The morning air in the pass, recently thick with tension and the smell of ozone, now felt oddly hollow after Levi's departure. Silence settled, deep and pervasive, within the confines of the stone monument's entrance. Riku, still hyper-aware of her presence, the lingering phantom taste of starlight on his tongue, stood in the quiet space with Serabil. He had told her to teleport them too, back to the new village, back to relative safety. But she hadn't.
Instead, Serabil remained still, her golden eyes, vast and ancient, holding his. A subtle smile played on her lips, serene and knowing.
"Riku," she said, her voice like distant chimes, soft and melodic, breaking the silence. "Do you know why only you and I are left here?"
Riku's stomach clenched. He knew. Or he suspected. His mind, a chaotic mix of Rio's understanding and Riku's instincts, screamed the possibilities. This isolation. Her presence. It was a setup. A condition.
"No, I don't know," he lied, forcing his voice to be neutral, pushing back the rising tide of dread. "We shouldn't remain here."
Serabil's smile widened, a playful, almost mischievous glint in her golden eyes. She didn't call him out on the lie. She didn't need to. She simply floated closer, the air around her shimmering with barely contained power.
"You ought to give reward to those who helped you," she stated, her voice gaining a low, purring quality that sent a shiver down his spine. "Don't you know about this… common courtesy?"
He had expected this. The demand for compensation. He just hadn't expected it to come now, in this isolated place, after the impossible task was completed. He took a deep breath, trying to anchor himself, to find a way out.
"Anna… Serabil," he began, appealing to the part of her that had seemed genuinely touched by his trust, "Thank you. Thank you for everything. You saved my people. You completed the mission." He offered the standard currency of gratitude, hoping it would suffice. "If you ever… if you ever get into any trouble, anywhere in this world, or need anything at all… I will help you. I promise."
It was a genuine offer. A massive promise, given her power and his limitations, but one he made with absolute sincerity.
But Serabil merely tilted her head, her golden eyes sparkling with amusement. "Oh, Riku," she purred, that low, seductive tone returning. "I don't want help… later. I want a reward… now."
Before Riku could formulate a response, before he could even try to negotiate, she moved. Fast. Effortless. Fluid. Like liquid light. She didn't use physical force in the conventional sense. It was more like reality subtly bent to her will.
One moment she was floating before him. The next, he felt a gentle, irresistible pressure at his chest, pushing him. He stumbled back, lost his balance, and fell onto the cool, rough stone floor of the monument entrance. His head hit the ground with a muffled thud.
He lay there, stunned, winded. And then, with a terrifying grace, she landed on him.
She straddled his waist, settling herself onto his crotch, her body a perfect, shimmering enigma perched upon his. The weight was negligible, ethereal, like being draped in moonlight, but the press was undeniable. He was pinned, not by force, but by the sheer, overwhelming audacity of the gesture, the casual disregard for his autonomy, for his desperate attempts to maintain control.
Her golden eyes, vast and ancient, sparkled down at him, filled with that unnerving blend of power and utterly focused, possessive curiosity. Her hands reached out, not with violence, but with a deliberate, intimate intent. They went to the hem of his tunic.
Riku's mind screamed. No. Not this. Not here. Not like this. He twisted, struggling against her weight, her presence, pushing at her hands with his own, a desperate, animalistic refusal. "Stop!" he choked out, his voice strained, raw with fear and defiance.
But she was unstoppable. Ethereal strength against human frailty. His resistance, while fierce, only served to make the process more difficult for her. She was having trouble with the buttons, the seams, the stubborn fabric clinging to his struggling form.
A soft sigh escaped her lips, a sound of mild impatience. "Hmm? Difficult, Riku? That's okay!"
And with a casual gesture, a ripple of power, his tunic didn't just unbutton. It tore. Ripped from the collar down the front, the fabric giving way like brittle paper. His chest was suddenly exposed to the cool air, the rough stone, and the unnerving gaze of the seraph straddling him. Her hands moved to the belt at his waist.
He bucked, twisted, fought with every ounce of strength he possessed, a desperate, futile battle against a force that treated his body like a doll, his struggles like a minor inconvenience. His consciousness screamed in violation. This was the nightmare made real, the helplessness he had only felt in his darkest fears, now embodied by a terrifyingly powerful, beautiful being who saw his body as a reward, his autonomy as irrelevant.
He was trapped. Exposed. At the mercy of a seraph who was systematically stripping him, her golden eyes alight with a predatory delight that was all the more horrifying for its serene backdrop. The air crackled with suppressed power, with his desperate, useless struggle, with the chilling reality of his complete and utter vulnerability.
And in that exact moment, as the fabric tore, as her hands went to his belt, as his body strained in desperate refusal, a sudden, jarring disruption occurred.
Not from Serabil. Not from within the monument. But from the System.
A blinding white light, not external, but searing into Riku's vision, accompanied by a deafening electronic roar. The familiar, translucent blue screen snapped into existence directly before his eyes, overlaid on the terrifying reality of Serabil's face, her glittering golden eyes wide with intent.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[MISSION: Don't Hate Anyone]
* Objective: Make love with a girl of other race with roleplay, The girl must think that you've fallen for her.
* Difficulty: C Rank
* Time Limit: 3 hours
* Penalty: You will lose your most important organ.
[Reason: Gambler has a geniune hatred for other races. Therefore, he must overcome this by making love with one of the other races]
The text glared, stark red and terrifyingly clear, burning into Riku's consciousness. The shock of the mission, its horrifying objective, its impossible psychological demand, its brutal penalty, slammed into him, momentarily eclipsing even the terrifying reality of Serabil's hands at his belt.
Don't Hate Anyone. Make love with a girl of other race. Roleplay. She thinks you've fallen for her. Lose your most important organ. Genuine hatred. Overcome this.
The System. It saw his hatred. The deep-seated resentment born from years of watching his people suffer and die at the hands of other races. The anger that had erupted during his argument with Levi. It had seen it all. And it had decided this was a "Hatred." A "problem" to be "overcome." And its solution… was this.
The timing. The horrifying, sickening timing. Immediately. Immediately as Serabil, a girl of another race, was physically forcing intimacy upon him, the System presented this mission.
Serabil. A girl of another race. Already physically intimate. Roleplay. Make love. She thinks you've fallen for her.
The implications slammed into Riku with the force of a physical blow. Serabil. The objective was her. The mission was to make love with Serabil, a being of cosmic power, who was currently sitting on him and trying to strip him, and he had to make her believe he had fallen for her.
And if he failed… if he resisted, if she didn't believe him, if he couldn't force himself through this grotesque travesty of intimacy and genuine emotion… the penalty. Losing his most important organ. He doesn't know what the system is even referring to.
"Riku?" she murmured, her voice soft, laced with confusion. "What's wrong? Did the System…?"