"I've met him in my second battle."

Damien reminisced, his voice soft as he straightened Felix's collar.

Felix's Deathwalker uniform was disheveled from my outburst. Damien carefully adjusted it, his hands steady with practiced precision.

"He nearly shot me in the face by accident," he turned around, a sad smile on his lips, "I guess that was the beginning of the best friendship I had ever experienced."

"But I guess everything has its end."

Damien looked weary, carrying the weight of loss from countless fallen comrades.

"I guess that's why he told me not to get too attached to people in the Shield.", I said in a hollow voice.

"You never know who you will mourn in the next hour."

There was a profound silence between us as we wallowed in a shared feeling of loss and grief.

"What will happen to him?", I asked quietly as I leaned against the cold wall, my voice strained from the earlier screaming.

"There are two options."

Damien answered, meeting my gaze.

"The first is to lay him to rest in the Tomb with the other Deathwalkers. The other is to send his body to his family."

"Unfortunately his whole family is dead. Felix was the last Valion."

My brow furrowed, "There is Jasper. His fiancee."

Damien nodded, "I had thought about but I'm uncertain."

"Why?"

"Jasper truly loves Felix and is waiting for his return from the Shield. I fear telling her of his passing will only cause more pain," Damien replied with a heavy heart.

I stared at him, contemplating his words.

"Damien. She deserves to know. What would happen if she knew her love would never return after waiting for four years?", I replied.

"It will be better if we send the body to her. She would give him a proper farewell and be at peace."

"Isn't that better than getting devastated after learning that your love died two years ago?", I explained, almost choking on my words.

My words lingered between us, and I rose from the floor.

My eyes fell on Felix's still form on the table, "What about his Unit? Will they visit to pay their respects?"

The brown-eyed Deathwalker nodded, "Of course. They are on their way."

I nodded my head and closed my eyes, "Very well. I will take my leave."

Damien was surprised by my words, "You're leaving early?"

I nodded, "You and his Unit knew him longer than I did. So I have no place in this mourning."

"But please make sure that he is sent to Jasper instead of being sealed in the Tomb," I requested.

Damien began to protest against my leaving but I stopped him, "It is better this way."

I approached the table and looked at the peaceful face of Felix. Emotions surged within me but I held back with effort.

"Goodbye Felix. Thank you for everything."

I nodded to Damien and left the room.

I didn't look back.

Despite my rest, exhaustion weighed heavily, not in body but in spirit.

I didn't take notice of the things that happened around me. It was as if the world around me had gone silent.

It was as if the sounds of everything died along with Felix.

The thought of not hearing his cheerful voice was heart-wrenching.

I've only known him for a month and this is the pain I am feeling. I couldn't fathom Jasper's agony upon learning of his death.

Was sending him to her the right choice?

Doubts began to claw at me from inside.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Soon I found myself on the fifth floor, standing before an empty simulation room.

I used my bracelet to enter the modestly sized form with a big simulation pod in the middle.

The simulation pods of the Shield are the most advanced in the world.

They transfer the user's consciousness into a virtual world from many different options and generate enemies to fight based on the user's preferences.

Minerva analyzes the user's skills and strands to replicate them in the virtual world perfectly.

Users can even set things in such a way that their strand or skill usage can be restricted so that they can give themselves a handicap and make the battle more difficult.

In such a way, they can improve without completely relying on their strands.

The pod also monitors the user's vitals and ejects them if things go terribly wrong.

I pressed a button on the smooth surface of the pod and its top slid off.

Taking off my boots, I entered the simulation pod and lay on the soft cushioned bed inside.

After I lay snugly, the top of the pod slid over me, and soon the glossy white interior of the pod softly illuminated by small lights surrounded me.

Yep. Definitely not feeling claustrophobic in here.

I relaxed my body, suppressing my emotions, and activated the simulation.

I closed my eyes and spoke the words for activation.

"Begin Link."

Immediately the darkness under my eyelids turned into utter brightness.

My eyes!

Incarni! I hate it when that happens!

Minerva should install a sort of dark mode for the simulation pods!

I slowly opened my eyes and found myself in a vast white space enveloped by an enormous silence.

"Greetings, Your Highness. We meet again," a female voice softer than silk but colder than the glaciers in Les Anciennes spoke in front of me.

A person materialized before me like a ghost.

It was a young woman in her late teens who had to be among the most beautiful people I had ever seen.

Myself included at the top spot.

Her long flowing hair was the color of pure snow and transitioned to a light blue which vividly reflected the cold blue of her eyes and her fair skin was flawless like porcelain.

She wore a simple white dress that accentuated her slender figure.

It is as if she is a living doll, a fact emphasized by her blank and cold expression that never shifted.

Like a doll.

Oh, and she is taller than me and has an uncanny resemblance to Merlin.

It is as if I am looking at an older and bluer sibling of the damned witch.

My jaw tightened and I fought the urge to punch this timeless beauty in her pretty face.

"Lower the brightness next time when the simulation starts. Almost got my eyes fried," I grumbled.

A small smirk broke the frozen doll expression on the young woman's face.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Minerva, or technically her human avatar replied with a tilt of her head.

"You look...broken. What happened?", she asked with a curious glint in her icy blue eyes.

"You already know the answer. Don't act like you don't know," I growled.

"Quite strung up, are we?", Minerva tilted her head with a small smile.

"Felix was an amazing Deathwalker. His death was such a blow."

I glared at her, "You were the one who sent him to hunt Asphodel."

Minerva shook her head, "I merely created a list of the best candidates and gave it to Kay. It was he who chose Felix."

"But you did put him on the list," I pointed out in an accusatory tone.

"Yout Highness. My responsibility is to prevent the daemons from getting out into the world and letting them cause untold devastation."

Her icy gaze hardened, "I will do whatever it takes to make sure of that. Even if it means sending thousands to their deaths every single day."

"So Felix's death does not affect me at all. But you, you are Deathwalker, your Highness. You will lose the ones you cherish in here. So deal with it."

Her remorseless words but deeply like a sharp knife.

"Heh. Of course, you wouldn't be affected," a soft chuckle escaped my lips, "You are an AI, after all, a machine. So of course you wouldn't have human emotions."

Minerva didn't react to my jab but I sensed a small shift in her demeanor.

"Anyway," I changed the topic, "Set Blood Valley as my world, harsh conditions."

Minerva's expression immediately turned into her usual blank, "Very well. And your enemies?"

"Daemons and make their strength true to life."

I pondered for a minute before adding, "And include Asphodel as well. Same strength as the real one."

Minerva raised her eyebrows, "Are you sure?"

"You do have enough information about the Abnormal, do you?", I asked back.

She nodded, "Of course."

"Then do it."

Minerva closed her eyes and nodded, "Very well. The environment is Blood Valley and enemies are daemons including Asphodel."

She looked at me and asked one last question, "Immersion?"

I gave her a determined look, "A hundred percent."

"Very well. Your world is loading."

Minerva tilted her head and gave me a small smile colder than her eyes, "Good luck, Your Highness."

With those words, she disappeared before me and the vast white space shifted into a familiar landscape.

The dark and cold sides of the two mountains towered on either side of the cold valley.

Snow fell softly on the crimson ground and a cold wind whipped my hair.

I looked ahead and before me like a giant eye of swirling darkness, stood the Tear.

Its imposing appearance sent a shiver up my spine.

A perpetual chill washed over me as the darkness of the Tear rippled and the first row of daemons stepped into the blood-soaked snow of this virtual Blood Valley.

A huge surge of ardor ripped out of the Tear and I saw a black streak coming right at me from the bleak sky.

In less than a second, the ground before me exploded, and a mini avalanche of crimson snow followed by a powerful shockwave of ardor almost blew off my feet.

But I stood my ground and brushed away the bloodied snow.

My eyes went up to the six-foot humanoid made of smooth black roots of darkness.

Its bald head tilted down and a nightmarish smile split its blank faceless visage.

Waves of different emotions washed over me as I gazed at Asphodel.

The absolute terror and despair when I first gazed upon this nightmarish being

The shame of losing myself in front of this thing.

The grief and anguish of losing a dear friend by this creature's twisted hands.

And finally, an uncontrollable white-hot rage over everything that happened and the unfairness of it all threatened to spill out like a formidable flood.

I gritted my teeth and my daggers materialized in my hands.

In this world, death is not permanent. Even if I die in this world, my real body will not be affected and I will respawn.

I don't care how many times I die.

"I will kill you.", I declared with a burning gaze on Asphodel and rushed forward with a burst of ardor.

Only for the world to spin around in the next second.

I heard a soft thud and felt the cold and wet touch of the bloody snow on my cheek.

My eyes wandered over to the headless body kneeling before the smiling Asphodel.

My body.

Then everything faded to dark.

There was a beep and these words appeared in the darkness.