Luna stretched with a wide yawn. Still half-asleep, she stumbled into the bathroom, showered, and got herself ready for the day.

With the final stroke of lipstick, she smiled at her reflection, satisfied. A light blue button-up shirt gave her an air of professionalism, tucked neatly into a high-waisted black skirt that hugged her figure. High heels completed the look, making her seem even taller, not that she needed it, already standing at 184 cm.

She sighed softly before leaving her apartment, trying to summon some cheer for the long day ahead. On her way, she spotted her friends and quickly joined them. They greeted each other warmly, chatting as they walked to university.

At some point, one of her friends asked:

"Hey, are you still seeing that guy?"

Luna's expression flickered and forced a pale smile.

"No. We went our own ways."

Her friend exhaled and shook her head.

"Well, he was a little cute. Didn't he sing to you from your garden once? Haha, that was so funny. Some people probably thought he was drunk or crazy. I mean, who would do that sober?"

Luna adjusted her skirt as they walked, her smile faint.

"Yeah… he was drunk as hell. At least he wasn't the violent kind when he drank. Just reckless. Driving too fast, breaking stuff, throwing fireworks at people he didn't like…" She gave a little laugh, though her eyes softened. "Messed up, sure but at least he sang to me. That's something, right?"

Her friend gave her an amused look, then suddenly hugged her.

"You're too adorable, Luna. Who would've thought you were into bad boys, huh?"

Luna rolled her eyes, pushing her away.

"It's not like that. And he hated clichés like that too. I guess…" She hesitated, "…he just wanted to feel alive."

Her friend's smile faded into something more serious.

"Well, it's good you broke up. He wasn't the best influence. My father even said he was involved with… certain kinds of people."

Luna's lips pressed into a thin line. She lowered her gaze, her voice dropping to a hush.

"I know. He has his life, and I have mine. Some things just… can't work. Everyone's forced to grow up at some point..."

She hesitated, her eyes lifting to the drifting clouds overhead. When she spoke again, her voice was softer, almost tender.

"Even ????."

Her friend blinked, face turning strangely vacant. Her expression slackened, hazy and unfocused, as though reality itself had slipped for a heartbeat. Luna froze as well, caught in the same strange distortion, like a skipped frame in a film reel.

Then, just as abruptly, her friend blinked and returned to normal.

Luna did not.

Her breath caught in her throat, eyes wide as alien symbols shimmered into existence before her; runes hanging in the air, visible only to her.

Aspect: [Hanged Man]

Aspect Rank: [Divine]

Aspect Description: [Degeneration, sacrifice, and responsibility. The human side of God: Madness and Spite. The ultimate corruption of a divine figure. For a god, to be human is sin… for every human is a sinner.]

Luna's hands trembled. Her chest tightened with dread, anxiety curling like smoke in her lungs. But as she read the words again, fear drained away, leaving her hollow and then her lips curled into a venomous smile.

Her voice was a whisper, bitter and sharp:

"That fucking tree… so that's what corruption means. Not just my soul. My mind, too."

But what was she even doing here? This was supposed to be just a memory. Nothing more.

So why did it feel… wrong?

Her brows knitted, the thought gnawed at her. How do I even get out of my own subconsciousness?

She chewed on the question, but every idea slipped through her fingers like smoke.

For a fleeting moment, she almost laughed. Damn it… I actually miss Amon right now. He'd cook up some stupid, reckless plan that would somehow work.

But he wasn't here. She was alone and had to manage on her own.

"Hey… what's wrong with you guys?"

Her voice wavered as she looked at her friends.

All five of them stood utterly motionless, their eyes vacant, their bodies frozen as if the life had been drained out, leaving only pale husks behind.

A chill skittered down her spine. She instinctively stepped back, hands half-raised, bracing herself for an attack.

But nothing came.

Nothing… except the slow, sickening change.

Her friends' bodies convulsed, then ruptured like rotten fruit. What poured out was not blood, but liquid darkness, gushing onto the ground in viscous streams. The black tide spread, swallowing the shapes of their bodies, then creeping outward, devouring the horizon, the sky, the very earth of her subconscious.

One by one, everything she knew collapsed into the rising sea of shadows.

Everything but her.

She gulped, her throat dry, body trembling despite her desperate attempt to remain composed. But calm was impossible. The darkness pressed in from all sides, a suffocating weight that seemed to squeeze her very soul.

Then, an arm rose from the black sea, colossal, massive enough to cradle a planet in its grip. Luna froze, her heart hammering, unable to tear her gaze away from the unknowable horror emerging from the void.

"What… what is that…?" Her voice cracked.

Above her loomed a dense, shifting shadow, five heads emerging from its amorphous form, liquid darkness flowing over and around them like oil on water. The moment her gaze met it, nausea twisted her stomach and icy dread froze her mind. Every instinct screamed that this thing was not meant to exist.

Every sin, every ounce of filth, every malicious thought of every living being seemed to swirl inside it, coalescing into one unknowable entity of pure evil.

The five-headed shadow lifted its arm, towering above her. Then, with a movement that seemed both deliberate and infinite, it exploded outward, a cascading wave of sins and horrors, drowning her in the accumulated corruption of every living being.

And then:

"AGGKHHH!!!"

Amon and Medici's heads snapped toward Luna in alarm, drawn by her piercing screams. Her body thrashed violently, scratching at herself, blood streaking her skin. Her eyes were wide, horrified, and unblinking, every ounce of terror radiating from her very being.

But what made Amon freeze was not just her screams. The shadow that usually lingered behind her had transformed; now five-headed, writhing and pulsating, cradling her body in a way that made the scene almost unbearable to witness. It wasn't static; it moved, as if it was separate being.

Instinctively, Amon rushed to her side and did the only thing he could think of. He poured water from the Endless Spring over her...

It didn't work. Eh, at least he tried...

The shadow didn't dissipate immediately, though.

But then, after a few torturous seconds, her screaming finally ceased. Her body slumped, limp, and the unnatural five-headed shadow vanished. Luna's breathing returned to normal. She looked up, eyes blinking as if waking from a nightmare, and for the first time in moments, she seemed… whole again.

Hesitantly, Amon stepped back, keeping his distance as he watched Luna from behind Medici. His voice was low, almost a whisper.

"If she goes crazy, just… knock her out again."

"No shit. I don't want to fight a near-immortal crazy woman!" Medici snapped, eyes darting to Luna.

When she moved, both of them took another cautious step forward, gathering what little courage they had.

Then, suddenly, Luna's body shot up. A cold dread gripped Amon's chest like ice, squeezing him painfully. He swiveled his head to find Medici, seeking even the faintest reassurance but… wait. Where the hell was he?!

Frantically, Amon scanned the surroundings. And soon, his eyes settled on a familiar shape above, and he froze.

There, perched on the spine of the Leviathan, hidden in a bone crack, was Medici... hiding and avoiding his gaze entirely.

Amon exhaled through gritted teeth.

"You fucking fraud…" he muttered, irritation and disbelief lacing his tone.

Sighing, Amon slowly approached Luna's trembling form and settled beside her. For a long while, neither spoke. The world felt empty... oh, and Fraud had vanished entirely, too. Leaving only the young man and woman in silence.

Finally, curiosity overcame him. His voice was tentative, edged with both intrigue and quiet concern.

"What… happened?"

Luna's gaze lingered on the dark expanse before them, as if recalling some distant memory. She offered a faint, tired smile.

"Nothing… I think I've gained access to my Uniqueness. I can manifest it now, but it's exhausting."

Amon's eyes widened, a mix of disbelief and a glimmer of greed flickering across his expression. His lips curled slightly, almost involuntarily.

"How? Is there… some condition? Do I… need to get mind-controlled too? Shit, Medici killed the tree, so that's… kind of a problem-"

"No!" Luna snapped, cutting him off, her voice carrying a sharp exhaustion as she exhaled heavily.

"I think it's unique for each of us. Well… I'm sure you'll figure it out soon. At least, I felt it... I felt much more powerful when my Uniqueness was active. Everything was enhanced: my abilities, the quality and potency of my essence, my recovery speed, even my physical strength."

Amon fell silent, processing the implications, but more questions crowded his mind.

"Well… spit it out. What happened? How did you end up on Ashen Barrow alone?"

Luna pursed her lips, hugging her knees. She let out a soft breath, her mouth curling into a wistful smile.

"I found myself with Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie. At first, we decided to work together, but gradually… I guess we got close. At least, I thought we were friends. I helped them, teaching them how to survive… Though I couldn't exactly say I knew the future, so I told them my attribute let me see the past if I prayed for its secrets. Cassie knew my attributes, so she made some… connections, or whatever, and believed I was telling the truth. Then… oh, wait. I evolved my attribute too. I'm a Listener now."

Amon gave her a long, unimpressed look, leaning back with an annoyed huff.

"I've known you since you were nine, woman. So stop changing the subject, it won't work."

Luna laughed, shaking her head in amusement. But the laughter slowly drained away, leaving only bitterness.

"Well… the four of us continued on our way. But because I evolved my attribute… being a Listener was far more dangerous than I anticipated. Even if this world isn't as deadly as the Lord of Mysteries, it's still lethal. Because of that, I started hearing whispers from the soul-devouring tree. Of course, my high spirituality allowed me to resist… most of the time. But sometimes, I couldn't. Sometimes, I would fall under its mind hex, only to snap out of it later. And then I made a fatal mistake."

She gritted her teeth, fists clenching in a visible desire for violence as her gaze drifted toward the still, hollow tree.

"They insisted on killing the Demon on Ashen Barrow… and since I couldn't explain why not, without revealing my knowledge of the future, I agreed, thinking we'd leave soon after. But no… that fucking tree. It felt like its main objective was controlling me. And once it turned me into its puppet, it poisoned the minds of the others as well."

Amon frowned, tilting his head thoughtfully. Wait a moment… why not? Didn't she say she convinced them she could see the past? Then she could've explained the Soul-Devouring Tree.

Luna noticed his expression and shook her head knowingly.

"I know what you're thinking. It's not that simple. I only told them I could see fragments of the past; like this place being called the Forgotten Shore, or glimpses of the seven heroes creating the Dark City. Just a few words. If I gave them a detailed explanation of why we shouldn't approach the tree… I would have revealed my lie."

Amon nodded. That made sense. But…

"Still fucking stupid."

Luna rolled her eyes in irritation.

"Sorry! My mind was fucked up by that tree, I couldn't think of anything else!"

Amon sighed. As much as he wanted to protect Luna's pride as an intellectual, in terms of cunning… she was far behind.

Well, at least everything's fine now…

Nothing is, yet, he added with a mischievous glint, his expression growing more pleasant.

"And how were you left behind?"

Luna hesitated, as if weighing whether she should tell him. At last, she exhaled and began to speak.

"I snapped out of the mind hex while experimenting with my abilities… and accidentally harmed myself in the process. That's when I told them about the hex and everything. They forgot, but somehow Cassie remembered and reminded Sunny. Sunny, as it happened in the story, absorbed Blood Weave and managed to break the hex. Then they built the boat with Nephis's help to escape. Everything should have been fine… but I couldn't break the hex again. My mental energy was too drained from the previous attempt."

Amon nodded, his expression gradually darkening as Luna continued.

"Because of that, I ended up fighting Sunny and Nephis. At one point, I even overwhelmed them. Sunny couldn't really damage me, and Nephis wasn't accustomed to withstanding the curse of her flaw. But instead of helping me snap out of the hex, Sunny lured me away from the boat while Nephis prepared to leave. At the last moment, Cassie used her staff to blast me back with wind, and Nephis ignited the flammable sack we had gathered, burning my body. I screamed in agony… and they left."