"....."
Zeroy's careless tone only made her seem colder.
"Is that so... But if you do this, many of the 'good people' you speak of will stand against you… including some of the children."
Patchouli's voice was calm.
"They won't harm the children. They may even sympathize with and protect them. However, at the same time, they won't accept your methods."
"Among those damned people, some are their friends and family."
"And you won't just kill them… you won't even grant them a peaceful death, will you?"
"Have you thought about it? People will try to stop you, to become your enemies. The ones you consider good may see you as more terrifying than the Gastrea… a Demon King of pure evil."
"The children may be grateful for your protection; even so, if they see their loved ones tormented, they'll see you as a calamity."
Her eyes were steady, piercing into Zeroy.
"What will you do? You'll make the whole world your enemy… and it will be you who drives innocents to the other side."
"That's troubling, yes."
Zeroy sighed lightly, though her voice held no hesitation.
"I can only hope they wake up. If not, then I'll just have to kill a few more."
"To destroy the entire world alone—at this world's level, I can still manage it."
Hesitation meant defeat.
Her heart, her blade—clear and unwavering.
"..."
The Holy Child felt a chill to her marrow, as if she'd fallen into an ancient frozen abyss. Her limbs went cold, the frost seeping into her soul.
"Would you kill them too?"
"Of course. Because you're wrong about one thing—when they step forward to shield those vermin, they stop being innocent."
"When they had no power to stop or change them, I could understand. I didn't blame them. But if, at the time of reckoning, they still excuse and defend the vermin, doesn't that make them accomplices?"
"They may simply be unwilling, or just trying to protect someone important to them. Regardless, vermin are vermin. Their shielding only lets those vermin harm others."
Zeroy's voice carried a trace of mockery. "How is it any different from knowing a rabid dog will bite, yet still letting it loose?"
"Any sympathy or mercy for evil becomes a blade against the innocent. That's not kindness—it's ignorance."
She paused. "They're accomplices to evil."
"Unless they can truly restrain those vermin—punish them as they deserve—then I won't kill those whose crimes don't merit death. Still, can they? Can they guarantee no more rabid dogs will bite?"
"Of course," Zeroy added with a soft laugh, "it's not like I'll kill someone just for speaking up in their defense. I'm not that extreme."
"They're not vermin themselves. They don't deserve death. At most, I'd lock them up to reflect."
"Unless they're beyond redemption. Then... I'll kill them."
Patchouli gazed into the cold moonlight of Zeroy's eyes and suddenly recalled the Scarlet Devil Mansion's basement… where humans who had harmed Remilia were once imprisoned. Yet never had she called them 'vermin.'
Compared to Zeroy, even that vampire Remilia might have been gentler toward humans.
Because this girl truly stripped people of their humanity—not just in words, but in her very heart.
"If they're not kind, then they're not human."
"...I think I understand."
Patchouli nodded slightly.
"You're Chaotic Evil."
"Eh? Chaotic Evil is going too far. At least Neutral Good or Chaotic Good, right?"
"One last question. Do you generalize?"
"Of course not. My heart is clear, because I know I'm right. The ones who deserve death are killers, not humans."
"Even if demons eat people, not all demons deserve death. Only the ones who do. I could even be friends with demons who don't."
"What's that phrase again? 'Kill to protect life, cut karma, not people.'"
"Kill to protect life, cut karma, not people... That's your creed?"
Looking at Zeroy, Patchouli felt she now saw her with complete clarity.
"That's right. I'm no lunatic. I've never targeted a group—only acts. Acts that are detestable, vile, loathsome."
"If I targeted groups, someone could still argue, 'Does everyone in XX deserve death?' But if I target acts—then what happens?"
"Then the argument becomes this: someone abducts and sells another's child for petty gain, and their defenders come to me saying, 'Do they really deserve death?'"
"Do you think there are innocents there? I think there's no point even discussing it."
"...I see. You do have a clear grasp of good and evil. Everything you do is logical."
"Exactly!" Zeroy nodded, a hint of pride in her voice.
"Then I can rest assured."
Too extreme… but not insane. Her clarity was terrifying.
Even if the children she cherished stood against her, she would cut them down without doubt.
And those she accepted, even monsters, she would treat with kindness.
Her actions were mad, but her mind was sharp.
"Then let's proceed as you see fit. If it's nothing too troublesome, I'll lend a hand. We're teammates now, after all."
...
"Kill to protect life, cut karma, not people..."
The virtual screen vanished. The Holy Child could no longer see or hear Zeroy.
She sat alone beneath the moonlight, those words echoing in her mind.
Zeroy had laid bare her motives, her reasons, her logic… all clear.
She wasn't a demon or a lunatic. Her words and deeds aligned with justice… perhaps too much so.
Even so, killing everyone who persecuted or hated the Cursed Children... how many would that be? As Zeroy said, perhaps over ninety percent of humanity.
The ones who hated them most were the plundered generations, those who had lived through the Gastrea massacres.
Yet, because the Cursed Children carried the Gastrea Virus, and because of deliberate manipulation by groups and individuals, most others also despised and rejected them.
...
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