Isaac POV
Present
Isaac sat across the table with Celia by his side.
The two of them listened as Professor Catherine leaned back comfortably in the governor’s chair.
Her legs rested on the table, and she held a cigar smoldering between her fingers.
She looked like she owned the entire office, and from the way she carried herself, no one dared suggest otherwise.
"So what’s the governor doing right now? I doubt you killed him" Isaac asked.
Professor Catherine smiled faintly. "Yes, he’s still alive. We still need him to appear before the public. Right now, James is keeping him under control with a social skill."
Isaac nodded slightly. "Can I meet him?"
"Go ahead," Professor Catherine said, lifting herself from the chair.
She flicked ash into the tray, then walked toward a side door.
Isaac followed her down the short corridor until she stopped in front of another room.
She twisted the handle and pushed it open, gesturing for him to enter.
The room was dimly lit.
At the center sat Governor Marcus.
His posture was stiff, and his expression was dull.
Standing at his side was James, the governor’s former ace—a man Isaac found was the hidden ace of governor until he betrayed the governor.
"Greetings, Lord," James said quickly, bowing his head with an eagerness that felt forced.
Isaac gave him only a small nod.
He didn’t like the idea of using someone who had already betrayed his own master, but usefulness outweighed sentiment.
Of course, he would never trust James with anything critical in the future.
"Stop using your skill on him, and leave the room."
James obeyed without a word.
He placed a hand on the governor’s shoulder, withdrew the lingering influence of his power, then exited the room quietly.
Governor Marcus’s eyes regained clarity, and for the first time, he looked directly at Isaac.
Surprisingly, his expression wasn’t one of rage or panic.
Instead, he seemed strangely calm, as if he had expected this outcome.
"So I’ve lost," Marcus said. "Why are you here now?"
Isaac didn’t waste time. "Will you work for me?"
The governor’s lips curved into something between a smirk and a frown. "What do you mean by that?"
"You’re a capable man," Isaac replied. "The fact that you managed to rule this city without overwhelming strength proves it. That’s why I want you to work for me. Your experience is useful."
The governor chuckled softly. "Aren’t you worried I’d betray you?"
"I have a Contract."
Marcus shook his head slowly. "You don’t understand, child. I climbed to the top of this city by shedding countless tears, sacrifices, and morals. I did it because I coveted the crown. For that crown, I would have sacrificed my family. Without it, I’d rather die."
His voice hardened. There was no bravado in it, only conviction.
Isaac studied him for a moment.
The governor’s morals had always been twisted, but at least he had principles of his own.
His bottom line was simple. He would serve no one but himself. That stubbornness had carried him this far, and it would not bend now.
Isaac turned to leave, but Marcus’s voice followed him. "You must think I’m evil, right?"
Isaac paused and looked back at him. He didn’t answer.
The governor smiled faintly. It was a kind smile on the surface, but Isaac could feel the malice buried underneath.
"I’m not evil, Isaac. I just lost. And you’re not right. You just won."
He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together.
"If you want to talk philosophy, save it for the nagas. I’m sure they’d be glad to debate it with you."
Isaac waved his hand dismissively and walked out.
He wouldn’t fall for governor’s provocations.
In his mind, his decision was already made.
He would hand the governor over to the nagas and let them take their revenge for everything Marcus had done to them.
Had the governor agreed to work for him, Isaac might have revived him afterward, giving him a second chance under controlled circumstances.
But now, he would keep him alive just long enough to fade him from public view, and then deliver him to the ones who had the greatest claim on his life.
As Isaac retraced his steps toward the main office, he felt the air shift subtly.
Standing just outside the ex-governor’s chamber was a figure with white hair and piercing blue eyes.
"It’s been a long time since we met. How are you, young man?" the woman asked, her voice carrying the warmth of age.
Isaac immediately recognized her.
Though she wore the appearance of an old woman, he knew the truth. This was Eleanor, the Sword Empress herself, concealed behind her disguise.
"Greetings, Vice Principal," Isaac said politely. "I heard about everything you did for me while I was away. Thank you."
"Haha, don’t mind it. It’s an elder’s responsibility to guide the younger generation."
Isaac hid the shift in his expression.
Outwardly he remained calm, but inwardly he was unsettled.
Eleanor clearly didn’t know that he had uncovered her true identity.
That secret gave him leverage, but it also reminded him to tread carefully.
"Follow me for a bit. I know you must want to see Alice and the others, but right now we need to talk about Emily. She should be waking up soon, and with her, all her memories," Eleanor said, revealing why she had approached him
Isaac’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he nodded. "Understood."
Together, they walked down the corridor.
The steps echoed faintly against the polished floor until they reached another meeting room.
Eleanor closed the door behind them, then pulled out a small device from her sleeve.
She set it on the table and pressed a rune-engraved button. A ripple of energy spread across the room like water disturbed by a stone.
"Now we can talk," she said.
Isaac sat down across from her. "So what do you want to tell me about Emily?"
Eleanor folded her hands together on the table. "I want to tell you about the people Emily killed in her past, and the ones you’ll encounter in her trial."
Isaac’s gaze sharpened.
He gave her a small nod to continue.
...
Emily POV
Emily was watching the fragments of her childhood play out before her eyes.
This time the images weren’t blurry or fractured.
They were sharper, and clearer like a film replaying a story she had once lived but forgotten.
The memories began where they had last left off.
The sky above the Netherworld turned crimson, glowing as though drenched in blood.
A massive shadowed object loomed in the heavens, its presence alone enough to drive the people below into panic.
The Netherworld trembled.
Monsters erupted into frenzy.
Armies gathered, families huddled, everyone preparing for what they believed was the end.
Destruction began when creatures fell from the sky like burning meteors.
They struck the ground, screaming, tearing through towns and cities.
The screams of countless voices filled the air.
Then everything stopped.
Her father returned.
Emily remembered standing behind her mother, clutching her dress, eyes wide as she watched him.
With a one swing of his blade, he cut down every monster that had descended.
With the second swing, he sliced apart the looming entity that hovered above in the heavens.
With the third swing, he cut the crimson sky itself.
The heavens bled light, and the red drained away until blue spread across the sky once again.
Peace returned.
As a child, Emily believed that was the end. That her father had solved everything, that the world was safe again.
But as she grew older, she began to notice what the adults around her never said aloud.
The Netherworld might have been safe, but the world outside was still ending.
Her nightmares began soon after.
At first, they were scattered. She would hear faint whispers echoing in her sleep, and forget them once she woke up.
But as time passed, the voices became clearer.
Protect us. Please let us in. Please allow us to come there.
Emily thought they were nightmares born from her own worries.
She had always wondered about the people outside their home realm, the ones suffering from destruction her father hadn’t erased.
One day, she went to her parents and asked them to help those people.
And they agreed.
From then on, countless species were escorted into the Netherworld.
Families, tribes, even entire nations were brought through the rifts, sheltered from the apocalypse consuming the outside.
Emily watched them arrive day by day.
She thought she was helping. She thought it was enough.
But the nightmares didn’t stop.
Please allow us to come there. Let us in.
The voices grew louder.
Let us in. Let us in. Let us in. Let us in. Let us in. Let us in. Let us in. Let us in. Let us in. Let us in. Let us in.
The whispers repeated endlessly, until they filled her nights with unbearable noise.
Emily clutched her head under her blanket, whispering to herself. "I’m already helping! Why won’t you stop?"
Still, they came.
Finally, one night, unable to bear it, she shouted into the empty darkness of her dream.
"Okay! Come here if you want! Just stop talking to me!"
The voices went silent.
Thank you, one whispered directly into her ear.
Cold rushed into her body.
She woke in the middle of the night, but when she tried to move, she realized she couldn’t.
Her body rose from the bed, but her will was not her own.
Something else was inside her body. Something vast and terrible. That was controlling her body.
Emily’s consciousness was shackled, chained deep within herself.
She could only watch from behind invisible bars as another presence guided her body like a puppet.
The intruder’s power was endless.
It was an ocean of malice. Its killing intent was thicker and darker than blood.
With Emily’s hands, it slaughtered everyone.
The Netherworld became a grave.
Every day moment, more corpses were ’born’.
Families she had played with. Children who had once looked at her with smiles. Entire clans fell before her unwilling claws.
Her parents fought her, tears burning in their eyes.
They couldn’t bring themselves to strike her down, even though they could have.
She was their daughter.
Their hesitation cost them everything.
At that time, for only a moment, Emily clawed back slivers of control.
In those fleeting breaths, she begged them.
"Pl...ease... kil...ll me... please..."
But they couldn’t.
They hesitated, unable to swing their blades against her.
And that hesitation cost them.
Her father fell. Her mother followed.
At the cost of their lives, they used the last of their strength to seal her. They wove ice around her body, not to kill her, but to cage the intruder alongside her.
Her consciousness sank into the cold, frozen in eternal slumber.
Even as the frost closed in, her parents’ last words echoed in her mind.
One day, the seal will enter your body completely. It will chain the monster within you, and you will be freed.
Until then....
Emily couldn’t hear them after that.
Her tears froze on her cheeks. She had been imprisoned with the monster.
What were her parents last words?
Did they regret having her? Did they regret not killing her?
Emily would never know.