A Certain Night
Dense black clouds mingled with the orange-red glow of the sunset, forming a stark boundary between light and darkness. No one could tell if it was the thick smoke of raging fires or a sky overflowing with Demonish energies…
The rain fell in a scarlet deluge.
Lady Leia lay sprawled on the bed, watching the rain lash against the glass window. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself, but it did nothing to ease the biting chill.
“Will he come back?”
She murmured so softly that only she could hear it.
Night had fallen, yet the relentless booms of magical explosions echoed without cease. The shockwaves made the thatched hut sway perilously in the downpour, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Worry etched Leia’s pale face. Her lovely eyes, beautiful as pearls, drifted toward the window—drifting, it seemed, all the way to the battlefield hundreds of miles away.
“Why can’t I fight on the battlefield?”
But that was impossible.
In the last battle, a Demon Race guard had dealt her a grievous wound, leaving her with almost no strength to continue fighting.
And now, freshly returned to the frontline camp, word had come that the Hero Party was in full retreat…
Before the Demon Race, humanity crumbled like dust. Lives vanished like raindrops, forgotten by all.
“Lady Leia, are you all right? Hang in there!”
A drenched girl burst through the door. She slammed the little wooden cabin’s door shut behind her, her fair face twisted with anxiety.
“Mitrice, I’m fine. Don’t worry~”
“But your eyes…”
The girl named Mitrice had pink hair and a pair of fox ears that drooped in dejection.
Leia’s eyes had grown hazy, veiled as if by a thin layer of gauze.
“It’s nothing. You focus on recovering too. Get ready to retreat, all right?”
Leia gazed at Mitrice’s left arm, bound in bandages and splinted with wood. A clear bloodstain marred the girl’s fair neck, overlaid with an ominous black aura—the mark of a curse.
Leia’s greatest stroke of luck was that the curse hadn’t touched her.
Without prompt treatment, it would course through the bloodstream, infiltrate the bone marrow, and seep into the soul. The fortunate ones lived out their days lost in perpetual hallucinations, their minds shattered. The unlucky became walking corpses for the Demon Race, turning traitor against their own kind.
“But… Sister Leia…”
“We’ll all make it through safe and sound.” Leia cut her off, her voice firm.
Boom rumble—!
An explosion crashed over them like a tsunami, swallowing Leia’s words in an instant. The night blazed bright as day, a second sun blooming in the sky.
Another legendary mage had chosen self-sacrifice, buying the human army precious time to flee.
Reinforcements hadn’t arrived in ages—the last ones weeks ago—and the remnants of the medical team were a heartbreaking sight…
Medicine, food, weapons, even water—all in short supply. The Demon Race’s magic made resupply a pipe dream.
But there was no helping it…
That sleepless, anxious night would haunt Leia forever.
“How’s the battle on the front lines?”
The rain hammered the door like an iron mallet, a thug poised to break in at any second. The wind howled like a battle cry. Mitrice braced her slight frame against it, barely holding back disaster.
She let out a sigh.
“There’s basically no hope of victory. Humans fall short in numbers and quality alike. The army…”
“Is going to lose?”
Leia’s eyes dimmed.
There was no suspense to the fight. She desperately wanted to trust the Hero who dominated the battlefields year-round, but reality was merciless. Before she’d been carried back, she’d seen his hands trembling with exhaustion, days upon sleepless nights pushing him to his breaking point…
“Urgh—!”
Leia convulsed, a stab of pain from her heart forcing her to cough up blood. Vivid crimson blooms stained the gray quilt.
“Leia!”
“Mitrice, you need to go now—while the rain isn’t too heavy yet…”
“But…!”
“That’s an order. Cough…”
Leia gave her no room to argue.
“We’ve lost this battle. If I’m right, the Hero will exploit the intel gap we’ve prepared and draw them east. This position will be left as bait and abandoned.”
“So run. And if you can, tell everyone to pull back…”
Mitrice got the message. Her hand gripped the doorknob as she said, “I’ll find someone to carry you—”
“No need.”
No need at all…
She had a premonition: the moment she left the bed’s fading warmth, death would claim her. Absent this acid rain from the ceaseless magical barrage, she might have had a slim chance to escape.
“But, Deputy Captain, you… we can’t. If we leave you here, wouldn’t we be deserters?”
“I said, this is an order. Now, go!”
Leia’s gaze sharpened. Even the shadows of her subordinates had long blurred into obscurity, a thin mist clouding her vision. Only by forcing her heavy eyelids open could she barely make them out.
Yeah…
She couldn’t hold on much longer.
Even being treated as a discarded pawn was only to be expected.
To protect the team’s core strength, severing the tail for survival was essential. Otherwise, it would lead to far greater losses…
Yeah, this was perfectly normal.
“…”
Had she already left?
Leia brushed a strand of hair from her face. Tied there was a red ribbon, one that Mo Ran had fastened for her himself. Leia was glad it hadn’t been lost amid the battle.
“Good…”
Like clutching her last lifeline, Leia untied the ribbon and gripped it tightly in her fist.
Ah… the rain’s coming down so hard, it’s pelting my face.
But it’s surprisingly quiet. No sounds of war, right? Or maybe they haven’t arrived yet…
If the Hero came back to save her, she should be able to see them by now.
Wait.
Why was she entertaining such a pipe dream?
She was a pawn meant to be sacrificed. There was no reason for anyone to come rescue her.
…That was what reason dictated.
But why was she crying?
She couldn’t distinguish tears from raindrops anymore, and she lacked the strength to wipe her sodden eyes.
“…”
So even something this natural could make her feel such sorrow?
It was an unquestionable decision. If she were in the Hero’s place, she would abandon herself without a second thought. Yes, that was right… sacrifice the few for the many to defeat that Evil Dragon.
Why?
Her heart ached so fiercely.
Was she truly a worthy companion to the Hero? Was she really suited to save the world?
Surely not… She didn’t want to be trampled underfoot by the Demon Race, didn’t want to end up as someone’s captive—and above all, she didn’t want to be abandoned by her.
…
In the end, she just didn’t want to die.
Right then, Leia glimpsed a light…
It wasn’t the sun cresting the horizon, but something else entirely.
“Do you want revenge?”
The voice inquired.
“Want…”
Was that true?
Her inner voice replied without hesitation.
No, that wasn’t it…
She simply didn’t want to be abandoned. Don’t turn me into something evil—don’t…!
“Then make a wish to me. I’ll grant it,” the light declared.
“Heh heh heh…”
Suddenly, Leia let out a cold laugh. The light shuddered in response.
So that was it. She’d gotten it all wrong from the start…
Worshipping, following, treading carefully… what was the point? In the end, it was all passive acceptance. She was never the one to benefit.
Indeed, she had to seize her own fate.
“Wait, what—impossible! You… you devoured the Evil Dragon?!”
A wish?
Why bother with such a tedious setup~?
When awareness returned, Leia found herself at the heart of a resplendent golden hall, her body surging with malevolent energy—the very power she had once confronted, now coursing through her veins as her own.
At her feet lay the being known as the God.
She murmured softly,
“How pathetic, God who sought to manipulate me. Now it’s your turn to choose.”
From this day forward, I am calamity itself. I am the sovereign of utter destruction.
Every word carried the world’s sharpest chill, like a blade rending the heart.
Whatever she desired, she need only grasp it in her hand.
“Isn’t that right, Xuefei?”
“As long as I hold you tight, you won’t abandon me… will you?”
