner.
And that meant an unimaginable domino effect.
Every small action, every word that left Theo's mouth, could alter not only Erietta's fate but also that of Ilux and the entire game world.
Yet the most dangerous thing of all wasn't the altered storyline—it was the hidden reason behind Erietta's generosity.
It was impossible—unthinkable—for a woman like her to give away two bags of valuable currency out of pity for Ilux Rediona.
Erietta Bathee did not know pity.
She did not understand empathy.
Even when she helped, it was never for others—it was to ensure everything proceeded according to her cold will.
So when Theo accepted that bag, he knew very well—there was a heavy price waiting to be paid.
"My previous offer may have sounded foolish.
But believe me, Erietta, I'm serious.
I will make our sparring plan come true—one-on-one.
No extra rules, no tricks, no bets, a pure duel.
I'm curious to see how long you can endure the pressure before falling.
And as promised, my arrival won't just be for the duel, but also to help you face the problem you've been hiding."
"What problem are you talking about?"
"You know it well. The Lu Core and the Realm of Gloom.
I'm surprised how you managed to hide it from everyone—even your closest friends.
But I can see it.
The way you restrain that energy is too rigid and precise, as if you fear everything will collapse the moment you loosen your grip."
That vision came like a shadow from a past too dark to recall.
Amid the roar of explosions and the red mist creeping across the grounds of Star Academy, Theo Vkytor—or Eshura Birtash, as this world called him—once wore a wicked smile more dangerous than any spell.
It wasn't the smile of a hero, nor one anyone sane could ever trust.
It was the smile of a writer who knew too much about the future, and consciously used that knowledge to manipulate a world that had now become flesh and blood.
Before Erietta Bathee, Theo offered something even angels would hesitate to refuse—a vague agreement in which he would spar with the girl one-on-one.
In return, he would help Erietta conquer something even she could not comprehend.
The Lu Core within the Realm of Gloom hidden inside her.
At first, that offer seemed like mockery.
For anyone who knew Erietta Bathee, such a matter was never to be discussed lightly.
The Lu Core—especially within the Realm of Gloom—was not mere energy, but a reflection of one's very soul.
And for Erietta, it was the deepest fragment of her fractured existence.
To be continued…