BANG.

The sound of the gunshot enchoed through the silent woods. Viella and Lily instinctively crouched even lower, their heart racing.

Plop.

The heavy sound of something hitting the forest floor echoed right beside them.

Viella felt a warm liquid hit her cheek as she smelled the strong smell of metal. She froze, her breath hitching in her throat.

Slowly, she turned her head. Laying in the dirt, not even two feet away, was a man in a tactical vest, one of the hidden attackers who had been creeping up on their flank, his own suppressed weapon still clutched in his lifeless hand.

There was a perfect hole right in the center of his forehead.

Instant death.

Viella’s eyes widened, her vision blurring for a second as the reality of the blood on her face set in. Beside her, Lily moved, pulling Viella closer to her chest to shield her from the sight, her grip firm.

"Sooo..." Viella whispered, her voice trembling as she wiped a smear of red from her cheek with a shaking hand.

"This is why Dante was aiming over here, I guess."

Lily nodded solemnly, her eyes scanning the dark forest.

"He didn’t just know someone was hiding here, my lady. He knew exactly where that man was positioned."

"Good thing it was the enemy and not us who got shot," Viella breathed, leaning into Lily’s shoulder.

The woods descended into a chaotic scene As Dante’s men swarmed the remaining attackers, Alina didn’t hesitate. She broke into a run and threw herself into Dante’s arms.

"Lord Dante... are you okay? You’re bleeding!" she cried, her voice trembling.

Dante didn’t embrace her back. He gave her a singular pat on the shoulder before coldly putting her aside. His focus remained on the man he had shot.

He stepped over the ruins and placed his heavy boot directly onto the dying man’s hand, crushing it into the gravel. The man let out a pathetic groan.

As Dante leveled his pistol to finish the job, the man began to beg, his voice a frantic wheeze. But in that exact second, the silent night was shattered not by one, but by two simultaneous gunshots.

BANG.

BANG.

Plop.

Alina’s body hit the forest floor with a heavy thud. A dark blood stain began to bloom rapidly across the center of her chest, soaking through her light colored dress.

The thug laid dead from Dante’s bullet, but as Dante spun around, his eyes widened in a rare flash of genuine shock. He saw Alina crumpled in the dirt. He rushed over, dropping to one knee to pull her head into his lap, shouting commands to his men to secure the area and find the second shooter.

Hidden in the deep shadows, Viella stood tall, her arm extended. Her pistol was still raised, the barrel smoking slightly in the cool night air.

She stared through the leaves at the panicked scene,

"Guess what I wrote was in fact never working," Viella whispered to the wind, her voice devoid of emotion.

"And you have always been her male lead, huh?"

"My lady, we have to move! Now!" Lily hissed. She didn’t wait for an answer, grabbing Viella by the shoulder and dragging her back toward their car before the tactical teams could sweep the brush.

As they fled through the dark trees, leaving the bleeding Alina in Dante’s arms, a cold smirk washed over Viella.

She knew Alina wouldn’t die tonight, Dante Alina and Elias, they’re the main piller of this book who can’t he erased easily but then she realized something more important.

"If she can’t die, isn’t that much more better? I can kill her millions of time and just watch her die?" A thrill of killing intent in those eyes flashed.

As the two of them entered the car, Lily let out a sharp breath.

"Damn, my lady... that was a perfect shot. Truly. If I had known you were going to take the lead, I would’ve put a few more bullets in her myself just to be sure." Lily smirked, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction as she shifted the car into gear and peeled away from the woods.

"Did you see the panic on Dante’s face?" Viella asked. Her voice was hollow, eyes fixed on the dark road ahead. Her hands were still vibrating from the kickback of the gun.

"Hm, yes, my lady," Lily replied, her smirk faltering. "It was... visceral. Like he really cared for her. Like his entire world was crumbling because she was bleeding."

Viella hummed a low, tuneless note and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the cool glass of the window. She looked exhausted.

Lily looked at her and felt a cold pit form in her stomach. She lowered her eyes, a memory from three months ago rising up. She silently prayed that the plot of this world wouldn’t demand the same horrific price from Viella that it had once demanded from her.

Flashback: 3 Months Ago

The air in the study had been thick with the tension. Dante sat behind his desk, his eyes cold as he stared at Lily.

"Lily," Dante’s voice had been a dangerous rasp.

"What is the most brutal way of murder you know?"

"I have many ways, Lord Dante," Lily hadn’t blinked. "Skinning the target alive, slow dismemberment, or the ’Death of a Thousand Cuts’ where they bleed for days, burning alive, pulling out their teeth one by one etc"

Dante had nodded slowly. "I want you to do the same to Alina. I don’t want to touch that filthy little thing, nor do I want her filthy blood on me. So.... Erase her."

Lily nodded "I sure will not disappoint you lord Dante"

Lily had left for the mission with a heart of stone. This was the revenge she wanted for her lady’s sake. She tracked Alina to a dark, cold basement where the girl was tied to a chair.

"Hey! Who is this? Do you even know who I am?!" Alina had sneered into the darkness, her voice still carrying that annoying, high pitched entitlement.

Lily stepped into the flickering light, her expression stone cold but little smirk playing on her face.

"The pathetic little shit who calls herself this world’s female lead," she whispered.

Alina’s eyes widened behind the blindfold. "You bitch, Lily! How dare you!"

Lily smirked, leaning down. "So you recognize people just by their voice, huh, Alina?"

She ripped the blindfold off. Alina squinted, her face twisting into a mask of pure, ugly hatred.

"I should’ve just killed you off, you useless little bitch!"

Lily grabbed handful hair of Alina and made her face her.

"Shhh," Lily murmured. "You’re being real annoying right now. Let’s see where we shall start..."

Lily took out a jagged iron tool. She grabbed Alina’s chin, forcing her mouth open, and sliced her tongue clean off. Alina’s screams turned into a wet, gargling choke. For hours, Lily worked, systematically torturing Alina’s body until the girl finally passed away in a pool of her own blood.

Lily smiled at her bloody work and walked out.

"The war is finally about to end, my lady... now just Elias is left."

The Same Night

But the universe did not allow the victory to last. That night, Lily woke up with a violent jolt. A wave of intense nausea hit her, and she lunged for the side of the bed, vomiting thick, dark blood onto the floor.

Then came the suffering. It was as if her internal organs were being crushed by an invisible hand. Her body erupted in white-hot, agonizing pain,every cut she had given Alina began to manifest on her own nerves. It felt like her skin was being peeled back inch by inch, yet there were no marks on her body. She stayed silent in the dark, clutching her stomach and trembling, unable to even scream as the "Plot" punished her for her defiance.

When she woke up at dawn, she was drenched in sweat. She checked her phone, and her heart stopped. The date... was the same. The 14th. The very day she had just finished.

She stumbled out into the hall and stopped a passerby maid. "The date. What is the date today?"

"It’s the 14th, Lily," the maid said, looking at her strangely.

Lily’s blood ran cold. She sprinted toward Alina’s room and flung the door open. There she was, Alina, sleeping peacefully, her skin perfect and her tongue intact.

Lily’s eyes flared with madness. Should I just kill her again? She didn’t hesitate. She pulled a knife from her sleeve and lunged, stabbing Alina directly through the heart. Alina’s eyes snapped open, a high-pitched scream tearing through the manor as she died for the second time

The memory of those endless, agonizing loops was a haunting weight in Lily’s mind.

The next thing she had known back then, she would wake up again in that same jolting pain, her throat thick with the copper taste of blood, only to find the calendar staring back at her with the exact same date. It was as if nothing had ever happened. No matter how many times she carved Alina into pieces, the plot simply hit the reset button, forcing Lily to endure the phantom agony of the murder while Alina woke up with a smile.

It happened every single time. Eventually, Lily had given up, her spirit broken by the cycle of futility. Dante had stopped giving her orders regarding the girl, his voice cold and hollow when he told her he would "handle it himself."

But Lily still didn’t understand how. There was no way anyone in this world could truly touch her, the plot simply wouldn’t allow it.

Flashback Ends

The sound of the car tires on the asphalt brought Lily back to the present. She gripped the steering wheel, her eyes darting to the rearview mirror to stare at Viella. The silence in the car felt bit odd.

"Are you feeling okay, my lady?" Lily asked, her voice hushed, searching for any sign of discomfort.

"Hm?" Viella stirred, her eyes half-opening as she looked out at the passing streetlights. "Yeah, I am. I just... I just need some rest."

Lily nodded slowly, though the pit in her stomach only grew. She looked back at the road, the city skyline beginning to loom in the distance.

"I have no idea what our next plan will be," Lily murmured to herself

___________

In the forest the weather seemed to get more colder by the time.

Dante’s body was a filled of bruises and drying blood, yet he didn’t seem to feel the cold. He stood up slowly, leaving Alina’s limp, blood soaked form on the ground.

A flickering madness visible in his eyes.

"Boss..." one of his men stepped forward, his voice trembling. "Shall we take her to the hospital? She’s losing too much blood."

"No need," Dante replied. His voice was a flat, "Take her back to the mansion. Call the private surgeons. Lock the east wing."

"And boss....you? These are serious injuries! We need to treat you as soon as possible! Let’s go, please-"

"No need," Dante cut him off, his gaze fixed on the dark thicket where the shot had come from.

"I have survived death itself. This... this is nothing compared to that. I have someone I need to meet right now."

"But boss-" The subordinate started to protest, but the words died in his throat. Dante’s face was gloomy, his eyes turning dark and foggy.

The man lowered his head, carefully taking the unconscious Alina. He signaled the tactical team to retreat, leaving Dante standing alone amidst the ruins.

Dante didn’t look back at the girl. He turned his new intact car standing Infront of him, his lips curling into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

"This wasn’t the right move," Dante whispered to the shadows, the wind catching his words.

"You’ll regret what you have done."

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TO BE CONTINUED