Demon.
Even the gods do not know why they exist or how they came to be.
Just as there is light, there must also be shadow; if there are good beings, there must be evil ones as well. Everyone merely believed that.
Even the demons themselves do not understand the reason for their existence. Lacking purpose, they roam in search of only the amusements that will satisfy their desires.
Human misfortune is a delightful snack for them, and the corrupted souls are their abundant feast.
Demons lure humans with sweet words and seductive whispers, driving them into the abyss of despair, crushing their bodies, and corrupting their souls, ultimately turning them into prey.
They roam the world only for their own desires, searching for their next meal.
But can you believe this? That even such demons yearn for something.
Ironically, what they crave, as symbols of corruption, is pure souls.
A soul as pristine as freshly fallen snow, so beautiful and clear that merely approaching it feels like one’s skin is burning.
Perhaps, knowing they can never become such beings themselves, they desire the light even more.
Demons never consume pure souls.
The moment a pure soul enters a demon’s body, its existence would dissolve and turn to ash.
Instead, the demon embraces that soul.
In the sanctuary known as hell, it treasures that soul within its nest for eternity.
Like one of its trophies.
However, a pure soul can never set foot in hell.
So, demons cloak the outside of the soul in darkness.
They stain the soul with deep malice and false sins, coloring its existence with sorrow and bringing it down to hell.
“Hell…?”
[b][Yes, your mother will be there too. You want to see your mother, don’t you?] [/b]
The demon tempted a child.
A perfect pure soul discovered by chance, following the scent of misfortune.
The instant their gazes met, the demon vowed to make the child its possession.
The demon attempted to shroud the child’s soul in darkness.
It wasn’t that difficult.
There was no need to lead them to despair; the child’s life itself was already pure misery.
Abandoned by their father at the age of five, all they received from their mother, their only sanctuary in a life torn by poverty, was not love but hatred.
The human found it gratifying that the child would work instead of them.
Initially, the demon thought merely watching would automatically darken the soul.
But the expectations went awry.
The child lived in pain every day. The mother would beat the child and unleash verbal abuse often.
She imprisoned the child in a room, severing ties to the world, neglecting to provide even the basic necessities of life.
Yet.
Despite the passing years, the child’s soul remained pure and clean.
Driven to desperation, the demon chose to corrupt the soul directly.
It lured the child into cutting their own wrist and sending the mother to prison.
Afterward, the demon brutally killed the mother in her cell.
Plagued by guilt that their actions led to their mother’s death, the child descended into madness day by day.
So weak was their heart that they relied on the reflection in the mirror, becoming fragile and shattered.
The demon approached as a friendly presence and deepened the child’s darkness.
It ingrained in them the ugly nature of humanity and the harsh reality that one must harbor malice to avoid misery.
It brainwashed them into believing that goodness always suffers, while only malice holds the true path to happiness.
Thus, slowly and cunningly, the demon trained the child to become an evil person.
To make them sin on their own, to walk the path of hell on their own.
It taught the child the pleasure of trampling on and manipulating the lives of others, turning it into a game.
It guided them on how to lure, use, and treat others like slaves.
However, the demon did not realize.
That the vessel was far too bright to hold such malice.
Unable to withstand the malevolence within, the child ultimately made a drastic choice.
[b][AAH! No!] [/b]
The demon’s scream filled the room.
It was still a small room.
But there was one difference.
The entire floor was soaked in crimson blood.
And from where the blood flowed, a wrist lay deeply cut by a sharp blade.
In the past, to send the mother to prison, the child had cut their wrist.
At that time, they had learned to make shallow cuts that wouldn’t lead to death.
To avoid the arteries, only cutting the veins, leaving no fatal wound.
But this time, the scar engraved was incomparably deeper.
It was not a mere self-harm, but a stark act to find true rest.
The pure soul gradually faded before their eyes.
That soul, still radiating clarity, could not be deemed hell.
If left as it was, that soul would be lost forever.
The demon, braving the pain, reached out.
Amid the burning sensation against its skin, it grasped the soul.
With just a touch, the demon’s power began to slowly vanish.
Yet, the demon’s desire to claim the soul remained unyielding.
A soul that had lost its physical form could not be held back in its original world.
It was a rule even the demon could not defy.
Clutching the shining soul, the demon desperately looked around.
What entered its vision was a small game icon floating on a computer screen.
[Princess Raising Simulation.]
There were occasional instances.
Realities occurring across countless dimensions remain recorded through mediators from other dimensions.
The demon distorted the memories of the soul.
To implant the notion that this soul had once been a foul human.
To instill the illusion that it had lived as a villain beyond redemption.
Only enough to prevent the soul from suiciding out of guilt, it would make the soul believe in its inherent nature as an evil person.
In this life, it would surely make that soul turn dark.
“Does a demon really fall in love?”
On a black horse clad in silver armor, Viviana wore a smirk filled with scorn.
On the other hand, Lilian, reading a book atop a white horse clad in golden armor, responded with a gentle smile.
“Yes, demons are always drawn to beings they can never become. Thus, they delight in tormenting those with pure sanctity.”
“You’ve become quite the expert on demons over the years.”
“Hehe, I studied hard for it.”
Viviana nodded absentmindedly, knowing well that Lilian spoke the truth.
Her hands were always full of records about demons. Lilian’s habit of flipping through books on demons at every opportunity had long become tiresome.
It was even more striking when they had broken through the enemy’s walls and claimed victory.
While everyone else gathered loot from the treasure vault, Lilian alone dove into the library to find books on demons.
‘That was really infuriating back then.’
Her obsession with demons bordered on maddening desperation.
“Is it really permissible for a saint to believe in the existence of demons that much?”
“Because I am a saint, I believe it even more, your Highness.”
“Not an incorrect statement.”
Lilian chuckled lightly.
“Viviana would instinctively know when faced with a strong foe, right?”
“Hmm, I suppose so.”
Such things were easily discerned from the aura flowing from the opponent or their neatly contained energy.
“I, too, can instinctively sense evil beings.”
“How interesting. Is that related to your sanctity?”
“More like an intuition from being a saint, I would say.”
Viviana gazed at Lilian for a moment.
The relationship that had once felt somewhat distant was now quite close.
After all, three years had already passed since they had rolled together on the battlefield.
There’s no place like the battlefield that tightly binds even enemies with camaraderie.
If there was anything Viviana felt about Lilian throughout this time, it was that she possessed the qualities and compassion deserving of being chosen as a saint.
Contrary to the rumors floating in high society.
‘Well, such is society.’
A place rife with all sorts of fabrications and slanders.
Surely someone despising this pure saint would have spread ugly lies to defame her.
Viviana wondered who that liar could be, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth caring about.
After all, no one could dare to insult the saint anymore.
On the horse moving slowly forward, Viviana pulled out a cigarette.
She inhaled deeply, gazing towards the hazy outline of the empire’s walls in the distance.
“What will you do now?”
“What?”
Lilian looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“You’ve solidified your power as a saint and fully awakened. We should consider the objective accomplished, right?”
“Hmm, I was just lucky.”
“Then, will you now seek revenge?”
The saint quietly tucked her pink hair behind her ear, casting a distant gaze with a smile devoid of warmth.
“Revenge? How could I possibly do such a thing? I lack the power for it.”
“Such humility… You will soon be seen as a divine being.”
One day, a seventeen-year-old girl bearing the fate of a saint.
Many questioned her abilities and qualifications, but she stepped onto the battlefield of her own accord.
Even concealing her noble cause in secret.
Standing at the forefront as a saint, saving countless soldiers’ lives, she proudly won victories over the enemy nation, bringing peace back to the empire.
It was a tale fitting for bards to sing as akin to mythology. They would proclaim it as the blessing from a goddess descended from the heavens.
Henceforth, the treatment Lilian received would be incomparable to the past.
The entire empire would sing her praises, her stature as a saint rising to heights no royalty could dare threaten.
“There’s just one person I wish to treat a bit spitefully.”
Her peculiar eyes, unable even to fathom her own intentions.
To say ‘a bit’ with such eyes was truly mischievous.
“Is that the nonsense about ‘salvation’ again?”
“Hehe, you know it well. It’s salvation. Salvation.”
How could one speak of salvation when it was evidently filled with malice? Truly, absurd.
