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CONTENT WARNING: INTENSE PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR
This chapter contains a scene of absolute violation and forced physical trauma against a major character. This chapter uses a deliberate omission (`[REDACTED]`) to convey the horror, which may be disturbing.
Reader discretion is strongly advised.
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Meanwhile, within a fractured layer of the boundary. A distorted red panel fades as Yukari Yakumo was pinned in the air, a shadow figure with a black cat hat's hand clenched around her throat. She clawed at the immovable grip, her own boundary manipulation failing to respond. Her power, the very essence of her being, was gone.
"Let… go of… me… Zero…" Yukari uncharacteristically pleaded and gasped, the name a ragged breath against the suffocating pressure.
"How ironic," Zero mused, his voice a smooth, chilling contrast to her struggle. "You, who have danced on the edges of all things, have fallen because you are the edge. Sucks to heavily rely on your boundary concept, doesn't it?" He slammed her down into the ground, never relinquishing his hold. "You thought rewriting was my only strategy? I can hijack any system, any time, anywhere… Your precious crappy Dragon God won't intervene now, not after it formally permitted him. Why would it stop the one cancer it just allowed to stay?"
He leaned in, his smile of malice. "You thought you were untouchable. But now that I've edited you into an ordinary person... you are nothing, just a woman I can do anything, and get away with anything per usual."
He dryly chuckled. "You have no idea who the man you're housing really is… the one you're trying to tame? Too bad. He's more insane than I am. And spoiler for your demise: he will be the end of your entire universe—"
Another pers][][][][][][[]][][][][][][[] Stop. You're []][][][][][][][][][]]][][][] ruining the plan.
Zero stopped. He let out an irritated sigh, as if scolded by a superior. "Fine… Just do it quickly. I still, hmm… need the Miko's power intact for my plan to work while you do yours. They can…" He paused. "do whatever they want with the rest of her."
Yukari, her vision spotting the other distorted entity, desperately pried at the fingers on her neck. "W-what are you two bastards planning..?"
[ERROR] "It is none of your concern." [ERROR]
Zero watched Yukari's paling face with wicked delight. "Ah, you're fading. Here, let me help you." He drove a single finger into her chest, punching a hole. She let out a sharp, choked grunt, her body seizing. Her feet attempted to kick a few times, but were weak.
Zero stifled a laugh. "I'll tell you what you couldn't find about his past, Nowa could have done the same in my position. He killed thousands, you know. Those motherfuckers naming themselves 'Equilibrium pantheon'." His aura flicked a stray error energy at the moment he mentioned gods, as if hit by a past he despised the most. He continued. "By the age of twenty-eight, he had spent three years as a divine slaughterhouse. He ended the idea of pantheons itself in our own multiverse. I merely trailed in his wake, absorbing the lingering power of those he couldn't be bothered to fully erase. You're lucky this is a new multiverse he's trekking in his aimless wander to prove his humanity after the massacre. But this sealed zoo contains that very meaning he'll destroy for good, but he's too exhausted to know, let alone to even care anymore." His grip tightened on her throat, cutting off her air entirely. "Despite it, he still wants to be a hero. A naive notion. He doesn't understand. We are tainted narrative beings. We are a different order of existence altogether."
His eyes, pools of static, lifted from her suffering form and looked directly through the manuscript—AT YOU. "Right, W̸̬͙͚͖͂̔a̴̢̺̟̎̈̌̓t̶̛̜̖̿̓ć̴̲͎͒̕̕h̵͔̩̖̫͘e̴̛̘͐r̴͖̓ͅs̷͚͇͗͛̃͋?"
He smiled, an unhinged, terrifying smile on his face. "This story isn't supposed to exist. But while you're here... I might as well torture your favorite gap bitch."
[]][][][[]][[][][]][][][[][][][]][][][[][]][[]][][[][][][]][[][][][][][]][][][][][][[]][][][][]]][[]][[]][ system tempering process []][]][][][][]] complete. ][[]]][]]]] now time to wipe the memory evidence. ][[]]]][][[]][][][]][][][][]]
Zero scoffed. "Heh, I was just getting started," He dragged Yukari's limp form towards a waiting, distorted silhouette. "But fine. Your methods of wiping are always so... uncanny." He presented her to the figure.
[][][][][[]][][][]][][][]][][][][][] {it smiled} [][][][[]][]]]]][]][][][[][]][][]
Yukari's world dissolved into pure and agony. Her flesh [REDACTED]. The sacred boundaries of her realm were desecrated, stained with [REDACTED] of her being.
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She woke up. The gentle, rhythmic sway of a train car. Panicked, her hands flew to her chest, her throat. No wound. No pain. Just the soft fabric of her clothes and the steady clack-clack of wheels on tracks.
She let out a shuddering sigh of relief, leaning back against the plush seat. Her heart hammered against her ribs. A single tear slid down her cheek.
"It was just a nightmare..." she whispered to the empty cabin, the words a desperate plea for them to be true.