False Fate

“Why are you doing this so suddenly!?”

I couldn’t understand the situation at all.

My comrades were preparing for battle, and even Rico was laughing at the sight.

“Don’t you know what you’ve done!?”

Garton’s voice was filled with anger… and fear.

Can a high-ranking demon feel fear?

Is that even possible?

“I’ve done nothing wrong! I was just trying to send a poor lost girl home!”

That’s the truth.

I didn’t do anything wrong.

In fact, I did a good deed.

Even Abraxas doesn’t desire endless slaughter, does he?

Sometimes, mercy and compassion are necessary.

I, too, followed Abraxas because of his mercy.

“You fool! How could an ordinary girl survive in this gorge unharmed!?”

Garton’s shout left me speechless.

A question had crossed my mind when I first heard Rico’s voice.

But when I saw her beautiful face, I completely forgot about it.

Or rather, I found the answer.

The woman Abraxas sent me…

“That’s what Abraxas sent me…”

“And can’t you feel that enormous divine power!?”

Garton’s shout cut me off.

Divine power?

I turned to look at Rico, but I didn’t feel anything.

She was just… a beautiful girl.

Oh, but looking at her makes my heart burn and ache…

Is that because her divine power is the opposite of mine?

Or is this… love?

“Haha! I was thinking of going home, but now I get to do an unexpected cleanup! Thanks!”

Her clear laughter echoed through the gorge.

But now, that sound sounded entirely different to me.

Like… the herald of death.

“Lycoris…!”

Garton gritted his teeth and shouted.

“She must die here!”

With that, Garton raised his greatsword.

A dark aura swirled around the blade.

The other cultists also aimed their weapons.

The warriors surrounded us, the archers nocked their arrows, and the mages finished their incantations.

I… I could do nothing.

I just sat there, frozen, watching this nightmare unfold.

Then, suddenly, the moon in the sky began to change.

What was once silver turned red, and soon the entire gorge was bathed in a bloody light.

“What… what’s going on…?”

My comrades muttered in confusion.

And then…

“Grrrgh! Grrrgh! Grrrgh!”

“Grrrgh! Grrrgh! Grrrgh!!”

The ground cracked open, and massive black roots burst forth, impaling my comrades.

“Ahhh!”

Screams erupted all around.

When I turned my head, I saw hell itself unfolding before me.

Black roots were piercing through my comrades’ chests, abdomens, and throats.

They had no chance to escape, suspended in mid-air in an instant.

“Marcus…!”

Right before my eyes, a thick root impaled Marcus’s chest.

Just yesterday, he was joking with me, but now he was coughing up blood, writhing in agony.

“Rex…”

He called my name weakly, his blood-stained hand reaching out to me before falling limp.

“Valder…!”

Valder, who had taught me swordsmanship, also had a root through his neck.

His eyes were filled with disbelief, and though he tried to speak, only blood came out.

“Cough… cough…”

“Mother…!”

“Abraxas…!”

The last words of my comrades filled the night air.

Some called out to their families, others to their god.

But all met the same end.

Those who had just been performing the ritual, praying to Abraxas…

The stench of blood grew thicker.

What was once faint and metallic now overwhelmed the senses, choking me.

“No… no…”

The screams of my comrades faded one by one.

What had begun as the cries of over ten people grew fewer, weaker.

It’s a dream…

A nightmare…

Can the apostle of the God of Light commit such brutal slaughter?

How can this be real…

Every sensation told me this was reality.

My fingertips grew cold, and sweat drenched my body.

My heart pounded as if it would burst from my chest.

“What’s wrong with you? I didn’t even use my powers or authority!”

Lycoris shrugged indifferently.

Without using her authority, she had annihilated everyone in an instant?

She walked among the corpses as if nothing had happened.

“Well, well! Time for some work!”

She laughed, beginning to gather the bodies.

And…

“What the hell are you doing!?”

She used sharp thorns sprouting from the ground to flay the corpses, including those who still clung to life.

The agony was unbearable for my comrades, and they met their end with final screams.

“Huh? This is an honor for you! It’s a technique I learned from Bellona, the Evil God!”

What…?

She’s the apostle of the God of Light, yet she learned this from the Evil God?

Such incomprehensible events continued to unfold.

Yet, I couldn’t bear to watch this horrific sight.

As I struggled to my feet, a yellow pollen filled my nostrils.

“Ugh!”

My body stiffened, and I collapsed, paralyzed.

It was a paralytic poison.

“Just watch. You’ll be surprised when it’s done.”

I couldn’t bear to look, yet couldn’t turn away.

Forced to watch, I saw her arrange the flayed corpses in a large square pattern.

She sprinkled black pollen on them, and dark, vine-like tendrils grew from their organs.

The vines entwined, forming a massive triangular structure.

Lycoris placed the remaining corpses on the surface of the triangle, completing some geometric pattern.

It resembled an ancient temple, yet twisted and grotesque.

Blood-soaked flesh became building material, and bones served as decorations.

“Haha! What do you think of my work? A human pyramid!”

She proudly presented her horrifying creation.

“Ugggh…”

A groan escaped me at the sight.

Even paralyzed, my body trembled, and cold sweat drenched me.

This abomination was unbearable.

It was all my fault.

Because I brought her here.

Because I didn’t see her true nature.

“Hmph… Why can’t you cultists understand…?”

Because of me, my comrades were dead, their bodies defiled even in death.

Abraxas…

I’m sorry…

I was so foolish.

“Hey! You idiot!”

A loud voice pierced my eardrums.

I swallowed hard and looked up.

Lycoris stood over me, her hands bloody, smiling down.

“What’s wrong? Scared?”

She sneered, her smile twisted.

Her laughter, once so pure and cheerful, now sounded demonic.

“You said you’d let me live!”

Let her live…?

I stared at her blankly.

Before me lay the mutilated corpses of my comrades, the air thick with blood, yet she smiled as if nothing had happened.

“I’m going home now! Where’s the wyvern?”

The wyvern…

Yes.

I had promised to let her ride one home.

And when she first saw me…

“Hey! You’re a cultist, right? I’ll spare your life if you let me leave!”

So…

She intended to kill everyone but me…

“Hey! Snap out of it! Where’s the wyvern?”

“O-Over there…”

I pointed tremblingly to the base where we kept the wyverns.

“Oh! Great!”

She laughed brightly and ran into the base.

Her steps were light, like a child entering a playground.

Even as the paralysis wore off, I couldn’t move from my spot.

Staring at the grotesque tower of corpses, I realized…

How foolish I had been.

How wrong I was.

Was she the fated partner Abraxas sent me?

Was this his blessing?

This…

This was a calamity.

And I was the one who brought it upon us.

I knelt, gazing at the horrific scene under the crimson moonlight.

Abraxas…

I…

I was so foolish.

Tears streamed down my cheeks.

But they couldn’t bring back the dead or undo my mistakes.

The red moon in the sky mocked me with its glow.