"Who are you?"
Asuma's hand instinctively moved to the hilt of his sword.
Everything about the girl before him felt wrong.
She wore Latriys' face.
She carried Latriys' memories.
Yet neither Latriys' familiar aura nor the oppressive presence of the Noctyrix could be sensed within her.
It was as if both had vanished.
Or merged into something entirely new.
The girl tilted her head.
"Asuma... it's me."
"No," he replied quietly.
His grip tightened around his sword.
"You're not."
A faint smile crossed her lips.
Not mocking.
Not hostile.
Almost sad.
"I see. So you sensed it too."
Before Asuma could react, reality shattered around him.
The rooftop disappeared.
The sky vanished.
And once again he found himself standing within his own consciousness.
Only this time it had changed.
Gone was the endless void.
In its place stood an enormous throne room forged from black iron and jagged spires. Ancient chains hung from distant pillars while rivers of crimson light flowed beneath the floor like molten blood.
At the far end sat the Witch.
Upon her throne.
Watching.
Waiting.
Her presence no longer inspired the same terror it once had.
Perhaps he had simply grown accustomed to monsters.
Or perhaps she had become something else to him.
"As expected."
The girl stepped beside him, her gaze fixed entirely upon the woman seated upon the throne.
"You truly do reside within his consciousness."
Asuma immediately drew his sword.
"You."
She raised her hands harmlessly.
"I'm not here to fight."
A faint laugh escaped her.
"Besides, you sealed away most of my power. Fighting would be rather pointless."
Asuma narrowed his eyes.
"You're the Noctyrix."
"I am."
She paused.
"And I am not."
The answer only irritated him further.
Before he could respond, the Witch spoke.
"Their personalities have merged."
Her voice echoed throughout the throne room.
"The vessel and the beast are no longer separate."
Asuma looked between them.
"Merged?"
The girl nodded slowly.
"When the seal was restored, something unexpected happened."
She looked down at her own hands.
"The Noctyrix's consciousness became intertwined with Latriys'."
A faint bitterness entered her voice.
"Now her memories are mine."
She paused.
"And mine are hers."
Silence followed.
Asuma searched her expression for any trace of deception.
But found none.
"Why should I believe you?" he asked.
"You shouldn't."
The answer came immediately.
"I wouldn't trust me either."
For the first time she looked genuinely uncertain.
"Asuma... I don't understand what I am right now."
She touched her chest.
"There are two voices inside my head."
Her eyes lowered.
"Two sets of emotions."
"Two lives."
She gave a weak smile.
"Even I don't know where Latriys ends and where the Noctyrix begins."
The honesty of her words disturbed him more than any lie could.
Had he saved Latriys?
Or had he simply helped create a new monster?
Even he no longer knew.
The girl suddenly looked toward the throne.
A question lingering in her eyes.
"What I truly don't understand is this."
She pointed toward the Witch.
"Why does a fragment of the Witch Queen exist inside your soul?"
Asuma sighed.
"Believe me."
"I'd like the answer to that question too."
The moment the words left his mouth—
The Witch vanished.
No sound.
No movement.
One moment she sat upon her throne.
The next she stood directly before the girl.
The temperature of the throne room dropped instantly.
The merged girl froze.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared on her face.
The Witch stared into her eyes.
"Why ask meaningless questions?"
Her voice was soft.
Yet every word felt absolute.
"I granted you access to his domain."
The air trembled.
"I now revoke that privilege."
The girl stepped back instinctively.
The Witch raised a single finger.
"Begone, child of Malaga."
Reality shattered.
The throne room exploded into fragments of light.
Asuma barely had time to react before he found himself back atop the estate roof.
The merged girl blinked.
Then sighed.
"She kicked us out."
A nervous laugh escaped her.
"I suppose I should have expected that from the Queen of Magic."
Asuma folded his arms.
"Why were you trying to see her?"
The girl's expression changed.
The humor disappeared.
What remained was something closer to reverence.
Or fear.
"When I fought you..."
She looked toward the horizon.
"I inherited every memory this body carried."
Her fingers tightened slightly.
"Every happy moment."
"Every painful one."
"Every memory of Fionalla."
A pause.
"But one memory stood above all the others."
Slowly she looked back at him.
"The moment I saw her."
"The Witch Queen."
The wind died around them.
"My instincts screamed at me to run."
Her voice became quieter.
"Every part of me wanted to flee."
She lowered her gaze.
"But I couldn't move."
"It felt as though I had fallen into an endless abyss."
"A darkness so vast it could swallow the entire world."
For the first time since waking, genuine fear entered her eyes.
"I am the daughter of a Prime."
"The Noctyrix once stood among the strongest beings in existence."
She swallowed.
"And yet..."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"I could not comprehend what I was looking at."
Silence settled between them.
Asuma stared into the distance.
The Witch Queen.
The Queen of Magic.
The Calamity of the Void.
But hearing those words from a being like the Noctyrix made him realize something unsettling.
Perhaps the creature inside him was not merely another monster.
Perhaps she was something far worse.
Something even the greatest demons feared.