Nightmare Prison. Another Artoria?

The clear sky had been replaced by clouds that blocked out the sun.

The forest, once filled with laughter and joy, had become eerily silent at some point.

The birds that had been playing in front of Xia's wooden house not long ago had now flown off to who knew where.

Raising his head to look at the oppressive black clouds in the sky, a sense of panic involuntarily welled up.

Crack!

A sudden, deafening sound!

Then, a flash of pale lightning streaked across the sky! The intensely flickering electric light! And the deafening thunder!

These made the already eerily silent forest appear even more terrifying and grim!

Inside the Life Tree's wooden house...

The boy and the girl were still embracing each other.

Blood continued to flow.

The Holy Sword was completely embedded in Xia's body, and the fresh blood dripping from the blade had formed a crimson pool on the wooden floor.

With each new drop of blood falling onto the puddle, there was always a "drip" sound.

Drip...

Drip...

Continuously...

However, Xia showed no reaction to this. He let his blood flow and decrease, completely still...

Xia's eyes had lost their focus and brightness; his body's functions had stopped operating five minutes ago.

This was already...

Thwip!

Artoria expressionlessly pulled the Holy Sword from Xia's body. As the Holy Sword was yanked out violently, the blood within Xia spurted out, dyeing the golden-haired figure before her red.

The gushing blood stained Artoria's pristine white dress with specks of crimson.

Her once brilliant golden hair was also sullied with a bloody hue.

And a drop of blood slowly trickled down her clean, flawless face...

The wooden table, wooden chairs, wooden windows, and wooden floor were all splashed with vibrant red.

Then... with a thump!

No longer supported by the Holy Sword, Xia heavily fell to the ground.

Artoria indifferently glanced at the corpse lying on the ground, still bleeding. With a casual wave of the Holy Sword, she flung the bloodstains from the golden blade onto the ground.

"Farewell, 'unknown' strange Heroic Spirit. It is over now."

Swish! Aiming the Holy Sword at Xia's neck once more, under Artoria's cold green gaze, her lips moved slightly.

"I bestow upon you, eternal nightmare."

Crack!

As soon as Artoria finished speaking, The thunder that shook the sky roared again! A flash of pale lightning suddenly struck!

Perfectly illuminating the figure of the boy lying in the pool of blood.

The golden-haired girl, wielding her blade, ended the boy's life with the Holy Sword she had used to fight enemies her entire life. She ignored his kindness, ignored his feelings, and even more so, ignored the true cry of her own heart.

"Is this true? Is this really what you wanted? Is this person before me truly someone I should draw my sword against?" Such questions repeatedly arose in the girl's mind, but whenever they appeared, she would always distract herself with other things, thus evading this thought...

"If I think about it, something terrible will be unleashed, so... don't think, don't acknowledge it. As long as this man appears before me again, then... I will kill him once more!"

With this thought, the girl stepped on the boy's blood and walked out of the wooden house, step by step...

Creak.

With a sound, the girl opened the wooden door and looked blankly at the torrential rain falling outside.

The downpour from the sky beat against the entire forest with a rustling sound.

The girl walked out of the wooden house and wandered aimlessly in the heavy rain, letting the downpour relentlessly wash over her slender body, and incidentally wash away the bright bloodstains on her outer clothing.

It was cold.

It was icy.

This was how she felt now...

Her pair of lifeless eyes scanned around.

So quiet...

So peaceful...

...So lonely.

This was the feeling in her heart at the moment.

Enough...

Plink.

The girl suddenly stopped her forward progress, standing there blankly in an exposed clearing, her body drenched.

Standing quietly in the clearing, the girl suddenly lifted her head, her eyes darting around as she surveyed her surroundings.

Her previously vacant eyes had regained their luster, though now tinged with a bit of confusion and strangeness.

"Huh?! Where is this? Where did that strange red-armored Heroic Spirit go?!"

If you can't find the book by its title, try searching for the author. Maybe they just changed the name!

"You murderer!!"

"Give me back my child!!!"

"I'll give you money to help me deal with the aftermath of that car accident."

"Can you tell me your name one more time?"

"Brother~~~!"

"Xia... come here."

"Xia won't leave me, right?"

"Xia... that man is a traitor! He betrayed me! When I needed him most, when I was most helpless! He left me! Abandoned me!"

In a dark sky, there were purple clouds, ominous howls, and a wall constructed from a shocking mass of flesh and blood on the ground...

And our protagonist, Xia, lay quietly beneath this bloody, mangled wall, the pain from the depths of his memory replaying non-stop in his mind.

"Ugh..." His tightly shut eyes and furrowed brow all indicated that Xia was in an extremely uncomfortable state.

But he still couldn't wake up...

Xia slept in this blood-red space, day after day, year after year, suffering, unwilling.

How many days had passed?

How many years had passed?

Why am I here...?

I don't know...

After giving up on thinking, the nightmare engulfed Xia once more.

The dark sky still existed, the purple clouds still floated, and the ominous howls still echoed in the sky.

Crack!

Suddenly, a sound like shattering glass came from the sky.

Crack... crackle crackle...!

The cracks grew larger, and more places shattered.

Until... Crash!

The dark sky suddenly broke open with a hole.

Then, a brilliant silver light erupted violently in the sky!!

It almost instantly dispelled the originally dark sky and purple clouds, replacing them with a clear azure sky and white clouds.

In the sky, the original ominous howls of pain vanished without a trace the moment the silver light erupted...

"This... is not where you should be, Xia."

At some unknown time, a gentle voice suddenly sounded.

The soft voice, carrying hints of longing and excitement, reached Xia's ears.

Hearing this voice, Xia, who had been ensnared by the nightmare, slowly relaxed the furrow of his brow and the clenched, vein-popping grip of his hands.

In his daze, Xia felt as if he were embraced by a warm hug. The originally painful and struggling spirit gradually calmed down the moment it came into contact with this embrace...

This feeling... was like returning to his mother's embrace.

Peaceful, secure, relaxed...

This was the first time in Xia's countless reincarnations that he felt his entire being could be so relaxed and comfortable.

His barely recovered consciousness urged Xia to forcibly open his eyes, wanting to see who was giving him such a sense of peace...

A sliver of light shone through his slowly opening eyes.

His numb arms also slowly rose as he willed them to, but... his arms hadn't moved in so long that he didn't even have the strength to lift them to his face. He could only helplessly let them fall halfway...

Grasp!

His descending hand was suddenly grasped by a soft, small hand.

Then, he was slowly pulled up and placed against the face of the hand's owner...

"Who are you...?" Feeling the warmth in his palm and the rush of memories and longing that flooded his mind the moment he touched her face, Xia anxiously opened his mouth for the first time in this world and asked.

His eyes, which had been about to close again, were forcibly reopened by Xia.

Then, the instant his eyes fully opened, Xia's body stiffened almost instantly. His eyes were wide open, his face filled with disbelief!

The golden long hair that stirred with the gentle breeze~!

Beautiful yet strong green eyes~!

An exquisite and spirited face..!

And the cherry lips that were smiling sweetly...

"This time, it's my turn to protect you, Xia~!" The voice, filled with attachment and nostalgia, rang out again. The person who bent down her slender body embraced the still-astonished Xia with a happy expression.

"Why... are you here?! Who... are you?!"