Trapped In Elysium: A Virtual Reality Nightmare-Chapter 133: Fire

The thing inside Sophia took a slow breath, like it was savoring the stillness. Her hollow eyes flicked from Von’s club to Borik lying motionless behind him, and then back up to Von’s face. A smile spread across her lips again — but there was no joy in it. Just cold cruelty.

"I’m going to kill every last one of you," it said —"I’ll consume your souls... tear them apart from the inside, slowly. And I’ll enjoy it."

Borik stirred behind Von.

The dwarf blinked up groggily, brow furrowing as the words sank in. His voice came out rough and weak: "Von...?"

Von didn’t look back. His eyes never left the spirit-possessed Sophia. His grip tightened on the club. His breathing was heavier now. His eyes burned with fury.

"You sick piece of shit," Von hissed. "You’re nothing but a damned parasite. You can’t do anything without hiding behind someone else’s skin."

Sophia’s body laughed — loud, guttural, and gleeful.

Von snapped. "I’ll rip you out of her if I have to!"

He stepped forward and swung the club with all the fury and raw strength left in him. The massive weapon cut through the air with a roar. If it had landed, it would’ve crushed bone and muscle and whatever dark soul lay inside.

But it didn’t.

The spirit vanished in an instant.

Not blinked, not jumped — vanished. One moment it was there, the next, only air.

Von’s eyes widened. Before he could even react—

A searing pain tore through his right side.

Sophia — or rather, the spirit — had reappeared behind him, faster than thought. Her hand had shifted — fingers elongated into black, claw-like tips — and she plunged them straight into Von’s side stomach, just above the hip.

The pain shot through his body like fire. His legs buckled. He let out a deep, guttural grunt — the kind that tore from the throat when all air was stolen by pain. The club slipped from his fingers as he dropped to one knee, blood quickly soaking through his shirt and dripping down his side.

"Von!" Borik’s voice cracked with alarm.

Sophia stood over him, eyes blazing red, mouth curled in satisfaction.

"You’re strong," she murmured mockingly. "But not strong enough."

Von, teeth gritted, hand pressed to his wound, glared up at her. His vision was already blurring, but he wouldn’t let her see weakness. Not yet.

"Y-You’re gonna pay," he rasped.

The spirit in Sophia only smiled wider.

And then it laughed again — not a wild laugh this time, but a slow, menacing chuckle that echoed through the chamber like a death bell.

The spirit inside Sophia didn’t stop laughing. It was loud, guttural, and cruel — like it was trying to fill the whole room with the sound of its delight. The walls echoed with it, the shadows along the stone trembling as if recoiling from the sound. It laughed with its head tilted back, its body rigid, almost vibrating with sadistic pleasure.

Von remained on his knees, chest heaving, sweat mixing with blood down his side. He clenched his jaw against the pain. His vision was still blurred, the wound throbbing like molten metal had been poured into his side, but his mind was still razor sharp. And it was racing.

He could barely hear Borik groan behind him, trying to move again, but Von’s eyes weren’t leaving the possessed woman in front of him — not for a second. Her silhouette was eerily still now, laughing like she had all the time in the world.

But she didn’t.

Von’s eyes flicked to his left, only for a second — to that dim flickering flame.

The torch. He had set it against the wall when he was tending to Borik. Its fire still burned — not high, not strong, but enough.

Von shifted his weight, grimacing as pain jolted through him again. The spirit hadn’t noticed — it was still laughing.

Then, in one swift motion, Von’s big right hand stretched out and seized the torch.

The spirit’s eyes caught the movement too late.

Von didn’t hesitate. With a roar, he swung the torch in a wide arc straight toward the possessed Sophia.

She moved — but not fast enough.

The flame brushed against the side of Sophia’s body, catching only for a second — but it was enough.

The reaction was immediate and violent.

A shriek exploded from her mouth — a sound so piercing and unnatural it could’ve shattered glass. Her body convulsed as if something deep inside was being scorched alive. Smoke rose briefly from the contact point as she twisted and discontorted unnaturally, her spine arching back at an impossible angle before she vanished from sight and reappeared in the far corner of the room.

Still shrieking.

Sophia’s face — or what remained of it behind that twisted mask — was wracked in torment. Her mouth hung open in a silent wail now, her hands clawing at her own chest like she was trying to tear something out. Her entire body twitched and contorted again as though something inside her was being burned from the inside out.

Borik dragged himself upright slowly, face pale and eyes wide. "What... what did you do?"

Von spat blood to the side and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His expression was grim but victorious.

"Fire," he said hoarsely. "It burns the damn thing."

Borik’s eyes widened. "You mean... it felt that?"

"Oh, it felt it," Von grunted. "Not just the girl — the demon too. Fire hurts it. Hurts it bad."

He rose slowly to his feet, torch still in hand, legs wobbling under the weight of blood loss and pain. But he stood tall. His breathing heavy, but steady now. "It can dodge our blades. It can vanish and reappear, claw and mock and run. But this —" He raised the torch slightly. "This it can’t escape."

On the other side of the room, the spirit stood again — slowly this time. Still in Sophia’s body. Still wearing her face, twisted by rage and something worse: fear.

It didn’t speak. Not this time.

It just stared at Von — long, hard — the flames reflected in its dark eyes.

The laughter was gone.

And for the first time, the thing inside Sophia looked... wary.

Von smirked through the blood on his lips.

"Good," he muttered under his breath. "Now we know what scares you too."