The light lasted exactly one second.
One. Single. Glorious. Second.
Then—poof—darkness again.
Ines sighed. "Figures."
But now, in the dark, she was no longer alone.
Ines blinked at the vague creature in front of her. It had appeared the moment the light vanished, drifting down from the orb like a speck of lint. Her eyes—wide as quail eggs—blinked once. Then again.
"…Is this some kind of bug?"
Was this the spokesperson the king of hell sent? She had asked for someone to come get her, yes, but now… uhhhh, she wasn't willing.
Not willing at all.
From what she could tell, the thing had two glowing eyes and nothing else visible in the thick void. Judging by their size and height, it was… small. Ines tilted her head, gazing at it with a pinch of pity.
The budget must've really run out.
Sensing the very unwelcome emotion radiating from her, the creature nearly passed out from rage.
"Your mother, your father, your sister—!" it began, sputtering furiously. It had meant to curse her entire bloodline, but was too angry to finish the sentence. From the moment he arrived he could tell he was being looked down on sending him into rage.
Unfortunately for the creature, Ines didn't pick up on any of this.
Her head tilted again, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Her mother? Her father? Her sister?
She said patiently and kindly like she was helping an old man remember his grocery list.
"What about them?"
Truth be told, she didn't have any of those people. But the little thing looked so lost, she couldn't help feeling a twinge of sympathy.
It must be his first day.
"It's okay, you can do it," she even gave it encouragement.
If anyone who had known her in life were watching, they would've assumed they were hallucinating. A considerate Ines? If she was a good citizen, they might as well be Mother Teresa.
However this kind of misunderstanding…. Even the void went silent—utterly speechless. It had no words this time. None. It sympathized with the poor creature for meeting such an idiot.
The creature, without warning, plummeted to the ground with a dull, dong! It was really, truly speechless.
From the floor, it looked up in anger. "You really dare?"
A shift passed through the air.
Something changed.
An oppressive energy began to fill the space, thick and unbreathable in an attempt to intimidate her. Even the void itself trembled faintly. The creature's power made it feel like the air would peel her soul away.
But who was Ines again? She wasn't intimidated by this pea sized punk in the slightest. She hadn't exactly lived a normal life herself.
Even as her very soul quivered, she squared her shoulders and opened her mouth with great arrogance:
"I dare! I dare! I really dare! This lord dares so hard, the word 'dare' is shy around me!"
The creature stared at her.
It was the kind of look you reserved for people who licked knives for fun or raised their hand to ask questions during Heavenly Tribulation.
She met its gaze without flinching.
"Let me enlighten you on something," she said, folding her arms nonchalantly. "There isn't a single thing this lord doesn't dare do. Besides—who even are you that I shouldn't dare? Are you the Lord of Reincarnation or something? Because if so, I still dare."
Her voice rang with arrogance.
The creature was quiet for a moment before sighing in resignation. He muttered, almost too softly to hear, "…We are contracted."
"What's that? Speak the hell up!" Ines yelled.
The creature grumbled and rolled its eyes. Finally showing your true colors, huh? He thought. He had saw right through her charity act from the very beginning.
"I said we are contracted!!"
"Contracted?" Ines echoed, confused. "What do you mean by that?"
"What do you mean what do I mean? You don't know what contracted means?! Do we need to go over the definition together?"
The creature side-eyed her like she was genuinely lacking brain cells.
"I know what it means,what do you mean by contracted? she spoke. Have you lost your mind since coming here? Or perhaps you died from hitting your head and it's still effecting you well into the afterlife? Did you inhale too much spiritual dust?" Ines said exasperatedly. She truly believed he had lost his mind.
Besides, her patience was truly beginning to slip. He said something crazy and then refused to explain. Was he allergic to straightforwardness?
"Stop trying to be cool and mysterious! This one here doesn't have the patience to play guessing games!"
She reached for him—and was shocked to find she could actually touch him. His body was soft, like velvet fur. Warm, too.
Her lips curled into a wicked grin.
"Hehe… You better start explaining things nice and clear for this lord," she said wickedly.
Then she picked him up—like one might a kitten—and gave him a warning squeeze, just enough to suggest she could pop him open like a melon at any moment.
"Put me down! Put me down!!" he shrieked, writhing in her grip.
"Then explain," Ines said calmly, giving him one more slow squeeze.
The creature stilled.
"What even are you?" she asked, frowning. His eyes were slitted like a cat's, glowing violet even in the dark. It was the only visible part of him.
"HAHA! What I am? What I am… you can't even comprehend!" he boomed, puffing out his tiny chest with pure pride.
Ines stared.
"…Cool," she said flatly. "Here's something I can comprehend: squishing you like a meat bun until you pop."
She said it with a light, pleasant smile. But the creature shivered.
Strangely enough, he hadn't attacked her. Even now, though he had power, he didn't try to hurt her seriously.
She narrowed her eyes. Maybe… maybe there was some kind of connection after all.
"Hmph. My name is Nyxiris," he snorted. "Can't say I remember how I got shackled to a brat like you."
Ines felt him shrug in her hand—casual, almost bored. Like this absurd situation wasn't worth more than a passing thought.
"When I woke up I could sense you were in danger so I used my powers to bring your soul here." he continued. "I remember who I am just fine. It's everything else that's a blur. Where I came from, how we got tied together—gone."
I Tried tapping into your body through our connection he paused. "Must've been a nasty injury to your soul for it to be so weak. That would explain the missing pieces however."
Ines frowned. "Injury to my soul? I remember my life perfectly. Every last bit of it. You? You weren't in it."
She narrowed her eyes again in thought.
"A creature like you doesn't even exist in the world I come from."
She began to search her memories, slowly.
Her name was Ines. She had grown up an orphan.
By the time she could speak, she had already learned that no one was going to protect her. Survival was a one-woman job. Her only dream was a simple one:
To live freely.
But the world had never stopped demanding more and more of her.
At sixteen, she lived alone in a cramped studio apartment, surviving off stolen rice and cheap leftovers. If she found something valuable, she sold it. If she couldn't sell it, she ate it. Her hands were fast, and her courage was stupid.
If her hands reached for something, there was no doubt in her mind—it was hers now.
Her neighborhood was a battleground where rival crews carved out their own turfs, each with personal domains. The local school was less of a place for learning and more of an arena where fists spoke louder than books. Even the teachers weren't ordinary; they seemed more suited to the underworld than the classroom.
At first, Ines kept her head down.
But over time—without even meaning to—she became the one everyone feared. With every fight, she climbed a little higher. Eventually, the title of "Boss" landed squarely on her unwilling shoulders.
She didn't know why she was so strong.
Maybe fate. Maybe divine payback for her crap life.
One way or another, the path ahead had already been carved. What began as a simple struggle for survival soon turned into something much greater. One by one, the gang turfs fell into her grasp, and before she had even reached the end of her school years, she ruled them all.
Her reputation became an unshakable force. Every time she sighed and threw a punch, another so-called rival crumpled before her feet. Feared by all. Respected by most. And too strong to escape her own legend. She couldn't take a step without someone calling her "Boss."
But standing too tall meant the winds hit you harder.
Not from rival gangs but from the real players.The kind of people who didn't fight over high school turf but decided the fate of nations with a single whisper.
Before she could graduate, Ines was plucked from the streets and thrown into the world of shadows. The underworld welcomed her like a long-lost child. It didn't take long for her to rise through the ranks.
She rose quickly—too quickly.
She was too fast, too ruthless, too efficient. From school delinquent to top-tier assassin, she adapted as she always had—because fighting was the one thing she was good at. Life should have been good. Her blade was swift, her bank account was quite healthy, and for a while, she had power. But if fate had taught her anything, it was this:
When fortune smiles at you, it's only so it can stab you in the back.
She should have known that if it seemed too good to be true nine times out of ten it was. Alas her luck ran out and she got arrogant which caused her demise and untimely death.