“Ah, it hurts!”

Livia cried out urgently, feeling as if her flesh was truly being bitten into. The man, who had been mindlessly biting her, immediately stopped. He looked up at her blankly, then slowly rubbed the blood rising from the bite marks on her neck with his lips and apologized.

“Sorry, I just meant to have a taste…”

Livia was bewildered by his sudden apology, especially since he had just tried to kill her without a second thought.

What on earth was this madman? Livia asked, clutching her throbbing neck.

“Do you bite people to eat them raw?”

“Not usually, but with you…”

He paused for a moment, gazing down at Livia. His eyes deepened as they traveled from her flushed cheeks and parted lips to her small chin and slender neck. He licked his dry lips like he was savoring the taste and uttered chilling words.

“You just looked delicious…”

The way he spoke, with eyes that seemed ready to devour her, sent a shiver down her spine. Livia glared at him with tense eyes, feeling the pulse in her bitten neck quicken beneath her sweat-dampened palms.

“Don’t be so tense. I won’t kill you if you stay still.”

“…So, if I don’t stay still, you’ll kill me?”

The man, still looking down at her, nodded with a childlike smile.

“Probably. So just stay still. Don’t provoke me.”

He was definitely crazy. Watching him smile while his eyes remained unchanged only confirmed it. The only solace was that he seemed a bit more polite than before.

Livia, biting her lip, asked again in a trembling voice, “What are you going to do to me?”

“I want to keep smelling that nice scent from you.”

“That’s all…?”

“And I want to touch you, maybe…”

The man, speaking with the eyes of a predator, smiled excitedly and whispered.

“Even taste you.”

His face, openly expressing his emotions, seemed innocent at first glance but was terrifying upon closer inspection.

A red alert flashed in Livia’s mind as she sensed the danger.

‘What should I do? I just need to hold on a little longer…’

Once she got out of this forest, she would find the tower the old man had mentioned. The old man had been sent by Echidna, the witch who promised to save her from the underworld.

So, if she reached that spire, she might survive. No, she was sure she would.

If only she could get through this moment.

A cold hand climbed up her tense thigh. The hand that touched her flat stomach moved to just below her chest, which rose and fell heavily with her breathing.

‘…Do I really have to stay still like this?’

She trembled with humiliation and shame, but it wasn’t enough to risk death. Besides, this body wasn’t even her real living body, was it?

She felt confused about whether she should treat matters in the underworld with the same seriousness as in the living world, despite having the same sensations.

“Amazing. It’s especially soft here.”

The man, speaking in awe, gripped her soft chest firmly with his large hand. She flinched and glared at him, but he was too absorbed in her feeling her body to notice.

His gentle and detailed touch continuously rubbed and kneaded her chest. She clenched her teeth to avoid feeling any stimulation, but without realizing it, her chest reacted to the surprisingly gentle touch. A smile appeared on the man’s lips.

“This is cute.”

Then, without hesitation, he pinched Livia’s n*pple.

“……!”

Livia, her face flushed red, couldn’t hold back and resisted. The fact that she felt something from this stirred a feeling beyond shame.

“I said stop it. I don’t like it!”

“I told you, if you resist, I’ll kill you.”

And as if to prove he could do it, he began to subdue her with an unseen force.

A dark, damp power pressed heavily on her like a rock. Though invisible, it was undeniably present. It was an instinctual fear, the most terrifying thing for the living.

It was the fear of death.

Livia glared at him, pale with fear. As the fear took hold, a sense of humiliation surged within her. Tears welled up in her reddened eyes and rolled down her white cheeks.

The man, looking down at her, tilted his head in confusion and asked, “Why are you crying? I haven’t even killed you yet.”

“…I am so frustrated. I feel so pathetic for being powerless. I hate myself for cowering under threats. And I hate ‘you’ for making me this way.”

“‘You’?”

Beings that were not human.

Those who looked down on humans and regarded them as insects.

Supreme beings with overwhelming power.

Those who trampled on human frailty without a care, laughing at them….

You, the gods.

“It was terrible to think I had to be manipulated even in death.”

Tears finally burst forth, streaming down her face. The man watched Livia silently as she cried without making a sound. Gently, he reached out and wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes.

But soon, another droplet formed in her eyes. As if he were mesmerized, the man wiped away the tear again. The sight of the warm, transparent l*quid continuously welling up from her eyes captivated him.

Beautiful. Truly beautiful….

Even the glare she directed at him in annoyance was so lovely that it made his head feel hot. That piercing gaze seemed to cut through his heart. His whole body tingled, and a dull ache settled in his lower abdomen. He felt his ar*usal rising.

The man thought he wanted to keep seeing those hot, transparent tears. He felt he could watch them for days on end.

Should he? Upon reflection, there was no reason he couldn’t. He just needed to capture her, not kill her. Although he had never done it before, it wasn’t impossible. It was a difficult task, but if it meant he could keep seeing this, he thought it was worth trying.

However, there was one problem.

The man’s gaze shifted to the top of Livia’s head. He reached out and wrapped his hand around something, whispering softly.

“You’re not dead yet.”

The fact that her life thread hadn’t been severed troubled him. He pondered what he should do. If he cut it now, her warmth would disappear. But if he didn’t sever it and kept her, he would inevitably be discovered by the king or queen. The living couldn’t remain in the underworld, so she would have to be sent back….

So, did that mean he had to kill her after all? But it seemed such a waste….

Livia, not fully understanding his words, blinked in disbelief and suddenly exclaimed.

“What are you talking about? I’m dead. All my bones shattered, and my insides exploded.”

“Really? But you’re still alive.”

He brought what was wrapped around his finger in front of Livia’s eyes to show her. It was hard to see at first, but as a black smoke rose from the man’s fingertips along a long, thin line, a shining white thread became visible.

“See? This is your life thread. It’s still connected up there. The dead don’t have this.”

Life thread, a thread connected above…. Could it be?

Livia looked back and forth between the man and the white thread in his hand, disbelief etched on her face.

“Those old folks don’t make mistakes like this. If you were dead, they would’ve definitely cut it.”

The man mumbled and then let go of the thread with a flick of his hand. He then looked at her intently and said, “Do you believe me now? So come on, cry again.”

“…What?”

“Cry. Let’s see more tears.”

Perhaps due to her surprise, her tears had stopped. The man frowned as he looked at Livia’s drying eyes.

“Why aren’t you crying?”

What the hell was this bastard…?

She glared at him incredulously, and he tilted his head before he squeezed her exposed chest like he was trying to wring it.

“Ah! What are you doing!”

“I told you to cry.”

“What am I supposed to do if they won’t come out?”

“Really? Then I’ll make you cry.”

With a chilling tone, the man lowered his head and bit down hard on Livia’s shoulder.

“Ugh!”

A scream of pain erupted from her. As if he were unsatisfied, the man slid his lips down and bit harshly into Livia’s chest, which he had been kneading as if it would burst. Livia shuddered from the pain that felt like her chest was being torn apart, pinching and pushing his shoulder away.

“It hurts! Stop it! I said stop…! It hurts!”

Her desperate cries of agony echoed through the silent forest.

It was then that the sound of footsteps came rushing toward them with fierce urgency. The man paused and looked up, just as a gray beast leapt and sank its teeth into his side.

“……!”

The metallic scent of blood filled the air.

Grrr!

A fierce growl that sounded like it was tearing through vocal cords echoed chillingly.

“It’s you again.”

The man, recognizing the beast, muttered in an annoyed tone.