"....."

"....."

With Leo's watch showing 3:24 a.m., both of them left the room of obsession with impeccable stealth, walking silently toward the next and final room that stood between them and the exit.

(A little more... and this will end... But...)

The darkness of the Pantheon was total, broken only by the faint violet light of the flameless torches. As he thought, Leo watched Taher intently.

(Clack)

When they reached a mahogany door, Taher stopped abruptly. The sound of his hard-soled boots against the marble was the only echo in the vast corridor.

"....."

He turned to Leo, his face a mask of seriousness.

"Listen. What you are about to see may be... no, it will definitely be shocking."

Taher's eyes bored into Leo's, his gaze filled with a raw warning.

"I need you to remain calm and keep as silent as possible. A single scream, a single gasp, could be the end for us. Do you understand?"

"Hupfff..."

Leo, taking a deep breath, nodded silently, his new determination replacing the fear that still resided within him.

"Let's do it."

He was ready.

"...."

Taher stood in silence for a moment, observing the pure will that shone in Leo's eyes.

(You've changed...)

He remembered the first time he had met him, only a few hours ago. A boy with a constant expression of confusion and uncertainty, despite the courage he had shown.

(It's impressive... I guess he just needed the right pressure to shine like a diamond...)

Now, however, his face seemed more mature, more hardened by trials, as if the horrors he had witnessed had forged a soul of steel.

(I'm so amazed and so... jealous.)

Taher felt a strange mix of awe and envy.

(If I had been like you in the beginning... we "wouldn't" have ended up like this...)

"He" had been in this place for years and had never achieved such a change. He had resigned himself to the madness, to the immutable rules of the house. He had never been able to overcome the pressure, only to survive it.

(If I had had a little more courage... if I had refused... it wouldn't have ended this way...)

A look of resignation, along with a genuine and sorrowful smile, crossed his face for a fleeting moment.

"......"

Leo, despite the dim light, was able to notice that expression, that glint of pain and admiration. However, he said nothing, clenching his fist in silence.

"....."

"...."

The silence lasted for one more instant.

"Pfff, AHAHAHA!"

Until Taher's expression abruptly changed, letting out a strong and sudden burst of laughter that echoed in the gloom of the corridor.

"AHAHAHA... HAHAHA... HAHH..."

It was such an unexpected sound that it broke the heavy atmosphere of the place.

"There's nothing like a good laugh to lift your spirits!"

With a radiant smile that seemed genuine, Taher clapped Leo on the back with a force that made him stumble.

"That's the spirit!"

After exclaiming in a cheerful tone, he turned without another word and put his hand on the mahogany door, opening it with a gentle push.

(That touch...)

As Taher's back was turned, Leo looked at him with a thoughtful gaze, feeling a chill run down his spine, a sensation that didn't come from the temperature of the place.

(Screeeech)

"What?!"

However, his reflection ended abruptly when the door opened, revealing a space that left him breathless, a sight he didn't expect after the somber solemnity of the Pantheon.

"..........."

What stretched out before him was a gigantic hall, a perverted fantasy made real. The place looked like a nighttime S&M club, with neon lights in shades of red, pink, and purple that flickered and reflected on the shimmering, dark metal walls. The air didn't smell of incense and dust, but of sweet perfume and sweat. Red velvet furniture, with leather straps and chains hanging from it, covered the hall, along with large golden cages that shone under the light.

The floor wasn't marble; it was crisscrossed by rivers of a clear, shining liquid that flowed slowly, releasing a sweet and intoxicating scent that Leo recognized as an aphrodisiac. The rivers intertwined, creating a map of desire on the floor. From the walls, hooks and ropes hung, glistening under the light while panting voices sounded throughout the place.

"....."

"..."

The space was a fantastic nightmare, an orgy of the senses, a total contradiction to the cold discipline they had seen in the Pantheon.

"Hey... why is there a place like this?"

Shock took hold of Leo. With his mouth agape in surprise, he looked to his side, asking with his hoarse voice, full of disbelief.

"....."

Taher diverted his gaze in discomfort. His eyes fixed on the ceiling, and his expression turned serious. With a dignified tone, he began to narrate.

"At night, while the one responsible for the creation of this pandemonium sleeps peacefully..."

The neon lights, in a pink flash, illuminated his face, casting ghostly shadows on the wall.

"...he rises somnambulant. His body, a canvas of pain, was conditioned by the silent abuse and perverse caresses that the women of the place inflicted upon him while he slept."

"Ah... oh... uhm..."

"Ah, ah! Oh, oh! Mmm!"

"Ahhh! Ohhh! Yes!"

The sound of panting and moans of pleasure, distant and close, echoed in the room, mixing with Taher's pauses.

"......."

Leo's eyes became fixed on the void, trying to comprehend the mystery of the universe, the twisted logic that had created that place.

"In the end, as a product of this..."

Taher continued, as if that interruption had not happened, with his deepest voice.

"... he developed the habit of having sex while sleeping, conditioned by the nights of passion he has had since an early age, knowing nothing, like a sleepwalker."

"..............."

Leo kept a long and reflective silence. His mind, once a whirlwind of confusion, calmed as he connected the dots.

(The creator of this must definitely be him, and after all he has shown, it wouldn't surprise me....)

The creator of this place was Mireya.

(Considering everything...)

Suddenly, the existence of a concubine room, the predominance of women in the house, and the reason he had been constantly watched at the amusement park all came together in a single, horrifying thought.

(Wham!)

The irony hit him with the force of a punch as he slapped his hand against his face. He remembered Mireya's message in which he complained about himself, saying: "as an unconscious harem protagonist, he would never understand."

"By any chance... is this room used every night?"

After reaching that conclusion, Leo asked with a tired tone, looking down.

"That's... that's right."

Taher did not look him in the eyes; his gaze was fixed on an undetermined spot on the ceiling. His answer was a stammer that, however, confirmed Leo's worst suspicions.

"I see..."

After receiving the answer, Leo raised his gaze to the ceiling, his heart screaming in silence a truth that the madness of the place could not hide. Mireya's image was seared into his mind.

(The real harem bastard... WAS YOU!)

After Taher's revelation, Leo fell silent; the irony of the situation weighed on him like a lead slab.

"....."

He walked looking at the floor, his eyes fixed on the reflections of the neon lights in the rivers of aphrodisiac, trying to ignore the panting sounds of pleasure that echoed in the room.

"Ehm... cheer up. This is a... rather atypical case..."

Taher, noticing his state, tried to cheer him up.

"Isn't it incredible? The mind of such a pure being creating a place like this. It's really..."

"Shut up."

However, despite his attempts, Leo dismissed them with bitterness.

(I haven't even had my first time yet...)

His mind was a whirlwind. He was older than Mireya, had been labeled with the dishonorable nickname of "unconscious harem protagonist," and yet, despite all that, he still hadn't had his first time.

(And I was surpassed?!)

And now he was in a place that was the literal manifestation of a harem, and by all accounts, he had already surpassed him... by a long shot.

(How the hell is this possible?)

Leo wondered at the injustice of the situation, which was so great, so ridiculously absurd, that it almost felt like a joke.

(Maybe...)

For an instant, a ridiculous, but strangely serious, idea crossed his mind.

(.... If I pray to him... could I be popular...?)

He wondered, doubting whether he should really kneel down, right in the middle of that pandemonium, and pray to him to get some of his luck in that aspect of his life, or do it head-on.

"Zubebet, nyunobzabidyobubegot!"

But as they advanced, Leo, still absorbed in his thoughts, did not notice the danger that was looming over them.

"What?!"

Suddenly, a firm hand, Taher's, grabbed him and roughly pushed him against a wall, hiding him behind an Iron Maiden that was there.

"Shhhh..."

With his other hand, Taher covered his mouth, pointing to the ceiling.

"Look up."

Leo, with his heart pounding, raised his gaze.

"What?!"

On the ceiling, crawling on all fours with a stupid expression and glassy eyes, there was a woman of supernatural beauty. Her completely naked body twisted like a cockroach's, with spasmodic and inhuman movements.

(Plop, plop...)

A shiny drool dripped from her mouth, falling to the floor with a sticky sound.

(CRUNCH-CHHHHK!)

And from her back, a pair of exoskeletal wings, like a cockroach's, buzzed out. Then, with a sudden movement, she lifted her body from the ceiling and flew away, leaving trails of drool in her wake.

"W-what was that?"

Leo, in a state of complete shock, stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the spot where the woman had disappeared. It was a sight of terror and disgust, one that surpassed everything he had seen so far.

"That was Darcy."

After a few seconds of shock, Taher regained his composure.

"She usually roams this area."

Taher looked Leo in the eyes, with a raw warning.

"As you could see, she's a monster wearing human skin. Although she looks human, you must not approach her. She eats any intruders she finds alive."

Taher paused, his gaze hardened.

"Besides her, there's another woman in this place who also eats intruders, or more precisely, their brains. So don't let your guard down."

"... I understand."

Leo nodded, his mind still processing the new and horrifying information.

(It's no time to let up.)

With a new sense of urgency, they both finished collecting themselves and continued their journey, camouflaging themselves with the surroundings. They took advantage of the cloying and intoxicating scents of the place, the mix of perfume and aphrodisiac, to hide their own essence and get closer and closer to their objective.

(Slosh, slosh...)

As Leo and Taher advanced, camouflaged by the intense smells of the place, the environment grew more oppressive. The sloshing of the rivers of aphrodisiac on the floor forced them to walk along the narrow metal edges.

"Keep your focus at all times."

"I'm trying."

The liquid, with a brilliant pink color, emitted a vapor that not only filled the air with a sweet and intoxicating scent but also seemed to create hallucinations, making the shadows move with a life of their own and distant laughter turn into whispers directly in their ears.

The path soon filled, becoming a maze of iron chains that hung from the ceiling. Taher stopped in his tracks, asking in a whisper:

"Do you hear that?"

"There's something up there."

Leo nodded as metallic sounds echoed in the darkness.

(Crick, clink...)

The sound came from a chain that was moving slowly, as if something were gently swinging it.

"Move with care. A single sound can be the end."

Thus, they were forced to move with extreme precision, their hands brushing against the cold surface of the metal. Some of the hooks at the end of the chains were rusted, but others shone with a terrifying whiteness, as if they had been recently sharpened. The atmosphere was heavy and oppressive. The darkness in the corners of the hall was total, a tangible mass that seemed to move and breathe.

"....."

"Ugh..."

A smell of blood and metal, so strong it hurt, mixed with the scent of the aphrodisiac, while from the empty cages, strange murmurs and pants could be heard, as if something invisible were writhing inside.

"....."

"..."

Each step was a life-or-death decision, a gamble that whatever was hiding in that darkness would not come out to greet them.

(That's it...!)

After overcoming the horrors of the path, Leo and Taher finally reached their goal: long velvet curtains that led to a gigantic window. Dawn was peeking through the cracks, and a faint grayish light began to illuminate the interior.

"It's the way out!"

"..."

Leo looked at his watch. 3:57 a.m. The sun would be rising completely soon. The emotion took hold of him, and his exhaustion seemed to vanish completely.

"Taher, hurry up! We're almost there!"

Leo extended his hand to take Taher's, pulling him with a renewed enthusiasm.

"Taher...?"

"..."

But they didn't move forward.

"This is as far as I can go."

A few steps from the curtains, Taher let go of Leo's hand, stopping behind him.

"....."

Leo's heart stopped. The first rays of dawn, stronger than the neon light, filtered through the curtains, illuminating Taher's figure.

"..."

And instead of lighting him up, the light seemed to pass right through him. His body, though solid for an instant, became translucent, revealing his true nature. A ghostly light shone faintly within him. His eyes were empty sockets that glowed with a faint, bluish light. His clothes seemed to be made of the same spectral essence, waving gently like smoke.

"Why are you standing still?"

Leo, refusing to turn and see the truth he already intuited, asked with a choked voice.

"Leo, it's impossible for you to keep looking away from reality. You already know what I am."

"...."

The puzzle pieces continued to fall cruelly into place as Leo remembered how, in the chocolate sea, Taher had never gotten wet. How, in every situation, he always seemed to have the necessary information or object on hand, as if he were not limited by reality. And, above all, he remembered the constant cold he always felt when he was near him, a cold that he now understood was not from the environment, but from contact with a being from the other side.

"The duty of the living is to live and move forward."

Taher took a step toward Leo, his form becoming more faint with each ray of sun that grazed him.

"It is something that I am no longer capable of doing."

As his words faded, his form slowly dissolved, turning into a pale mist. With one last flicker of his translucent hand, he patted Leo on the back.

"......"

The touch was surprisingly cold and firm, like the air of a tomb.

"From the beginning, it seemed strange to me that you accepted it so easily."

Leo turned around abruptly, the truth becoming undeniable. His eyes met Taher's silhouette, barely an outline against the rising light.

"I really wanted to see the sun's rays."

Taher gave him one last smile, as genuine as it was sad, as the light passed through his chest.

"Even knowing that I could never leave the house."

With one last sigh, Taher gently pushed him out the window.

"Take care, Leo."

(Clap!)

Hearing those words, as he fell, a sound of applause resonated.

"....."

And so, instead of the impact of the fall, Leo felt the soft grass beneath his body while the fresh morning air hit him. He saw the sanctuary to one side with his gaze fixed on the sky.

"Goodbye... Taher"