Chapter 1163: Side - Persona & Maleficent
Side - Persona
Everyone called me the cursed child of the lorelei.
A child that never should have been born. My mom even died because of giving birth to me. Forgive me.
The other women took care of me when I was still a little girl, but they eventually got scared and ran. The people who stayed only shouted that I was cursed. Forgive me.
But that can’t be helped. No one wants to be around a child who spreads suffering whenever she cries. Plus, the damage got worse as I grew. Forgive me.
All of my words… become true. If I say “heal”, things get healed. If I say “grow”, they grow. If I say “wither”, they wither. And if I say “die”, they die.
I remember someone once saying my power was the ability to overwrite the world, imposing another “concept” upon it.
As a child, my power only worked on small bugs and plants. But once I grew older, maybe it would affect people… That’s what everyone thought when they called me an impending disaster. Forgive me.
No one wanted to take care of such a creepy girl. They threw me into a windowless room and locked me up with chains and sealing talismans.
This solitary, dark room became my entire world. They still gave me food, but the only words I ever received were insults.
I’ve been all alone ever since.
I wouldn’t be so sad if things were like this since birth. However, I still remember the memories of kindness from when I was a baby.
So lonely, so painful, so sad. I just wanted some friends, but my power was sealed, and my words no longer had any effect. Which is why I forgot the weight behind my words, and my curse. Forgive me.
And so, I made a wish.
I think the darkness of the room had eroded my heart. In my pain, I muttered those fateful words.
「This entire country should just disappear…!」
That moment, I sensed a power contained within those words.
Yet nothing happened. Even if it was my own wish, I felt relieved at this fact. I never really wanted to hurt anyone…
But unknown to me at the time, something did happen.
My words brought him to me.
The demon who annihilated everything and took me away.
He kept saying it’s not my fault. That he was simply acting of his own free will, not drawn by any power.
But was that really true? Was I really not responsible for destroying my country?
I don’t speak anymore, because I don’t want to hurt anyone. I only use my power when Demon-san tells me to.
I am no longer the cursed child of the lorelei. My name is Persona, because Demon-san calls me that.
Side - Benefis Sophiard
Persona blames herself for how I ruined her country. Maybe she’s right, but I can’t allow myself to confirm her doubts.
Doing so would only cause her additional suffering. An irredeemable criminal such as myself doesn’t need any more sins.
I was born in a small country, sandwiched between two large ones. The Kingdom of Raydoss to the north, and the Kingdom of Kranzel to the south.
Well, until I reached the age of 20, when Raydoss razed us to the ground. My mom, dad, brother, and sister were all slaughtered, leaving me as the only survivor.
Enslaved by Raydoss, I became a mere guinea pig for their human experiments. It seems they took notice of the fact that my family was distant relatives to the royal family of Phyllius.
My dignity was trampled by the countless experiments, but I gained power in exchange. The awakening of the demon factor in my blood granted me a powerful body and immense amounts of mana.
Then, Raydoss brought me a mysterious sword from who knows where. It acknowledged me as its master, making me the wielder of the Nethergate Blade, h.e.l.l.
I escaped from the research lab using the divine sword’s powers, and dedicated my life to revenge. I spent all my days gathering illegal slaves and funds to secure my power.
My body and mind turned more demonic the more I used h.e.l.l, due to the price of its activation. Wielding it for so long resulted in my mind almost getting taken over by a demon of envy.
But thanks to the blade, I obtained a skill known as Original Sin Envy. I could steal rare skills, mana, lifespan, even experience and memories. I grabbed every sc.r.a.p of power possible…
But in exchange, I lost so much.
My own experiences, my lifespan, my abilities, my skills, my emotions…
Yet I refused to stop. Even my desire for revenge itself was distorted by this envy, and I became a monster obsessed with power itself. I continued targeting those with skills, and with immortality.
Despite my madness, I never let go of Persona for some reason. Of course, her ability to overwrite concepts, “Source of the Data G.o.d”, is incredibly powerful.
But that wasn’t all. I believe I felt a strong sympathy for her situation, though I didn’t understand it at the time.
Thus, I took her with me everywhere as a slave. The fact that I enslaved her despite my sympathy is a good sign of how corrupted I had become.
Driven by my jealous urges, I visited the continent of Gordicia. There, I lost Original Sin Envy and gained Eternal Loyalty in its place.
The target of my loyalty was the girl at my side… Persona.
The skill was so potent that I didn’t feel any hesitation at Persona becoming my master. Even if I understood the loyalty was implanted by the skill, I accepted the feeling completely.
I changed my name to Maleficent for Persona’s sake, crushed my own trafficking ring for Persona’s sake, began using softer language for Persona’s sake, started collecting the hero stories she loved so much, washed my hands of crime…
I learned the happiness of living for Persona.
My desire for vengeance never disappeared, so I still despise Raydoss and everything they stand for. It’s just that Persona is far more important.
And they think they can take her from me? I heard Persona’s inaudible screams, which ignited a burning anger in my heart.
Eternal Loyalty has been suppressing my demonic powers all this time, which s.h.i.+fted to those of a Wrath Demon after I lost the power of my Envy Demon.
I’ve yet to reach the point of obtaining an Original Sin skill, but it’s only a matter of time now.
The intense rage within tells me to destroy everything, yet the presence of Persona prevents me from doing so.
I must avoid using my full power to avoid hurting the trembling girl in my arms. It’s not that I can’t go all out, I simply won’t. That distinction is important.
This is the choice I have made.
「I’ll murder every f.u.c.king last one of you worthless sc.u.m!」
Oh, but you’ll have to forgive me for the language.