Siren of the Nightmare System

The Overs

e," Jericho whispered, his breath

hed against his chest, but his coat felt like immovable granite. "Don't toy with me. You said you

smile playing on his lips. "Threats? Darling, I'm offering you a lifeline. You were seconds away from being a smear of necrotic

ce trembling despite her attempt at defiance. "Are you a demon? A

chitect of your new reality, Astrida. And as for the mask... it's whatever you need it to be. Right now, I'm the only

ng jagged, needle-like protrusions that crept toward her boots. The cold was deepening, turning the

a dangerous, velvet purr. "And unless you want to spend eternity as

She gestured toward the flickering blue interface that stil

hummed with a sound like a thousand whispers combined. "This is a fragment of the Abyss. A Shadow E

itching. "You want me to touch that? It l

s of you so that something stronger can take root. Drink it, Astrida. Or don't. The choice is yours. I've already secured the contract;

ands shaking as she reached for the s

nough that she could smell the scent of ozone and crushed violets cli

reezing agony tore through her arm, turning her veins black beneath the skin. She gasped

didn't reach out to steady her, only watched as she clawed at the stone floor. "Push through it. Swallow the decay, don't let i

ttering as the frost crawled up her neck.

gripping her jaw with firm, cold fingers, forcing her to look at him through the blur of her own agony. "Ke

heartbeat. She could feel the dungeon pressing in-the walls groa

ped, her eyes glowing with a

ression that didn't reach his eyes. "So

ned in the ceiling, dropping a cascade of d

his tone surprisingly calm. "You have to get out of here, Astrida. Run, climb, c

me?" she shouted over th

a trick of the light. "Survive the ascent. If you die, I'll find you in the void and punish you fo

eamed, but he w

covered in fading frost, her veins pulsing with the violet essence. She wasn't human, not entirely,

ing dark. "I'll live. And then, Jericho