The club connects—a brutal thud resonates through the forest—and the impact shudders through my arm as the shield crumbles.

My mind roars with a single, devastating truth: I’ve failed.

...

Agony explodes through me, sharp and blinding, as though my body is being pulverized from inside. A blow tears me off my feet, leaving me weightless and helpless, world spinning violently as I'm flung backward and into her with terrifying speed.

She's thrown into the tree first—a sickening, bone-jarring crack against the massive wood.

A split second later, I slam into her—my momentum driving her harder against wood as her body absorbs the hit for me.

The impact steals the air away from my lungs, causing me to painfully gasp as a sharp and unrelenting wave of agony rips through me.

Her slender form is pinned beneath mine, trapped between me and immovable wood. I can feel her there, unmoving, her weight pressing back into me like dead weight.

I try to move, to shift off her, but my limbs feel heavy and unresponsive.

Can’t breathe—chest on fire, lungs crushed.

I can't even think, my mind turns into a swirling vortex of pain and panic.

Ah‒‒‒‒! It hurts so much!

Everything hurts, so much, and I can’t see, can’t breathe, can’t even feel anything below my neck.

A quiet scream is stuck inside, begging for release but finding only more agony in response.

Again...

Dead.

...

The familiar, blinding white engulfs me,

But this time, there is no Hermes, no gentle voice offering a second chance.

Instead, a chilling emptiness, a void of nothingness, threatens to swallow me whole.

Panic grips the edges of my awareness, a desperate struggle against oblivion. This isn't the peaceful release I've experienced before. This is terrifying, a descent into a cold, uncaring darkness.

My memories, my family, my life—they dissolve like dying embers, threatened to be snuffed out forever.

No.

I can't let that happen. I refuse to let my story end like this.

I claw at the nothingness, desperate for something, anything, to hold onto. I focus on the pain, the burning ache in my chest, the lingering sting of the impact. It's a terrible sensation, but it's real, it's proof that I'm still here, still fighting.

I try to recall my parents' faces, their voices, the warmth of their love. I desperately cling to these memories—my parents faces, their voices, the warmth of their love.

A faint image flickers in my mind—Kitsuna's gentle smile, Senji's unwavering gaze, the way they both look at me with such love and adoration. I can't let them down. I can't let them be alone. I have to get back to them, to protect them, to be the daughter they deserve.

...I can't give up.

In that moment▬▬▬▬Time stops.

A void erupts—raw, shattered, and infinite. Reality tears, a searing wound devouring the white expanse.

Violent. Hungry. Inevitable.

A voice cuts through—ash over iron.

It doesn’t whisper, doesn’t shout. It simply is. Ancient. Timeless. Inside my mind, not out.

"Curious predicament,"

"To cherish life so deeply, yet waste it so carelessly."

A formless presence materializes—a silhouette of seething dark energy, distorting light around it. Not a person, but pure, untamed force. It doesn’t glance at the orc, doesn’t acknowledge the girl pinned beneath me. Its focus is absolute, inescapable—fixated solely on me.

"Waste of potential," The voice continues, cold and inexorable, a shadow spilling into the cracks of my consciousness.

"Pity, spent on something so insignificant. Pathetic. A disappointment."

My heart, or what’s left of it, clenches. Disappointment? Is that what I am? A failure? I thought… I thought I was finally doing something right.

"You’re not… Hermes," I manage to choke out, my voice a broken whisper, barely even reaching my own ears.

The formless presence doesn’t answer—only a low chuckle, heavy as the earth’s slow heave.

"Such a fascinating little soul," It finally says, amused, and threaded with something that feels akin to… hunger.

"So eager to protect, so willing to sacrifice. Yet, so utterly… flawed."

"Who… are you?" I ask.

"Who I am is not important, little fox,"

"What I want to offer you… now that is what should capture your attention."

My heart pounds, not just from the pain, but from the sheer intensity of the presence before me. It’s not just a voice—it’s a force, a power that feels both terrifying and intoxicating.

"Offer?..."

"Yes, little fox. I offer you strength. The strength to annihilate those who dare threaten you."

"You... you want to help me?"

"Help?"

"Let's call it a mutually beneficial arrangement."

"You see, little fox, I find your spirit... intriguing. Your willingness to throw yourself into the path of danger, to sacrifice yourself for another, is... fascinating. I want to see how far you're willing to go, what you're capable of becoming."

"And what will you gain from this?"

"Oh, I'll gain much, little fox. I'll gain entertainment, amusement, perhaps even a little insight into the workings of the mortal heart."

"But more importantly,"

"I gain freedom."

...Freedom? What does that mean?

"Freedom from what?"

"A life of stagnation,"

"I exist in a realm of endless repetition, little fox, a cycle of predictable events. But you... your actions are volatile, unpredictable. You represent the chaotic heart of existence, an anomaly that fascinates me." Its voice carries a quiet, almost breathless anticipation, like it’s been waiting for this moment forever.

I stare into the abyss before me‒‒‒‒

It wants to help me… Why?

Because it's… fascinated by me.

Hermes had the same reaction. They both want…something from me. Something I don’t understand yet. But it doesn’t matter.

"I just… I want to feel safe again. I want to go back to where I belong."

"Your reasons don’t matter to me,"

"All I care about is protecting what’s mine. I just want to go home."

"Then, little fox, it's time for you to choose."

"Choose?"

"To accept my offer,"

"Or die by your own failure."

‒‒‒‒Time fractures—stuttering, dragging.

"Your time is up, little fox,"

"Choose wisely."

Choose? I don't have a choice! I can't lose everything again! I can't let my parents be alone!

I can't let my life be stolen from me again! I cling to the memories, the feelings, the very essence of who I am.

I can't just fade away into this nothingness!

I won't!

I refuse!

"‒‒‒‒What do I do?!" I cry, the words clawing their way out, raw and desperate.

"Accept my offer."

"How?"

"Call my name."

"If you really accept my offer, you will know my name."

...?!

...! I don’t know it!

How can I call a name I don’t know?!

"I… I don’t know your name! How can I call a name I don’t know?"

"You will know it when you truly accept my offer."

But how can I call a name I don’t know? How can I accept an offer when I don’t even understand what it entails? My mind races—thoughts clashing like blades in the heat of battle—each one carving deeper into my resolve.

I think of my parents—of Kitsuna and Senji—of the life I’ve built in this world. I think of the girl behind me, the one I tried to save, the one who might already be gone. I think of the orc, its club raised high, ready to crush us both.

And then—like a single note cutting through silence—it hits me.

I don’t need to know the name. I just need to accept the offer. To truly, deeply, and completely accept it. To let go of my fear, my doubt, my hesitation—and embrace whatever this entity is offering. To trust in the chaos, in the unknown, in the possibility that this might be my only chance to survive.

I close my eyes, shutting out the void, the pain, the fear. I focus on the one thing that matters: my will to live. My will to protect. My will to fight.

And then—

"I accept."

The words leave my lips, and in that instant, the name comes to me—always there, waiting to be called.

I speak it—the name that is both ancient and new, familiar and strange, a distant memory made flesh.

"Eureshya."