The monster moved. Dozens of its twisted limbs clawed at the ground, propelling its distorted body in a rapid, unnatural spinning motion. It circled around the radiant Seraph, forming a ring that trapped both of us inside.
Crap!
I cursed inwardly. My mana was gone, drained dry from fighting the undead and then using the last scraps to empower my eyes. I couldn't use Severance anymore.
The monster's head suddenly lunged forward, stopping just an inch from my face. Its breath was rancid—a mix of blood, metal, and something rotten enough to make my stomach churn. Its eyes were locked onto me with hatred and… an unhinged delight.
"Won…derful…" it hissed, its voice layered, as if several throats were speaking at once. "I can feel it… this power flowing! No more weakness! And now… I will repay everything you've done for me! Every punch, every slash… I'll make you pay a thousandfold!"
I stared at it, then at the grotesque mess that was now its body. A bitter, cynical laugh rose in my throat, born from frustration and pure disgust at the entire situation.
"Wonderful? You're calling that wonderful?" I said, my tone cold enough to cut. I lifted my sword and pointed at the mass of flesh before me.
"Look at yourself. You turned into a disgusting heap of meat… Seriously, this is what you wanted? To become the ugliest creature I've ever seen?"
The monster froze for a moment, its limbs halting mid-motion. My insult seeped into its warped mind, not as an offense, but as something it genuinely didn't understand.
"Ug…ly?" it murmured, confused. "No… I… I'm perfect now. I'm strong. I can feel it."
I raised a brow. "Then why don't you look for yourself? Go on. Take a good look and check if you're still qualified to be called a living creature."
It blinked, then scuttled toward the riverbank with unnatural speed, propelled by its many limbs. Leaning over, its serpent-like head lowered, bringing its monstrous, tooth-filled face close to the calm surface.
And it stilled.
A twisted laugh burst out of it, filled with admiration, smug delight, and delusional pride.
"I…" Its voice trembled, drunk with vanity. "I… am handsome. This… this is magnificent. My face… extraordinary…"
In its own eyes, it saw a perfect man—handsome, haloed with angelic wings, glowing with divine light. It didn't realize it was staring at a grotesque serpent-body abomination with jutting teeth and malformed flesh.
"You're insane," I muttered, watching from afar, unable to comprehend whatever delusion he was drowning in.
I turned away from the pathetic sight. My gaze locked onto the radiant being beside me. The Seraph was still standing calmly, watching everything with an unreadable expression.
"I can offer you salvation as well," he said softly. "A way out of the suffering eating you from the inside. A chance to forgive yourself. A chance to let go of every wound and every memory that torments you…"
His offer hung in the air, alluring and venomous. His words touched every buried scar, every sleepless night, every reason I kept choosing to dance with death on the battlefield.
But my eyes had already seen the price of his salvation.
"Keep your offer," I snapped, swinging a swift horizontal slash aimed at his neck. "You call that salvation? After what you did to him? I'd rather die than end up as hideous as that thing."
KSHHHH!
Not the sound of steel cutting flesh. Not the clang of metal meeting metal.
My blade, steel that had claimed hundreds of lives—shattered. The moment it touched the white radiance surrounding his neck, it melted, dissolving into liquid metal that dripped onto the grass.
And suddenly, the world split apart.
.
.
.
I was twelve again.
A dark room. Damp air thick with the stench of blood and rot. Below me lay a figure… a woman. My mother. Or something that used to be my mother. Her body was twisted unnaturally, joints jutting in impossible directions. The mouth that once sang lullabies now hung open, filled with jagged bloodstained fangs. Growls and inhuman gasps rattled from her throat.
My small, trembling hands gripped a greasy kitchen knife.
Up… down. Up… down.
Stab... Stab...
I plunged the blade into her already perforated neck, praying—begging—that her head would finally fall off and everything would end. Tears and snot smeared across my face, my sobs breaking between each desperate thrust.
"Mom… Mom… stop… please…" I whispered, voice shaking with terror.
Between her growls, a warped whisper slipped out of her mangled mouth. Sometimes a wail. Sometimes a fury that recognized no one.
"S…sorry… sorry… It's… all… her fault… the queen… that mad queen… she… cursed… me… I… can't…"
Her words ended with my next stab. Her crazed, inhuman eyes stared at me and for just a moment, behind the madness, there was a flicker of overwhelming sorrow before it extinguished forever.
Then the scene shifted again.
.
.
.
A raging storm.
I carried my little sister in my arms as I stumbled away from the village behind us.
THUD!
My foot caught on a hidden rock buried under layers of mud. My body pitched forward, balance gone. Instinct took over. I twisted, pulling my little sister close so my back would hit the ground instead of hers.
Cold mud splashed up my neck as I landed hard. Rain kept falling, relentless, hammering against my skin. My hands shook as I held her limp body.
So small… so fragile…
"I give up…" I whispered, barely able to move my lips. "I really… give up…"
Her pale, cold face stared back at me.
"I can't live like this anymore… I'm not strong enough…"
Tears fell again from despair.
"Why am I trapped in a world like this…?" My voice cracked. "No hope. No one…"
Without realizing, my fingers crept toward her neck.
My hand tightened.
"Better to die than live like this," I said coldly. "This world has no place for you. You'll only suffer. You'll only make me weaker…"
The pressure increased. My fingers trembled.
"You're just a burden, Nelly… always…"
I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't want to see her. I just wanted it all to end. The pain. The fear. The weight.
"Maybe… in the next life… you'll be born into a better world…"
And then—
"…Brother…"
A voice. Soft. Barely audible. But to me… it struck like lightning across my soul.
My eyes snapped open. My hand froze.
I turned, shaking.
Nelly's eyes were open, just slightly. Her breathing is weak. Her lips barely moved. But her gaze… fixed on me.
Not anger. Not tears. Just emptiness.
As if she had died long before this moment.
My entire body collapsed.
I fell to the side, almost vomiting. My hand slipped away from her neck. I stared at my palms, hands that had nearly killed the only thing I held dear.
I bowed my head. Tears fell again, like a second storm.
"I-I'm sorry…" I choked out.
"Nelly… please… forgive me…"
The words spilled out again and again, like a prayer from someone far too lost.
"I just… I wasn't strong enough… I even thought… maybe it'd be easier if you were gone too…"
"I don't want to live anymore…"
Then something touched my cheek.
Soft. Small.
Nelly's hand.
Still warm. Still alive. Still here.
My eyes widened. I grabbed her hand like a drowning man clutching the last light in the abyss.
"Nelly…"
"I'm sorry… please…"
And with a broken voice but a vow carved into my very soul, I whispered:
"I swear… I will never leave you again…"
"I will protect you… no matter what…"
And just like that, the world twisted once more.
.
.
.
The storm, the mud, the crying, it all vanished. What remained was a frozen tableau far more devastating than anything before.
I was bound by tree roots at the edge of a cliff, and as I lifted my head… I saw her.
My little sister.
Her small body hung from the branches, rough roots coiled around her tiny neck, swaying gently in the wind. Her face was pale, her eyes closed as if merely sleeping, her black hair tangled and falling over her cheeks, while her bare little feet dangled in the air.
The world seemed to stop.
Every sound vanished.
Only that image remained, burned into my vision, searing deeper than a thousand blades piercing my heart.
No…
Then her body fell into the ravine.