Numbers x Casket-Chapter 42: Red String

"Xenen," Efraim repeated while he stared at the woman.

Then he shook his head and closed his eyes.

"No, this is only an illusion; this is not real," he added in his thoughts.

However, the moment he opened his eyes, the woman was still there, looking and smiling at him.

"Are you going to run away again?" Xenen asked, her voice pale, haunting like a phantom.

Efraim squinted his eyes upon hearing the woman’s remark. Then, he bent his knees and propelled himself upward.

He went straight towards her direction and stopped a distance in front. They held each other’s gaze for a few seconds before Efraim chose to break the silence.

"There’s no way you’re real," he said on point.

Upon hearing his remark, the woman who still had her lips curling into a smile stood up and stepped a little closer towards the appraiser.

"Why? Is it because you thought that I’m dead when you don’t even bother to check it out?" she replied, her voice soft yet cold like ice, enough to make him shiver.

"You don’t even check what you’ve heard..." She added and paused for a second, then while gently shaking her head, she resumed speaking. "You have no right to tell me what is real."

Afterward, she placed her hand on the appraiser’s chest, and with a simple tap of her finger, Efraim’s body was sent flying away.

Then, a stream of butterflies followed and trapped him inside their wings. They obstructed his vision along with his movements. Their wings, thin and sharp like blades, left cuts all over his leather armor.

To free himself from the swarm of insects, the appraiser reached for the weapons strapped on his knees, but to his surprise, he found nothing strapped in there.

’What? Where are my blades?’ he contemplated while covering his face from the butterflies.

As if the woman noticed his confusion, she let out a chuckle and spoke.

"Have you forgotten already? This is not your world," she said.

Afterward, she raised her hand, and a butterfly landed on her palm. Its wings glowed and transformed into a blade made of glass.

"But I’m not that heartless. Here, catch it!" she exclaimed.

Then, she threw the weapon at him, but the strength of her throw wasn’t intended to be caught barehanded. It flew at the speed of light, and due to the butterflies continuously distracting the appraiser’s line of sight, he failed to see the incoming projectile.

He only took notice of it when he felt a burning sensation on his body as the blade pierced his chest.

"Damn—" he cussed and pulled the weapon out.

Meanwhile, Xenen’s laughter reverberated throughout the place.

"I’m sorry about that; I didn’t mean to throw that hard," she said, her voice sounding apologetic, yet the smile on her face was in contrast to her words.

Efraim glared at her through the small gap from the creature’s wings and gritted his teeth not in pain but in annoyance.

This illusion felt so real, from the woman’s way of talking; even her teasing was in a complete replica of the Xenen he knew.

’I need to defeat her to pass this trial,’ Efraim thought.

Then, he dashed forward to escape the swarm of butterflies while ignoring the throbbing sensation on his chest. He focused his eyes on the woman in front and aimed his blade at her neck.

"You’re still the same as I’ve remembered—too straightforward," Xenen whispered.

Despite seeing the appraiser charging at her, she just stood there in silence and waited for him to come.

Efraim swirled his blade and held it in a reverse grip before slicing the woman’s neck without any ounce of hesitation.

"Come out, you won’t die with something like that," he uttered with a deep sigh, and a series of claps rang around the area.

Efraim glanced to his right and saw the woman sitting in the throne made of butterflies.

"Congratulations for killing the man you despised the most," she said.

His statement made the appraiser look behind his back. He saw the headless corpse lying in there and its head a few meters away from it. However, it was not a body of a woman; instead, it had a face similar to him.

"Kenzelle," Efraim said in a low voice.

The next second, he reverted his gaze back to the woman.

"Quit playing games in my mind; face me for real," he stated with strong conviction.

Xene blinked a few times after hearing the appraiser.

"Heh? Don’t make me laugh, Kier, or should I call you Efraim now?" she asked.

Then she stood up and snapped her fingers. Everything shattered into fragments, and nothing was left but darkness, surrounding the appraiser. The debris of the city was gone along with the butterflies.

Afterward, a pair of amber-colored eyes appeared in the sky, and Xenen’s voice echoed across the space.

"You’re nothing compared to your old self. You couldn’t even differentiate the illusion from reality, but fine! Let me now end your suffering," she said.

Then, a giant hand appeared underneath the appraiser. Efraim was startled by the sudden turn of events; he tried to leap out of the palm, but a giant butterfly fell on his back and pinned him down.

He tried to free himself from Xenen’s grasp; he lifted his hand that was holding the blade with the intention to stab the massive insect, but his weapon shattered before it reached the creature.

"I admire your resistance; you’re making a very cute expression," Xenen stated, provoking the appraiser even more.

The next second, a swarm of butterflies appeared above Efraim. Afterward, each of them turned into sharp-pointed weapons that soon plunged downward.

The giant butterfly remained unscathed, but the appraiser’s blood splattered on it as the countless weapons struck his back. The appraiser turned into a lying human porcupine the moment the butterfly flew away.

Afterward, the palm started to close, with the appraiser’s blood dripping between those massive fingers.

"Farewell, my beloved," Xenen’s voice echoed as soon as the hand clenched in full.

However, the next second, flashes of white light slipped through the cracks of the fist, and the pair of eyes squinted.

Soon after, a voice reverberated again, but it was not Xenen’s. It sounded like Efraim’s but much more chaotic than his usual tone.

"To think that a mere illusion could be this treacherous, even capable of twisting reality up to this point. I would be very pleased to meet you in the real world," it said.

"Who are you?" Xenen replied.

However, the voice didn’t answer; instead, the fist showed movements, trembling as something from inside forced it to open. Then, the appraiser’s silhouette appeared bit by bit, his body was emanating a strange light, and the giant palm vanished into thin air.

"Just a soul fragment, nothing special. Though, I don’t want to interrupt at first, the spell you’ve used could kill him for real, and besides, this man already needs to wake up, so please forgive my sudden intrusion," the voice stated.

Then, Efraim opened his eyes; however, his right eye’s pupil was different; its black shade now had a touch of silver.

He looked at the pair of eyes staring at him with confusion, and his lips curled into a wide grin. Afterward, the weapons piercing his back trembled and were pushed away from his body one after the other. They fell on top of the palm and shattered. Then, the droplets of blood dripping behind him turned into sharp, thin needles before levitating up in the air.

"Do you know that all I need is a single prick of this thing to put an end to this world of yours?" the Silver Hemlock asked while controlling Efraim’s body.

After hearing her question, Xenen’s soft giggle echoed throughout the darkness.

"How funny of you! Please feel free to do so," she said.

Afterward, hundreds of clones bearing her face stepped out of the darkness and surrounded the appraiser.

"If you can find the real me," all of them stated in unison, and a series of laughters followed.

"Very well! That’s exactly how I thought your response would be!" the hemlock replied.

Her answer caused confusion for the woman, but she chose not to be swayed by the unknown entity’s words.

After all, he would never be able to find her whereabouts. Thus, from a silent distance, she observed the appraiser’s course of action.

However, she felt surprised by what happened next.

The needles circling around Efraim scattered into the air. Then, the Silver Hemlock snapped, and all of them melted before falling downward. The rain of blood dripped on the endless darkness, in between the clones, to be exact.

The next second, the crimson substance moved and drew a complex pattern resembling a magic circle.

"Let’s get this started," the Hemlock stated, still using the appraiser’s voice, but she received no response from Xenen.

Thus, without further ado, the magic circle glowed a bloody red color, and a smile flashed on the hemlock’s face.

"Found you," she uttered while staring at a red string coming from a certain direction.

. . . . .