Chapter 200: Midnight Theft VII
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Sekhmet’s gaze swept the corridor once. Auri stood over Reyan like an executioner with calm eyes. Vera and Vela waited for instruction. Raka’s men held the lower fighters contained.
Good. He thought.
Then Sekhmet made the decision that would define how this night ended. He opened his void land.
In the enemy’s eyes, the air behind him split.
A vertical seam of darkness appeared like a mouth opening silently, but it did not look like a normal door. It looked like the world had been cut and the cut refused to heal. There was no light inside it. Not black like paint. Black like absence. Cold void air spilled into the corridor, and the flame in the lamps shivered as if it suddenly regretted existing.
Several captured men screamed. Some tried to crawl backward on instinct, palms scraping stone.
They had seen pocket dimensions before. Everyone in Null had heard the stories.
A storage ring that held a cart. A pouch that held a table. A rare box that held weapons. But this was not that. This was land.
A space big enough to swallow bodies without even looking full.
The seam breathed.
And the sound it made was soft and ugly, like a distant wind inside a tomb.
Sekhmet’s voice was calm.
"Throw them," he ordered.
Raka moved first.
No hesitation.
He grabbed the stunned Rank Three by the collar and dragged him toward the seam. The man tried to struggle, but his movements were slower now, blood drained and pride cracked.
Raka slammed his knee into the man’s ribs. The Rank Three folded with a choking sound.
Then Raka lifted him and tossed him into the void like a sack of garbage.
The body vanished into darkness without even a splash.
No thud.
No echo.
Just gone.
The lack of sound scared the weaker men more than any scream would have.
Vera and Vela followed.
They released their blood restraints just long enough to shove their Rank Three forward.
He stumbled, eyes wild for the first time. He tried to turn.
Vela kicked him in the back. He flew into the seam and vanished.
Auri dragged Reyan toward the darkness next.
Reyan screamed and tried to cling to the wall with his good hand, nails scraping stone like a drowning man clawing a boat.
Auri twisted his wrist.
Reyan shrieked again.
Auri did not look emotional.
She looked professional.
Then she threw him into the void like trash.
Reyan disappeared.
Raka’s men began hauling Rank One bodies and wounded Rank Two fighters.
Some were unconscious. Some were weeping. Some begged loudly.
"Please!"
"I didn’t know!"
"I was paid!"
"Spare me!"
Sekhmet did not answer any of them. He watched them get tossed into the void one by one.
One after another. A line of bodies swallowed by silence. It felt unreal. It felt like the corridor itself was watching in fear.
And then only one remained.
Dickon.
Dickon’s eyes were open, hazy, body weak, breath shallow. He recognized what Sekhmet truly is... his doom, and the recognition made his throat tighten.
His lips trembled.
"You— you’ll die for this," he whispered, trying to sound strong.
But his voice had no weight anymore.
Sekhmet crouched slowly in front of him. He was close enough that Dickon could smell him.
Blood.
Cold calm.
Something behind the eyes that was not human kindness.
"You came to my house," Sekhmet said quietly. "You came to steal my items. You came to destroy my name. And you thought you would walk away."
Dickon swallowed. His throat was dry. His pride was hanging on by a single thread.
For a moment, it tried to hold.
Then fear cut it.
"Please," Dickon whispered.
The word came out small. It was ugly but honest.
Sekhmet stared at him for a long moment, letting him sit in his own weakness.
Dickon’s eyes flickered toward the void seam behind Sekhmet.
The seam still breathed. It was still swallowed.
Dickon’s body shivered.
"I can pay," Dickon said quickly. "I can— I can give you stones. I can give you items. I can—"
Sekhmet’s gaze did not change.
Dickon’s voice cracked.
"Sekhmet," he whispered. "This... this is enough. You made your point."
He tried to crawl backward again.
Sekhmet grabbed his collar and lifted him like he weighed nothing.
Dickon’s feet kicked helplessly. He made a choking sound, panic rising.
"No... wait...!"
Then pride flared again, desperate and stupid.
His eyes went sharp with hatred.
"My father will destroy you," Dickon hissed, voice trembling with rage because fear was unbearable. "You think you can swallow me and live. My father will burn Dawn House to the ground. He will rip you out of whatever hole you hide in. He will..."
Sekhmet leaned closer until Dickon stopped breathing for a second.
Sekhmet’s voice was very calm.
"You are still threatening me," he said.
Dickon’s lips trembled.
"You should be afraid," he whispered. "He is not like you. He is not a boy. He is..."
Sekhmet cut him off softly.
"Bring Reyan back," Sekhmet said.
Dickon froze.
His eyes widened.
"What."
Sekhmet did not look at Dickon. He spoke to Auri.
"Auri," he said.
Auri’s eyes sharpened.
Sekhmet opened the void land again - not fully, just enough to reach in. A crack of darkness appeared, and cold air spilled out.
Then Auri’s hand emerged, gripping hair.
Reyan.
Reyan was dragged out of the void. His face was pale. His eyes were wide and unfocused, because whatever he had experienced inside that silent space had turned his brain into screaming fog.
He hit the floor. He coughed and gagged and tried to crawl away.
Auri stepped on his back and pinned him.
Reyan sobbed.
"Please...! Young master...! Please...!"
Dickon stared, horrified.
"You... you pulled him back," Dickon whispered.
Sekhmet looked down at Reyan like he was examining a broken tool.
"You betrayed Dawn House," Sekhmet said.
Reyan cried harder.
"I had to! I had to! They promised wealth and power!"
Sekhmet’s eyes flicked to Dickon for a heartbeat.