Abyssal Sovereignty

In a space so dark it seemed devoid of time itself, one girl clutched the shoulders of another, shaking her persistently.

"Oi! Can you at least say something?"

The girl demanded, her voice cutting through the silence.

A feeling of dejavu washed over her—this situation felt eerily familiar. Yes, it was something from thousands of years ago, back when they’d been face-to-face with an overwhelming swarm of insects. Back then, she’d spoken to her companion in almost the exact same way.

Except, now, only one of them remembered.

The other had forgotten, and only now was the memory beginning to resurface, manifesting in this bizarre state.

"This is worse than amnesia… You're even more of an empty shell than before. At this rate, I can’t tell who’s supposed to be the devil here."

The girl—no, the Heart Devil—gazed at her counterpart, who looked identical to her, albeit drained of all emotion. No light flickered in those eyes, no spark of life, nor even the faintest recognition of the world around them. Not a single acknowledgement of the Heart Devil herself.

As a being formed from the negative emotions and darkest desires of her counterpart, the Heart Devil understood what this meant—utter despair, the loss of all hope.

"I should be thrilled seeing her like this…"

She should’ve been. After all, her very purpose as a Heart Devil was to devour her counterpart and take her place. Her counterpart's surrender to despair was precisely what she had been waiting for—an easy path to victory, to total control.

And yet, staring into this broken figure before her, a strange feeling stirred within her chest.

It all began to go awry after that battle with the swarm, didn’t it? Ever since then, things had grown increasingly peculiar. Especially after her counterpart, suffering from amnesia, came to her… and apologized. Of all things, an apology! And to her, the very threat to her existence!

The Heart Devil had accepted it too, which was even more absurd.

At first, she had thought her counterpart was mocking her, treating her like a non-threatening entity. But then, a strange warmth had filled her—almost as if an enemy bowing before her felt satisfying, yet somehow… different.

“Tch! This is maddening!”

The Heart Devil, a being born from nothing but darkness and spite, had never concerned herself with positive emotions. From the moment she gained sentience, she fed only on her counterpart’s negative emotions, striving to replace her. But now, this… What was this?

She reached out and grabbed the face of her counterpart, expressionless and still as a doll, with a sharp, resounding clap.

"Still stunning, I’ll give you that. Not a surprise, seeing as you look exactly like me."

If there were any visible difference between the two, it was in the expressions—or rather, the lack thereof. The Heart Devil’s face still bore various emotions, while the counterpart’s was blank, hollow, a mere shell.

And of course, the counterpart was missing her right arm, now nothing more than a limp, empty sleeve.

With a glint in her eye, the Heart Devil began moulding her counterpart’s face, pulling the cheeks into a forced smile, then twisting it into a grimace of sorrow, and finally an expression of rage.

"Hmm… still doesn’t feel right."

Though the girl's appearance was as beautiful as ever, even with the Heart Devil’s teasing, something was amiss. Her expression was too lifeless. The Heart Devil couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but it gnawed at her.

"What’s happening outside, I wonder?"

She shifted her gaze to her counterpart’s field of vision, peering through the eyes they shared. As the consciousness lurking within, the Heart Devil could see what her counterpart saw in the real world.

A dark, malevolent energy was consuming everything in sight, even causing space itself to fracture. Above them, a tiny light glimmered, steadily growing brighter.

“That light… Ah, it’s the dragon, isn’t it?”

The Heart Devil knew what was happening. She was privy to everything her counterpart experienced, and in her ‘brilliant’ mind, she swiftly discerned the dragon’s intention.

"Why does this all feel so bloody familiar?!"

The same despair. The same pleading for a response. The same looming death. Was she nothing more than a tool for her counterpart’s growth?

Annoyance flared within her, but there was little she could do. If the body died, both the counterpart and the Heart Devil would perish. And she had no intention of letting that happen.

“Damn it! Wake up, or we’re both going to die!”

Frantically, the Heart Devil wracked her brain for a solution. Could she forcefully take control of the body? No. Her counterpart’s hatred now far surpassed the Heart Devil’s power. She couldn’t devour her counterpart, nor wrestle control away.

Maybe she could negotiate with the dragon? No chance. With her counterpart in this berserk state, the dragon would have no choice but to eliminate the threat. And there was no guarantee the Heart Devil could even reach the dragon in time.

“Ugh… think, think!”

Suddenly, a metaphorical lightbulb flickered above her head. She seized her counterpart by the shoulders once more.

"You want revenge? Forget it! You’re not even willing to grind their bones into dust. You’re just going to die here, while they live out their days in peace, praised and celebrated!"

In that instant, a flash of red pierced through the void, swiftly spreading, turning the blackened space into a crimson sea.

"Finally… awake, are we?"

The Heart Devil smirked, remembering how she had used taunting words during their battle with the swarm. Her mockery had woken her counterpart back then, pushing her into action.

Even if it had ended… questionably for her.

Now, both the conscious and subconscious were fully awake, though in a state of frenzy. But at least, it was a start.

With all her strength, the Heart Devil braced against the wild storm of emotion, suppressing the fear bubbling up inside her.

“Oi! You! Are you really giving up like this?!”

“…”

A pair of eyes, filled with endless despair and insanity, turned toward her, acknowledging her for the first time.

“Urk!”

Fear surged through the Heart Devil, pushing her terror to its peak. If she had a heart, it would surely be pounding so loudly that anyone could hear. But she was the Heart Devil, born from the darkest depths of her counterpart's soul. She couldn’t let fear stop her.

"No one ever said eight thousand years was enough of a timespan for things to stay the same! Time changes nothing on its own!"

“…”

"And don’t you remember? Just before you learned 'Ancient Dragon Tongue', you said yourself—'how would I know if I didn’t try?' Did you forget that already?!"

Time seemed to freeze. The chaos around them halted as if the storm had been suspended in mid-air.

“Finally…”

The Heart Devil let out a sigh of relief. Her tension gave way, and she collapsed, her body crumpling to the ground. Just before she lost consciousness, she felt something soft catch her fall.

And then—nothing.