Eileen sat silently beside Sera from the very moment she regained consciousness, yet until now she had not been able to pull her eyes away from her even for a single second. With every passing moment, she felt more certain that something unnatural was happening before her eyes—something that did not resemble ordinary exhaustion or unconsciousness, but rather a hidden struggle taking place inside Sera's very body. The surrounding trees remained unnaturally still, and the wind that occasionally passed through no longer carried the familiar feeling of the forest. Instead, it felt cold and heavy, as though the entire place were silently watching what was happening to the girl lying before them.
As for Sera…
She did not look like someone peacefully asleep.
The red energy that had begun leaking from her body earlier had not stopped. Instead, it had become more unstable. It appeared like crimson smoky threads slowly emerging from her limbs before curling back around her once again, as though something inside her was breathing violently, trying to find a way out. Even the ground near her had begun reflecting that dark red color, while the air surrounding her body seemed slightly distorted, as if the heat radiating from her was affecting space itself.
Rafa remained silent as she watched, her eyes fixed on that restless energy that had not calmed for even a moment, while Eileen tried convincing herself that things would not become worse. Yet the heavy feeling in her chest refused to disappear.
She moved closer.
With clear hesitation.
Then slowly extended her hand toward Sera.
At first, she felt nothing except the faint warmth coming from her body. But the instant her fingers touched Sera's arm, her entire body jerked violently, and she pulled her hand back at once, as though she had touched real fire that nearly burned her skin.
Her eyes widened immediately.
She stared at her palm in visible shock before turning her gaze back toward Sera once more.
"Her temperature…"
Her voice came out low and strained.
"…she's burning."
It was not normal heat.
It was harsh, suffocating heat, as though compressed flames beneath Sera's skin were trying to expand further and further.
Rafa stared at Sera for several long seconds without speaking, while the red energy continued wrapping itself slowly around her body as though growing more active with every passing moment.
Then, at last, she spoke in a quiet, heavy voice:
"There's something causing her to burn like this…"
She slightly raised her eyes toward the red energy that emerged from Sera's shoulder before vanishing again, then continued in an even calmer tone:
"The more unstable this energy becomes… the worse whatever she's seeing right now is becoming."
Eileen's expression tightened unconsciously.
"What could make her like this…?"
But Rafa did not answer immediately.
She continued staring silently at Sera, as though trying to see what was happening inside her mind through that violent energy, before finally saying:
"This is not only about her body… her mind is sinking right now."
A silent moment passed.
A heavy moment that made even the sound of the wind feel distant.
Then Rafa lowered her gaze slightly and added in a quieter voice:
"I only hope… things do not become worse."
Eileen quickly looked toward her.
But Rafa continued before she could speak:
"If her energy keeps burning like this… she may completely lose control."
Eileen felt a painful tightness in her chest as she looked once more toward Sera—to her motionless body, to the mask covering her face, and to that red energy which had begun moving around her more clearly than before, as though something inside was gradually awakening.
Then Rafa finally said:
"We need to find a way to pull her out of this state… before she sinks deeper."
Silence filled the place once again.
But that silence did not last long.
Because the red energy around Sera suddenly became violently unstable. Crimson strands slowly rose into the air before twisting around her body with greater force than before, and at that same moment Eileen felt the temperature of the place rise further, until even breathing became slightly heavier.
And somewhere else…
Deep within Sera's mind—
Sera slowly opened her eyes while heavy raindrops continuously struck her mask. The sharp sound of the rain mixed with the roar of violent winds sweeping through the place from every direction, as though the storm had not just begun… but had been raging for a very long time.
She remained lying on the ground for several moments without moving.
Her eyes stayed fixed upon the sky.
A suffocating sky, crowded with dense black clouds piled atop one another until they seemed capable of crushing the world beneath their weight. Between those clouds, crimson streaks of lightning tore through the darkness for brief instants, illuminating the heavens with a sickly red glow before vanishing quickly, leaving the world buried once again beneath its oppressive darkness.
Thunder exploded with overwhelming force until the air itself trembled.
But Sera did not flinch.
Nor did she seem confused.
She simply continued staring upward in long silence, as though this scene was not unfamiliar to her—or perhaps because something inside her already knew this place well even before she awakened within it.
Her fingers slowly moved across the soaked ground before she gradually lifted herself into a sitting position beneath the storm. Her wet hair clung to the sides of her mask, while her heavy black coat whipped violently beneath the freezing winds that never ceased screaming between the dead surrounding trees.
At last, she looked around.
The trees stretching in every direction were not normal trees, but twisted black skeletons, their long branches resembling stiffened arms frozen within the storm, while the ground beneath them drowned in dark crimson mud and water.
No life.
No sounds of birds.
No sign of any living thing.
Only the storm…
And that crushing feeling that made the entire place seem as though it had died many years ago.
Sera slowly lowered her eyes toward a puddle near her.
She silently watched the raindrops fall into it.
But the color…
Was not the color of water.
It was the color of blood.
A thick, dark crimson, as though the sky itself were bleeding over this place.
For a brief moment, lightning reflected across that puddle, causing the color within it to distort grotesquely, while Sera continued staring without moving.
Then she closed her eyes for one short second.
As though this sight had reopened something she had tried burying for a very long time.
"…Why am I here again?"
Her voice emerged low and exhausted, carrying not fear, but the frustration of someone forced to revisit a memory they never wished to see again.
She slowly stood.
Her boots sank slightly into the muddy ground as she began walking through the ruined village. Her steps were not those of someone lost and searching the area, but of someone who already knew exactly where the path would lead, no matter how much they wished to avoid it.
She passed beside a shattered wooden house, half drowned in darkness, then near a broken window creaking violently with the wind, while her eyes silently moved between the details of the place, as though every corner carried a memory she did not wish to touch.
And during that—
The whispers began to appear.
At first, they were extremely faint, almost blending with the sound of the storm itself.
"…Sera…"
Her steps paused briefly.
But she did not turn around.
The voice came again.
Closer this time.
"…Sera…"
She tightly closed her eyes before whispering in a low voice filled with visible irritation:
"Not now…"
But the whispers did not disappear.
The laughter of a girl passed by her hearing for a brief moment, followed by the sound of quick footsteps across wood, then another voice—softer… and far closer to her heart.
"Do you feel comfortable now…?"
Her jaw tightened slightly.
But she continued walking without answering.
Until her steps gradually slowed.
She slowly raised her head.
And there—
Amid the black storm—
Stood the enormous tree.
Its gigantic trunk rose like the body of a colossal creature amidst the ruins, while its dead branches stretched toward the sky as though trying to strangle the clouds themselves. And there, atop it, stood the small cabin—dark, silent, as though it had been waiting for her for a very long time.
Sera stopped before it in silence.
And for the first time since awakening…
Tension became clearly visible within her eyes.