Chapter 12 – 5. Corruption (1)

5. Corruption (1)

From the moment I was born, my talent was stolen by the gods, and because of that, I was abandoned by my parents.

As soon as I escaped from the mansion that was suffocating me, I was captured and sold as a slave.

But even there, I was abandoned for being incompetent.
And the sanctuary I had barely found was taken away by this world, and I was abandoned once again.

It was unfair.
It was just unfair.

This world revolves around unfairness upon greater unfairness.
So if the world is unfair to me, I just need to become a greater unfairness.

“It’s simple.”

Holding Nae’s head, which had eventually fallen off due to decay in my arms, I slowly rose from my spot and headed into the forest.
To a place untouched by human hands, unseen by human eyes. I went deeper, and deeper.

To a place where no one can find me.

Having entered deep into the forest, I gently placed my head between the roots of a tree and stood in a small clearing big enough for just me.
Are you giving up and planning to die with Nae? No. If that were the case, I would have died long ago.

The reason I’m standing here now is to gain power.
Unfair, unjust, illegitimate power.

A contract with the devil.
I’m going to gain power through that.

In the book of the hero’s tales, there were stories of devil worshippers.
But the book only contained the story of the hero killing the devil worshipper and saving the village, there was no content about summoning the devil.

So I don’t know how to summon the devil.
But I learned how to hunt from Nae.

―Prepare the bait. It’s the basics of hunting, remember that.

The Saintess told me why the devil is a devil, and why we shouldn’t make a contract with the devil.
The devil is evil, tries to deceive people, lies, and is cruel, she said.

But do you know what’s funny?
The description the Saintess gave then also applies to humans.

What would a devil like? What would a human like?
Lying down with me, I was able to realize the answer while looking at my severed wrist.

A tale of valor. A bragging point. A trophy. A decoration.

‘Yes. That should do it.’

So I decided to put my life and soul on the line.
Not the life and soul of an ordinary child, but the life and soul of a child of a hero who stabbed a sword into the heart of the Demon King and brought peace to the continent, and a Saintess who was called the daughter of the gods and saved millions of lives.

Isn’t it the ultimate bait that a devil could never resist?

Standing quietly in my spot, I bit into my wrist with my teeth.
At first, it was just a pinch of flesh.

That happened twice, three times, five times, twenty times.
Continuously biting, biting, and biting again, the skin that was red hot was torn and ripped off, and even the muscles were torn with my teeth.

It hurt so much.
But strangely, I didn’t cry, I could only laugh.

Drip――

Blood flowed endlessly.
With each heartbeat, death felt closer.

“Come out.”

There was no fear of a possible death.
What took the place of that fear was an inexplicable certainty.

“Come out.”

My body began to sway uncontrollably.
I tried to steady myself by putting strength into my legs, but they only trembled uncontrollably.

“Come out.”

Just when I could feel my body cooling down.

Squirm–

The blood that had been flowing suddenly stopped in mid-air.
Soon, the blood that had spilled on the floor began to move on its own, starting to clump together.

The blood, spread wide and thin, stopped in front of me and reflected my image like a mirror.
It was an incomprehensible sight, but also one that didn’t need to be understood.

After watching for a moment, my reflection in the blood mirror quietly opened its eyes.
The me in the mirror had the same red eyes as me, but they shone even redder.

The reflection of me, who had been quietly watching me, smiled with its mouth corners raised unusually high.

[Oh, oh oh oh!! A masterpiece! It’s a masterpiece!! The greatest masterpiece!!]

My head throbbed at the tearing voice.
Then, the mirror made of blood cracked, and the me in the mirror, with half of its face broken, stared at me with wide eyes.

[What… What is this….]

My vision began to blur.
I cut off the mumbling of the me in the mirror and opened my mouth.

“Are you a demon?”

[Yes. As you say, I am a demon.]

The sudden change in attitude was strange, but I didn’t care and continued the conversation.

“Give me power. I’ll give you everything I have. From my soul to this life, everything.”

I said this while pushing out my wrist, where the bone was exposed, but the me in the mirror just quietly looked at my wrist.
Why isn’t it answering? What if this is not enough?

The anxiety named ‘if’ shook me.
As I swallowed my dry saliva and glared at the mirror, the me in the mirror, who had been silently looking at my wrist, bowed its head as if apologizing.

[I cannot give you power.]

When the anxiety I had only thought about became reality, my breath became rough.
Unable to bear the unbearable anger, I clenched my teeth and put my hand on the mirror in front of me.

“Is this not enough?”

Is this still not enough?
How much more do I have to offer? How much more do I have to lose? How much more do I have to be robbed of? Why only me?

When I scratched the mirror with my nails, the mirror was about to break with a cracking sound.
And at that moment, a crimson hand emerged from the shards of the broken mirror.

The hand that sprang from the shards gently grasp my hand that was scratching the mirror, pulled it away from the mirror, and let go of my wrist.
Then, my wrist, which had been torn to the point where the bone was exposed, was somehow healed.

“…?”

[I apologize for not being able to fathom your mind and for my lack of explanation. I hope that you will calm your anger with great compassion and listen to me].

“….”

At the reaction that was more surprising than my anger, I silently stared at the me in the mirror who bowed down respectfully.

[Thank you for your understanding.]

I felt a strange sensation.
I had never been treated with such respect before.

[There is a reason why I cannot give you power.]

“…Why can’t you?”

[Water flows from top to bottom, it does not gush from bottom to top.]

With that, my reflection in the mirror began to explain with a face full of cracks.

[You were a new light born from the meeting of two lights, but that light was stolen from you. You, who had your light stolen by the hateful god, became darkness. A darkness deeper and denser than anything else. How preposterous would it be for me, who is at best a mere shadow, to give power to the darkness.]

He rambled on for a while, but his speech was so full of metaphors that it was hard to understand.
As I frowned, the mirror twisted even more and cracked even larger.

Then, a hand that sprang from the shards of the broken mirror was cut off and fell to the floor.

[Oh, it seems I made my words too difficult.]

“Did you do that on purpose? Did you try to deceive me by making your words hard to understand?”

[I apologize. I did not intend to deceive you.]

His endless bowing and speaking didn’t even make me angry.
As I watched him, I quietly mulled over what my reflection in the mirror had said.

Light and light. The hero and the saint.
Born of light but had the light stolen. The incident of having the blessing stolen by the god.

His words were difficult, but they were describing my life.
But there was still a part I didn’t understand.

“…What do you mean I became darkness?”

[Where there is light, there is darkness. The fact that blessings are taken away means nothing but a curse remains. Bearing the curse of a god means you are closer to a demon. Falling from the highest place means falling to the deepest place. You may not have known until now, but you already have power. Because you are in a position where you can control us demons at will.]

My reflection in the mirror made his words difficult again, but if I stripped away all the metaphors, only one thing remained.

“Can I… control demons?”

[Control might not be the right word. It’s closer to… ruling, like a king.]

“So, I’m a king?”

[We demons don’t have a position called a king, but yes, you could see it that way.]

“…So if I ask you to kill the hero and the saint now, can you do it?”

My reflection in the mirror bowed his head at my words and conveyed his intention calmly.

[If you command us to do so, we will offer their necks immediately.]

“What if I ask you to burn the whole world?”

[We will pour out all the legions of hell to turn this world into hell.]

“…What if I ask you to kill the god?”

[For a demon, insulting a god is a daily routine, it would just be adding a bit of seasoning to that routine.]

I can kill my mother and father.
I can burn the world.

Even the god, I can kill.
All of that is possible with a single word from me.

The problem was solved more easily than I thought, and it made my head even more complicated.
Is that really enough?

The boiling anger cooled down to the point where it froze in the complexity of my mind. As I couldn’t say anything, my reflection in the mirror opened his mouth.

[But do you think that’s enough?]

As if he knew exactly what I was thinking, he accurately scratched the part I was uncomfortable with.

[Will your anger subside when they die?]

No, thinking about their death made me feel empty.

[Will the flames of hatred go out if you burn their homes?]

No, no matter how much I burned, the flames did not go out.
After burning everything I could imagine, it tried to swallow me instead.

[Will your resentment be relieved by insulting them?]

No. Not at all.
When I lifted my head at his words and looked at my reflection in the mirror, my reflection was looking straight into my eyes.

[I have a good way.]

The demon in the mirror, looking at me, smiled with a distorted face.