Chapter 80: Start of The Exams [10] [12]

The forest was a cathedral of shadows, its canopy a vaulted ceiling that cloaked the world in an almost tangible gloom. Through this sylvan labyrinth, a figure emerged, his presence an affront to the quiet sanctity of the dense alien forest. It was Michelle, his form both regal and ominous as he moved with deliberate slowness.

A grotesque spectacle trailed behind him; Substance, once a creature of fluid grace, now reduced to a mewling husk. Her golden hair, long and straight, served as a cruel leash, held tightly in Michelle's grasp. The limbs that should have been attached to her torso were instead macabre ornaments suspended in the air by some unseen force, orbiting her silently as if in mockery of her current state.