'I was naïve.'

'Even though I knew better than anyone that this world was treacherous.'

'We've made it this far, but at the critical part, I was useless.'

'Getting rid of the plague in Noctelagia was easy. The previous Apostle was conflicted between his morals and the corruption taking a hold of him.'

'It was the perfect puppet for me, with my illusion slowly shifting his true memories into ones I had created.'

'I became his daughter, gathered allied in just a few years, and overthrew him, casting him and his followers far into the sea.'

'We watched as their boat sunk into the sea, devoured by a storm. We were delighted.'

'Maybe that's why I've never really bothered changing.'

'As a daughter of demons, who kept hearing about the fate of our faction, it felt good to free our city.'

'Yet, I was too stupid to realize.'

'To realize how crushing the reality of things were.'

'I thought I was powerful enough to protect us, which probably enabled me to become a brainless fool.'

'Meeting Orion for the first time, it took everything I had to hide my aura.'

'With the demon blood screaming to mix with him, I learned what I had to do.'

'During the time before our meeting, I asked the girls not to ever attack him if he were to come. Sadly, he began with Hocride, and I was... last.'

'I wasn't even able to meet him in normal conditions. Finding the one you expect to be your soulmate in such a distressing condition is heartbreaking.'

'Still, I kept my emotions under control, and kept moving as the Lord of Noctelagia. Even with great sorrow in my heart, the responsibilities on my shoulders are too great to ignore.'

'Maybe I am a precocious woman. I'm barely nineteen, and already lead a city and its citizens. I have an army of powerful individuals under my control, which can dispatch mostly anything threatening our home.'

'Yet, I was unable to help the man I fell in love with until it was too late. The worst part was, he already had his lover... or lovers, in this case.'

'I was devastated. Did I miss the opportunity by caring too much for politics? Was my life a sick joke made to make me miserable?'

'That's when he woke up.'

'I was unable to contain the calling of my blood. I forcefully approached him, stole his lips, and obtained something I wasn't prepared to receive.'

'After that little... incident, I was taken into this big family. Of course, the grief I shoulder followed me.'

'I tried to hide it as much as possible from him, but he seemed to have found out.'

'I knew playing the violin would get me found out, but I honestly don't care that much. If he were to ask, I would undoubtedly tell him.'

'The world isn't kind, as I was in the front row when I finally understood. Orion is the prime exemple of this unfairness.'

'Comparing our struggles is meaningless, but the burden he shoulders is greater than mine at the very least.'

'The tipping point was during the kelpies incident. Not only was I unable to control my emotions, I also endangered him.'

'Wearing an outfit unfit for battle, a lack of discipline caused by my complacency, and the idea of leaving everything to the others while doing absolutely nothing.'

'Those are my mistakes. I wasn't prepared to walk alongside them.'

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'Alongside him.'

'But today, I stand my ground. I will not repeat the same mistakes.'

Olivia walked past Marie, who glanced at her back with astonishment. The look on her face conveyed a small hint of fear, but also pride.

It had been truly long since she saw her friend act personally. The memories of a demon ripping the males assaulting her returned vividly, as a dangerous smile threatened to break through.

Piles of corrupted body obstructed her path, but she couldn't care any less. Olivia walked on them, and continued.

With her outfit putting mobility forward instead of her lovely dress, she easily overcame the piles, and with a disgusted expression, stepped into the red waters.

She observed her surrounding. The maids were kind enough to create a path for her as she walked, lead between wires corridors that shredded anything trying to hurt their master.

Nothing stood in front of her, as she felt the gazes of three creatures in the depths far away.

Olivia sighed, and continued forward.

A blue aura covered her boots, as she stepped on the water. Surprised, the maids blinked for a second, gasping in astonishment from her sudden inhuman feat.

As she walked in a straight line on the sea's surface, Olivia looked below her.

There, red eyes swam rapidly, indicating that her enemies were ready to pounce on her.

As she glared at them, a dark, more somber aura enveloped the rest of her body.

The entirety of her body changed, revealing the features of her long-lost faction.

Demon horns, wings, and tail. Piercing eyes that intimidated anyone looking into them.

With darkness spreading under her feet, and a trail of dark magic following behind her back, Olivia finally stopped caring.

Her identity was what it was. Even if her citizens were to despise her for being different, she would still continue to strive to improve their lives.

But to make it to that point, she had to protect Noctelagia.

One of the corrupted sharks jumped out of the water, and tried to bite her left thigh. With a precise and powerful movement, Olivia grabbed its nose, and slammed it into the water surface.

The rapidity she slammed it on the water caused it to explode in disgusting chunks of bloody flesh, as if it had fallen from a few hundred meters.

As the shark blew up, she saw a glimmering core falling in front of her. She grabbed it, and squeezed it with little force.

Shattering into dust, she opened her hand, letting the wind disperse its particles into the air.

The maids were in shock, as this was a first for them. Only Marie knew how capable and deadly Olivia was.

Even if she was sweet and lovely, inside, in a deep, repressed part of her soul, the demon blood stirred the darkness of her heart.

This was her true form. A ruthless princess who destroyed anything standing in her way.

As they noticed two other sharks jumping at her, and one lunging at her from below, they were about to help her, before they were met with another incredible sight.

Olivia jumped lightly on the right, grabbed one closer to her, and crushed its nose with her hand. The one coming from below erupted from under the water, and traveled a few centimeters above sea-level.

Its jaws clacked powerfully, as it gnawed on nothing. Olivia, with her nails deeply stuck into the nose of the first shark, threw it against the shark coming from below.

The impact of the two sharks made them fly away, bumping into the third one in the process.

While the three where falling back toward the water, she frowned while lifting her arm in front of her.

She opened her hand, and fired a laser of dark energy at them, erasing their existence altogether.

Satisfied, she continued forward, toward the glaring red eyes in the distance.

From the looks of it, Olivia guessed that they were as big as whales, but definitely not as big as the eel that attacked the kelpies.

In some ways, she was relieved.

Even if her training bore fruits, she wasn't confident enough about going against that same creature again.

What was strange, was the fact that one of the three beasts had a single eye, similar to the eel. The middle one had three, while the last one had two.

She knew that they were different from other corrupted beasts, that they were probably the Corrupted Lords she had heard about from everyone.

But, as she was thinking to herself, she noticed even more sharks swimming under her.

At giant spiral of hundreds of sharks revolved below her. Still, she wasn't fearing for her life.

Olivia stomped the water with her next step, and continued forward as if nothing had happened.

Seconds later, a large explosion underwater threw chunks of sharks everywhere. The dark magic in the water showed that Olivia was the one creating such a large-scale destruction.

The moment she did, she sent a wave of dark magic below her that enveloped the creatures in a dark veil, before exploding violently upward.

Getting rid of those beasts made the waters calmer, as no more came to attack her. The coast was also slowly showing signs of peace, with no more corrupted trying to invade the city.

All that was left was the cannons in the far back, and the three Corrupted Lords.

In the blink of an eye, Olivia vanished from her spot by flapping her large wings, and appeared in front of the cannons.

She clenched both fists, before black bullets formed around her hands. Those black bullets were from copying Eric's weapon, which she found interesting.

With a twist, Olivia created an alternating version of the revolver, only using the dark magic.

Pointing her fingers at multiple giant seahorses ready to fire another volley of bombs on her city, she carefully aimed, and fired.

With a single blast, she broke through their head, blowing them up into bits. Rapidly, she kept firing at the others, eradicating the whole row of long-range attackers.

Now that they had been killed, Eden and Alice, alongside Saffira and her kelpies, could take it easy.

All that was left was the three Corrupted Lords.

Something Olivia prepared herself to do.

Alone.