"Evie..."

Loras’s body went rigid, his knuckles tightening bit by bit. Veins coiled like angry serpents on the back of his pale hand.

As he trembled, his purple eyes slowly turned crimson.

Suddenly, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. As if drained of all strength, he collapsed, his knees slamming heavily onto the ground. He looked like a man whose soul had been torn away. His brow was knitted in agony, and the Star Pattern on his forehead continuously shattered and reformed. Cold sweat trickled down his jaw, and ragged gasps escaped his lips as he endured some immense, unseen pain.

"Evie..."

Finally, his trembling body began to still.

He dug his fingers into the earth with such force that his knuckles threatened to tear through his skin.

He gasped for air in great gulps, like a dying fish struggling for its last breath. The once-brilliant Nine-star pattern on his forehead no longer shone; instead, it looked as if it had been steeped in blood, eerie and grim.

"Hh... Why?"

"We share this body. You know I love her!"

Nix’s hoarse voice was steeped in shattered agony, his long purple hair hanging in a disheveled mess.

"You killed her... Heh, heh... you killed her..."

"How could you..." He began to laugh, a low, chilling sound that mixed with the gurgle of blood in his throat. Each word felt as if it were tearing him apart from the inside. "You knew... you knew that I love her..."

"How dare you... How could you..."

Nix’s voice fractured, lost in a shuddering breath. With a sudden movement, his long fingers plunged into his own chest. Tearing through flesh and muscle, he violently ripped out a pulsing green heart.

Green-tinged blood trickled down his ghastly white knuckles, forming gruesome, winding streams.

He stared at it blankly, then let out a low laugh, his thin lips pulling into a nearly delirious smile.

"Since... we’re both sick of living..."

"It’s time for this dream to end."

Nix’s voice was low and hoarse, as if it had been seared by hellfire. The deathly, cold silence emanating from him felt almost tangible.

"Loras!"

From nearby, a sharp, hard voice called out, "Loras!"

As if he hadn’t heard the call, Nix maintained his eerie smile. He stared at the faintly twitching green heart in his hand, and then his fingers suddenly clenched. The heart exploded in his palm, splattering blood that reflected in his wild, vacant eyes.

Drake, who had just rushed over, froze on the spot. He stared, baffled, at the figure of Loras kneeling on the ground, looking like a madman.

’Back in the Oasis Tribe, they had all tried to outdo each other in their hatred for Evangeline,’ Drake thought, ’so I get why Loras would make a move. I even agreed that killing The Virago would be a release for everyone. But why is he in this much pain?’

At the same time, an almost inaudible sigh emanated from deep within the body, like a bowstring stretched too taut finally snapping. In that moment, Loras’s will finally gave way, an act that felt almost like a release.

This subtle surrender caused a morbid smile to form on Nix’s lips.

It was a crazed, gleeful expression, as if his face were being pulled by invisible strings.

His eyelashes lowered, casting shadows on his flushed, pale cheeks. His long hair fell to half-cover his eyes. A rich, dark fragrance emanated from him, like a long-dormant scorpion that had finally seen its prey let down its guard.

The next moment, Nix closed his eyes.

The Beast Crystal in his chest began to glow brightly. The Star Pattern on his forehead shattered again, this time accompanied by the sound of tearing flesh, as if an invisible pair of hands had personally crushed it.

Within the now-empty cavity of his chest, a new, emerald-like heart slowly began to form, pulsing in time with the Beast Crystal. Like a plant nurtured by spring rain, it filled the void with life once more.

’You fear everything in this world, coveting only a sliver of moonlight. So I will force you to face this world’s sun and let it burn away your cowardice.’

’Loras, I was never born to protect you. I am simply me.’

"Evie..." Nix tilted his head back, looking toward a blinding halo of light. His voice seemed to shatter in the wind. "I’m sorry..."

"I... really can’t go on." The words were as light as a sigh.

’I climbed out of the dark Abyss, shouldering all the world’s pain and despair. I am the filthiest part of this body. All I wanted was to tear out the other self inside, to devour the lingering light and make this body mine alone. Was that so wrong?’

’I am a Moonlight Flower, not some monster pained by the moon’s scorching light.’

’He knew his Evie was strong. She would be all right.’

’But he... no longer had the right to see her. He hadn’t protected her. And besides, the one she had wanted, the one she’d tried to save from the very beginning... had always been Loras, never Nix.’

’He knew this better than anyone.’

’She’d said she only cared for males who could give her children.’

’Now that the Beast Crystal has been sacrificed for Loras, she... should be happy, right?’

Nix’s long lashes fluttered, half-shielding his deep purple eyes and casting soft shadows on his cold, pale skin. His alluringly curled purple hair cascaded over his shoulders, a beautiful sight.

Though his expression was steeped in a deathly stillness, for a moment, it created the rare illusion of something akin to gentleness.

*

"Stabbed clean through the heart, and she’s not dead? What is she, a monster?"

"Exactly! Don’t tell me this female’s heart isn’t located there?"

"Stellan, are we really going to save her? Let’s not, okay? This tribal gathering has been a disaster. We didn’t even get to trade our goods, so why are we getting involved in this surface-dweller’s mess? We should head back to The Deep Sea as soon as possible!"

...

Listening to the chattering voices around her, Evangeline furrowed her brow and her eyelids trembled open.

A blinding light pierced her eyes like a blade, leaving her temporarily sightless. She instinctively raised a hand to block it, and with a soft THUD, something in her palm fell onto her chest.

She looked down, her blurry vision slowly coming into focus on a tattered doll.

The doll was even more dilapidated than before, lying silently on her blood-spattered clothes.

’A Death Replacement Puppet,’ she thought. ’Good for escaping three certain-death situations, and I’ve already used it twice in just over a month.’

Evangeline’s lips twitched, a flash of self-deprecation in her eyes.

’A person really can’t let themselves get too comfortable. To think I was so blinded by a male’s feigned gentleness that I threw all my caution to the wind. If not for the puppet, I’d be a corpse right now.’

’The famous gold-medal agent of the Transmigration Administration Bureau, nearly undone by the very target of her mission.’

’Heh, if I’d really died in such a pathetic way, I can only imagine the uproar on the Transmigration Administration Bureau forums. The reputation I spent years building would have been ruined overnight. I almost became a complete joke!’

Evangeline took a deep breath, clutching the broken doll tightly. When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was ice-cold.

’This isn’t some rookie trial run; this isn’t playing house. This is an SSS-level mission with a mortality rate of nearly one hundred percent! So many top agents have failed and died on missions like this. I was so stupid!’

Suddenly, Coral Cetus’s voice, quavering and dramatic, burst out beside her ear.

"Flora! A-Are you really okay?!"

Evangeline looked up at Coral Cetus, whose pink hair was flying everywhere and whose eyes were wide as saucers.

Her eyes were glued to Evangeline’s chest as she made an exaggerated gesture with her hands. "That bone knife was so sharp! It stabbed you right through, here! HISS... Even for a Great Witch, that’s..."

Coral Cetus trailed off, sucking in a sharp breath. She truly found the whole thing incredible.