Chapter 03
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There was no warehouse.
No blood.
No pain.
Missy opened her eyes to white.
Not bright white. Not blinding.
Just… endless.
A blank stretch of nothing in every direction. No ceiling. No floor. No shadow. Even her breathing sounded borrowed.
"…Am I dead?" she whispered.
Her voice echoed back at her, thinner than she remembered.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then smoke began to curl through the void.
It slithered along invisible air currents, neon-tinted, shimmering faintly blue. It smelled faintly metallic. Not unpleasant. Just ancient.
The smoke gathered.
Condensed.
And from it stepped a being.
Tall. Impossibly tall. Draped in layered sacred robes threaded with glowing symbols. Neon-blue hair flowed down his back like liquid light. Between two elegant fingers, he held a cigarette that burned without ash. The smoke rising from it glowed the same unnatural hue.
He looked down at her.
Not with warmth.
With assessment.
Symbols flickered in the air beside him.
Data:
Name: Misylaphone DeEmerald
Age: 14
One brow lifted slowly.
"She's fourteen?" he murmured.
Missy swallowed.
His eyes were not cruel.
They were… disappointed.
More text unfolded.
Stats:
Element: Unknown
Class: X
Level: 3
"Level three?" he muttered under his breath.
He pressed two fingers to his temple.
"What did I reincarnate into?"
Missy stared at him.
"Reincar—what?"
He didn't answer.
He was still staring at her as though she were a defective vessel shipped to the wrong address.
She was small.
She was scared.
She was—
Still alive.
He inhaled from the glowing cigarette.
And Missy screamed.
It wasn't a polite scream.
It wasn't a cinematic one.
It was raw, primal, earth-splitting sound that ripped through the white void like a shockwave.
The being physically recoiled.
"What?!" he snapped, covering one ear. "What is that?!"
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Missy shouted.
Her voice ricocheted everywhere at once.
The smoke around him vibrated.
He stared at her in disbelief.
How dare this tiny, low-level organism address me like that?
"No," he said flatly.
Missy screamed again.
Longer.
Louder.
Deafening.
He winced visibly, cigarette flickering.
"I haven't heard a soul this loud in centuries!" he barked. "Fine! Fine! I'll leave only if you keep quiet!"
Missy instantly went silent.
He adjusted his robe with wounded dignity.
"You were dying," he said sharply. "Poisoned blade. Your vitals were collapsing. I am the only reason you are still breathing."
Missy blinked.
"I didn't invite you."
His jaw tightened.
"I am Auris."
The name seemed to hum in the air.
"And you need me."
---
Outside the void, in the broken warehouse—
Curgen Green stepped through the shattered doorway.
He paused immediately.
His green aura dimmed like a candle deprived of oxygen.
"…Strange."
He flexed his fingers. The mana in the air felt distorted. Heavy. Suppressed.
He sighed.
"Fine."
From inside his coat, he withdrew an ordinary silver sword. No glow. No rune. Just steel.
The warehouse floor was cracked in geometric fractures. Violet was gone.
And at the center—
Missy sat in lotus position.
Steam rose faintly from her skin.
Curgen approached cautiously.
Her body radiated heat. Not magical heat. Physical. Like iron fresh from a forge.
He tapped her forehead lightly with the flat of his blade.
No reaction.
He knocked harder.
Amusement curled in his mouth.
"So first you're a child," he muttered. "Now you're a living boiler."
He raised the blade.
"A million spirals," he whispered.
---
Inside the void—
"I am Auris," the neon-haired being said again, more firmly. "And three bounty hunters are currently attempting to decapitate you because they mistook you for me."
Missy's stomach dropped.
"I'm not an Oxilord!" she cried. "I work part-time!"
Auris inhaled slowly.
"They are not mistaken."
"What?"
"You are my vessel."
Missy backed up.
"No."
"If I leave," Auris continued calmly, "you will die instantly."
Her mind raced.
"Save me," she whispered. "Please. I don't want to die."
He studied her.
"Good."
His eyes sharpened.
"Let me take control."
"What?"
"Full control."
"Over my body?!"
"Yes. We both survive."
Her heart pounded.
Outside, Curgen's blade began descending toward her neck.
"Ok! Ok! Take control!" she screamed.
---
Time slowed.
The sword neared her skin.
A small hand rose.
It caught the blade.
For half a second, there was silence.
Then—
Crack.
The silver sword shattered into fragments that fell piece by piece to the floor.
Curgen stared at the broken metal in disbelief.
His gaze rose slowly.
Missy was standing now.
Her posture was different.
Relaxed.
Balanced.
Smiling.
Not the nervous smile of a teenager.
A knowing one.
"Did you think," she said lightly, voice deeper, steadier, "I'd keep it that easy for you…"
Her eyes gleamed faint blue.
"Little Green?"
Curgen's heart skipped.
He knew that tone.
He knew that presence.
This was not the girl.
This was something older.
Something he had heard about only in forbidden archives.
---
A black crow perched on a tree branch near the warehouse roof.
It watched as Bermilion approached at high speed.
He nearly knocked the bird from its perch as he passed.
The crow cawed once and took flight.
From within the warehouse, dull pounding sounds echoed.
Heavy.
Rhythmic.
Like someone testing the limits of bone.
---
Inside—
Auris moved fluidly.
He let Curgen attack first.
Predictable.
Telegraphed.
Rigid.
Green mana flared around Curgen as he launched a rapid sequence of strikes.
Auris sidestepped effortlessly.
"Is this what passes for legendary now?" he sighed.
Curgen attacked harder.
Faster.
More desperate.
"You call this a fight, Little Green? You should have seen legends in my era."
The name hit its mark.
Curgen roared and charged.
They always hate that.
Auris smirked faintly.
He tested the body.
The small female frame responded surprisingly well.
Flexible.
Light.
Efficient.
He executed an ancient sequence of movements — spiraling footwork into angled counters.
Curgen's eyes widened.
Impossible.
Those were Oxivienno techniques.
Techniques lost centuries ago.
No one had ever mastered them fully.
Auris drove his elbow into Curgen's ribs.
Crack.
A palm strike to the sternum.
Crack.
Then—
Missy's body spun and delivered a devastating kick straight to Curgen's face.
Cartilage collapsed.
Curgen flew backward through the warehouse wall.
Roof tiles shattered outward as his body burst through them.
---
Bermilion stopped dead.
Curgen's mutilated form skidded across the street and collapsed in a heap.
Golden eyes widened.
"…So it's true," he murmured.
The warehouse entrance darkened.
Missy stepped out slowly, rolling her neck as if easing stiffness.
Blood decorated her skin like abstract paint.
Inside her consciousness, Missy watched in awe.
We did that.
We beat him.
She felt dizzy with adrenaline.
Curgen struggled upright, face bloodied, limbs shaking.
"You—" he spat through broken teeth. "You nasty— I'll kill you—"
Missy's head tilted.
"Hang me for the vultures?" she said sweetly. "Thank you for the idea."
She vanished.
Reappeared.
Vanished again.
Each movement left fractures in Curgen's skeleton.
Dash.
Cut.
Impact.
Crack.
By the time she stopped, Curgen's arms and legs lay at unnatural angles.
Bones reduced to crumbs beneath skin.
She dropped him to the pavement.
He didn't rise.
Silence.
Bermilion stood frozen.
Horror flickered behind his disciplined expression.
Missy blinked internally.
"Auris!" she protested. "You took it too far! Look at him!"
"He'll live," Auris replied calmly.
"We need to leave! Bermilion will kill us!"
"Silence, child."
"No! This is my body!"
"And I am in control."
She felt something heavy descend over her thoughts.
"Good night."
Darkness swallowed her consciousness.
Auris stretched within the vessel.
Fully.
He looked up at Bermilion.
Wiped blood from his cheek.
Smiled.
"Bermilion," he said smoothly. "Long time no see."
Bermilion's breath left him slowly.
The golden warrior did not move.
He did not attack.
He only spoke one word.
"Auris."