I haven’t felt this sensation in a long time—my body stiff, my mind in complete chaos. My thoughts argue with each other in less than a second, and every fiber of my body tells me the same thing: I need to run from this woman. For the first time in a long while, I feel something similar to this. I’m afraid.

  The woman keeps staring at me intently. Her Imra tries to break through my defenses, but every attempt is repelled by how strong they are. A chill runs down my spine when I see her smile. She isn’t discouraged by failing to penetrate my defenses—if anything, it motivates her even more.

  Am I afraid of dying? I question it instantly. No, I’m not afraid of dying at this woman’s hands. I’m afraid of imagining how my family would suffer if she were to learn about them. Her Imra is invasive, and I can feel fragments of her emotions: madness, destruction, pain. This woman is completely unhinged.

  “Your Imra is exquisite,” she says. “That willpower capable of repelling me—I’ve never seen it in someone of your rank.” I hear and feel her footsteps approaching. Her voice doesn’t just reach my ears; it pierces through me and embeds itself directly into my brain. Without my mental ability, I’d already be insane.

  I have to escape somehow. That’s the only thought in my head. I take one step, gathering as much mana and Imra as possible into my Banner to use it as a conductor. Gravity mana explodes outward in every direction, reinforced by my Banner.

  My cube is damaged by the massive explosion. I didn’t have time to protect it or measure how much energy I released. Right now, I don’t care—I can recover later with my life affinity if I survive. The damage wasn’t in vain; I broke every restriction of her Jurisdiction over me.

  Now only her Imra suppresses me, something manageable compared to half a second ago. At least I can move. “I want to use you as an experiment even more now,” I hear her say. I don’t care—I try to take my first step to escape.

  I only manage two steps before she appears at my side. Her kick is aimed at my face. I raise my arms, reinforced with every ability I have. The impact sends me flying several meters backward, and I use that momentum to try escaping in another direction. The kick shattered some bones—I don’t know if she held back or if she’s simply not physically strong. It doesn’t matter.

  She moves again at an unbelievable speed and reaches me in less than two seconds. This time, it’s a blow to my back. I had anticipated she’d catch up, so I teleport over a hundred meters away, regardless of my mana reserves.

  That previous strike was completely different. My body screamed at me: you must dodge this no matter what. There’s no other option. I advance another hundred meters before she catches up again—this time she doesn’t move. She simply teleports directly in front of me. I feel a slight fluctuation in spatial mana thanks to my Personal World and teleport instantly again.

  A mana explosion detonates where I had been standing. I don’t look back and keep running. I need to find a way to escape her pursuit. No matter how I think about it, I see no options. Every path is sealed by her in an instant. There’s nowhere to run.

  I have to trigger another mana explosion through my Banner to free myself from her Jurisdiction. She’s playing with me, doing everything she can to trap me. Violent mana explosions—she teleports instantly to my new position and actively tries to suppress me again. I can’t let her succeed. If she does, it’s over.

  Damn it. This cursed woman won’t stop harassing me. At times I hear her laughing in a terrifying way, even trying to lure me with sweet words. I can’t stop moving. My mind can’t slow down. She only needs half a second to trap me completely.

  My mana reserves are dropping dangerously low. I can’t keep this up for more than two minutes. I need a plan, and I need it now.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I rack my brain trying to escape, trying to find a way out. It’s impossible. She’s faster, she can teleport like I can, and her mana pool is far larger. Only one idea comes to mind, and I’m not sure if it’ll work.

  I gather as much energy as possible into my right arm. The amount of mana and Imra far exceeds what my body can endure. I feel my arm on the verge of collapsing—the energy is wildly unstable. I bite my lower lip to keep it under control for as long as I can.

  I feel spatial mana shifting directly in front of me. This time, I don’t try to dodge or teleport. There’s no point. My mana reserves are critically low—I’d only have about ten uses of Dimensional Step left. I need to conserve it.

  She appears. I see her eyes widen in surprise when she realizes I’m not running. My sword swings at full speed. I hear a massive explosion behind the motion, my arm moving like never before. Her attempts to form defenses are too late—only a few plates of unaffiliated mana appear, shattered instantly by the force.

  My sword is about to touch her body when an enormous amount of mana surrounding her halts my strike momentarily. She had another defense. I don’t hesitate—I keep pushing. My body reaches its limit trying to maintain the mana, and my right arm explodes.

  Blood floods the area. My entire arm is gone—no trace of bone or flesh remains. The pain is manageable thanks to my mental ability, but I push myself even harder not to lose focus.

  She barely avoids having her neck cut, buying time by sacrificing her hand. She jerks her head back, and my sword falls to the ground. She stares at her missing arm in shock. The thought of being injured by a Sapphire-ranked opponent must have never crossed her mind.

  I take advantage of her hesitation and gather the same amount of energy into my other arm. This time, I don’t approach. I hurl my sword with everything I have—my Thundersnow Fang flies like a javelin.

  My left arm is completely destroyed as well, and I collapse forward from the recoil. She fails to react again—the blade pierces her abdomen. I aimed for her heart, but the explosion of my arm threw off the trajectory.

  I try to stand and escape, but before I can, I sense a foot flying toward my stomach at full speed. I can’t dodge it. The blow sends me crashing into a massive tree. My back slams into the trunk, and I fall to the ground with a dull thud.

  She appears in front of me again. Now I finally have time to look at her closely. Light blue hair and eyes, long lashes of the same color, extremely pale skin, an attractive figure, and a beautiful face.

  “Hey,” her voice echoes inside my head. “That wasn’t fun.” She raises her leg and crushes my left leg completely, shattering it.

  “At first I wanted to play with you a bit and discard you,” she continues, “but I’ve changed my mind. I’ll use you until you’re broken into thousands of pieces. You’ll wish for death every day and suffer for many years. You’ll be a subject for countless experiments. I can’t wait to hear you scream.” A sadistic smile spreads across her face as she pulls my sword from her abdomen and drives it into my other leg.

  I stare at her without expression. I won’t show fear. I won’t beg.

  She crouches until her eyes are level with mine. I can feel her abdominal wound and severed hand slowly regenerating. She grabs my face with her right hand, squeezes my cheeks, and pulls me closer.

  “Aren’t you afraid? I don’t like that threatening look… but I like you. What a dilemma.” She presses her lips to mine, kisses me—and bites off half my lip. I suppress the urge to scream. That’s exactly what she wants.

  “This isn’t fun anymore…” She lets go of my face and stands up. “This plan was just a test to see if those monsters could mentally control the others. I’m not allowed to approach the village… you must be one of its inhabitants. It would be fun to take your whole family as test subjects.”

  Rage and hatred boil inside me, and I release my bloodlust unconsciously.

  Her smile widens. She looks genuinely delighted. “Yes, that reaction. Hate me as much as you can—it’ll be more fun breaking you into pieces.” She laughs like a madwoman. My desire to kill her only grows, and I feel utterly powerless.

  “You, stop hiding and come here already,” she shouts at the purple monsters. They obey instantly, rushing over and kneeling, pressing their faces to the ground. Now I understand a bit more—she must have brainwashed them or shattered their wills entirely.

  She kicks them around, forcing them to stack on top of each other. Some become a chair, others a footrest.

  I’m overwhelmed by conflicting emotions. I failed to kill her. I failed to escape. This feels like the end. I could die at any moment at her hands. I’m only alive because she wants to use me as a lab rat—which might be even worse.

  My family’s faces flash through my mind. More faces appear, but four remain burned into my thoughts. Damn it. This can’t end like this. There has to be a way out. I can’t give up—not now.