Naz stood in front of Fifi, staring at her in shock and anxiety. His mind was still trying to grasp what had happened moments ago: the demons that had almost killed him had their heads severed in an instant, and the mysterious person had suddenly disappeared.
He looked at her sharply and asked:
"How did you kill the demons?"
Fifi looked at him calmly, then raised her hand as if pointing to something invisible.
"With the sword… I only confront weak demons. The strong ones, I always avoid."
Naz stood there, astonished.
"But… I didn't see you carrying a sword."
She smiled quietly, a smile that was far from comforting.
"And also… this cloak of concealment protects me."
She pointed to the cloak covering her body, its engravings faint and hidden, shimmering with a mysterious glow barely visible.
"I don't know how I got this cloak, or how I discovered its powers, but there's someone who helps anyone who enters this world… in secret… and no one knows who it is."
She paused for a moment, then added in a low voice:
"I've tried to escape many times… but Lucifer always sends me back to the starting point… everything I do changes at the end of the story… and makes me start over from scratch."
The two began walking among the trees while Fifi explained to him what was happening—about time, the village, the empire, the ruler, the pact with the demons, the deceitful priest, the exploitative writer, and Lucifer, that high demon who watches everything and loves reading.
Naz listened, analyzed, connecting what he knew from the story with what he was seeing now. But a strange feeling began to creep over him: this wasn't just events he recognized… something deeper was unfolding before him.
Suddenly, Fifi froze, and the air around them trembled.
A powerful voice filled the space, a deep, terrifying laugh:
"Zihahaha… finally!"
Naz felt something pass through Fifi's body—a strange, terrifying force he had never seen before.
She fell to the ground, gasping, her hand trembling as she tried to hold his.
"Naz… Lucifer… has marked my place… because of you…" she whispered weakly.
Naz's heart trembled.
"Because—?!"
Fifi struggled to continue:
"Don't blame yourself… this… is punishment for those who play with me… Zihahaha!"
Naz froze, not knowing what to do. Tears of anger and fear welled up.
Fifi began to take her last breaths, her body gradually going limp.
But she managed to push something into his hand: the vial of antidote, the cloak of concealment, and an old notebook.
"Take… this antidote… the cloak… and my notebook… I wrote down everything about this world… everything I learned… don't repeat my mistakes…" she whispered.
She coughed deeply, her eyes slowly closing.
"Now… you… are… different… you'll understand…"
Then she went still.
Naz stood stunned, holding the vial, the cloak, and the notebook.
Everything around him was silent, the forest dense, yet his heart pounded violently. His feeling of anger and fear mingled with determination.
He slowly lifted his head, looking at the place where Fifi had disappeared, muttering to himself:
"Lucifer… I won't let her fate be like this…"
Far away, in a place he didn't know, in absolute darkness, two eyes slowly opened and smiled maliciously:
"I found you…"