How to Ruin a Fantasy World (Again)

...

Crazy and the oddly dressed woman stared into each other's eyes, the white room around them and the camera in the top corner feeling restricting.

A finger pressed against his lips. Soft, teasing. Possessive.

"It's just you and me."

She smiled, radiant yet unnatural, her golden eyes shimmering with something unreadable.

Crazy stared blankly at her. Why was he here? Who the hell was she?

She sighed dramatically, tilting her head. "I worked so hard to bring you here. Your inner world is fascinating, you know? Even I had trouble breaking in. Was this where you spent the rest of your life after being... Punished?"

She looked around the white room. "And after all that effort, you don't even look happy to see me." A delicate pout. "Honestly, you're so cruel, dear."

She wrapped a hand around his arm. "...But I'll forgive you. You freed me from the sealing cave. My hero~"

She let out a smile, as she looking into Crazy's blank face.

The figure traced a finger down his chest. "...Even though my body was cut up into pieces... I can still please you here. What do you say, captain~?"

Crazy didn't flinch, nor did he move to push her away. His gaze flicked past her, looking at the white room he was too familliar with. His home before he was pulled into the new world.

"...Hey." Crazy said, as his face darkened.

A glint in her eyes. She leaned in closer, her breath hot against his neck. "...Yes, my dear?"

Crazy tilted his head. "Who are you?"

Silence.

Only the humming of the light above them.

Crazy could vaguely hear the sound of the guards outside facepalming.

The figure flinched, before sighing, as she leaned back, closing her eyes. "Hah... Captain. You'll never be able to lose your virginity if you keep on acting like this." She stared at him, pouting. "Don't tell me you forgot Lilith already."

Ah. A gear turned in his head. He slowly tapped his head, as he stared at the padded ceiling, where the low hum of a vent was heard. Lilith... The name he'd called out in the cave. "Oh... Lilith... Who was that again?"

Lilith scowled. "Me, f*cker. I'm trying to be cute here."

"Ah. Right."

Lilith let out an exasperated breath, before looking at Crazy again, as if trying to figure out a puzzle she couldn't solve. "You never change," she whispered. "Even when I bled for you. Did everything for you. You never looked at me properly..."

And just then... A slight blush appeared on her face. "...But that's part of the reason why I love you so much."

Suddenly, Lilith pulled Crazy into a hug. Crazy's eyes widened slightly as he felt her chest push against his, as she whispered into his ear.

"...Say... Why don't we make a little deal?"

Crazy didn't answer...

More like he couldn't answer.

There was something blocking his throat. A sensation that didn't let any sound escape his mouth. He tried to move, yet it felt like his muscles wouldn't budge, as if he was forced to be frozen in place.

His eyes opened wide. He tried to comment on the situation... Yet it felt like he had no mouth.

The padded walls started to turn to static, as Lilith slid her hand up his chest, before closing on his neck.

"H̸a̶l̵l̴o̵w̶'̵s̷ ̵R̴e̶a̴p̵e̶r̵.̵.. Your sword. Don't you want it?" 

A flash in his mind. 

His irises shrunk, as Lilith's hand around his neck started to tighten. He could feel his breath getting blocked off, as she continued to stare at him with the same playfully terrifying expression.

"...I know you're in there, ███. Answer me."

Crazy's mind rang, as a thousand needles embelled themselves into his brain. He could feel the pain of something clawing it's way through his mind, tearing through his brain like him through bread. He wanted to scream... Yet he couldn't. Slowly, the edges of his vision turned to black...

"Come out... Before I destroy your phantasm~!" Her eyes were now red, a slight blush on her cheek, as if she was enjoying his suffering. Crazy's last thoughts flickered through his mind, as the darkness slowly enveloped him...

'...Sh*t... These psychopathic fantasy women...'

...And his eyes slowly rolled back into his head.

...

Lilith's fingers trembled as they tightened around his throat.

The world around began to peel, like flesh unraveling from bone. Cracks zigzagged across the marshmallow walls, the edges bleeding with black static.

Crazy's body went limp.

She blinked.

One second.

Two.

Nothing.

Her brows furrowed, a rare sliver of doubt seeping into her expression. She opened her mouth to speak.

"...Hm. Maybe I was wrong, after—"

A flicker of movement. A shiver suddenly flew down her spine.

Death.

Lilith barely had the time to react, before...

Clench.

She gasped, the air suddenly pushed out of her.

A cold hand, his hand, snapped around her throat.

She didn't even see it move.

Squeeze.

Her breath caught- not in her chest, but her soul. She couldn't exhale. Couldn't inhale. Couldn't move.

And then the world shattered.

The walls around her melted, like wax under a hellish flame. The ground splintered into a black abyss, and from it rose thousands of hands, mouths, screams—all clawing at her, whispering, laughing, mourning in tongues that had long since been forbidden.

Lilith's golden eyes widened.

From the darkness, his gaze emerged.

Those eyes...

Madness itself, distilled and focused, peering through her like a god deciding whether to unmake her.

"...You."

The voice came from everywhere. From the ceiling. From beneath her feet. From inside her mind.

It was his voice, but wrong. Fragmented. Distorted. Devine.

The Apostle of Madness had returned.

She smiled, lips splitting open with blood. Even now... Especially now... He was magnificent.

She tried to speak, to savor the moment-

But the grip around her neck tightened.

Her spine arched.

Her throat crushed under the hellish pressure.

She yelped, choking on nonexistent air... and still, she smiled like a sinner seeing heaven.

The shadows shifted. He tilted his head.

"…Hallow's Reaper," he said softly. Too softly. Like death whispering in her ear. "Where is it?"

Lilith coughed. Her smile didn't waver. Her voice was paper-thin, nearly torn in two.

"Still… so impatient…"

Her trembling fingers rose—slowly—like someone lifting a prayer to a cruel god. She brushed his cheek.

"…Can't… talk…"

Crash.

She hit the floor like a broken doll, the world around them flickering between white static and unending black.

A heartbeat.

Then two.

She writhed in the fragments of their shattered world, her form flickering like corrupted data.

He stood over her, silent, unmoving. A god of wrath, cloaked in shadow. His eyes promised one thing:

If she dared harm his vessel again, there would be no mercy. Only erasure.

Lilith wiped blood from her lips with a shaky laugh.

"…Hah… That was just… so like you, Captain…"

Her voice was reverent. Drenched in adoration and madness.

She rose. Deliberate. Graceful in her brokenness.

"Then let's make a deal."

His eyes narrowed.

No hesitation.

He lunged forward, claws bared, the air howling with intent.

But she didn't dodge.

She didn't flinch.

She leaned in...

And kissed him.

Soft. Sudden. Electric.

He flinched- power surged through him, foreign and sinuous, wrapping around his soul like silk soaked in poison. He staggered back a step, eyes narrowing, as a red window suddenly flickered into existence in front of him.

[Congragulations! The Blessing of Lust has been trasferred to your soul.]

Silence.

And then... His piercing red eyes tore through her soul.

"...Explain."

Lilith licked her lips, her smile coy. "Just a little... blessing. A piece of me, gifted to you. Consider it a down payment."

He glared. "Speak. Before I rip it out of you."

She didn't even blink.

"My body was sealed... Cut into seven parts. Scattered across the fragments of the world after the Extinction War... I'm sure you remember that. I want you to find them, captain. Reunite me. And in return..."

She brushed a strand of hair from his face.

"I'll help you find your true self."

He remained silent, eyes locked onto her. Weighing. Measuring.

And then, his voice dropped, deep as a void. The world around them broke, the hands reaching out to them, the voices screaming louder, pleading for someone to end their eternal suffering.

"One rule."

Lilith blinked, sensing the shift.

"Do not harm this body. Not even a scratch. If you do..."

His eyes relaxed, yet somehow still as heavy as black holes.

"...I'll send you to your 'god'."

A visible flinch. A moment of silence passed.

Then, Lilith chuckled.

No fear. Only that same strange, soft look. Like she was being serenaded by the apocalypse itself. 

"...So strict. I love it when you're like this, captain... But don't worry. I'll never harm you."

He sighed, rubbing his temple. "Why are all the women in this world so damn insane..."

And with that...

The grip loosened.

The air cleared.

And the padded walls of his mind reconstructed itself, blocking out the darkness surrounding them, as the voices and hands were slowly sealed away, leaving only the low hum of vents and fans...

And slowly, the shadows on Crazy's face disappeared.

"..."

He stared into Lilith's eyes, her short breath, and her messy hair...

"...Huh. Was it so good that I blacked out?"

"Pffft." Lilith closed her eyes, as she sighed. "If only."

The pressure faded.

The static dispersed.

Lilith stood beside him, still inside his inner world- but flickering at the edges, like she was being overwritten.

She tilted her head, her golden eyes dimming slightly.

"Don't look so grumpy. That power I gave you... It's mine, yes. But it's also yours now."

Crazy glanced up at her, clearly confused. Power..? "...What do you mean?"

Lilith leaned in, whispering sweetly, "A kiss from the Apostle of Lust isn't just for fun, captain. It's a pact. A link. A sliver of me is now inside you."

He tensed. She smiled wider.

Crazy stared blankly at her, still not understanding anything at all.

"You'll need it. To find the others. To survive what's coming. My body is scattered. My heart, my legs, and even my head..." she giggled darkly, "...all of them sealed away in little nightmares left behind by the gods."

She traced a finger in the air, the shape of a heart... and then shattered it with a flick.

"You'll find them, right? Piece by piece. And when you do..." Her smile turned sharp. "...I'll make you mine."

A red system window started glitching into existence behind her, numbers warping, letters twisting.

[Intruder Detected.]

[Title 'Apostle of Madness' Authority Engaged...]

[Purging Foreign Will...]

Lilith blinked, a little surprised, but not upset. If anything, her grin turned hungry.

"Ah... You're rejecting me already? Naughty boy."

She leaned back, smirking like she was welcoming the deletion.

"I guess our time's up. For now."

Her body began to dissolve into streaks of black and violet light.

"But I'll be watching. And when you start missing me again..." Her voice echoed as she faded completely, "...come find the rest of me..."

A final smile before complete erasure. "...And I'll make you mine."

And she disappeared.

Crazy stared at the white wall that was behind her, his brain going in overdrive as he thought about rotating milkbread to calm down.

What the hell was all of that about..?

But then, the room shook. Crazy lost his balance, falling back to the ground...

And his body jerked as he gasped, opening his eyes to see a plain, black metal ceiling.

Broken chains lay around him, as he felt the cold metal underneath him.

Ah. He was back...

That was probably the one hundred and twelveth most weirdest dream he had in his life. 

Twelveth..? Was that really the right word..? 

Whatever.

He was on the floor. The weight of reality settling over him. The suffocating pressure of her aura from before was fading, dissipating like the last wisps of a dream. He glanced towards his side... it seems his favorite redhead was unconscious.

As he slowly pushed himself up from the cold metal floor... His gaze flickered to the black coffin.

A twitch.

The hand inside moved slow, deliberate. And then, with almost playful precision, it formed a heart with index and thumb.

Crazy stared.

And started to ponder if he really did wake up.

[The lost fragment of the Apostle of Lust shows her affection.]