Mother Korinna stretched across multiple decks, its rusty corridors twisting into one another like veins in an aging body with most of the Magicbulbs havingn’t been replaced in decades, leaving each corridor darker than the last—a labyrinthine structure where even veteran crew members sometimes lost their way.
The ship had not been built whole, but carved together piece by piece as engineers desperately tried to fit every new requirement they discovered while exploring this new frontier of science into a space that seemed vast at first glance, yet proved way too limited once construction began. It was a flaw that perfectly revealed the ship’s age because, back then, pipelines and gears were nearly three times the circumference of modern models, leaving no choice but to route some of them through the corridors. The result was a claustrophobic maze of metal, steam, and shadow—the peak of human ingenuity wrapped around the skeleton of an obsolete design.
Nevertheless, Carmen had a copy of the ship’s blueprint in her [Contacts.Window], and she could read it effortlessly, as it was very similar to the ones of the ambitious stage prompts from Suarez’s theater. Thus, the ’Ego Witch’ moved throughout the labyrinth unafraid of the darkness and unbothered even by the leaking water that nearly froze her legs, focusing her attention on any unexpected guests.
”Και έτσι του είπα…” The narrowness of the corridors left no room for sound to escape, and every breath of Mother Korinna echoed back at the girl. Carmen swiftly rushed through the first door on her left, slipped into a cramped food storage, crawled beneath a scaffold, and held her breath as footsteps approached.
”Ω, τώρα είναι η σωστή στιγμή να φάω κάτι.” The doorknob rattled, prompting a shiver to shoot up Carmen’s spine. Then, the soldier entered and flicked the switch, removing the veil of darkness from her hiding place—their eyes met.
”Όλα καλά, ρε φίλε;” his two comrades asked when they noticed him frozen and silent, moving inside to investigate and soon finding out why.
”Ποιος έφαγε όλες τις μπανάνες;!” Disappointed by the lack of bananas, the Korinthians each grabbed an apple, switched the lights off again, and left the storage room silent once more.
“Finally, my [Skill] is becoming… somehow useful.” Altought this time had perfectly worked, the ’Ego Witch’ still doubted the infallibility of her power. Hence, she kept hiding every time she heard Korinthian boots approach as she made her way toward Mother Korinna’s engine.
Originally, her first instinct had been to reach the lower deck, but the Juggernaut was unique among ships—it had a heart. At its center sat a steel eggshell filled with Deuterium Oxide—Heavy Water—and inside it, like a fetus in a womb, floated the engine itself. That was why the only official entrance to the Engine Shell was from the upper deck, buried inside the Kataphracts’ quarters—in short, impossible to access without a battle.
Yet, the Korinthian engineers, overwhelmed by paranoia, had built a secret back door. Where? In the one place no one would ever think to check—the women’s bathroom.
“It’s here.” Hidden in the ceiling of the ladies’ restroom assigned to the unfortunate crew responsible for monitoring waste flow and clearing pipe blockages—a role that, unsurprisingly, almost no woman volunteered for—Carmen found the right panel. “One little push.” Standing on the toilet seat, she lifted the metal plate and revealed a vertical tunnel, beginning to climb.
***
Twenty minutes later, there was nothing but darkness above and below her. How many rungs had she gripped? Hundreds? Thousands? She wasn’t sure and didn’t care.
I don’t know how much effort Jacques and Jude had put into making this possible, and I won’t waste this unique chance.
Her fingers throbbed and her joints burned due to [Fatigue.PhaseOne], yet Carmen continued…until.
*THUNK!*
“*Ugh!*” Her forehead slammed into something solid. The impact was painful, but her [HP] mitigated the worst of it.
Damn…I need to be silent from here on.
She inhaled deeply, flexed her muscles, and pushed the metal hatch upward.
It opened into a small supply room of the women’s bathroom for the Engine Shell crew—again a profession rarely entrusted to women. Carmen gently pushed the door open, finding a deserted hallway stretching before her. She pressed her back against the cold steel wall, and, slowly, she advanced into the darkness until she found an opening on her left—the engine room.
“It’s…open.” Carmen froze. In front of her loomed a colossal steel gate, plastered with dozens of warning signs—Biohazard symbols, Radiation alerts, and other security cautions—crowned by a locking mechanism twice her height. And yet, the door was left ajar, just enough for her to slip through. “Should I…?” It was suspicious—too suspicious—but after coming this far, turning back wasn’t an option. So she squeezed inside.
The first thing she noticed was the silence—quiet, far too quiet for a ship this old. The rows of machinery lining the walls and their thousands of bulbs that flickered like fireflies produced only a faint whispered symphony, nothing loud enough to get her attention back from Mother Korinna’s heart.
Entering the engine room was like stepping into an Everlasting Twilight—where the sun forever lingered on the horizon. At the center of the spherical shell floated a massive core radiating a soft and greenish luminescence, whose glow pulsed throughout the Heavy Water, bathing the entire chamber—the patterns shifting with every new beat of the heart.
*Clack!* *Clack!* *Clack!*
The chamber, vast yet empty at its center, resembled a cathedral built of gears and steel machinery, its acoustics amplifying the solo played on a keyboard by the only other living being in the room. At its far end, beneath the enormous glass sphere of Heavy Water, sat a man bathed in the engine’s green glow, calmly typing while giving his back to Carmen—unaware that his ’Grim Reaper' had finally arrived to claim his soul.
For my nation, for my family, and for my friend.
The ’Ego Witch’ thought as she raised Jacques’ Ivory Tigress.
It’s them or us. Don’t take pride…but do what must be done!
She closed her eyes, breathed in, and breathed out—the same ritual she had performed dozens of times back in her rural hometown when pulling the trigger on the small animals her father asked her to cull. However, this time, it was a human. So, Carmen prayed for forgiveness to the Holy Trinity before pointing her weapon at the target.
*BANG!*
Gaussbows weren’t loud weapons. Still, in such a close environment, the sound propagated in the room, chaotically bouncing between the metallic machine and the Pipelines as the bolt penetrated the man’s head—his skull crushing on the engine’s dashboard.
“…I…I’ve done it…” The Ivory Tigress slipped from Carmen’s trembling fingers, clattering on the steel floor as she collapsed to her knees—the heart of the ’Ego Witch’ beat like never before, agonizing with her heavy breath. “I killed someone…I’ve actually killed someone…” The realization hit more than ever before. Tears gathered, but never flowed. “But now…now we’re all aliv—”
*Sssssssssss!*
As she muttered those words, a strange sound ahead made her look forward, and what she saw stunned her—the victim’s body began to shrink, more and more until nothing remained but his clothes on the chair. ”Wha—”
*Sssssssssss!*
From the soldier’s uniform, a small white adder emerged. The little reptile seemed to smile as it caught the girl’s gaze. It began slithering toward her, and the closer it came, the larger it grew, becoming a massive anaconda by the time it reached her. Carmen was too paralyzed to even scream as the serpent coiled around her, tightening its white tail around her arms, then her legs, sliding across her torso until the cold scales wrapped around her throat.
*Sssssssssss!*
From the corner of her eye, she saw a forked tongue brush her cheek, vibrating in perfect sync with her frantic heartbeat. ”*Sss-o there’s a wild sss-ide in you—*Sssssssssss!*—I like that.” Something had changed—the tail around her neck had now turned into a scaly hand, and then, he grip loosened, allowing the girl to turn her head.
And there he stood. A creature half serpent and half man, draped in white scales and sporting divine eyes she would never forget—those swirling rainbows were truly hypnotic. “Haven’t I told you I would find you no matter what?” Mishaab whispered to the speechless girl, taking her by the chin and forcing her to look at him in the eyes. “Don’t be afraid, or you’ll ruin that gorgeous face of yours.” The ’Decēptiō Squamata’ admired his own reflection in her oversized sunglasses, but he also appreciated Giulietta's beauty.
“You know, when you slipped out of your cabin and started sneaking around like a common thief, I grew suspicious.” Gauda twirled the blood-stained Ivory Bolt he had just plucked from the back of his skull. “Now…let’s see the real you.” He slipped off her oversized sunglasses, admiring her trembling sight beneath. “Oh…you don’t have your brother’s eyes.” His grin sharpened. “Good. I would hate to think of filth while I taste something this exquisite.”
”It seems your stay on this ship came with a hidden agenda. You fooled the Blue Children of Chaos beautifully, but you cannot deceive the Sultan of Deception.” He ran his fingers through her chestnut hair, as silky as Kashmere, inhaling its fragrance as if it were the most precious of spices.
”I…confess,” Giulietta's tone collapsed. “I came aboard to destroy this ship. But that is…not why I’m here now.” Her words shattered his boldness. “Tell me the truth…” she whispered. “Can you really save me… from him?” Giulietta raised her hand and touched his bare chest with her index finger, tracing one gleaming scale.
His opal eyes swirled, their rainbow whirlpools accelerated at each new breath. “I may be a bad man, but I would never lie to the heart of a woman I care for.”
The hybrid half-man and serpent released Giulietta from his aquamy grip, but not from his hypnotic gaze. ”Let’s escape from this insignificant conflict place, and instead let’s go together to my homeland. There, summer lasts forever, and you will enjoy riches you’ve only dreamed of. My palace is as vast as your Capital, with thousands of servants eager to satisfy your pettiest of urges. I promise you, from now on, you’ll never wear the same dress, eat the same food twice, or see a show twice.” His cold hand caressed her warm cheek. ”Everything you’ve ever dreamed of, just ask, and I will make it real.”
He leaned in for a kiss, but Giulietta pushed him away, giving the Kaliph her back. ”How many birds locked in golden cages with your sweet illusions?” Her rejection just wake up something on him, his entire body shivering.
“I don’t care for fancy food, fine garments, or extravagant entertainment.” Giulietta's goddess-like lips moved with grace, each syllable a hook sinking deeper into the Warlord’s heart. “I only want the one thing that man will never be able to offer me.” Gauda leaned closer, hypnotized. “Love—can you love me?”
“How…could I not?” Gauda muttered in shock. “I’m offering the life everyone dreams of.”
“Love is sacrifice, and your offer is nothing more than a grain of sand to someone with your wealth.” With strong bites, he tore off her leather gloves, then caressed his scaly face with hands as soft as rose petals. “Abdicate. Renounce your money, power, and glory—everything.” her tone softened and warmed. “Let’s escape to a place where no one will ever find us—just the two of us, and our love.”
“I rule billions, I own half the world’s riches, and I am worshipped as a living god…” His lips trembled. “And you ask me to renounce all of that—just for you?” Gauda was in awe—never had one of his prey been so audacious.
“All trivialities compared to me.” Giulietta caressed his cheek, then lifted his chin with a single finger. “Give up everything you’re so proud of, and I promise you something you haven’t grasped in all your five hundred years of life—true and everlasting love.”
A surge of adrenaline warmed Mishaab’s cold blood. “Ahahaha…you are mad…ahahahaha!” At first, the Naturian Warlord only laughed, unhinged, unable to fully process the audacity of the woman before him. However, the seed she had planted quickly sprouted throughout his mind, and the more he thought about it, the louder his [Instinct] screamed—RUN! SHE IS A THREAT! SHE IS THE MOST DANGEROUS CREATURE YOU HAVE EVER MET! And that made it all the more exciting. “Yes, I’ll do it—for you.” Technically, he was lying, intending to force her into the Gilded Birdcage in one way or another. But in that moment, he couldn’t be certain of anything.
“Then…” She pressed her chest against his, rising on tiptoe so that her divine lips could reach his ear. And she lovingly whispered—“[Lilith’sWhip].”
“Wha—” Gauda jolted backward, his hands hastily pressing his chest, where his heart hammered like a Gatling gun beneath his ribs. “What…did…you…do…to—” He collapsed before he could finish the sentence, spasming violently, as if every limb were waging an invisible war—an internal struggle to resist the inevitable with all his strength.
However, it lasted barely two minutes, and once its body stopped twitching, the serpent slithered across the floor, shrinking, bowing, coiling, until it reached her feet.
And so, the strongest human currently alive—the so-called Kaliph of Gupta, the Sultan of Deception, the Leviathan of the Third Empire and a thousand other titles—pressed his lips against the tip of Carmen’s stiletto shoes as his face twisted into a deranged smile.
“My Empress…please…I beg you to order me anything.”
