"They never intended to raise you as an ordinary child,"
the voice pressed on relentlessly.
"They only planned to let you replace your mother—becoming an even more convenient, longer-lasting 'walking blood bag'!"
"Until you, too, are drained dry—
discarded like your mother, turned into a cold, lifeless corpse!"
"Stop… please stop!!"
Karin screamed inside her mind. She clutched her ears and curled up even tighter, but the words felt as though they were being branded directly onto her soul, impossible to block.
These were truths she had already vaguely understood—
truths she had never had the power to resist.
Now that they were torn open so brutally, the pain was so intense she could barely breathe.
And then came the final, fatal blow.
The voice seemed to lean right next to her consciousness, asking softly—almost gently, yet cruel beyond measure:
"But… when you die, and meet your mother in the next world…"
"Will you tell her…"
"That your life… turned out exactly as she feared?"
"That you ended up just like her—"
"No… even more miserably than she did?"
BOOM—!!!
The words detonated inside Karin's mind like thunder.
She saw it—
the scene after death.
Her gentle mother standing before her, smiling with expectation, asking softly:
"Karin… how was your life after that? Were you happy?"
And she—
she could only lower her head, telling her mother how she had followed the same path, how she had crawled toward death through endless pain and humiliation…
"No!!! I don't want that!!!"
Karin's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
A tidal wave of terror—and an overwhelming, desperate urge to defy this predetermined fate—erupted from the depths of her heart!
She couldn't.
She absolutely could not let that future happen!
She couldn't let her mother, even after death, cry for her—
grieve for her—
have her heart shattered again!
"HAHAHAHA…!!"
Sensing the final collapse of Karin's last line of defense, the voice burst into triumphant, twisted laughter, brimming with satisfaction.
"That's right… if you're unwilling to accept it, then change it!"
"Go and purify everything that caused you pain—
everything that deceived your mother—
all that filth!"
This time, when Karin heard the word "purify," it no longer sounded like mindless destruction.
It carried a new meaning—
a grim resolve to seek justice for herself… and for her mother.
Karin took a deep breath.
The air still carried the faint metallic scent of her mother's blood, mixed with mud and rot.
Forcing herself to calm down, she asked inside her mind—her voice trembling, tearful, yet strangely firm:
"…Who are you?
Why… why did you choose me?"
"Hmph."
The voice let out a cold, arrogant snort, filled with disdain for all living things.
"You may address me as… Demon God."
The Demon God seemed displeased by her questioning, his tone growing casual and distant.
"As for why you?"
"I had no intention of seeking out a pitiful human like you."
"This is nothing more than… killing time."
He paused deliberately, then continued in a tone of bored magnanimity:
"If you don't want it, I couldn't care less."
"No! I want it!!"
Karin shouted inside her mind, terrified that this single, bizarre source of hope might disappear.
She had already been pushed to the edge of a cliff—
even if what she grasped was a thorn from hell itself, she would never let go!
"But… what should I do?" she pleaded desperately.
"I'm just a child… I can't do anything!"
She looked at her thin arms, felt the weakness in her body.
The contrast between her boundless hatred and her fragile reality was cruel beyond words.
"You may be a child," the Demon God chuckled darkly,
"but I am a Demon God. Hehehe…"
"The power… I've already given it to you."
"It's inside your body. Feel it."
At his words, Karin suddenly felt something awaken.
A searing, overwhelming power, unlike anything she had ever known, erupted within her like a sleeping volcano.
Her blood roared through her veins.
Her muscles vibrated as if humming under unbearable strain.
An instinctive, terrifying foundation of strength burned itself into her very being.
She felt—no, she knew—
that with a casual punch, she could pulverize the thick stone wall beside her into dust.
"This… this is…"
Karin stared at her hands in disbelief.
The power surging through her body felt endless, unreal—like a dream.
She clenched her fist lightly.
The air between her fingers compressed and popped, releasing a faint crack.
"…Is this really power a human can have?"
She whispered to herself, gazing at her fist.
This complete violation of common sense made her finally believe the existence calling itself a Demon God.
"Is it possible…"
Her heart trembled.
"…that you really are a god?"
She hurriedly asked inside her mind, her tone instinctively respectful, tinged with fear and humility:
"Demon God-sama… you've granted me such power.
What do you require of me? Please, give me your command!"
"Heh."
A contemptuous snort echoed in her mind, the Demon God sounding utterly bored.
"I already told you. I'm just passing time."
"Do whatever you want. Act as you please."
"There's only one condition—"
For the briefest moment, his voice sharpened with undeniable authority.
"Don't let the power I've given you embarrass me."
"Go…"
His voice turned seductive once more.
"Test your power.
Purify the filth before your eyes."
"Use their blood to celebrate your rebirth."
"When you need more… or when something interesting happens, I might appear again."
"For now—don't bother me."
The voice receded like a tide, vanishing deep within Karin's consciousness.
All that remained was the undeniable, terrifying power still surging inside her—
real, heavy, impossible to deny.
Karin knew it.
That incomprehensible being had truly left… for now.
"Do whatever I want…"
The words echoed again and again in her heart.
This was something she had never even dared to dream of—
not while being raised like livestock in Kusagakure.
No… this went beyond freedom.
This was the declaration of being granted the right to act without restraint.
"…Yes."
Karin murmured softly.
"That was the past."
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