episode_0183

“I’m sorry, Hera.”

Crunch-

“Haaak…!”

I woke up again with the excruciating pain of my throat being ripped apart, feeling it continue until my brain shuts down.

“Ugh….Ugh…”

I threw up on the bed because of the nausea that I couldn’t control.

The clean bed became dirty, but it didn’t bother me at all.

This wasn’t the first time I’d vomited like this.

Ten times.

The number of times he lost his life by being cut by Athena’s sword.

But even though I died ten times, it just kept repeating without ending.

And ten times was enough for me to get a grasp of the situation.

‘….It’s not a dream.’

That vivid sensation of her flesh being cut open. That horrible memory of the fear of death slowly creeping up on her.

All of that seemed too vivid to be a dream.

So then what on earth does it mean?

vision?

A wicked prank of God?

If not that, then I really can’t believe it’s real…

“Found it.”

Her voice, which I had missed so much, could be heard coming from the door. But, ironically, it was a voice I didn’t want to hear now.

“….You. What happened to those horns?”

This time, Athena squinted her eyes again. She looked as if she was disappointed in me.

But I wasn’t as shocked as I initially was.

‘..There is no reason to receive it.’

She is not Athena.

At first, I was flustered by the sudden situation and couldn’t think calmly, but now it’s different.

I know.

She who always gave me a kind smile. She who always whispered that she loved me.

That you wouldn’t give me such a cold look.

“….Hera. How could this happen.”

As Athena held out her hand, a pure white bladed sword was placed in her hand.

And then she runs straight to me,

I tried to avoid it, but I couldn’t keep up with the speed of the monster with Athena’s face.

Crunch-

My arm was cleanly severed.

“I’m sorry Hera. I have a promise to you. I have a duty to protect those who have let me down.”

The monster in the form of Athena did not hesitate.

He ended up cutting my throat again.

.

.

.

“Hahaha!!”

I wake up again with this horrible feeling of not being able to adapt.

Cold sweat was running down my entire body, and my breathing was becoming increasingly rough.

It’s already been 20 years since I experienced death.

Every time it was repeated, it seemed like the mental fatigue was building up.

“I have to run away…”

I muttered to myself.

It was clear that if I continued to die like this, I would go crazy.

“If only it weren’t for this leash…”

I felt the circular leash wrapped tightly around my neck.

Because of this, I couldn’t summon any strength.

My original ability, too. And Mari’s mana.

All I could do was run away, having become just an ordinary woman.

– Kkaaaak!

The screams of an unknown demon that have become so familiar that they are tiresome.

I took his scream as a signal to leave the room and run in the opposite direction of the monster that resembled Athena.

I ran like that.

Escape the Demon King’s Castle and step onto the desolate land of the Demon World.

Whether it was because of the chaos caused by that monster or because of the other demons, I was able to run quite far without encountering the Demon King or any other demons.

“Ugh…haak…hauk..”

Only when I was so exhausted that I could no longer run did I stop walking.

I let out a heavy breath and looked back, and saw the Demon King’s castle burning in the distance.

I didn’t run that far though.

Still, this is enough-

“Hera.”

A voice that should never be heard sent shivers down my spine.

I turned my creaking head. This time, Athena was there, looking at me with intense eyes.

“You…how did you…”

“I came to save you.”

Again, in the form of Athena, she speaks nonsense.

Who knows who’ll be fooled.

I squinted my eyes at the monster and asked.

“Who the hell are you?”

Athena looked at me with a puzzled expression, raising one eyebrow as if to ask what on earth I was talking about.

“What’s wrong, Hera? Have you forgotten me? What did the Demon King do to you?”

I even felt disgusted at the monster that spoke exactly like her.

Don’t you dare speak to me like that with the same face and voice as Athena.

“……But. What are those horns?”

A monster that crumples its face when it sees me.

He’ll soon draw his sword and run to cut me down.

This time I have no intention of taking it easy.

‘…I really didn’t want to write it.’

I called out the energy within my body.

Then, black energies swirled around his body, and a clear power different from before began to take hold in his body.

Power inherited directly from the Demon King.

Magi.

I would rather die than use this power. But this is already the twentieth time.

Now I didn’t want to die anymore.

Especially to that monster that looks like Athena.

“You….have become a demon?”

As Athena held out her hand, sunlight gathered around her, forming the shape of a sword.

I ran to her without hesitation.

I hate to admit it, but the Demon King’s magic truly goes beyond imagination.

It felt like an unbearable amount of strength was boiling over my body.

The desire to tear the monster in front of me to pieces began to flood through my body.

Let’s take a step forward like that. The earth split apart around me.

Before I knew it, I was running towards the monster in front of me.

And to the point where I couldn’t move. I tried to reach out my hand towards the monster with the intention of subduing it.

“I’m sorry, Hera.”

My consciousness flew away for a moment with her short words.

So I came to my senses again.

I realized that my whole body was burning fiercely, torn to pieces.

“AAAHHHH!!!”

An excruciating pain surged from his shattered body.

I writhed in pain, unable to bear the sensation without screaming.

“Whoaaah! It hurts!! It hurts!!”

“……Hera. You went as far as you could go.”

Above me, the monster looked down at me with a sorrowful expression.

Let me look at myself reflected in the monster’s sun-colored eyes.

A demon came into view, struggling ugly and with its entire body badly torn apart.

“Ha…haha..”

I let out a hollow laugh at the reality I didn’t want to believe.

“I’ll send it to you, Hera. Now, rest.”

With the monster’s last words.

Crunch-

My throat was cut again.

*

“Ugh…Haaak…Ugh…”

I covered my mouth and held back the nausea that was coming.

It’s already been 30 years since I’ve experienced death.

No matter how hard I tried to run away, the monster always came closer to me.

“What the heck….”

I grabbed my head with trembling hands and tore at it. My long hair was torn out in clumps, accompanied by a stinging pain.

I couldn’t believe it.

No. I didn’t want to believe it.

The power that monster had previously unleashed.

It was taking the exact same form as Athena’s power.

From the color of the flames to the overwhelming size of the power.

I didn’t want to believe in this reality where everything was exactly the same as Athena, except that it was a monster in Athena’s form.

-Kkaaaak!

Ignoring the familiar screams of the demons, I simply pulled the covers closer to my bed.

There is no escape.

Can’t fight back.

There is…no way to survive.

While I was feeling frustrated like that for a while, someone opened my door and came in.

“Found it.”

A woman with beautiful sunlight shining on her face.

I looked at that monster and let out a pitiful scream.

“Who the hell are you!! Who are you!!”

“..Hera? What the-”

“Don’t even think about fooling me!! There’s no way someone like you is Athena!!”

The monster opened its eyes wide at my scream, then looked at me with sad eyes.

“What did the Demon King do?”

“Who are you! Who the hell are you to do this to me-”

“Drax.”

My screams stopped at the monster’s single word.

I stared blankly at her. The monster began to speak to me with a short sigh.

“That was the place where I first met you. I still regret that time. Treating you so carelessly, bringing you here without permission, and hurting you, ”

“You…what…what is that..”

“Chicken is a food I’ve never eaten before. But the food you made for me was sweeter than anything else.”

“Wow…not funny…”

“The engraving on your lower abdomen. You said you couldn’t help it at the time, but…you actually had it engraved there on purpose.”

My body began to tremble as the monster continued to speak.

His breathing became ragged and his eyes shook as if there was an earthquake.

“Even though it was only one day. The night I shared with you was sweeter than anything in the world.”

“You…who are you…who are you..”

“Hera. It is I. Athena, once your master, now your slave.”

She said with a determined look.

My heart was pounding like it was going to burst.

no.

That can’t be true.

There’s no way Athena would try to kill me like that.

I didn’t want to believe it.

No. I absolutely could not believe it.

“I came here naked to get you back..even though it seems like you betrayed me.”

Athena glanced at my horn and said with a sad face.

And then, he started to slowly approach me, holding a sword in his hand.

“…You don’t have to suffer anymore, I’ll finish it for you.”

As she slowly approached, I felt the grip of death tighten around my neck.

But my whole mind was not interested in death.

The possibility that the monster in front of me could be Athena. I kept thinking about that one thing.

‘That can’t be. That can’t be.’

Actually, there was one way to check.

Whether she is the real Athena.

Or is it a monster in the form of Athena?

But I have never checked it even once while I was dying.

No. Should I say I couldn’t do it?

If by any chance that monster really was Athena, I didn’t know what would have happened to me then.

But now, I felt like I couldn’t bear to not check.

“I’m sorry, Hera.”

Athena, who had come towards me without me noticing, put her sword at my neck.

I looked at her earnestly, with trembling breaths.

“Please, I hope it’s not Athena,” I cried out from deep within.

“Athena…. Kneel down.”

please.

God, if you are seeing me, please grant me a favor.

Please, let that woman in front of my eyes be a horrible monster, not Athena.

But my fervent wish is.

The girl in front of me squinted and shattered.

“Huh.”

A monster that groaned briefly and knelt on the ground. No. Athena.

Let’s just blankly stare at her like that.

A tear of blood ran down his cheek from the corner of his eye.