He couldn't breathe. he couldn't think. At this point in time, Asher's ribcage was small. Too small to contain the heart within.

He staggered forward, gently pushing Aiko aside. His legs buckled, dropping him to his knees before the body lying in front of him.

Hou.

Cuts and blood covered him from head to toe. Several fingers were missing. His skin was ashen, lips drained of color — and yet, impossibly, a faint smile lingered on his face. His chest was carved open by a deep, ragged wound, blood still pooling sluggishly around him. A few strands of his hair clung frozen to his forehead.

Asher reached out with trembling hands, clutching Hou's wrist, desperate for a pulse.

Nothing.

His breathing grew erratic, pupils shaking as he looked at Sid. She pressed her face against the floor, shaking her head violently.

'Huh? What is she saying? That can't be right…'

It didn't make sense.

"H-Hey, Hou… why aren't you moving?" His voice cracked. He gave Hou's shoulder a gentle shake. "A-Are you sleeping? D-Dude, wake up… man, wake up."

Aiko's tears came harder, her small frame collapsing against the wall. She pressed her face into her arms, her muffled sobs refusing to stop.

Asher let out a hollow, broken chuckle, glancing at her.

"See? Even the shorty cares. She's crying her eyes out for you, Hou… So why… why won't you stop this joke?" His lips trembled as he shook Hou harder. "Why won't you get up?!"

Gantry's hands clamped down on Asher's shoulders, trying to steady him.

Asher turned, hollow-eyed. "What is it, Gantry? Do you… do you know when Hou's gonna wake up?"

Gantry's mouth quivered. His eyes lowered. "Lord Zerei… he's no more."

At that moment, something inside Asher shattered.

His chest clenched so violently it felt like his heart had torn itself apart.

He looked at Hou, "No… no, you're acting with him now, aren't you? Hou, c'mon… stop it. This isn't funny anymore. T-This isn't—"

The words dissolved into a strangled gasp as his body gave way. Asher collapsed onto his side, clutching his chest, his breaths coming in short, violent bursts.

The world spun. People rushed toward him, their voices warped and far away.

His vision blurred. His thoughts tangled. He was... hyperventilating.

'Where did it all begin…?'

No… not that.

'Why does it hurt this much?'

They had only known each other for a month. A month and a half at most.

So why… why did losing him feel like someone had ripped out Asher's very soul?

It was unbearable.

Utterly unbearable.

***

"So… this is your world?"

The voice was soft. A child stood there — wheat-blonde hair, hollow blue eyes. His cheeks were sunken, his face wrapped in faint bandages.

He didn't speak at first. He only stared forward, watching as nurses rolled a bed past them. A body lay beneath the white sheet, face hidden. Asher's head turned with it, following its slow passage. Another bed soon followed. Another body. Another white sheet.

Beside the boy stood a young woman, her hands clasped loosely behind her back as she whistled a tuneless note. She didn't watch the bodies. She only watched him.

"Those were your parents, weren't they?" she asked softly.

The boy turned to look at her. It seemed like no one else in the room even noticed her presence — as though she didn't exist.

After a pause, he nodded. His voice was flat. "I got over it long ago, Dahila."

Dahila studied him with a quiet, unreadable expression. Then, slowly, her lips curved into a pleasant smile. She turned and began walking, and the boy followed.

"Tell me," he asked suddenly, "why do I feel so calm here?"

Dahila shrugged, her smile faint and distant. "How should I know?"

The scene shifted around them. Walls melted into different shapes and colors until they stood in a schoolyard.

Asher froze. Ahead of him, another version of himself lay sprawled on the ground, being beaten by a cluster of children.

Dahila tilted her head. Asher's lips twisted in something between a smile and a grimace.

"They called me an orphan," he muttered. "I got mad and punched the big one. So they all jumped in." He let out a dry laugh. "I was an idiot back then as well. What they said was true, though."

Dahila nodded once, smiling as she took a step to the right, and the world shifted once more.

Now, Asher saw himself older, wiping blood from his lips as five others groaned on the ground around him.

He smirked faintly. "Guess I was still petty. Asked my aunt to put me in martial arts. Took me a while, but I finally gave those bastards what they deserved."

Dahila's eyes flicked toward him. "So you knew how to fight before you came here?"

Asher frowned, shooting her a sideways glance. "What? You think I just… miraculously got good enough to stand with the others the moment I was dragged into this world?"

Her lips curled into a small giggle. "You must have been really good."

For the first time, he smiled back, though faintly. "Well, of course. Not to brag, but… despite all my emotions, fighting humans was never a problem. In fact…" His voice lowered, sharper. "You could call me calculating."

Dahila's smile softened as she walked again, her bare feet carrying her into the shifting air. The world turned once more.

"Right," she said, her tone light, almost playful. "When you fought Tessai, you weren't exactly terrified."

The picture around them began to warp, the world tearing and bleeding into another scene. In the middle of the transition, Asher stopped walking. He stood suspended in the liminal blur between one memory and the next

Dahila paused a few steps ahead. Slowly, she turned back to face him.

"…Say," Asher muttered, his voice quiet but sharp, "why are you showing me all this?"

Dahila tilted her head, feigning ignorance. Her expression was almost playful, but her eyes remained narrowed.

Asher's gaze hardened. He repeated, firmer this time: "What's the purpose of this?"

For a moment, silence stretched. Then Dahila's smile deepened. She glided toward him, her bare feet rippling against the fractured floor of the dreamscape.

She leaned down, her cool palm cupping his cheek.

The broken world collapsed in on itself. When the blur settled, Asher was no longer standing — he was back inside his soul sea.

Water lapped gently at his ankles as he sat upon its shallow surface, his back resting against an invisible barrier that curved like unseen glass. He was back in his body. Only Dahila remained unchanged.

Her hand still held his face as she leaned down, her cool breath brushing his lips. Her voice whispered like silk against his skin.

"To make you remember."

Her forehead touched his, her eyes boring into his with an intensity that felt unearthly.

"Remember, Asher."

She drew the words out, her breath brushed his lips, "You are petty. You've always been petty.

His pupils quivered. The reflection of the water trembled beneath him.

Her smile was gone now. Her voice was no longer playful.

"What happens when someone petty loses something more than trivial? What happens when they lose what they truly care about?"

She paused, her breath burned hot against his skin as her words hammered into him.

"They seek reprisal."

The soul sea trembled, ripples spreading outward as her words echoed.

"They seek revenge."

Her voice struck him again and again, each repetition louder than before.

***

—UEAH!

Asher sucked in a deep breath, chest rising and falling unevenly. The air felt thick in his lungs.

He lay in a bed, staring up at a ceiling of stitched cloth swaying faintly in the lantern's glow. The silence pressed down on him, broken only by the rasp of his own breathing and the occasional creak of metal above.

His heart still felt heavy. No... it felt unbearable. His eyes blurred when a question came to mind.

'How much time had passed?'

Suddenly, he lurched upright. The world spun as his legs tangled with the blanket, sending him crashing to the floor with a thud.

The tent flaps whipped open.

"Lord Zerei!" Sid's voice carried urgency as she rushed in. She dropped to his side, sliding an arm under his to help him rise. "Please, don't push yourself—"

"Sid." Asher's voice cut through hers, low and ragged. His fingers clenched on her sleeve. "How long was I out?"

Her face tightened. She hesitated, then said quietly:

"A day."

Asher closed his eyes. For a moment, silence. Then a shudder passed through him as [Nimble Intellect] surged, slicing away the haze. His fingers twitched and his breathing slowed.

When he opened his eyes again, they were sharp.

He turned to Sid, his voice deliberate.

"Where. Is. Neph?"