The black forest was not a forest.
It was a living entity.
The trees didn't sway with the wind—they moved with something deeper, as if their roots were connected to a hidden heart beating beneath the earth. Silver mist crawled between the trunks like code leaking from a cracked screen, and the smell of moisture mixed with something strange… an electric ozone scent that did not belong to a medieval world.
I stood on the muddy shore, my wet clothes clinging to my body, and the cold of the water was nothing compared to the chill seeping into my soul.
The Pact.
The violet tattoo on my arm throbbed.
The golden tattoo on Kaian's neck pulsed in sync.
The same rhythm.
The same life.
"Ten meters?"
His voice was low, dangerous, loaded with something between anger and obsessive curiosity.
He took a step back.
Then another.
When he exceeded nine meters—
An invisible dagger pierced my chest.
I gasped.
Air vanished.
My knees hit the ground.
[Warning! 9.5 meters.]
[Vital Synchronization Deterioration.]
[30 seconds until cardiac stop.]
"Stop!" I croaked.
Air returned immediately as he approached.
He bent over me, his grip digging into my shoulders.
"What kind of madness is this?"
His eyes burned.
"Did you bind your life to mine to ensure I stay by your side?"
I laughed bitterly despite the pain.
"Do you really think I would choose to tie myself to a man who wanted my head on a plate hours ago? This pact was a lifeline… not a chain."
[Ping!]
[Obsession Meter: 60/100]
[Note: Emotional confusion enhances the link.]
Perfect.
Even his anger is useful.
He moved closer, his warm breath on my face.
"Who are you?" he whispered.
"The Evelyn I knew was empty. You… you look like someone who has witnessed the end of a world."
Before I could answer—
The ground shook.
Not a natural quake.
But a vibration.
As if the fabric of reality was recalculating itself.
From the mist, they emerged.
Three.
Bodies almost human…
But made of dark liquid metal.
Their faces were not faces—just black screens with a pulsating red eye.
In their hands, crossbows shot intense blue sparks.
[Warning!]
[Code Guards — Level 1]
[Function: Delete narrative anomalies.]
[Mission: Survive 5 minutes.]
[Reward: Combat Fusion Skill.]
Slow intake of breath.
So we are now a "glitch."
Kaian drew his sword.
He stood in front of me without hesitation.
"I've never seen this type in any record."
"Because they're not from this world."
One of them fired a bolt.
Kaian moved like lightning—
deflecting it.
But the real shock wasn't the bolt.
It was the sword.
The imperial blade… cracked.
"My sword?!"
"Do not touch their power directly!" I shouted.
I opened the system shop.
No Charm Points left.
But an emergency option appeared.
[Dragon Mana Coating.]
[Cost: Direct deduction from Life Days.]
[Remaining after deduction: 731 Days.]
731…
"Buy it."
I touched the blade.
Violet flames enveloped the steel, coating it in a pulsing layer.
"Strike the eye center. That's where the code concentrates!"
He moved.
No longer human—more like a golden catastrophe.
He dodged two bolts, spun around the third, leapt high.
One strike.
The first guard's chest split.
Instead of blood—
blue light cubes scattered.
They fizzled with an electronic hiss.
But the other two adapted immediately.
They reshaped.
Launching a blue energy net trapping us together.
"Closer!" he shouted.
He pulled me to his chest.
His heart beat against my back.
Heat flowed through the Pact.
Suddenly—
A giant golden interface appeared before our eyes.
[Combat Synchronization — Activated.]
[Dragon Heart + Solar Sovereignty Resonating.]
[Skill Available: Dual Dragon Exhale.]
"Place your hand over mine," I said quickly.
He didn't argue.
His massive hand over mine on the hilt.
The moment our skins touched—
The boundary vanished.
I could no longer tell where my thoughts ended and his began.
His rage.
His desire to crush any threat to me.
My fear.
My calculations.
All merged.
A wave of energy exploded.
Not gold.
Not violet.
But a deep royal hue—like a burning sunset.
The wave tore through the grid.
Swept the guards away.
They transformed into a storm of light cubes.
The trees around us turned to silver ash.
Silence returned.
But it was not the silence of victory.
It was the silence of realization.
Kaian dropped to one knee, still holding my hand.
His breaths were heavy.
He looked at me like I was a dangerous riddle.
"I felt you."
His voice hoarse.
"Your fear… your calculations… and something… not human."
[Mission Complete.]
[+200 Days of Life.]
[New Rank: The Cursed Wife.]
[Obsession Meter: 75/100]
Perfect.
Survival equals rising obsession.
He rose slowly.
Never letting go of my hand.
He drew me close until our chests touched.
"Ten meters, right?"
A dangerous smile split his face.
"If this is hell… I'll rule it with you."
Heat rose to my face despite everything.
But—
The air shifted.
The forest's color skewed.
The trees began to crack into small squares.
Pixels.
The muddy ground beneath us trembled.
Then—
A space lit before us.
A gate.
Not stone.
Digital.
A massive interface suspended in the void.
Written in my old-world language:
[Level Two: Decode the Imperial Memory.]
[Objective: Lost Laboratory beneath Palace Ruins.]
[Warning: The Maker is watching.]
The Maker.
So there is a higher level of the system.
"Kaian…"
I pointed to the gate invisible to Swana.
"This isn't just a throne war. Someone is writing this world."
He didn't answer.
He was looking behind me.
Frozen.
Isabella.
But she was no longer cracked.
Nor disfigured.
She was more beautiful than ever.
A perfect face.
Shimmering silver hair.
But her eyes—
Digital screens.
Flashing a red word:
[Reloading…]
She smiled.
"Did you think deletion ends with an energy wave?"
Her voice was no longer dual.
Pure.
Colder.
The ground beneath our feet began transforming into pixels.
Disintegrating.
"Ten meters…" she whispered,
"Enough distance to rewrite your deaths."
She extended her hand.
And reality shattered.
We fell.
Not into a pit—
But into a void.
The sky became a network.
The ground vanished.
Kaian instinctively drew me close.
The Mana Wings did not respond.
The fall was endless.
Around us, shards of the palace, the forest, memories… floated in fractured digital space.
[Critical Warning!]
[Entering the Deep System Layer.]
[Higher Entity Activates Protocol: Reinitialization.]
A voice.
Not Isabella's.
Nor the Emperor's.
Deeper.
Older.
"Narrative anomalies detected."
"Processing… rewriting the chapter."
Darkness consumed everything.