The light finally reached his eyes. After being abruptly taken away from the cell, he found himself being dragged by a group of succubi and taken to another place.

The cold familiar breeze of the Ark caressed his face, and the blindfold covering his eyes was removed. There, he found himself in a place that contrasted with the opulence and dazzling lights of the city.

A sea of dead trees, towering high above the ashen soil. Behind him, the Velvet Palace, and a multitude of humans as lost as him.

“Heya! Thank you all for coming here! My name’s Laura!” A cheerful voice rang in his ears as he took in his surroundings.

He was surrounded by men of every age. Old to young, all types of people were there and there were about ten of them.

In front of the group, another succubi was there. She was unlike the others. Her long crimson hair cascaded down her back, vibrant against the gray environment, and her gold-irised eyes were open wide with cheerfulness. She wore a tattered black robe that swirled around her, exposing glimpses of alabaster skin marked with intricate crimson tattoos.

“Welcome to my garden,” she continued, spreading her arms in a welcoming gesture. “I hope you enjoyed your stay at our lovely prison. Trust me, this place is even more fun!” She almost jumped with joy as she watched intently each human in front of her.

The group exchanged uneasy glances, murmurs breaking the silence as they shuffled nervously.

“What is this place?” a man in his thirties shouted. “Get me out of here you demon!”

“Oh?” She tilted her head, her lips turning into a wicked grin. “A volunteer?”

The man stood up and began pointing his finger at her. “We don’t have to listen to you! Everyone follow me! She’s just one demon, and there are ten of us!”

Oh… This can’t go well…

For a moment, the succubus said nothing. Then she began to giggle, like a kid about to pull a prank. Before anyone could react, she vanished. In the blink of an eye, she reappeared directly in front of the man, her face mere inches from his.

“Allow me to demonstrate.”

Without waiting and ignoring the man’s abrupt step back, she forcefully kissed him on the lips while giggling.

“Gyaaaahh!”

The man cried out in pain almost as soon, his body contorting in every direction.

Everyone stood there, too terrified to even move.

His limbs twisted unnaturally, bones cracking under the strain of the muscles being atrophied. The color drained from his skin, leaving it ashen and lifeless as if all vitality were being siphoned away, his hair fell out, turning white in a few seconds. His fingers curled inward, snapping like brittle twigs, while his eyes bulged grotesquely before drying up like prunes with a sickening squelch.

Then, with a resounding crack, his withered body collapsed into a heap—a hollow shell of skin and bone.

“There!” the succubus chirped, stepping over the corpse as she licked her lips with relish. “This is what happens when I catch you. So…” Her eyes gleamed with sadistic delight as she clasped her hands behind her back. “You’d better start running.”

The men erupted into chaos. Some stumbled to their feet, others tripped and scrambled, their movements clumsy in their blind panic.

“This is the game!” she announced, spreading her arms wide as if addressing an adoring crowd. “If you make it out of the forest, you’re free! But if I catch you—it’s bye-bye!”

Free? Luka’s stomach churned. She couldn’t possibly mean that. This whole thing reeked of a twisted game.

The sight of the man’s desiccated corpse seared itself into Luka’s mind, and for a split second, he froze. Reality crashed over him like a wave, and he realized just how trapped he was. The “garden” wasn’t just a forest of dead trees—it was surrounded by an impenetrable barrier. Without his talismans, escape was impossible.

But before he could gather his thoughts, the others had already fled, vanishing into the forest in a frenzy of screams and frantic footsteps. The succubus, standing casually over the crumpled remains of her victim, turned her attention to him. Her golden eyes locked onto his, and she smiled.

“Aren’t you going to run?” she asked sweetly, tilting her head like a curious child.

The question snapped Luka out of his paralysis. Without thinking, he turned on his heel and bolted, his feet pounding against the ashen ground.

Her voice followed him, light and playful, like a cat toying with a mouse. “Good choice!” she called out, her laughter echoing through the dead forest. “Be beware of traps!”

Traps?

The word barely registered as Luka sprinted through the forest. He weaved between the dead, skeletal trees, their gnarled branches reaching out like claws. The ground was treacherous, littered with brittle bones and jagged roots that threatened to trip him with every step.

A full skeleton leaned against a nearby tree, its fleshless skull grinning eerily at him, the bark behind it stained a deep, rust-colored red. Another corpse lay slumped further ahead, its torso twisted unnaturally. Luka’s heart pounded in his chest, the cracks of breaking bones beneath his feet resounding in the oppressive silence.

From the hazy mist, he heard a scream, a fleeting cry which was soon followed by silence, then another. He could hear men crying somewhere nearby, their sobs blending into the surroundings and echoing randomly.

Still, he kept running. Until he found another one of the humans standing there, tears cornering his eyes.

The sight of the man brought Luka to a halt, his heart hammering against his ribcage. The other human was trembling, his face pale, and tears glistening in his wide, panic-stricken eyes. He clutched a jagged stick in his shaking hands, holding it out defensively, as if it could ward off the horror that hunted them.

Luka skidded to a halt, his heart hammering. He didn’t call out, instinctively lowering his voice as he scanned the surrounding trees. His eyes flicked to the man’s face, then to his trembling hands. The man’s lips quivered as though he wanted to speak, but no words came.

Luka crept closer, his movements careful. “Hey,” he whispered, keeping his tone low and steady. “We need to move. Standing here is—”

A branch snapped somewhere behind them.

The man flinched violently and stepped back, his stick wobbling in his grip. Luka’s head whipped around, his breath catching in his throat.

When he turned back to the man, his blood ran cold. A thick, blood-slicked branch had speared through the man’s chest, its surface pulsing grotesquely as though alive. Luka’s stomach churned as blood dripped steadily to the ground, pooling in dark streaks on the ashen soil. The man’s mouth opened in a silent scream, his body trembling uncontrollably as his cheeks hollowed and his skin sagged.

“What the—” It took every ounce of willpower for Luka to not scream. That thing was sapping his life force just like she did, but in a more violent and slower way.

The tree’s roots began to writhe, creeping toward Luka with an almost predatory intent. They snaked across the ground, thick and gnarled, as if sensing his presence. Meanwhile, the man’s body was hoisted off the ground, dangling limply as the roots burrowed beneath his skin, creating grotesque bulges that crawled across his body like parasitic veins.

The man’s eyes rolled back as a root pushed its way up his throat and burst from his mouth in a sickening squelch. His limbs spasmed, jerking unnaturally, before hanging lifelessly in the air.

However, before he could even begin to think, a root sharply surged forward in an attempt to pierce Luka.

He dodged to the side, stumbled backward and hit the ground hard, before rolling down on a slight incline, the loose, ashen soil clinging to his clothes.

Gasping, Luka scrambled to his feet, glancing back only briefly to see the man’s lifeless husk entangled in the tree’s writhing roots.

“What the fuck is this… This is a nightmare, right?” Luka muttered to himself, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips. His mind struggled to process the horrors unfolding around him. He shook his head, forcing himself to focus, and turned to sprint again.

He ran blindly for several meters, the skeletal forest blurring around him. Finally, he stopped in a small clearing, free of any nearby trees. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, sweat trickling down his face despite the chill in the air.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

With a glance to the ground, Luka steadied himself. His breathing slowed as his mind sharpened, and he crouched low, placing his palm flat against the ashen soil.

“Control.”

A faint blue light spread from his hand, rippling outward like a scan. It was subtle, invisible to most, but Luka could see it clearly as it traveled through the garden, touching every corner of the cursed domain.

The light returned to him like a wave, and he gritted his teeth as the truth became clear.

“This whole place…” he muttered. “It’s her domain. She’s tied to every single thing here.”

The parasitic trees, the mist, even the ground beneath his feet—it all pulsed with the same energy. This wasn’t just a forest, it was an extension of herself, and each person getting killed by one of the traps became nourishment for her.

That cruelty reminded him quickly of Yelena Vintera, but with a more childlike approach. She was just toying with them as if this was all just a game for her.

Still, he couldn’t just give up. There was no way out, but perhaps if he could go back to the Palace, he could find a way to survive.

After all, the game was to escape, but she didn’t specify in which way to escape.

With a soft sigh, he glared ahead. The cries of the others hadn’t stopped, but Luka had made his decision. His spell had given him direction—he could see the safest path to follow, the way to escape. He had to take it, even if it meant abandoning the others.

It’s not wrong to abandon them, he thought. This was a matter of survival, after all. Saving people he didn’t know was absurd when the situation was this hopeless.

And no matter how much his heart ached, his didn’t turn back.

Luka pushed forward, running again with a determined pace, ignoring the fading screams behind him. He had a chance to survive. He had to take it.

And then, as he sprinted through the mist, he saw someone. Another person was running in the same direction, the same frantic panic in their eyes.

Luka’s instincts screamed to avoid them, but something about the figure made him hesitate. At least until he saw the thing running after him.

“I’ll catch you~!”

Luka’s heart skipped a beat as he turned his head, spotting the crimson-haired succubus, casually walking after him with a smile on her lips. Her steps were light, almost too slow to even seem threatening—but still, she was closing the distance.

It didn’t make sense. He wasn’t running slower, and she wasn’t running faster. Yet, despite the pace, she seemed to be gaining on him. Luka’s mind raced with confusion. How could she be so close? How could she move like that, without even appearing to try?

Luka’s body surged with adrenaline, and he veered sharply to one side, desperate to break free from both the succubus and the stranger ahead. He sprinted faster, pushing his limits as his lungs burned.

But when he glanced back, his blood ran cold.

There she was—still there, at the exact same distance. She hadn’t moved a single inch closer or farther. It was like a nightmare, a dream where no matter how fast you ran, no matter how hard you tried to escape, you couldn’t get away.

The succubus then caught up to the other man, her fingers curling around his face with an unsettling gentleness. Luka didn’t dare to watch. He carefully analyzed the situation instead and his eyes began to dart around in search of an escape.

This wasn’t a dream, or at least, she wasn’t a Dreamweaver. However, this whole place was her domain, which meant…

“That bitch…” he cursed, his fists clenching in the face of the utter hopelessness of the situation. “I’m not moving at all. This forest moves instead along with her.”

This was absurd. How many monsters would he meet again?

But there was no time to dwell on the matter. For now, he had found a makeshift way to escape the clutches of her spell. Crouching down once more, he chanted under his breath.

“Control: zone.”

If you couldn’t escape her domain, you just had to create your own and overlap it. At least, that’s what he thought.

“Oh? You’re a mage?” The voice of the succubus, eerily close startled him and he avoided it just in time before she grabbed him. Luka’s heart raced. He couldn’t let her touch him—if she did, it was over. The thought of her fingers on his skin sent a shiver down his spine. He dodged again, barely avoiding the grip that came far too close.

“Huh? You can move?” she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Taking this opportunity, he began running again, his breath labored from fatigue, the effort starting to wear on him. Now that he undid the control her spell had on him, he could sprint at his leisure until he arrived at the Palace.

However, the whole place had shifted, and now, he found himself in a big clearing, the ground covered with beautiful white flowers.

This is definitely a trap…

And he was right as he approached closer, he saw a bunch of other men from earlier lying on the grass, their minds elsewhere and giggling as if they were daydreaming. However, upon closer look, the flowers beneath them were tainted red and their bodies were beginning to dry up as well.

Luka’s hand shot up to cover his mouth, a reflex to block out the thick, drug-like scent that now filled the air. His mind began to cloud, just for a moment, before he shook it off.

The flowers emit a pollen that clouds your mind… he clenched his teeth. He had no other way to go and doing a detour was out of the question. He heard light steps and branches cracking behind him, startling him.

The succubus’s voice reached him, light and amused, just as he feared.

“Oh? Did the flowers catch some of them?”Her laugh sent an icy chill up his spine. He forced himself into motion, mouth still covered as he pushed his legs forward with all the strength he could muster. But it wasn’t enough. His mind scrambled for a solution. He had no mana left to fight her off with his usual magic, but… there was one last gambit. One final risk.

“Svelto!” Using the little bit of mana he had, he pushed his legs further, enhancing them. Then with a gamble, he began gathering his mana in a way he had never done before.

His left arm began to glow, the contract between him and Saki shining brightly.

“Balweiln!” he shouted, creating a mad gust of wind around him, pushing off all the pollen around him.

“Aww… He escaped again.” the succubus’s voice pouted from behind him, but Luka didn’t waste a second. He didn’t look back. His lungs burned, his body screamed in protest, but he pushed forward, the Palace now visible on the horizon.

Just a few more meters. He could make it.

Almost there...

And then, as the Palace loomed ahead, the ground beneath him began to shake.

Not again.

His feet moved faster, his pulse hammering in his ears. Just a few more steps. Just a few more—

And then the ground shifted beneath him.

He jumped.

“Caught you~!”

Right into her arms.

His stomach dropped as she smiled down at him, her eyes glinting with amusement.

“You’re the last survivor, congratulations!” she announced, hugging him like a proud parent. “Too bad you didn’t make it! You were so close!”

Luka tried to push back with all his might, but her grip was as strong as a bear.

It was over.

“Why…” Luka whispered, his teeth clenching in frustration.

He could understand many things here. He could even accept the harsh reality of how humans were treated in the city.

But this was something else. It was cruelty for the sake of it, nothing more.

“Why?” Laura tilted her head in confusion. “Come on… This can’t be your last words, right? Do better.”

Luka’s breath came in ragged gasps, his mind struggling to make sense of it all. There was no grand plan, no escape left. He had completely and utterly lost.

“Let go of me!” Still, he didn’t give up. He thrashed around with all of his might, trying to escape from her hold. With a jerk, he then enhanced his arm and punched her in the gut, making her flinch for once.

That single punch broke her hold and he fell on his back, the ash cushioning his fall.

“Ow! That hurts!” she screamed in protest before massaging her side. “Fuck off, you human!”

With a swift kick, she dug her heel into his abdomen, making him gasp in pain. Luka gasped for breath, clutching his side where she had kicked him. The pain was sharp, almost blinding, but he refused to let it show. She had been toying with him, reveling in his struggle, but now she seemed genuinely upset.

“That’s why I hate mages,” Laura spat. “You always think you have a chance.”

Luka slowly pushed himself to his knees, his whole body trembling with exhaustion and pain. Some part of him screamed to just give up and let it happen but he just couldn’t.

He raised his hand in an attempt to create a fire spell, but his mana came short and he had run out of fuel after that last punch. The spell simply fizzled in the air, making Laura explode with laughter.

“Pffff! Ahaha! Seriously? I knew guys had sometimes performance issues but this is embarrassing,” she grinned.

“Fuck you,” he whispered, his voice hoarse but filled with fury.

“Yes, fuck you,” she echoed while grinning ear to ear.

As she leaned in to give the final blow, Luka closed his eyes shut. There was nothing he could do, the pain from the blow paralyzed him and there was no way out.

He braced himself for what was to come.

But then, something changed.

A warm sensation trickled down his face. Drop by drop, cold against the heat of his skin. His eyes fluttered open in confusion. What was this?

A bolt had pierced Laura’s throat. Blood seeped from the wound, staining the air around them with its dark, metallic scent. Her eyes widened in shock, and she turned around, looking over her shoulder in disbelief.

The nameless Dreamweaver in a white coat, the crossbow aimed at her sneered from afar. Then, casually, she reloaded her weapon and shot another bolt which pierced the succubus’s skull.

For a moment, Laura was still. The world seemed to pause. Then, her body went limp, her grip on Luka gone, her life snuffed out by the precision of the Dreamweaver’s shot.

Luka lay there, gasping for air, his body still racked with pain. He looked up at the Dreamweaver and smiled, relief flooding through him.

She saved me!

But as she drew closer, his smile faltered. There was something unsettling in her eyes, something cold, almost predatory. The same hunger that had been in her gaze before, but this time it wasn’t directed at their enemy.

Before he could react, she raised her crossbow again. In a flash, she traced a quick, precise motion with her fingers, and another bolt flew through the air. It slammed into Luka’s hand, pinning it firmly to the ground.

Luka cried out in pain, his body jerking violently as the bolt embedded itself deep into his flesh. His world spun as the sharp pain lanced through him.

“Stay… Still…”

Her voice was hoarse and strained. Her cheeks were flushed and her skin was glistening with sweat as she lowered herself down on the ground.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered as she knelt closer and began straddling him. “I’m sorry…” she repeated.

She couldn’t admit it. Not to him. But after everything, being so close to death, she only wanted one thing: To live.

And for a succubus, that meant consuming, and taking from others. Hunger had taken over her, and she had no other choice than to do it. Otherwise, she would disappear soon, just like the rest.

Her fingers trembled as they hovered just above his skin, and the silence between them was suffocating, broken only by her soft breaths. Luka could see the conflict in her eyes, the inner turmoil that twisted her face into something unreadable. She was struggling, her mind at war with her own nature, and yet it wasn’t enough to stop her from leaning down further.

“I’m sorry…” she murmured again, her voice strained. Her breath tickled him, the heat emanating from her warming him in the cold forest.

Luka's heart pounded. Her voice cracked, the words coming out like a confession. She wasn’t just apologizing to him. She was apologizing to herself.

She had denied it for so long. The reason why she fought in the first place. A better future for the succubi, and no matter how hard it was, she had always tried her best.

To her, Luka was in a way not much different. There was no right or wrong in this, just survival. She knew he understood it better than anyone, she could see it in his eyes, the cold acceptance of her actions.

For the first time in her life, she had met a human who could understand another species and accept them wholly, without any morality behind it.

He embraced their nature and even excused it.

There was no judgment, only facts.

Yet, she couldn’t lean closer. His right arm, his weakest, was pushing her back.

She used everything, she pushed with all her might, she even bit her lips to muster all the strength she could.

He didn’t even flinch.

Luka’s face twisted into pity and worry rather than anger.

She is so light… Too light.

Lighter than an infant, as light as a feather.

And still, she struggled, her voice breaking into sobs as she tried to force herself closer. "Ah… Ah..." she gasped, each word like a plea for something she couldn’t quite name.

Luka didn’t move, he didn’t even push her away. He accepted her strength wholly and met it with everything he had, with no malice or grudge behind it.

Because at that moment, he understood. There was nothing to fight. There was no right or wrong. There was only the will to survive, and the choices that came with it.

Her body finally collapsed on him, light and fragile, as if every ounce of her strength had been spent just trying to hold herself together.

With a sigh, he pulled out the bolt from his hand, not without wincing and biting his tongue, and held her in his arms.

“Let’s go home.” he finally whispered to her, as he forced a smile despite the pain.

Even if she were to die, he couldn’t accept to die himself.

That was the only answer she needed. She had tried to survive…

…And that was enough for her.