“…..Get this off me, Hera.”
Athena looked up at me while kneeling.
Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but cry endlessly.
Why.
Why.
Why are you really Athena..
You said you loved me.
You promised to be together for life.
But why… why are you looking at me with such cold eyes now?
“…Liar.”
“Hera.”
I know.
It’s not her fault.
Athena is just fulfilling what she needs to protect.
But still, I couldn’t suppress my resentment towards her.
So, does that mean I have to keep dying like this..?
Being forcibly captured and turning into a terrible demon. Having my throat cut like this by the person I love most…?
I don’t want to.
I don’t want to.
I don’t want to.
I don’t want to.
I don’t want to.
I don’t want to.
I don’t want to.
SCHWACK-
At that moment, a sharp pain in my abdomen pulled my consciousness back to the surface.
“Uh…?”
Dazed, I looked down. I saw Athena’s sword piercing through my abdomen.
This time, turning my gaze towards her, I saw her staring back at me, drenched in sweat.
“Hera. Even if my soul is with you… it doesn’t mean you are helpless.”
“Ah… it hurts—”
“I’ll take my soul back.”
With those words, my body split in half on her sword.
*
“Ugh… Athena… please… please stop now.”
Rustle
“I’ll prove it..! I’ll prove that I’m not a demon…!”
Rustle
“Ah… Athena… look at this… I… I pulled out a horn… if… if this works, I can be human too…”
Rustle
“Was pulling out a horn not enough? Hehe… Should I cut off an arm instead? Then no one will have to die—”
Rustle
“I… I don’t want to… not anymore… ugh…”
Rustle
“Uu… ugh…”
Rustle
*
I’m going to kill you.
I have to kill you.
It has to end.
Waking up in bed again, I squeezed my head tightly and made a grim resolution.
I had already died over a hundred times.
That many deaths instilled enough murderous intent in me.
“Hera. I’ve come to save you.”
The voice of Athena, which I no longer wanted to hear. Just irritating.
I glared at her with a cold expression.
As expected.
She raised her sword again upon seeing my horn.
As she drew closer to me, my heart became more cruelly gripped.
Step by step.
Finally, when Athena approached me and pointed her sword at my throat.
“Don’t move, Athena.”
“….!”
Athena was frozen in place.
Before she could move again, I hurriedly thrust one hand toward her heart.
Planning to burst her heart and kill her.
I have to kill.
It’s the only way to be free.
It’s the only way to stop feeling this pain of dying.
It’s the only way I can finally… stop dying.
But contrary to that malicious resolve.
My arm halted right in front of Athena’s chest.
“I… I have to kill you…”
My hand started shaking uncontrollably.
Tears streamed down, blocking my vision.
“Ugh… how do I kill you…”
She was someone who once was my world.
Even though things have changed a bit now, the fact that she is someone precious to me had not changed at all.
I didn’t have the cruel courage to kill someone like that.
In the end, I did nothing but cry.
And not long after, again…
I experienced death at her hands.
.
.
.
I died.
Died again.
I kept dying.
My reason and sanity had long since disappeared.
Even when I tried to kill Athena first, I ultimately hesitated until the end.
And so it repeatedly ended with me dying at her hands.
I thought maybe I had to keep dying like this.
But wasn’t it said that if you don’t try, nothing is impossible?
Luckily and simultaneously despairingly.
After a torturous repetition.
616 times.
After 616 deaths, I finally gained the courage to kill Athena.
*
“Ugh… hehehe…”
“Cough… Hera…”
There lay Athena beneath my feet, spitting blood.
Bite marks were evident on her neck, and blood flowed down like a fountain.
So beautiful.
Athena’s blood.
So lovely.
“I did it… I finally killed you… hehehe… I did it…”
Tears of anguish and a grand smile of joy coexisted on my face.
I covered my face with hands smeared in Athena’s blood, laughing loudly.
Not knowing if it was joy or despair, I relished in that feeling until Athena’s breath stopped.
As I lowered my hands, the sunken vacant eyes of hers seemed to tear my heart apart.
But it’s okay.
No, it’s not okay.
Now, I can finally stop dying.
What the hell is this, Hera.
To keep from dying, I had to kill.
You killed Athena.
It’s okay.
It’s not okay.
“Hehe…”
Gathering the pool of Athena’s blood in my hands and bringing it to my lips, the sweetness I had never tasted before satisfied my heart.
Looking down, the delicious sight of Athena’s blood and flesh awaited me.
My heart raced like it had met its first love.
Drool began to pool at my mouth.
‘I want to eat.’
In my shattered mind, there was only one thought.
So, I became a monster that followed only my desire.
Ah…-
Biting down hard on her neck, her sweet blood and flesh intoxicated me.
Having discovered the pleasant taste of a person, I couldn’t stop.
Thus, I began to walk down a road from which I could never return.
Is this my punishment for it?
“…..Unnie?”
At the familiar voice piercing my heart, my body froze.
Turning my creaking head sideways.
An unbelievable sight unfolded before me.
My irreplaceable dear little sister.
So lovable and cute. My precious family.
With eyes shaking fiercely.
There stood Lily, looking at me wielding the Sacred Sword.
“What… are you doing right now?”
Ah.
This was truly nothing more than a tragic farce.
*
“Is this really enough?”
“Of course, Demon King. This is a forbidden spell even among us succubi.”
Dressed in a revealing outfit, the succubus spoke with a mysterious smile.
Listening to the succubus, Arbes gazed at the scene before her.
“Lily..! Please stop!!”
Hequila struggled, covered entirely in black life.
For some reason, I thought it was not a sight I wanted to see.
However, seeing her express such intense emotions, which she usually hid with dead eyes… it must mean that it was effective.
“Something precious will be shattered to pieces. Indeed, a doll that the Demon King has longed for will emerge, heh.”
At the succubus’s words, Arbes pondered for a moment, resting her chin in thought.
“Is there a chance she’ll realize it’s an illusion?”
“Demon King, do you know the characteristic of dreams?”
After Arbes nodded, encouraging her to continue, the orange-haired succubus cleared her throat and spoke.
“No matter how unrealistic it is. No matter how improbable it may seem, in that moment, one is unaware it’s a dream. Especially when we succubi intend it so.”
The succubus looked at the black entity covering Hequila’s head.
“Even if she realizes it, the brain will be manipulated so she has no choice but to believe it.”
As the Demon King listened seriously to her words, the succubus continued with a satisfied expression.
“After that, the sensation. Sometimes, one may dream for a brief moment only to find half a day has passed. Conversely, one might feel as if they have dreamed for a long time, but it was only ten minutes.”
The unnamed succubus wore a shallow smile and poked at the black entity with her finger.
“This lady will experience the latter. And it will be a painfully slow passage of time.”
Once the succubus made contact, the black creature slid into Hequila’s ear, soon drawing a horrific scream from her mouth.
“…I’ve never seen that creature before.”
Arbes frowned slightly.
Wriggling like a mass, it had an unbecomingly unsettling appearance.
“That’s a Dream Eater, a powerful demon. It invades the host’s brain, reading happy memories and turning them into nightmares. With this demon and the succubus’s dream magic, we can trap the host in eternal hell.”
“Are there side effects?”
The Demon King raised an eyebrow.
“Oh my. I never thought the Demon King would worry about side effects…”
The succubus glanced at the Demon King’s frowning face, coughed a few times, and quickly switched topics.
“There are side effects. First, an enormous amount of mana is required to get this demon moving. But you’ve solved that issue, so we’ll skip it.”
The succubus glanced at the black entity before continuing.
“After that, there’s the risk of this lady’s mind falling apart and going insane.”
The succubus stated it lightly, as if it were no big deal.
Arbes closed her eyes for a moment to reflect on the succubus’s words, and then with intense eyes, she turned her gaze back to Hequila.
“Well. It doesn’t matter. As long as I can shatter the hope she holds.”
So long as it could return to her alone.
Arbes was unconcerned.
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