[Before The Attack]

"A day in the place in which you reside was but a fleeting minute in mine, Yumiko... And a year—an entire year for you—still only amounted to that same minute for me. The realms might have differed, and time might have bent and twisted, but my gaze remained unyielding. You couldn't escape from me, dear sister. Although I hadn't expected memory loss or a personality change..." I mused, letting my gaze drift off to the window beside me.

"I've observed her recent interactions—the way she strolls through the marketplaces of Mordurn, the way locals regard her with a mix of respect and fear. But she was different then...unhinged." I continued, contemplating her unpredictable nature, "She remembered everything, and her personality returned to normal..."

“It wouldn't have been long before their relationships shattered.”

"After I'm done testing this toy on you, the world will be under my control." 

As I continued to observe her journey, I noticed the sharp glint of the knife she had dropped earlier, a grim reminder of her erratic behaviour.

Just thinking about the amount of power I had over her was exhilarating.

My eyes shifted towards the hallway, where the sign read 'Yumiko's Room', and I couldn't help but notice the sharp glint of the knife she had dropped on the ground.

"Five years," I pondered, "more precisely, five years, three months, two weeks, four days, three hours, twenty-seven minutes, and six seconds. How many lives have you claimed since then?"

Delving into the book again, I noted the decline in her emotions and the spike in her madness.

A faint, vicious smile formed on my lips; two thoughts crossed my mind, tantalising in their potential: How far could I have pushed her? What were the limits of this book?

---

"Yumiko, please, speak to us! What happened to you?" Lilith pursued me as she followed me. I felt her eyes on me, searching for any signs of distress or injury.

"You aren't real; what happens when you die?" I asked flatly, causing her to retreat, perhaps intimidated.

"What are you talking about?!" Beatrice interjected.

I halted and pivoted towards them.

"Stop following me." I said, my voice low and dangerous. Beatrice and Lilith exchanged glances, but they didn't move. They stood their ground, refusing to back down.

"Please, Yumiko," Lilith pleaded, "We just want to help." I tilted my head, feeling a surge of malicious amusement.

"Do demons experience pain?" I inquired, a faint, wicked smile forming on my lips.

A nearby imp, drawn to the intensity of our conversation, chimed in, "The pain we feel is not like yours, but we do have emotions."

I glanced at the imp, my cold eyes meeting its wary ones.

"Emotions? And how do those feel?" The imp stuttered, "It's... It's different, but it's real."

"Well, that's boring..." I thought before my smile returned.

"Real? Nothing here is real." I said, with a hint of amusement in my voice.

Lilith took a step forward, her hand outstretched as if trying to bridge the widening chasm between them.

"Yumiko, please, this isn't like you."

Beatrice's eyes darted between Lilith and me, confusion etched on her face.

"Yumiko," she began, hesitating, her eyes searching for mine, seeking the friend she once knew. "Please, listen. If something's wrong, we can—"

"Wrong? This whole world is wrong!" I replied, letting my gaze linger on Lilith for a moment longer than necessary.

I had never acted that way before... But I couldn't help myself; they were being annoying.

Beatrice shuffled uncomfortably, "Yumiko, you've never talked like this before. Did something... Did someone hurt you? Why are you acting this way?"

Beatrice clenched her fists, her voice tinged with desperation.

"You're scaring us. Please talk to us. Help us understand."

I paused, feeling a pang of... something. An emotion I couldn't quite place. Sighing, I muttered, "Perhaps later." Then I continued my path, leaving them in desperation.

"Yumiko, wait!" Beatrice called out again, desperation clear in her voice. I heard the soft flutter of her wings as she tried to reach me.

"Hey, Bitchio, when are you going to send me back? Haven't you tested that book enough?" I asked internally.

---

"..."

I felt my smile slowly disappear, my face contorted into an expression of cold displeasure.

It was cold enough that even Mordurn, through the pages, could feel it.

"...Yumiko..." I uttered in a noiseless tone, "Have you forgotten I don't take such insults lightly...?"

My fingers delicately caressed the rough spine of the book in front of me as I reached for the candle beside it, lighting it with a flick of my fingers. 

I watched as the flame danced, casting an eerie glow on my face.

"Well, if you want to play like that, then so be it..." 

I took in the smell of the smoke, and my voice resonated with a sense of finality.

"Mordurn, such a quaint little place..." I muttered, my fingers tracing patterns on the book's cover, "I hope you don't mind it being destroyed."

My fingers outlined an orange sigil forming above the book, a dim light, and a deep hum emanating from it. The air grew heavy with anticipation as the book's pages began to turn on their own.

The sigil began to glow brighter; its light cast eerie shadows in the room and filled it with an otherworldly presence.

"The home you cherish, Yumiko, would soon join the barren lands surrounding it." I quietly muttered to myself, a wicked grin spread across my face.

With a flick of my fingers, the sigil shifted, echoing a resonance that sent ripples throughout the room.

The very fabric of Mordurn's narrative trembled, awaiting the reckoning that would soon unfold.