“I’m sorry, Hera.”
Rustle—
“Hah…!”
With a terrifying pain that felt like my throat was being ripped apart. I felt it continue until my brain shut down, and once again, I woke up.
“Ugh… Ueeck…”
In a feeling of inevitable nausea, I vomited onto the bed.
Although the clean bed became dirty, I didn’t care at all.
This wasn’t the first time I’d thrown up like this.
Ten times.
The number of times I lost my life to Athena’s blade.
But even after dying ten times, it only repeated without end.
And ten times was enough for me to grasp the situation.
‘…This isn’t a dream.’
The vivid sensation of her flesh being cut. The terrifying memory of the fear of death slowly creeping in.
All of it was too vivid to be just a dream.
Then what in the world is this?
A fantasy?
A cruel god’s prank?
Or, heaven forbid, could it really be reality…
“I found you.”
From the doorway came that voice, so painfully longed for. Yet paradoxically, I didn’t want to hear it right now.
“….You. What happened to those horns?”
With her eyebrows furrowed in disappointment, Athena looked at me.
But I wasn’t as shocked this time as I had been at first.
‘…There’s no reason to be.’
She isn’t Athena.
At first, I couldn’t think calmly due to the sudden situation, but now it was different.
I knew.
The one who always smiled kindly at me, the one who always whispered that she loved me.
She would never give me such a cold look.
“….Hera. How could this be happening?”
As Athena extended her hand, a pristine white blade appeared in her palm.
And she immediately rushed toward me.
I tried to dodge, but the speed of the monster looking like Athena was impossible to match.
Rustle—
My arm was cleanly severed.
“I’m sorry, Hera. I have a duty to protect those who have been let down. I must keep our promise.”
Without hesitation, the monster in Athena’s form beheaded me once more.
…
“Hah!!”
Once again, I woke up to this terrible sensation I couldn’t get used to. My whole body was soaked with cold sweat, and my breathing was becoming increasingly labored.
I had now experienced death 20 times.
With every repetition, it felt like the mental fatigue was stacking up.
“I have to run away…”
I muttered to myself.
Continuing to die like this would surely drive me insane.
“If only it weren’t for this collar…”
I touched the circular collar tightly wrapped around my neck.
Because of this, I couldn’t summon any power.
Neither my original abilities nor Mari’s mana.
All I could do as a mere ordinary woman was run.
Ahhhh!
The endlessly familiar screech of an unnamed demon.
I used his scream as a signal to dart out of the room in the opposite direction of the monster that resembled Athena.
I ran.
Leaving the Demon King’s castle and stepping onto the barren soil of the demon realm.
It seemed the monster had caused a ruckus elsewhere, as I could escape quite far without encountering the Demon King or other demons.
“Hah… Hah… Huh…”
Only when my energy was completely drained did I finally stop.
Exhaling rough breaths and glancing back, I saw the Demon King’s castle burning in the distance.
I hadn’t run that far, but still—
“Hera.”
A voice that should never reach me sent chills down my spine.
Turning my head creakingly, there stood Athena, gazing at me again with intense eyes.
“You… how did you find me…”
“I came to save you.”
Once again, the being that looked like Athena spoke nonsensically.
Who would fall for that?
I squinted my eyes at the monster.
“Who the hell are you?”
In response, Athena raised an eyebrow, looking at me as if wondering what I was talking about.
“What’s wrong, Hera? Did you forget me? What did the Demon King do to you?”
A wave of disgust washed over me towards the creature that matched Athena’s mannerisms.
Don’t dare talk to me with the same face and voice as Athena.
“……But. What about those horns?”
The monster grimaced at me.
It was about to draw its sword and come at me.
This time, I had no intention of going along with it.
‘…I really didn’t want to use this.’
I summoned the energy within me.
Then, black energy swirled around my body, and unlike before, a distinct power began to take root inside me.
The power inherited directly from the Demon King.
Magic.
It would have been better to die than to use this power, but now it had already been the twentieth time.
I no longer wanted to die.
Especially not to that monster in Athena’s form.
“Have you become a demon?”
As Athena extended her hand, sunlight gathered around her before taking the shape of a sword.
Without hesitation, I lunged at her.
Though I didn’t want to admit it, the Demon King’s magic was truly beyond imagination.
The power was boiling over inside me.
Desires to tear apart and kill the monster right in front of me began to swell.
As I stepped forward, the ground split around me, and before I knew it, I had rushed toward the monster.
And planning to subdue it enough to be immobilized, I reached out my hand.
“I’m sorry, Hera.”
With her brief remark, my consciousness flew away in an instant.
When I came to my senses again, I realized my body was in pieces, gruesomely burning.
“Ahhh!!!”
From my shattered body, a tremendous pain rushed in.
Screaming in agony, I thrashed around as I voiced my suffering.
“Ahhhh! It hurts!! It hurts!!”
“……Hera. You’ve come this far.”
Above me, the monster looked down with a mournful expression.
Looking into the sunlight-reflected eyes of the monster, I saw a demon pitifully thrashing in despair, with its body grotesquely shattered.
“Ha… ha…”
I let out a hollow laugh at the reality I didn’t want to believe.
“I’ll let you go, Hera. It’s time to rest.”
As the monster’s final words echoed,
Rustle—
Once again, my head was severed.
…
“Hah… Hah… Uugh…”
I covered my mouth to suppress the rising nausea.
I had now experienced death 30 times.
No matter how much I tried to escape, that creature always moved closer to me.
“What even are you…”
As I pulled at my hair with trembling hands, pain shot through me as long strands came out in clumps.
I couldn’t believe it.
No, I didn’t want to believe it.
The power the monster had wielded before.
It completely mirrored Athena’s power.
From the color of the flames to the overwhelming magnitude of power.
Aside from the fact that the monster resembled Athena, I didn’t want to accept this reality where everything was the same as Athena.
Screech!
Ignoring the familiar shrieks of demons, I simply pulled the blanket tighter over myself.
I couldn’t escape.
I couldn’t fight.
There was… no way to survive.
As I sat in despair for a moment, someone opened my door and walked in.
“I found you.”
The beautiful woman radiating sunlight.
I let out a mournful scream as I looked upon the monster.
“Who the hell are you!! Who are you!!”
“..Hera? What do you mean—”
“Don’t think of fooling me!! There’s no way someone like you is Athena!!”
The monster’s eyes widened in response to my outcry, then softened with sadness as it looked at me.
“The Demon King has done something terrible to you.”
“Who are you! What the hell is going on!!”
“Drax.”
The monster’s single utterance silenced my screams.
As I stared blankly at her, the monster sighed deeply and began to speak.
“That was the first place we met. I still regret that time. I hurt you so carelessly and took you away without consideration.”
“You… what… what do you mean…”
“The chicken, a food I had never tasted before. But the meal you prepared was sweeter than anything else.”
“Y-you’re joking…”
“The mark engraved on your lower belly. I said I had no choice at the time, but… I actually aimed for that spot on purpose.”
With the monster continuing to speak, my body began to tremble.
My breath grew ragged. My eyes shook like there was an earthquake.
“Though it was only for a day, our night together was sweeter than anything in that world.”
“You… who the hell are you… who are you…”
“Hera. It’s me. Once your master, but now your slave, Athena.”
She declared with a resolute gaze.
My heart raced violently.
No way.
That can’t be true.
Athena would never try to kill me like that.
I didn’t want to believe it.
No, I absolutely couldn’t accept it.
“I came all this way unarmed to get you back… even though it seems you have betrayed me.”
Athena glanced briefly at my horns, looking sorrowful.
Then, she slowly approached me with a sword in hand.
“…You don’t have to suffer anymore; I’ll end this for you.”
As she drew closer, it felt like the grip of death was tightening around my neck.
But my mind had no interest in death.
I was solely focused on the possibility that the monster in front of me could be Athena.
‘No way. That can’t be true. No way.’
There was only one way to confirm it.
Whether she was truly Athena.
Or a monster wearing her likeness.
But I had never confirmed it despite dying all this time.
Or rather, perhaps I couldn’t.
Had the possibility that the monster could indeed be Athena made me hesitate all this time?
But now, I felt I couldn’t hold out any longer without confirming it.
“I’m sorry, Hera.”
Suddenly, Athena had approached me and pointed her sword at my neck.
With trembling breaths, I gazed at her desperately.
Praying that she wasn’t really Athena, I summoned a voice from deep within my heart.
“Athena… kneel.”
Please.
God. If you’re watching over me, please grant my wish.
Let the woman before me not be Athena… but simply a terrifying monster.
But my desperate wish was…
Crushed as she grimaced at those words.
“Kuh.”
With a short groan, the monster—no, Athena—went down on her knees.
Staring at her blankly, a single tear stained with blood rolled down her cheek.
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