far from reality [ONGOING]

The sky, once clear, was now swarming with fiery meteors that streaked toward the earth like a hail of destruction. At first, they appeared as mere pebbles, but as they hurtled closer, their true size became evident—massive rocks, each as large as a house, their surfaces glowing with the intense heat of re-entry.

Yen watched them descend with a calm, almost detached expression, brushing the dust from her clothes. She estimated they had less than a minute before impact, a minute before the ground beneath them would be obliterated, leaving craters as deep as if the earth had been bombarded with nuclear warheads.

She clasped her hands together as if in prayer, then slowly slid them apart, forming a yin-yang sign with her fingers summoning her other ability under encapsulation: the Shallow Technique.

A ring of silver light appeared in the air above her, expanding rapidly until it covered the entire mountain in the background. It wasn’t just a shield; it was a portal to complete darkness, a void that could swallow anything and everything in its path.

Unlike Hollow, which has a limit—it can only encapsulate things wrapped in negativity—the Encapsulation: Shallow Technique has no such restriction. It swallows everything, both living beings and inanimate objects, regardless of size or weight. The decision of what to encapsulate depends on the user of the ability.

Louge watched in awe and fear, unable to comprehend the scale of what he was witnessing. This was beyond human ability; it was something otherworldly, terrifying in its sheer power.

Yen pointed her hand toward the incoming meteors, her other hand still tucked casually into her pocket. The meteors grew larger with each passing second, their size now closer to that of mansions rather than mere houses. But Yen remained unperturbed, her eyes focused and calculating.

As the first of the meteors approached, the imposter hovered a few feet behind Yen, observing with crossed arms. The meteors were drawn into the silver portal one by one, their immense size no match for the all-consuming darkness. There was no sound, no explosion, nothing to signify their impact. They simply vanished, as if they had never existed, swallowed whole by the obsidian void.

The imposter's plan for destruction was nullified in an instant, her carefully orchestrated catastrophe erased without a trace. The meteors, which should have caused untold devastation, were nothing more than a fleeting threat, easily neutralized by Yen’s overwhelming power.

"Is that all you've got?" she asked, her voice carrying a hint of amusement. "You’ll have to do better than that if you want to live."

The imposter had decided: she would kill Yen.

She descended so quickly it seemed like she had teleported, her arm drawn back to deliver a punch to the side of Yen's neck.

But she came to an abrupt stop, disoriented, as she passed Yen. Her gaze shifted to the blood pooling beneath Yen’s feet. Confused, she wondered why Yen was still standing, seemingly untouched despite the punch she felt connect.

“What, you think I can’t do both?” Yen drawled, her lips curling into a lazy smirk.

The imposter's eyes widened as she saw Yen casually lift her arm, dripping with blood and exposing shattered bones, as if she were reeling in a fish.

Pain twisted in the imposter’s stomach, and her knees buckled, crashing to the rocky ground. For the first time, she felt a cold, overwhelming fear seep through her veins, paralyzing her.

Yen tilted her head with amusement, observing the imposter’s contorted, fearful expression. A pang of pity might have crossed Yen’s mind, though it was fleeting.

As the last of the rocks disappeared, Yen lowered her hand, the silver ring dissipating into the air as if it had never been there. She glanced at the imposter, a faint smirk playing on her lips.

“I was actually experimenting,” Yen said, crouching beside the imposter, who tried to scoot away, trembling. “Relax. Didn’t I say I’d take it easy on you?”

Yen tapped the severed arm against the imposter's chest. “Fix that if you don’t want to cease to exist.” The imposter, panting, clutched the severed arm like a fragile newborn.

“Commander Baeyen...” The disappointed tone was unmistakable.

Yen greeted Louge with forced cheerfulness, not bothering to turn her head. She knew he was glaring daggers into her back. Despite his clear displeasure, he remained silent.

“You said you wouldn’t harm a student of yours...” his voice was laden with disappointment.

Yen craned her neck to see Louge’s shadowy figure against the sun. “Don’t you trust this poor woman, Louge?”

He sighed heavily. “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t let you continue.”

Yen turned at the now-subdued imposter. “Still there? Let me know if you want me to obliterate you like I did with your pet rocks.”

The imposter jolted, standing up with her severed arm still clutched. Yen followed suit.

She reattached the severed arm to her shoulder. At first, it looked absurd, but then thick veins began to pulse, reconnecting the limb. The veins thickened and then receded, leaving no trace of the injury.

To answer the unspoken question, the imposter clenched and unclenched her fist, rolled her shoulder, and flexed her muscles.

Yen, satisfied, declared, “I’m done. Are you?” Her tone was more taunting than inquisitive. Louge was about to scold her when the imposter suddenly collapsed, her body going limp.

Yen wrapped her arm around Artesiam's unconscious form, feeling her warm breath against her shirt.

They waited in silence. Artesiam stirred and let out a sharp cry, “Hngh, fuck! It hurts so bad!”

Louge exhaled in relief, watching the familiar mannerisms of Artesiam with a ghost of a smile. The menacing aura had vanished; it was just Artesiam again.

It was clear that Artesiam hadn’t yet grasped her situation. She curled up, clutching Yen’s arms for support, her nails digging in and drawing blood, though Yen didn’t protest.

Weakly, Artesiam pushed away from Yen’s chest but continued to cling to her arm for support.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Yen greeted her with a blinding grin, as Artesiam blinked up at her, still disoriented.