Chapter 294: This Is the End (2)

The first memory she regained was of being bundled in a swaddling cloth, dangling from a tree. In front of her, an odd-looking farmer was hanging her on the tree. The farmer, who had tied a pretty knot as if decorating a Christmas tree, grinned and looked past the tree. Then he blinked and waved at Sieri before suddenly melting away, transforming into a bizarre shape, and disappearing.

"Aigo, what is this?"

"Darling. Someone abandoned a child."

The next thing that appeared before Sieri's eyes were her parents. The elderly couple picked Sieri up with worried faces, making cooing sounds as they stroked her head. The old woman spoke.

"Aigo, the child is so gentle. She doesn't even cry when seeing a stranger. Darling. Isn't it fascinating?"

Then the elderly man sternly twitched his wrinkled face and spoke.

"The child is quite pretty. Let's raise her."

"Shouldn't we tell the lord? We might get scolded if we raise her on our own."

"Well, telling the lord will only result in him telling us to raise her. We can just pretend she's our own. Right?"

"Goodness, what a scandalous thing to say. I understand, so let's hurry up and go inside."

Sieri let out a hollow laugh. She had known she wasn't their biological child, but she hadn't been abandoned by coincidence. Nor had she been abandoned for livelihood reasons. Someone had intentionally abandoned her there so that they would raise her. Her head was still throbbing. Sieri grabbed her head again and let out a moan. A memory from when she was seven years old surfaced.

When she was seven, Sieri was playing with the dirt in the yard. The elderly couple had just left the young child to go farming. As Sieri sat in the yard and looked at her surroundings, she saw a masked woman approaching from afar. With a bewildered face, she looked around and scurried into the house.

Just as she opened the main gate and was about to run inside, Sieri's body floated into the air and was brought back in front of the woman. Making eye contact with Sieri, the woman lifted her mask to reveal her face and spoke.

"You will become a nun."

"What?"

Sieri blinked her large eyes with a puzzled expression. The woman pressed down firmly on Sieri's head and spoke again.

"You will become a nun. Right?"

Every time she pressed on her head, Sieri felt a sense of drowsiness. Sieri was actually being controlled. Unconsciously, she looked at the woman, nodded her head, and spoke.

"Yes... I want to become a nun."

"Good. And you will act according to Lady Evangeline's words. Right?"

"Yes..."

"And you will stick closely by Peta Lusius's side. Right?"

"Yes..."

After the woman disappeared, Sieri had abruptly told her parents that she wanted to become a nun. Only now did Sieri realize. Becoming a nun had also been planned. Even getting close to Lusius had been planned. Sieri felt as if her head was going to split open. Her memories traveled back to her trainee days.

"Can you hear me?"

"Pardon? Yes..."

Sieri, who had been sleeping, sprang up and responded to someone's call. It was a voice she was hearing for the first time, but she moved in accordance with it. She calmly and carefully slipped out of the women's dormitory. She could hear the guards grumbling as they talked.

"Why did High Priest Mayhem call an assembly at this time of night?"

"I don't know. I heard he's giving an early morning speech. That man is way too loud, my sleep is completely ruined for today."

"Aigo, I need to hurry up and move down to the provinces."

Avoiding the guards, Sieri's body moved very carefully toward the men's dormitory. Her consciousness was awake, but her body wasn't moving according to her own will. The woman's voice echoed in her mind.

"That's right. Don't resist and entrust your body to my power. Got it? I caused quite a few accidents in the past, so there's a barrier guarding against me around this church. It would be a pain to break it and go inside, you know?"

Upon entering the hallway, there was no one around. It was because High Priest Mayhem had dragged all the soldiers away to give his speech. While Sieri walked down the hallway, Evangeline continued to chatter inside her mind.

"Right. Go to the side from there. The youngest section of the men's dormitory. That way. Exactly."

Staring blankly into empty space, Sieri moved as she was told. The soft breathing sounds of slumber grew closer. The woman forcibly moved Sieri's hand, beginning to examine the faces of the young children in their beds one by one. Then, she stopped at a certain child with blond hair and pointed an accusatory finger at him as she shouted.

"This kid! It's this kid! Bring him quickly!"

It was a voice that sounded somewhat excited. Following the voice in her mind, Sieri grabbed the child's hand and pulled. The boy, who woke up rubbing his eyes half-asleep, followed limply as Sieri pulled his hand. Sieri knew this boy's name. Peta Lusius. He was the person Sieri loved the most.

"Who... are you?"

"How annoying. Let's put him to sleep and drag him away."

A finger snapping sound was heard, and Lusius collapsed onto the floor. Sieri grabbed Lusius's legs and dragged him away. Passing near the temple where Mayhem's prayers were echoing, she exited the Archdeity Church training center and cut across the tall grass. Arriving at a small cabin located a short distance away, she took the secret stairs beneath it and descended into a deeper place. And there, Sieri once again faced the woman.

The woman welcomed Sieri with a smile. The basement she was in was a space consisting of a round, circular dome. In the middle of the room, a magic circle was drawn, and the tip of the woman's finger was pointing to its center. Doing as she was told, Sieri dragged Lusius and placed him in the middle of the magic circle.

Next to her, a blazing form was floating. A translucent head was bobbing in the air, but Sieri didn't find it strange. The form flashed a vicious smile and spoke to the woman.

"Evangeline! Finally, my long-cherished desire to descend upon the human realm will be fulfilled! Bwahahaha! Ahahahaha! Amazing! Oh, Evangeline! I promise you! Once I conquer the human realm, I will create a national holiday named after you and a song for you, making the entire world praise you!"

"I don't need it."

Evangeline grinned and reached her hand toward the spirit. When she clenched her fist in the middle of the empty, opaque figure, something round like a heart fell into Evangeline's grasp. The indistinct form began to flail about with a pained expression.

"Kkeuaaaak! Evangeline! What is the meaning of this! Why are you bringing me pain! Didn't you say you would transfer me into that boy's body! That you would let me descend! Uwaaaagh! I hate jokes like this, Evangeline! Stop it!"

"You idiot. Why would I do such a wasteful thing? I finally obtained a healthy, handsome, and rich body, so why on earth would I give it to you? Hm? Care to explain?"

"Kkeuaaaak! Evangeline! Did you deceive me! I trusted you! How could you do this! Why! Why! Why did you deceive me, Evangeline! Kkeuaaaak!"

"Why did I deceive you, you ask? Because I have to give this body to someone far more magnificent than you."

Evangeline squeezed her hand tightly as she said that. With the sound of shattering glass, the form completely dispersed.

"Evangelineeeeee...!"

Evangeline brushed off her hands and looked at Sieri. At that moment, the spell placed on Sieri was broken, and she slumped to the ground again, looking around with a bewildered face. Tapping her own lips with her finger, Evangeline stared at Sieri.

"Now then... what should I do with you... Should I just kill you too? I don't have a hobby of raising little demons like Sibanne or Cutlass."

"Eek..."

Sieri trembled in fright at her murmuring. Gazing silently at her slumped on the floor, Evangeline suddenly frowned and shook her head as if changing her mind.

"I'll just let you live. In return, come here."

The tip of Evangeline's finger touched Sieri's forehead. Sieri's body trembled slightly. Evangeline's voice echoed in Sieri's ears.

"Forget everything that happened up until today. You are just an Archdeity Church trainee. Got it? An ordinary, innocent Archdeity Church trainee."

"...An ordinary, innocent... Archdeity Church... trainee."

"Right. That's it. That's all you need to be. Got it? Now head back. Go get some good sleep and forget everything that happened up until today."

Sieri stood up from her spot. She began to stagger toward the stairs. From behind, she heard Evangeline conversing with someone.

"Sibanne. I told you, didn't I? Attaching weird kids to him will only raise suspicion. I've gotten rid of him, so don't pay any more attention to that child either. Understand? This is an order. Do not make contact until the Demon King comes looking for you himself. Making contact before his awakening will only invite unwarranted suspicion. We need to be absolutely certain. Tell Cutlass too. Tell him to quit playing high priest."

Sieri directed her steps toward the women's dormitory. The prayer text that had been echoing when she left was still echoing upon her return. Sieri walked down the empty hallway and buried her body back into her dormitory bed. And the next morning. During the coed class, Peta Lusius, who was sitting in the seat in front of her, cast a glance at Sieri.

Then, during the break, he asked Sieri.

"Have we met somewhere before? I feel like I've seen you, but strangely, I can't remember."

"I-I don't know."

That was their first meeting.

"Kyaaaaagh!"

Sieri fell into a panic, scratching at her head. Everything in her life was fake. Her origins, her disposition, her memories, all of it was a lie. She was nothing more than a demon spy inserted by the demons to assist Lusius. Merely a humanized demon that had been disguised as a human since a very young age and raised in the arms of humans. She was not a human.

And she was a newly 'created human' who had barely survived thanks to Evangeline's mercy. The innocent Sieri that others spoke of was merely a human created in such a way. The very existence of Sieri was a lie. She couldn't believe that the bat wings sprouting from her body, the viciously developed fingernails, and the horns protruding from her head were the truth.

"N-No... no..."

Just how much of it was the truth? What on earth was she supposed to believe? Did Lusius know this fact? Would he recognize her current appearance? The moment her thoughts reached that point, Sieri suddenly raised her head.

"K-Kill her!"

Someone screamed. People were looking at her with contempt. Shaking pupils and expressions of disgust. Staffs being thrust toward Sieri. In that moment, Sieri thought of Lusius once again. She thought it would be better to just die like this without ever meeting Lusius again. Then, she wouldn't have to face his contempt.