The woman cast a casual glance toward the two massive beasts, a hint of disdain flickering briefly across her otherwise tranquil expression. "Away with you, dogs," she commanded quietly, her voice deceptively gentle yet dripping with cold authority. The white wolf obeyed instantly, lowering its massive head respectfully before vanishing into thin air, leaving behind only wisps of frost that danced briefly before fading away. The black wolf, however, hesitated, its burning crimson eyes locked onto Chaos, a low, defiant growl rumbling deep in its chest, filled with unbridled murderous intent.

  She noticed immediately, a slight irritation flickering behind her bottomless black eyes. With a flick of her wrist—nothing more than the barest twitch of her monstrous claw—the great beast was hurled backward at incomprehensible speed, not merely crashing into the arena's walls but blasting entirely through them, leaving behind a colossal, ragged hole as it hurtled helplessly out of sight, tumbling down the mountainous void beyond. She clicked her tongue softly, shaking her head as though reprimanding a stubborn pet. "Honestly," she murmured, "Why do I even bother keeping such worthless creatures around?"

  Her gaze shifted smoothly, effortlessly to Chaos, and a slow, genuine smile stretched across her hauntingly beautiful face, deepening as she took a single step forward—and appeared directly before him, the space between them simply erased without warning or explanation. Chaos felt a chill tear through his very being, something utterly foreign and terrifying even to a Titan such as himself. Her presence alone was paralyzing, drowning him in an ocean of fear he had never before experienced, and despite his pride and fury, he stood frozen, utterly incapable of moving.

  "Oh, it truly is a delight," she whispered softly, her voice filled with genuine pleasure and an unsettling, childlike joy. "Do you know how terribly long it's been since I've spoken to someone? Ages upon ages with only beasts for company. I absolutely detest loneliness, don't you?"

  Gathering every scrap of courage left within his shadowed heart, Chaos managed to force out a single, rasping question. "Who ar—"

  He never saw her move. The moment the words slipped from his lips, reality fractured around him; space distorted violently, changing rapidly as half of his body was obliterated instantly, shredded into smoke and screaming shadow. A heartbeat later, the deafening roar of the explosion thundered outward, collapsing stone and cracking the arena floor beneath where he now lay, mangled and broken, gasping for breath that would not come.

  Before he could even register his pain, she appeared again, standing serenely above him. With graceful ease, she seized him by what remained of his head, lifting him effortlessly, his regenerating body trembling weakly beneath her grasp. Her smile widened, dark and playful, cruelly gentle as she leaned closer, black eyes drinking in his agony.

  "Tell me, little shade," she murmured softly, her voice almost tender as she tilted her head slightly, regarding him like a curious child observing a fascinating insect. "Who granted you permission to speak in my presence?"

  She paused briefly, savoring the trembling silence before her expression twisted into a mischievous smirk, her monstrous claw tightening slightly around his head. "Though, I suppose since you are so eager to open your mouth, I might as well hear you scream."

  Chaos's pride fractured as pain tore through him, indescribable agony radiating from his broken form, drawing an involuntary cry from the depths of his essence. He roared, snarled, and groaned as her grip tightened inexorably, his shadowy flesh writhing helplessly against her impossible strength, forced at last to acknowledge the true meaning of dread.

  She chuckled softly, her voice a silken whisper amidst his torment. "Yes," she purred, leaning closer until her obsidian eyes filled his entire vision, deep and endless as the void itself. "Scream for me. Scream until you remember how filthy you are, Grounded scum."

  With casual disdain, she released her grip, letting Chaos crash heavily onto the broken arena floor. The collision was harsh, sending tremors through the splintered stones, chains and smoke rapidly beginning their frenzied attempt at repairing his mangled form. She regarded him coldly, tilting her head curiously, a cruel amusement glittering in her dark eyes. "Keep that mouth shut if you value it," she whispered, her voice a chilling melody that promised unimaginable agony.

  Chaos clamped his shattered maw instantly, tremors still coursing through his ruined frame, chains and smoke desperately stitching his dark, monstrous body back together. She turned away as though distracted, her attention momentarily wandering, before abruptly spinning back toward him. Squatting with unnerving ease, she studied him with eyes wide and gleaming, like a child fascinated by an injured insect.

  "It's odd," she murmured thoughtfully, as though speaking to herself more than him, her voice drifting dreamily through the air. "You truly don't remember me, do you? In the past, you always scurried away like a frightened rat when you sensed my approach, and now you dared to try and speak to me."

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  In less than an instant, faster than even Chaos could perceive, she appeared mere inches from his face, her monstrous metallic claw twitching slightly in barely-contained anticipation. His mind buckled beneath the sheer impossibility of her speed, surrendering the futile attempt to comprehend the being before him. She smiled, a terrifyingly gentle expression on her otherwise beautiful features. "I am grateful, you know," she whispered with unsettling sincerity. "Grateful to see you again, grateful I managed to reincarnate into the same world. But then again, that place... that place my canvas was born in didn't look familiar at all."

  Her voice abruptly shifted to a darker tone, edged with something between admiration and hatred. "That damned love child actually did it," she muttered, eyes narrowing momentarily before her expression softened once more into eerie serenity. "He made his dream real. Good for him."

  She leaned forward eagerly, her dark eyes wide and intense, her face mere breaths away from Chaos. "Speaking of which, tell me, how are the Ten Hopes? Did they finally hunt down those pesky gods I didn't get around to killing?" Her voice rose in pitch and fervor, a disturbing mix of childlike curiosity and psychotic glee.

  Chaos's mind fractured further, panic and confusion overtaking him at her insane ramblings. Reflexively, his mouth opened to utter something—a single, hesitant syllable—but the moment he began, her claw shot forward with blistering speed, obliterating his jaw with casual brutality. Pain seared through him, white-hot and unbearable, darkness spurting from the catastrophic wound as his jaw disintegrated into nothingness.

  Yet, driven by the madness of desperation, he attempted to speak again, only to halt instantly as her gaze transformed into a murderous glare. Her voice dripped venom, dangerously soft. "Who allowed you, filth, to speak in my presence?" she demanded coldly, punctuating her question by savagely punching off his leg, the appendage bursting apart into dissipating shadows.

  She leaned in further, her face suddenly right next Chaos’s shattered visage, her dark, fathomless eyes flickering with a strange blend of childlike curiosity and merciless cruelty, as if at any moment her tenuous hold on reality might shatter completely, leaving only madness in its place.

  "Oh, right! Silly me, silly, silly me," she giggled softly, her laughter both delicate and monstrous. "I asked you a question, didn't I? About the Hopes, those miserable little rats scurrying about, pretending to rule a world I burned and rebuilt with my very hands—have they finally cleaned up my mess? Or are they still chasing their tails, pretending they're anything more than shadows cast by my light?"

  Chaos trembled slightly, his body slowly reassembling itself, tendrils of shadow coiling and knitting the missing pieces of him back together, though far too slowly for his liking. He dared not answer again, not with his voice, not even with a gesture; instead, his fiery gaze met hers, defiant yet cautious, betraying none of the dread pooling deep within his monstrous chest.

  The woman’s smile widened unnaturally, the edges of her lips pulling almost too far apart, stretching grotesquely into something far removed from joy, something darker, far more dangerous. She cocked her head sideways, strands of raven hair cascading around her face like shadows fleeing daylight, and gently tapped her chin with one slender, perfect finger, as if deep in thought.

  "It's okay, it's okay, I forgive you," she cooed sweetly, tilting her head back with a contented sigh, her black eyes drifting upwards as if gazing at something beyond sight. "After all, it's been so long since I've had company—I almost forgot how fragile your kind are. You speak, you break. You scream, you break. You look at me wrong... well," she giggled again, an innocent yet chilling sound, "You understand."

  In the space between heartbeats, she stood once more, straightening with such speed that Chaos saw only the afterimage of her movement, her tall, monstrous frame towering above him like some twisted goddess standing upon the ruins of a fallen world. The massive black claw at her side flexed lazily, as if eager to tear and rend, pulsing red veins glowing like cracks in a volcano moments before eruption, and with a casual, dismissive gesture she beckoned Chaos to rise.

  "Come, come, get up," she murmured softly, almost kindly, watching with amused detachment as Chaos shakily pulled himself upright, chains rattling, darkness bleeding off him in slow, wary wisps. "You came here seeking a soul to devour, did you not? Greedy little beast. Ironic that you now find yourself so very small, so very edible."

  She laughed again, a bright, musical sound that twisted Chaos’s insides far more effectively than any pain she'd inflicted so far, and she reached out gently, placing her delicate human hand upon his chest. Her palm felt impossibly heavy, an unbearable pressure squeezing the breath from his body, pushing him toward the precipice of true terror, yet she held him there effortlessly, balancing his existence at the very edge of annihilation.

  "Now tell me, little shadow," she continued softly, her voice dripping with sweetness and malice, her gaze locked onto his with frightening intensity, "Since you so rudely interrupted my solitude, perhaps you'll entertain me. Perhaps you'll remind me why I kept these useless beasts around. Perhaps you'll remind me why I cared about this miserable little speck of existence at all."

  She leaned in closer, so close that Chaos could see his trembling reflection in her endless black eyes, so close that her voice sank lower, colder, losing all pretense of playfulness, becoming something hollow and ancient.

  Her smile faded into a thin, unreadable line, and with a tilt of her head, she spoke again, her words soft enough to make the world itself seem to quiet around them.

  "Or you could prove more useful then just simple entertainment…" she whispered, her monstrous claw tapping rhythmically against his broken chest, "Did much change since I died?"

  Recently, the story has been shown to a lot more new readers, and I’m genuinely grateful for every single one of you. Your feedback means more than you know.

  I’ve seen the critiques, and I agree: there were moments where he didn’t fully reflect the man described in the blurb. Because of that, I plan to go back and polish those early chapters, making sure he stays true to who he’s meant to be. It’ll take a little time, but it’s important to me to get it right.

  Stay safe, and I hope you’ll stick around to see just how far this story still has to go.