The light flickered in my eyes.
Rather than frustration or jealousy, it might have been a feeling of admiration.
I blinked a few times.
I saw a girl.
A short golden bob sprinkled with a light color, brightening the dark space.
Those clear, pure white pupils seemed not to allow even a speck of impurity.
Her flushed face and the magic power shimmering around her seemed to represent her feelings.
“Are they your companions?”
“Get away from them right now.”
The girl’s dark uniform swayed as a radiant sword was pointed at me. The space shook, and a straight line was drawn in the air.
I twisted my body and raised the kn*fe. The blade curved as it swallowed the strike. The line was severed and twisted. The remnants swept through like a storm.
Seeing the girl stagger with a small groan, I tilted my head.
The nauseating mark of the association.
Awakened Ones and Hunters hanging on the walls.
Did they send a team from the association? Thinking back, I realized I didn’t know many of the rankers during the gaming days, except for a few at the very top.
That girl looked somewhat familiar.
It seemed they didn’t judge me to be a danger yet with this number of people.
I spoke again to the golden girl clutching her abdomen.
“Are you going to fight?”
That’s beside the point.
I didn’t want to stay outside any longer. I had exerted too much energy today. My body felt languid and tired. Maybe it was because I hadn’t injected any bl**d today.
Above all, I had to get inside before the mental illness kicked in.
I had already killed three.
“I have to take them with me. To the hospital. They won’t d*e, but they have quite serious injuries.”
I pointed at the Hunters lying on the ground with blades deep inside.
Due to the restriction of three per day, or rather, thanks to it.
I deliberately avoided their vital points during the fight. I struggled with how to subdue them without killing, but, well, as long as they were alive, it didn’t matter.
“……”
She glared at me while tightly gripping the hilt.
As I slowly stepped back, showing I had no intention to attack, she quickly approached the groaning Hunters by the wall and reached out her hands.
Swiftly.
As she placed her hands on their arms and necks, faint light began to emanate.
An emergency treatment?
“Bloody.”
[ I understand. ]
With the bl**d spilled on the floor, a magic circle floated in the air. With the swirling magic, it prepared for transfer thanks to Bloody’s ability.
“Why····.”
Just as I felt a slight taste of bl**d in my mouth, a clear, small voice caught my attention.
“Why are you doing this?”
Why, you ask?
Because my body can’t endure without killing.
If I don’t hear their bl**d and screams, their breaths and moans for even a day, I might lose my sanity.
“……”
But what difference would it make to say such things?
Despite consuming numerous drugs, cigarettes, and trying every method, what fills my mind is their insignificant lives and faint taste of bl**d.
I keep telling myself that I shouldn’t k*ll, that I’m human, yet I can’t suppress the surging desire.
I was that kind of being. A pathetic race, a dampyre, driven by instincts with no way to resist.
Thus, all I could do was accept my pain and fate calmly.
To survive.
“Because I want to k*ll.”
Beside the three corpses and the still-breathing scraps of the association, she made a face that seemed to mix rage and emptiness exquisitely.
“I love the fear they show when I torture weak Awakened Ones. The scent that emanates from their trembling bodies is electrifying.”
Was the bl**d secondary?
When did I come to calmly acknowledge such words?
Perhaps my whole body was already bound by the chain called mental illness.
“Trash····.”
“Uh?”
“Trash like you····.”
It seemed to be anger.
However, it felt entirely different from the emotions I sensed from the association’s hunting dogs that had fought against me until now.
To her, whose eyes were reddening and fists clenched, I calmly replied.
“You’re right.”
Pathetic.
“A trashy girl.”
“I’m going to k*ll you.”
The girl’s pupils distorted. The golden bob fluttered, and the space brightened. Barriers had risen around the Hunters she was protecting.
“I’m going to tear your body apart right here!”
Three blades, forming shapes, seemed ready to explode from behind her.
No.
Don’t do that.
Don’t test my patience any further.
bl**d surged in my mouth as I screamed. In a hurry, I took my reserves and poured them into my mouth before drawing my kn*fe.
The girl kicked off the ground and rushed at me. Condensed magic exploded, and dozens of blades rushed towards me.
I spread my wings and partially blooded my body. I soared into the air, guiding the airflow. Infusing magic into the kn*fe, I swung it towards her. The blade glimmered with curves as the line was drawn. I shattered everything blocking my path and caused an explosion.
The girl staggered, enveloped in echo, then regained her stance. Swinging her arms down, two massive scythes plunged towards the ground. Her great sword gleamed. The strikes clashed and shattered as they defended against the scythes. The air rattled and the wind broke. Surrounding objects were destroyed.
Droplets of bl**d sprinkled in the air. The droplets mixed with magical energy and transformed into five machetes in an instant. They pierced into the girl’s abdomen in succession. A thick scream escaped as the scent of bl**d filled the air.
I dove towards her while flapping my wings. I condensed all the bl**d that filled the air into my kn*fe. The bright red blade glimmered and shone. I deeply slashed through her chest.
The space was severed, and a momentary silence fell. As I landed on the ground, time began to move again. The ground shook, and the air trembled. The wind blew fiercely, piercing the magical energy through the air. All objects were destroyed and emitted noise.
With a short groan, red bl**d drenched the floor.
I looked back. The girl staggered on her knees before suddenly collapsing.
“You’re alive.”
Although my wings were open, I had no intention to k*ll. I struck her hard, but I had no choice. Time was running out.
More than that, it was impressive. Normally, they would be dead.
“Ugh, haah.”
The fallen girl moaned and twitched. The great sword lost its balance and fell. A clear sound echoed through the streets.
Turning my gaze, I saw the magic circle in front of Bloody taking shape. It would soon prepare for transfer.
I took slow steps and approached the fallen girl, crouching in front of her.
“Does it hurt?”
The deep red bl**d seeping from her body vibrated. I felt an intense urge to bury my face in it and inhale deeply.
No, don’t. Resist.
No, why should I resist?
Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.
“Ugh, haah····.”
Before my thoughts deteriorated, the girl regained a moment of life. With a soft m*an, a small voice came through. Her body trembled violently. Yet there was no fear in her eyes.
“I will definitely, cough, huff, k*ll you····!”
Laying her face on the ground, she tried to rise with great effort, which was quite pitiful.
With her hair disheveled, it was regrettable to see it getting dirty.
“I will definitely, huff, huff. k*ll you····.”
Exhausted, she fell multiple times before finally driving her great sword into the ground with trembling hands, raising her upper body.
Our eyes met. Even looking again, her eyes were beautiful. The round pearls shining like white amethyst colored my vision.
Despite her body shaking as if it would crumble, her face remained lovely.
Her finely mottled skin soaked with sweat and long eyelashes, and yet, her cheeks flushed in indignation drew my attention even more.
“I will k*ll you, I will definitely k*ll you····! To the ends of the earth, huff, ugh····! I will chase you down, tear your limbs apart, and rip your d*mn brain and soul apart····! You crazy trash b*stard!!”
There was no fear. Rather, it was an energy as if she would devour me.
It was a long-awaited resistance, quite different from the faces of those who begged for their lives.
Her body, bleeding and sliced all over, trembled even more. A large scar, which revealed even her bones inside, seemed to be repopulating her body, making it look better to faint than endure this.
Yet how could she keep her eyes on me, even as her face twisted and she became bl**d-soaked?
“Hah····. Ugh····. Is it funny? What’s so funny about this crazy psychopath?! – Puhah!”
I laughed? My face was expressionless at all times.
I can’t lie, no.
Unknowingly, I caressed my lips. The corners of my mouth were upturned.
[ Orly. Let’s get going. ]
“Okay.”
I lifted my body and moved away from the girl. I walked into the magic circle and turned my head. The black smoke pouring out enveloped my body. Unknowingly, I stared at her.
I caught her blazing pupils, but the girl slowly lost her balance and collapsed back to the ground.
“We’ll meet again next time.”
But that’s all.
After all, that girl was merely one of humanity’s Awakened. Eventually, she would have no choice but to accept her end and resign. By the time she meets me again, she would likely greet me with a cold, dead body.
Like them, and like me.
So I won’t expect it.
Absolutely.
As the awkward sensation wrapped around my whole body, my vision faded.
“To the ends of the earth and tear apart····.”
How long has it been since I heard that?
Everyone was too busy running away when they saw me. By the time they felt the mana disparity and realized the situation, they were already buried beneath the ground.
That’s why I was always alone. That was all. Though I lost my sanity and slaughtered people, I didn’t think I was a truly pitiable being.
To them, I was a madwoman consumed by bloodlust, nothing more, nothing less. I would have felt the same if I were in their shoes.
Thus, I was trash. A madwoman, a beast faithful only to my instincts, unable to maintain reason.
If they felt that way, then that’s what I was.
I opened my eyes.
“Cough, cough!”
Is the mental illness flaring up again? Or maybe my body is weakened.
As I wiped the saliva that began to overflow in the quiet atmosphere of the early morning rushing towards breakfast, I noticed the light.
Today, the light source stung my eyes.
I looked around as I walked home.
An empty night street, the bone-chilling quietness shattered by the d*ath of fireflies in the light of the streetlights.
The streetlamps scattered throughout the cluttered street were flickering and dying without performing their original roles.
I walked down that street. It wasn’t reverberating. Just quietly, even the occasional noise seemed to vanish as if it was never born.
That was all.
[ Orly. ]
“What’s up?”
[ Have you thought about dinner? ]
“I don’t know.”
A little kick sent a small stone rolling down the street.
[ How many cigarettes do we have left? ]
“One.”
And it didn’t take long before I stopped.
[ I’ll need to find some. ]
“Yeah.”
If anyone saw me, they would think I was a madwoman talking to the air.
Maybe that’s why there was a brief silence that followed.
[ Orly. ]
“…..”
[ Just don’t take what I said earlier to heart. Anyone would have said the same. ]
It was fine.
The pain stemming from the origins of my race and the mental illness crushing my whole body did not end that day. The aftermath spread and consumed me until the next day’s dawn and morning.
Therefore, if someone were to say something to me when my body and mind had already become a complete wreck, I wouldn’t feel bad in the slightest.
“Ah.”
A voice slipped out.
The circuits connected.
Perhaps it would have been better if it had felt bad. What if I had impulsively poured out insults, questioning what you know? If that had happened, I might have celebrated feeling human emotions.
My chest felt heavy. I gagged as if to vomit something out. But nothing came out. My body was becoming weary and my eyes were closing. I was slowly sinking into the chilly air after being worn down by fatigue.
Still, it was a relief. My body was getting tired easily since becoming a woman. During the time when I could not function normally and was coming to a halt, I didn’t have to crave someone’s bl**d.
Right, bl**d.
bl**d. bl**d vessels. Nerves. Conglomeration. Liquid.
Dim. Red. Metallic. Stimulating.
No, no, no.
Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it!
“Ah. No. No.”
[ Breathe! Breathe in! Orly! ]
I could not lose control of my body like this.
Before my thoughts elongated, I stabbed my heart with the kn*fe.
Sticky pain engulfed my whole body, and bl**d burst from my mouth. The red scythe coalesced and cut through my chest, carving glowing scars. Remnants of magic mixed into my nerves and resonated in my brain.
My consciousness severed.
