They looked at each other.
Then laughter burst out.
"Hahaha… did you hear that? She says she's giving us a chance to explain who we are."
"Looks like this little noble still doesn't understand the situation."
Their leader casually spun the dark sword in his hand. The tip scraped across the metal floor, throwing off tiny sparks.
Seraphina stepped forward.
Her gaze was cold. Upright. Unshaken.
"If you refuse to answer…" her clear voice echoed through the damaged command room.
She slowly raised her sword. Light reflected off the silver blade.
"Then I, Seraphina Elvaris, will eliminate you here—under the name of His Highness Aeron Vael von Ardhental."
A brief silence fell.
But it was obvious everyone had grown cautious.
Several gun barrels lifted at once.
Red flashes streaked forward.
Shots were fired.
Seraphina moved.
Fast.
Her blade swung in a clean, precise arc. The first laser split in two. The second was deflected into the wall, melting a metal panel. Red light ricocheted wildly across the room.
But there were too many shots at once, and some slipped through from angles she couldn't fully cover.
Those streaks of light shot straight toward me.
My body froze.
A faint hum sounded.
A transparent blue light formed around me—like a thin invisible dome. The lasers struck it and shattered into fragments of light before fading away.
I stared.
"How dare you try to harm His Highness in front of me."
The temperature in the room dropped sharply.
Breath turned into white mist. The cracked metal floor began to frost over as crystals of ice spread rapidly.
The attackers' weapons froze first. White frost covered the barrels, then ice crept over their fingers and arms.
"What—?!"
They tried to move.
Too late.
Ice spread to their chests. Their necks. Their faces.
Within seconds, their bodies were completely frozen—trapped inside clear blocks of ice.
Only their leader remained.
What the hell is going on? Am I dreaming?
"Hoho…"
He stepped forward, raising his sword.
His dark blade clashed with Seraphina's—
KLANG!
The violent impact shook the room.
"So you're the manifestation type, huh?" he said with a crooked smile.
Seraphina stepped back half a pace, keeping her distance. Her gaze sharpened.
"How are you not frozen?"
The man rolled his shoulder casually. Cold vapor rose from his dark armor, but the ice never fully clung to him.
"Oh, that?" He glanced at his subordinates, now frozen statues. "I hope you're not comparing me to them. Did you really think I'd freeze from something as trivial as ice?"
Seraphina smiled faintly.
"Good."
Her voice was lower now. More serious.
"At first, I thought you were just foolish pirates."
She raised her sword again.
"But it seems… there are many other things I need to extract from your mouth."
He attacked first.
In an instant, he was already in front of her. His sword came down with brutal force.
Seraphina blocked just in time.
A heavy shockwave rang out. Cracks spread across the metal floor beneath their feet.
Slash. Block. Sparks and shards of ice scattered everywhere.
They were moving too fast for my eyes to fully follow.
Then—
"Eh?"
My vision tilted strangely. The world slanted. The cracked metal floor appeared from an unnatural angle.
In that slowed world, I could see Seraphina running toward me, reaching out her hand.
Beside me—
Stood a headless body. Blood sprayed from the severed neck, dark red liquid pouring out violently.
"…"
…
"Your Highness!"
Air slammed into my lungs.
I jolted awake.
Cold metal pressed against my palms. The smell of smoke and blood pierced my nose. The hum of massive engines filled the air.
My vision trembled.
Corpses.
Military uniforms.
The sky—not a sky—but the vast emptiness of space with lasers crossing each other.
Frozen.
The same.
Everything the same.
"Your Highness, wake up!" Seraphina knelt in front of me, her face too close, her blonde hair brushing my shoulder.
My hand moved unconsciously to my neck.
Intact.
This—what? What is actually happening? Am I dreaming? No, I should have woken up after that dream earlier, not returned to this place. From the very beginning, where even is this?
What's going on?
"Your Highness?" Her brows furrowed slightly.
The automatic door at the end of the room opened with a mechanical hiss.
"Yo, who would've thought you didn't die after that attack."
A chill ran down my spine.
Heavy footsteps.
Dark armor.
The same horrifying smile.
Exactly.
The same as before.
Seraphina stood. Her white robe fluttered softly. Her silver sword was already drawn.
"I'll give you one chance," her voice turned cold, "to explain who you are and who ordered you to attack us."
They looked at each other.
Then laughter broke out.
"Hahaha… did you hear that? She says she's giving us a chance to explain who we are."
"Seems like this little noble still doesn't understand the situation."
Their leader casually spun the dark sword in his hand. The tip scraped the metal floor, throwing sparks.
Everything is the same.
That realization made my breath hitch.
"If you refuse to answer…" her clear voice echoed through the damaged command room.
She slowly raised her sword. Light reflected off the silver blade.
"Then I, Seraphina Elvaris, will eliminate you here—under the name of His Highness Aeron Vael von Ardhental."
Several gun barrels lifted at once and shots were fired.
Seraphina moved.
Her blade swung, deflecting and redirecting the laser beams.
But, just like before, some shots slipped past her guard.
A transparent blue light formed around me—like a thin dome covered in faint hexagonal patterns.
I froze. Everything was exactly as I remembered.
"How dare you try to harm His Highness in front of me."
The temperature in the room dropped sharply.
The attackers' weapons froze first. White frost covered the barrels, then ice spread over their fingers and arms.
"What—?!"
Within seconds, their bodies were completely frozen—trapped inside clear blocks of ice.
Only their leader remained.
"Hoho…"
He stepped forward, raising his sword.
His dark blade clashed with Seraphina's—
KLANG!
The impact shook the room.
I don't know what's happening, but for now I need to get away from here.
The image of my body standing there, blood spraying from its severed neck, flashed through my mind.
A chill ran down my spine.
If I stay here, I'll die from a stray attack.
Without waiting for the outcome, I stood.
My legs were unsteady, but I forced myself upright.
I turned and ran.
In the distance, hundreds of warships exchanged fire. Giant combat mechs collided, plasma beams streaking like a meteor shower.
My eyes scanned the area. There were many monitors, tables, and chairs—but something caught my attention.
This—wasn't just a room.
It looked like a spaceship, with part of its upper structure cleanly sliced open by something.
"Damn it… what the hell is happening here…"
"How do I get out of this place?!"
I ran across the metal floor, past numerous corpses missing their upper halves.
Suddenly—
The world spun.
A sharp heat sliced across my waist.
I fell.
My body felt light.
Too light.
I looked down.
Blood poured out, spreading across the metal floor, thin vapor rising from the heat of the cut.
And—there.
The lower half of my body lay several meters behind me.
My brain refused to process what I was seeing.
"A—"
Then the pain came.
"Ah—AHHH—!"
My nerves exploded all at once. My insides felt twisted and dragged outward. Heat and cold mixed violently, slamming into my skull without pause.
A scream tore out of me.
"No… no no no…"
My hands clawed at the floor. My fingers slipped on my own blood.
The cold metal contrasted brutally with the burning heat at the torn section of my body.
"My body—IT HURTS—!"
I could feel it.
The part that should have been connected was now open.
Something warm and wet shifted inside the wound. Every second felt like a blade being twisted deeper into my flesh.
My breathing turned ragged.
Air wouldn't go in properly. Every inhale felt like swallowing shards of glass.
My vision began to shake.
Even the smallest movement doubled the agony. My upper body trembled uncontrollably, like an animal that had just been butchered and not yet died.
"No… I… I don't want to…"
Panic consumed my mind.
This is real.
Too real.
The smell of my own blood stabbed into my nose. The metallic taste filled my mouth. The sounds of battle in the distance warped, as if underwater.
My vision blurred further.
My body began to grow cold.
I could feel my life leaking out along with the blood that kept pouring from me.