Chapter 8: Selka, the Witch of the Endless Crossing (2)

Part 2

The world reappeared without transition. A blink, and suddenly he was there.

Rei was no longer wearing his uniform. His body was different—shorter, thinner. And he knew immediately—this wasn't his form.

He was seeing through someone else's eyes.

The air reeked of rust, sweat, and something even staler—a mix of dry despair and old blood.

The walls were cracked stone, without windows. Only chains, mud, and a dull glow leaking in from old torches. It wasn't a cell. It was a kennel for humans.

And in the middle of that hell... a girl. Perhaps a teenager.

Sitting on a damp wooden plank, curled up like her body was trying to disappear, hugging her knees and staring into nothing. Brown-haired, gaunt, covered in scars that no longer hurt because it had been too long since she last felt anything. Her hair hung like a dirty rag over her face, hiding what were once tears.

Now, only the hollows remained.

"Is that the girl from before?" Rei murmured.

The cold was thick. Clinging. It didn't come from the air, but from the ground, the walls, the chains. From her.

"Hey… where are we?" he added, coughing up blood, not quite sure if the wound was real or part of the memory.

She didn't respond.

Her fingers moved, one by one, as if counting the days since her last meal. She didn't look at him. Didn't listen.

Because in her world, no one answered. No one asked. No one saved.

And yet… Rei was still there. And this time, not as a spectator.

The footsteps came like drums. Heavy. Steady.

A guard opened the door unhurriedly. The light cast him in silhouette against the hallway like a black stain on the wall.

Without a word, he began dragging the youths from their cell.

One by one, he pulled them into the corridor. Some could barely walk. Others were little more than bones and trembles. Rei was among them.

Not as himself, but in a different body—fragile, used—manacles biting into his wrists, a dirt-stained hood hanging from his neck.

"What… what is this?" he thought, but no answer came.

No external consciousness. No Void-born power. Only the weight of the past.

They made him walk.

Down unnamed corridors, spiral staircases… and at the end—the mine.

Dark. Suffocating. No natural light. Only torches jammed into damp stone and endless tunnels that breathed mildew and despair.

Each slave was assigned a rail. A cart. A shovel.

The girl was thrown beside a dead vein, handed a broken tool and a bucket.

"Work or die," was the only instruction.

And no one protested.

Because here, even death had to be earned.

Rei moved closer, chipping at the wall beside her.

"This doesn't seem as fun as mining games…" he muttered with a crooked smile, trying to lighten the mood. For him, it was still just a memory. An echo. Nothing that could truly touch him.

But the sharp crack of a whip—and the pain that exploded across his back like liquid fire—knocked the air from his lungs.

He doubled over, gasping, feeling his skin tear like wet paper.

"More work, less talk, you little shit!" barked the guard with a twisted grin—the kind that isn't born of duty, but from sadistic pleasure. He enjoyed every inch of flesh he split open.

Rei stayed on his knees a moment longer, his fingers digging into the earth. Not because he couldn't stand but because he understood.

This wasn't a symbolic vision. It wasn't some emotional hallucination.

It was real.

As real as the kicks in the school hallways. As real as the laughter when they pushed him onto the sacrificial altar. As real as the eyes that chose to ignore him.

"I see… this world has always been this rotten. People just don't want to see it," he thought bitterly, as he got back up and gripped the tool again.

Beside him, Selka kept striking the stone.

Again and again.

Without expression. Without rest. Her movements were automatic, precise—almost perfect. Like a broken machine that refused to shut down.

Her eyes showed no fear, no rage, no pain.

Only emptiness.

But within that abyss… something resisted.

She didn't give up. Didn't cry. Didn't ask for help.

She simply refused to die.

And Rei saw it.

For the first time, he understood there was something stronger than hate or fury.

The silent will of someone who would not be crushed. Even if everything else was already broken.

Two guards approached Selka, wearing the kind of disgusting grin that comes from believing you hold power over another's suffering. Like they were in on some private joke only they found funny.

"This is the slave I told you about. Even though she's malnourished, she's got a nice body…"

"So this is the one you've been 'visiting' at night," the other said, with a low, revolting chuckle.

"Out of all the slaves I've been using, this one excites me the most," said the first, licking his lips. "Soon I'll buy her and make her my wife… I'm dying to break her every day."

"Pfft, idiot. Hope you catch malaria," the other sneered between laughs.

Rei felt the hatred return.

He thought he'd left that emotion behind. That it was no longer part of him.

But he was wrong.

"You disgust me…" he whispered, stepping in front of them.

"Huh? Look at the cocky little runt."

"Hit him with the whip, teach him some respect."

The lash came fast and deep.

Rei dropped to his knees, a burning line of pain splitting his back. Blood poured instantly, staining the mine's black earth.

"Parasites like you… should die slowly," he muttered, trembling as he forced himself upright.

"Look at him. Hilarious. Thinks he's some kind of hero…"

The next whip strike burst his left eye.

The world spun into a spiral of pain and rusted metal. Rei writhed on the ground, gasping, his consciousness bleeding out from the open wound.

But he got up again.

Pickaxe in hand.

His fingers barely held it, but the eye that remained burned with ancient fury.

"Filth like you… shouldn't exist in this world."

The guard unsheathed his sword.

"No more games. If you won't work… then die."

Rei charged.

Not with strength. Not with hope.

Only with the certainty that he couldn't stay silent. Not again.

But his body was broken. His muscles didn't respond. His soul screamed… but it wasn't enough.

He felt the cold of the blade.

And then—nothing.

His head hit the ground as if the world split in two. From that impossible angle, the last thing he saw was Selka.

For a moment.

Her empty eyes… weren't so empty anymore.

Something like concern crossed her gaze.

It wasn't pity. It wasn't sorrow.

It was something else.

Recognition.

And then, the world burst into white.

Total silence.

He opened his eyes again and found himself back in his school uniform.

The sky was white—formless, soundless—like a blank page drifting in the void.

Instinctively, he touched his neck.

It was whole.

No blood.

No scar.

"Tch…" he muttered through his teeth, not sure whether to feel relieved or frustrated.

In front of him, the teenage slave floated into view.

She was no longer the girl from the mine, nor the broken vision from the cell.

Now she was something else. An entity with a voice, with thought, with presence.

"Being a woman in times like these is a big problem," she said softly, without resentment. "We're always subjected to unscrupulous power."

Rei didn't answer. He simply looked down. He knew she was right. There was no need to argue it.

"I was very young… when that guard took my purity. I had no choice."

She didn't cry.

She didn't tremble.

She said it like someone reciting a line that no longer hurts, but that's never been forgotten.

"What's curious," she continued, slowly spinning in the air, "is that no matter how deep I looked into your mind… those kinds of thoughts never showed up."

Rei looked up.

He understood immediately.

"I don't know what you expect from me by showing me these memories," he said calmly, "but if it's pity or desire… you're wasting your time. I'm not interested in that kind of thing."

She smiled—sadly.

"I know. Your heart overflows with hatred. It's like there's no room for anything else but vengeance."

She floated a little closer. Her feet didn't even touch the ground.

"You're the kind of person who can't ignore injustice. Who hates those who abuse power.

And even having overwhelming strength… you don't use it to dominate. That's rare."

Rei looked straight into her eyes.

"So what do you want from me?" he asked calmly. "I told you—I'm no hero. I can't change your past. Or mine."

She extended her arms.

And embraced him.

Gently.

With a warmth that didn't come from her body… but from her soul.

"I know. I'm not here to change the past. I care about your future."

She pulled away slowly, like a leaf floating on water.

"You'll understand everything… in the next memory."

And with those final words, the world began to dissolve.

The white sky cracked in black lines.

The ground collapsed.

The light flickered.

The judgment… was entering its final act.