It was like she was floating. Whatever its true nature may have been, one thing was clear: that dimension was hers.

The Empt was believed to be a merging of the material world and the Realm from which Inters and Intras were derived. In reality, Liv had no idea what the Empt was or how it worked. It was simply a mystery much like the origins of the King's Eyes. Why or how they passed down and what gave them their power were questions always asked but never answered.

She never asked such questions, though.

When one gained the power to subjugate the world, the first thing that happened was that the power subjugated the one who possessed it. A human couldn't domesticate such a power. It took their mind and shaped them into someone capable. And a capable person didn't ask weak questions like 'why?'.

'How, when, where, and action.' That was how she worked.

All the way up until that moment when she saw the utter darkness once again after all this time. She had never been alone in the Empt before. Not after the first time when it didn't really register. After that, she had only used it on her hunters for experiments before she learned of just how dangerous it was. Back then she was saved by luck and a lack of power. The more powerful she grew, the easier the Shadow could sense her.

Her experiments had been worth it, though. They gave her an advanced understanding of matter manipulation in record time and altered her brain somehow to make spatial manipulation feel more natural.

She couldn't even imagine how powerful someone like the Red King would have been if allowed to study the Empt as much as he liked. But he likely didn't. The novelty must've worn off quickly.

At least it had with Liv. Now she felt no fascination with any of it anymore. Maybe that's what the knowledge of an imminent death waiting for you did.

More surprisingly, she found herself asking those weak questions. How had she gotten there? Why had it all happened? What was wrong with her? With life in general?

'Life does unfair things to you, and it will never stop. You have to learn to adapt and take away the valuable lessons your experiences have to offer.' Liv smiled at Inu's old words, but more so at her response. 'And what about the ones who just die?'

She closed her eyes in the void and felt herself simply exist in that space beyond worlds. "What about me?" she asked out loud.

But she was alone. Alone as ever. Nevertheless, she felt no sadness. Her lips were drawn in a faint smile and her closed eyes were peaceful. If one had looked at her in all her youth, nobody would've guessed she was going to die whenever she set foot back in the world.

Her mind was in the past, pleasantly floating in melancholy, suffering painted silver by time.

Her life was lived. What would happen next was simple. Soldiers would have poured into the bunker and she would be assaulted at once. She would fight, but before she could do anything that shrouded thing would arrive and eat her heart just like Hakro's spear ate Fabian's.

Oh... she would never see him again. She felt a tingle in her nose and shuddered lightly before pressing her eyes more shut than they already were.

Maybe there was an afterlife, but she would not be let near where he was. He would pity her but be repulsed if he ever knew what she had done. She thought she was fine with that. There probably wasn't an afterlife in any case. It was fine... It was... fine.

She opened her eyes and peered up into the darkness, her pupils dilating, growing darker in the process.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

She sniffed and let out a pathetic, shuddering breath. Then, through a broken voice, she talked to whatever god watched the split between realms, "I would have liked to spend more time with him... With everyone." She swallowed dryly. "I— I never wanted any of this." Her lower lip curled down. She tried to fight it, but soon her jaw began to shake and her sight started to grow blurry.

Then she put her palms on her tightly shut eyes. 'I can't cry. Face it. Face the end. You chose this path. You were reborn but into the same life. You knew it then. You know it now. This is the effect of you!" Suddenly crashing noise assaulted her ears. She gasped in shock and opened her eyes only to find herself in another darkness.

Only a single row of yellow-white flames still burned on the ceiling. The one above the throne. Where the only people in the bunker were mourning beside the king whose torso had been vertically split with a sharp piece of debris. Inu and the black-haired boy with their heads down. No soldiers. No assault. No... nothing.

Liv turned, the minuscule rocks grinding under her feet. The bunker used to be squeaky clean. Now there was a hole in it that leaked just the faintest bit of daylight. No, it was already night. The light must have come from flames. The capital was on fire. It seemed the soldiers had been let go to take care of their families. Inu's effect, surely. It was the temple all over. Exactly as Inu expected. Exactly as he most feared. Exactly why he betrayed her.

"L— Liv?" Inu's voice came from behind and she stopped in place. "Liv, I'm sorry," he said, his voice pleading. But he wasn't a man who begged for the sake of his own life. "I did something unforgivable. I have done many unforgivable things. But I beg of you. Let Jakaan live. As the Prince of Stratum, he is the only hope of all of this ending without a civil war. He is the only thing keeping the nation from collapsing... so please. I know you hate Stratum but think of all the unnecessary lives lost. You've proved your point. Now just... just let it end here."

Liv stared at the firelight for long before she started to turn. As she did, no sound came from anywhere but outside. It was the same muffled sound of chaos that she heard in the cave. But now, she did not turn to the light, bathed in her full potential. She turned to Inu with the eyes of a lost child.

"I— I—" Her eyes teared up again, but this time she saw the compassion that grew on Inu's face and could no longer hold it in. Despite her best efforts, a tear streamed down her left cheek, over the beauty spot someone had touched once. "You were right," she said with a voice of all the strength she could muster and wiped her eyes. She had broken her promise.

As she was, the Shadow would sense her presence even without the use of her powers. However, in the face of death, she saw a string of light. She hesitated to try, but found her resolve in every moment, sensation, and picture of beauty. Even if it eluded her in the end, she would reach out.

She looked at the picture of death in front of her. A son at his father's side with bloodshot eyes that drifted in another direction. To a girl in a stained jade-green dress, her upper body crushed under a boulder. Liv felt her entire body stung with needles at the image. Inu looked away. But then she called back his attention with steeled words, "All along, you were right."

Even the boy looked back at her as she raised her hands and moved them slowly toward her face, her breathing growing soundless before stopping completely. Then she dug her fingers into her eye cavities. The paralyzing pain from Hakro's stomp was like a finger flick compared to the pain. She broke her stopped breathing to gasp as her eyes flew wide, blood rushed in and out. Emerged in an unbreakable focus, it was like listening to someone else scream with her voice. The pain was so immediate. So violating. Like she was touching her own brain. Well, she almost was.

When her index fingers were almost completely in her eye cavities, she felt it. She summoned up insubstantial matter and sliced and her red sight went black.

Somewhere in herself, there were two Livs. One who was focused on breathing and wondered why her throat hurt. The other screamed.

She dug out her sliced eyes and put them in one hand that trembled so much it was like she was shaking it on purpose. The eyes. Her eyes. In her hand?

She threw them to the ground and heard almost nothing as she stumbled back, still screaming absent-mindedly. Even with no eyes, the pain was blinding. There was so much blood. She didn't know there was so much blood. How could there be so much blood?

Her gasps turned to seething as she calmed herself. Through it all, she remained standing. But then she started to sway on her feet. She heard Inu bark orders to Jakaan, but she could make no sense of it.

She collapsed on the spot. Her blood warmed a spot for her head. Then there was a deafening crashing noise that became her entire world before she heard the god of death she had run from all this time. Bile rose in her throat as there was a long and uncomfortable crunching sound that she could feel inside her bones. The sound of her eyes being devoured. Finally, her body grew lax with a realization. That was it. The end of her world.