‘So… that blood-sucking bat suddenly changed her mind and decided to use her blood to save herself? Did she really have a change of heart?’
After learning from that voice what was happening outside, Sevi was only startled for a moment before he quickly realized.
‘No, injecting blood into another race’s body—that’s exactly an Embrace!’
‘Once I wake up again, I’ll become a monster just like her, lose everything, and be reduced to a puppet at her mercy.’
‘Damn it, this would be better than just letting me die.’
【Don’t be so pessimistic. What’s wrong with becoming a monster?】 The voice seemed to be comforting him, but Sevi could hear the undisguised schadenfreude in it.
‘Hah, if it were just an ordinary beast, that would be one thing. But the Blood Demon is a member of the demon race, the mortal enemy of the entire continent. Once I become that kind of thing, everything I’ve fought so hard for will turn to dust.’
【Actually, I have a proposal. How about…?】
‘Make a deal with you? Please, can’t you be more original?’
【…Has no one ever told you that it’s very rude to interrupt someone when they’re speaking?】
‘Isn’t it even ruder to come into someone’s head and talk without permission? Besides, I’ve heard this routine too many times. What’s the point of all this buildup? You just want to negotiate, right? Your fox tail is already showing.’
‘But Sevi also had to admit that at this critical moment, only this voice could save his life.’
【So you agree? Then let’s hurry up and…】
‘But I refuse.’
【…】
‘There’s obviously a trap in this kind of deal. How could I agree so easily? Besides, I don’t have anything worth offering, except for the empty title of “Adams Family Heir” and the pile of gold coins in my storage space. I have almost nothing.’
‘It can’t really be asking for my soul, that cliché price, can it?’
【You still have something, right? Like that pendant, and—】 The voice chuckled softly, 【That portrait you’ve always kept hidden in your chest.】
Sevi’s heart trembled violently. He had never told anyone about that portrait. How did this guy know?
But before he could even think it over, something unexpected happened.
Thump.
Thump, thump!
That was his heart crying out in agony.
Sevi could clearly feel two forces clashing and colliding inside his heart, as if they were trying to tear it apart.
His body had long since lost all sensation, but this was the first time in his life that Sevi had felt his own heartbeat so vividly.
Each beat brought a tearing pain, and his consciousness began to rapidly fade.
【Take a deep breath. Feeling dizzy is normal. Come on, follow me: In—out—】
The voice guided him considerately, but Sevi only felt his scalp go numb.
‘What did you do?!’ Sevi demanded sharply in his mind.
【I didn’t do anything. This is the necessary path of rebirth. When you wake up, you’ll see a brand new “yourself.”】
The voice made no attempt to hide its spite and mischievousness.
Then, it added with feigned regret:
【That is… if you can hold on until then.】
Sevi couldn’t even retort anymore. He could only force himself to concentrate, desperately clinging to the last shred of clarity.
Because accompanying the excruciating pain was a thirst maddening enough to break his sanity.
His throat felt completely parched, every cell craving the moisture of nectar.
What he needed wasn’t water.
It was blood.
Warm, scarlet blood.
Sevi struggled in the chaos, and the instinctual hunger from his bloodline instantly crushed what little reason remained.
【To have held out this long? But unfortunately, time is running out.】
The voice became a little distant.
【So, have you considered it? Do you want to make a fair~ and just~ deal?】
But Sevi could no longer hear it.
His reason was completely overwhelmed, and his consciousness plunged straight into the abyss.
…
The world was reduced to black and white.
A black-haired boy sat on a hospital bed, using a half-length rough charcoal pencil to doodle on jute paper.
The silver moonlight streamed through the narrow window, reflecting in those blue-violet eyes.
He didn’t care at all about the sympathetic looks from others. He just repeated the same life day after day.
Until one day, a dazzling gold burst into this black-and-white world, illuminating everything.
A slender, soft hand unceremoniously pulled the boy out of that hospital room.
The golden-haired girl ran with him under the osmanthus trees, shared untold stories with him, and painted scenes he had never seen before.
But people eventually grow up, and dreams eventually wake.
One night, the boy used the moonlight to secretly draw the two of them on jute paper.
He was filled with joy, anticipating the girl’s reaction when she saw it.
But in the end, with reddened eyes and trembling hands, he tore the painting in two.
“This make-believe friend game… ends today.”
The girl turned around and walked away without looking back.
The boy stood there, shouting with reddened eyes for her to stop.
He swore.
Five years later, he would rely on his own strength to walk through the gates of Kantaier Academy with his head held high.
“Then let’s make a bet. If I can still see you at Kantaier Academy five years from now, then no matter how outrageous your demands are, I’ll agree to them.”
A condescending sentence easily negated everything they had ever shared. At the same time, it set a bet to return that humiliation intact.
And the torn half of the painting had been kept hidden in the boy’s chest, as if to remind himself never to forget the humiliation of that day.
…
【Seeing this, don’t you have any reaction?】
Under the osmanthus tree, the black-haired boy stood silently, watching everything with those blue-violet eyes.
“What reaction could I have at this point?”
【But you were so humiliated back then. Don’t you feel any resentment now?】 The voice seemed to deliberately tear open his wounds, trying to dig out more emotions.
Sevi suddenly laughed:
“Heh, that’s probably the funniest joke I’ve ever heard.”
If he had truly accepted it, how could he have endured these five years? A thirst for power? A craving for fame?
No, none of that.
The only thing that had sustained him until now was obsession.
The obsession to return that humiliation intact to that woman.
【But you’re about to die. Even that low-level little bat outside could trample you underfoot with the advantage of being a vampire.】
“Then I’ll become stronger than her.”
【But that “bad woman” you’re talking about is already a Saint Candidate appointed by the Theocratic Nation. Soon, she’ll become the revered Saint.】
“Then I’ll gain an even higher status than her.”
【But the reality is… you’re going to die, die in this forgotten corner.】
After a brief silence, Sevi slowly spoke:
“Then I’ll become a monster and live on.”
【Hehe…】 The voice finally smiled in satisfaction.
【Then, I’ll ask again. Do you want to… make a deal with me?】
Why should he let those who were stronger than him due to talent trample him underfoot? Just stand by and watch that lofty woman become a Saint while he died in this neglected corner?
Like hell. Screw fate!
As long as he could change this damn fate, even if it meant selling his soul to the devil, so be it.
“Take it.”
Sevi answered without hesitation.
【Then, the deal is sealed.】
…
In the real forest, it was muddy.
The broken pendant lying in the pool of blood suddenly erupted with dazzling silver light. It slowly rose, hovering in midair.
Click.
As if wound up, the pendant’s shape began to change—from a missing crescent moon, it was forcibly pulled and completed by an invisible force, transforming into a half-moon.
Then, it turned into a silver streak, shooting toward the huge blood cocoon.
But just as it was about to sink into the blood cocoon, the streak suddenly stopped, flickered twice as if something had just occurred to it, and then turned back, diving toward the ground.
The gentle silver light rolled up the painting paper soaked in muddy water, gently wrapping it.
As the light flowed, the stains on the paper quietly faded, revealing the smiling face of the golden-haired girl again.
Then, the streak turned around again and plunged without hesitation deep into the blood cocoon.
The surface of the blood cocoon twisted violently, and a giant blood-red eye slowly emerged on its surface.
A black thorn vine extended from the blood eye, with a silver-white crescent moon entwined at its end.
The gap of the crescent moon faced upward, directly opposite a broken crown.
The end of the thorn vine began to swell, sprout, and grow buds. Finally—
A dark red rose named 【Jealousy】 bloomed in the rainy night.
…
Inside the consciousness space, the black-haired boy lay under the osmanthus tree, quietly watching the moon in the sky.
【Alright, the deal is done.】
“One last question.” Sevi suddenly spoke.
【For the sake of your barely managing to survive, I’ll make an exception and answer this time.】
“So, are you an old man in a ring, or an old woman in a pendant?”
【Can’t you ask something more important at a time like this?】 The girl’s voice clearly showed signs of breaking.
“So what’s the answer?”
【Didn’t you already say it yourself! Those storybook things don’t exist!】
“Oh.” Having gotten his answer, Sevi slowly closed his eyes. “What a shame.”
As he fell asleep, this false space made of past memories began to crumble bit by bit.
【…What a completely unlovable person.】
【Oh, I almost forgot the payment for the deal.】
【Oh well, I’ll just store it here temporarily for now… Sevi Adams.】
【Oh, right. That boy is already dead.】
【Come to think of it… I forgot to tell him “that thing.”】
【Oh, I’m really getting forgetful. But it’s fine. I’ll just leave it as a “little surprise” for when he wakes up.】 Though she said that, her tone was full of the satisfaction of having gotten her revenge.
In this chaos about to completely dissipate, the voice finally slowly calmed down and softly announced the end of an era and the birth of a new monster:
【Then, fight back with all your might against that damn fate—】
After a few seconds of silence, as if waiting for the gears of fate to mesh.
【Sevitis Alcat.】