Countless glowing eyes started to appear around the couple, stationing inside the mysterious black abyss, staring at the pale flesh and pure souls that they would soon feast. The creatures of the night patiently waited for the extinguishing of the light, longing for the new visitors from another world.

Gradually, the music started to pick up its pace, increasing its rhythms to empower the shadowy minions further, causing the situation to change for the worse for the fire spirits. Ocelia had to open the fourth and fifth floor to help the remaining fire spirits to withstand the crazed assault of the monsters.

With their mind-linked, the two could instantaneously know about each other's circumstances and thoughts, perfectly cooperating with another, lessening the pressure from the dark creatures. With the occasional help from the spells cast by the female body, the male body could hold the advancement of the ghastly hand and avoid some of the strikes.

However, although the war of attrition was usually good for delaying the enemies, the two knew that the monsters also didn't mind to wait for a longer time, having endless tolerance. The creatures weren't anxious to try to destroy the balance and rushed in forcefully. Instead, they toyed with the couple like the dolls joyously, feasting in their hopeless situation and the ever-nearing tragedy.

The more Forus and Ocelia dragged things out, the higher the chance for them to survive, successfully lived through the night. Once the endless void turned pale-white and let out the light again, the mysterious creatures of the night would have to go back into their hiding.

Still, to prolong the war, the two also had to maintain their fusion to use the instantaneous communication ability to cooperate with another and reduced the pressure from the assaulting monsters. The more merged, the worse their condition. Their wills would slowly degrade, turning into pieces before finally fusing into one, creating an entity that combined Ocelia and Forus.

After an unknown amount of time passed, the wills of Ocelia finally gave in. The female body slowed down considerately as her mind started to relax, letting go of the control. Her face became white as she spilt out blood, kneeling onto the grey dust as Forus tried to hold the female body up. Dividing his consciousness into two parts, the speed and reaction of the couple became sluggish, pushing more pressure into the already alarming situation.

In her defenceless position, the tentacles took the chances to penetrate the maiden, turning her flesh and blood dull and grey, consuming the colours that shouldn't exist in this realm, feasting in delight. Within a moment, the tentacles had already taken the left foot of the body, turning it into pitch-black that grew out more tendrils, corrupting the blood further.

Punching with all his might, Forus used the opportunity from forcing the hand to retreat to let go of the male body before forcefully control the unconscious lady to use her flaming-empowered dagger to cut off her infected foot and forced the corrupted filth out of her blood, weakening her body further.

With her mind broken, the power of the fire spirits also declined, giving in to the strength of the shadowy creatures. The leaning tower also crumbled as the sorcery within the lady began to deplete, not enough to keep the fire spirits working. The male body needed to stop his assault to get back to the lady, shielding her valuable body from harm before Ocelia could regain her conscious.

The sound of cheering and singing almost drown the mind of the two, interrupting Forus' concentration, creating undesirable openings for the monsters to take advantage off. The music started to invade their body, relaxing their muscles and easing their nerves, slowing their reactions and corroding their emotional stability.

As time passed, the injuries continued to grow in numbers and lethality. Although the mind could endure the tortures, the body couldn't go on any longer and slowly stopped functioning. The male body only had the steady wills to support its standing while the female body was lying on the ground, heavily panting as she defended herself from the tentacles.

With the talents of the eldest mistress of the Coruscare Family, Ocelia didn't take long to regain her conscious to fight with Forus. However, almost all of her sorcery energy was gone, making the fight against the endless tentacles and monsters harder and harder. If not for the dagger she had prepared as a back-up, she would have to use her fists to kill the enemies.

Because of the corruption, Ocelia had lost one of her feet, essentially rendering her immobile, forcing her to defend only and never go offence. Forus also lost one hand after the impact, making him unable to use the fighting styles that coordinate with both fists. The burning Death Aura also slowly ate away his flesh and skin, revealing the white bones within.

In their desperation, Forus bit his hand until his blood poured out, leaking onto the grey earth. Using the blood and his Death Aura, he channelled his minuscule amount of sorcery to create a protective array, keeping the monsters at bay with the cost of his vitality.

The blood shone in crimson light as they rearranged themselves in an orderly manner, forming the shape of the hexagon. The blood floated aimlessly, encompassing the area near the two. Every attack from the outside and the inside would not be able to enter or exit the barrier without destroying the array itself, making it the perfect trap to stall for time.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Each tentacle that struck the barrier would break the outer layer into pieces before helplessly watched it reformed itself back into its original state. Every time a layer got destroyed, the array would vigorously suck the blood of the male body, turning him slimmer and paler, using his blood to replenish the defence.

Without any hope, Ocelia looked at the process of unending agony and perpetual ageing that tortured Forus while his body slowly became thinner and more lifeless. Because of her constant usage of sorcery to stop the bleeding and to treat her wounds, Ocelia would need to concentrate her whole thought to move, making her unable to help her loved one.

The melody rang, bypassing its way into the interior of the barrier, softly playing into the minds of the two. The music box was intangible and incorporeal, able to penetrate the physical defensive layer without any effort. Along with the musical noise, the lady-like voice also echoed the barrier, soothing the couple into relaxation, telling them to join the party of the calming, colourless and dull world.

The sound of dream and nightmare made the sorcery energy depleted and slow the elemental particles to stagnation, causing the rate of recovery of the array decreased, as well as increase the cost of the reparation, deducing more blood from the host than before. The verse of the beauty also created the illusionary air that relaxed the two's body, slowly making their eyelids heavier.

Before long, Ocelia couldn't resist the urge to sing and dance anymore. She quietly hummed the lyric, using her sweet voice to deliver the pure emotions of tiredness and terror, as well as happiness and joy. Her missing foot started to recreate itself by accepting the grey dust around her, turning her lower body dull and colourless.

Her face distorted from the pained expression into a calm smile before her body emitted the charming air around her. The grey dust on her skin slowly merged into her body, condensing itself inside of her as it modified her body, making her the citizen of this lonely world. Her robe glittered with grey light as her orange hair slowly turned duller and duller, becoming more refined and less aggressive.

With her muddled mind, she stood up and danced elegantly, seemingly inviting for her dear one to join her performance. However, due to the connection between the two souls, Forus could practically hear the scream of Ocelia, which stirred his soul and softened his heart, making him felt the burning sensation of fury running through his body.

Forus silently communicated with Ocelia before disregarding his injuries and over-exhausted himself to conjure a blade of black light, shooting it towards the lower half of the uncontrollable lady, cutting both of her pale legs from her living body. He collapsed onto the ground as he watched the severed parts disintegrated into grey powder, returning to its original state dictated by the lifeless realm.

The agonising pain woke Ocelia from her confused disposition and let her take control over her body, repelling the intoxicating voice of the unknown singer. She heavily panted as she suppressed her scream from coming out of her mouth.

However, she didn't have the time to calm herself down as she sensed the condition of Forus, whose body was lying on the ground, enduring having his blood depleted by the constant strikes from the creatures of darkness. She observed his wrinkled face and noticed that his eyes were still fresh and showed no sight of fatigued as if the ageing process and blood loss didn't bother him at all.

Discerning her worried gaze, Forus weakly smiled as he looked into her fairy eyes, admiring the determination and pureness of them. He watched as Ocelia crawled towards him, slowly advancing towards the old body of her loved one. Because of the exhaustion, Forus could only lay on the ground and watched his dear one slowly making her way towards him.

There needed no words to speak, no emotions to display. The two silently enjoyed the company of each other, quietly embraced others in their arms. With their minds linked, their souls intertwined, they could share the pain and the joy, but they chose not to because they didn't wish their partner would have to experience their sadness.

Knowing that time is running out, Forus gently caressed Ocelia with his remaining hand while staring at her face, trying his best to engrave every detail into his soul, hoping that he would remember it in his next life if he would be reborn again.

Beautifully, the crimson barriers got shattered layer by layer, turning into reflective particles that floated aimlessly in the air, resembling the white snow of the romantic night. The array slowly crumbled as monsters approached the bonfire, expecting to prey on the unfortunate souls lastly.

The melody of the music box turned more calming and lovely, like the song played in the wedding events. The voice of the mysterious singer grew more familiar to the two, matching the sound of Ocelia, calming and lovely, pure and refined, charming and mature.

The imprints on their hands slowly dimmed as the connection between their souls gradually dissipated, returning Forus into the male body and Ocelia into the female body. If this happened before this incident, they would try their best to control each other's mind, turning them into their property forever.

However, after hours of struggling and cooperation, as well as the intimate connection between the two souls, which was the purest form of relationships to bond with others, the two had already stopped scheming to take each other's life and started to open their heart and created a special place for their special one.

They had already sworn to themselves to officially declare their relationship if they managed to go back, setting up the wedding and announced to the World Will that they would live with each other, died with each other and pursued the ultimate truth of sorcery together forever, for all eternity.

Finally, the moment of warm and joy turned gloomy in an instant as the last layer of the array crumbled, causing the backflow of the blood, assaulting the blood veins of Forus. Thankfully, Ocelia had anticipated this and used her last remaining sorcery to help Forus eased the pain and supported his condition.

The abyss-black hand slowly approached the icy bonfire, trying to end the source of light, the natural barrier that stopped their kinds from entering to feast the two lovers.

No matter how hopeful their oath was, if they never got to leave this realm, they would never be able to realise their desire, never to live a happy life and never to achieve anything meaningful.