"So that is how it is," announced Nyx in a chilling, emotionless voice as she reluctantly released the mutilated corpse of the ranger.

With a splash, the man's body fell backwards into a crimson puddle of his own blood. His lifeless eyes, starting up into the darkening sky, still displaying their last moments of pure, unadulterated terror.

Nearby, the unconscious elf was faintly breathing, but her pale complexion made it clear that she needed medical attention soon.

Looking down at the mutilated corpse, although Nyx's body was trembling in anger, the image of her previous masters' laughing, manipulative face superimposed upon his current form, her left eye couldn't help but twitch.

The ranger, his mind already broken, had told Nyx everything he knew without much coercion, yet after she filtered the propaganda and filled in some of the missing pieces, she had flown into a rage and tortured him mercilessly without purpose.

Turning her head slightly, she looked directly into the eyes of the cowering, black wolf. While it had seemed pretty intimidating earlier, bursting forth with the two men as the ambush was triggered, that ended the moment it saw Nyx.

Since then, it had fallen to the ground, ears flat, and tried to make itself as small and unnoticeable as possible. It even occasionally released a low whine, yet the moment it made the noise, it would start to shiver and stop.

Nyx had always kept the beast in her peripheral, thinking it would attack the moment she dropped her guard or showed any weakness, but after torturing the one she believed to be its master, it had only continued to watch her with a mixture of fear and reverence in its eyes.

Nyx snorted in disdain, causing the large wolf to flinch. "Leave!"

As if it had been given a reprieve by the reaper himself, the wolf's paws struggled to find purchase on the wet, cobblestone floor, slipping and sliding, as it took off at his fastest speed, tail tucked between its legs.

However, instead of finding the sight amusing, the fear in the wolf's eyes and actions reminded Nyx of what she had discovered, causing her eyes to turn even colder. "Do you really think you can still control me? That I am nothing more than a tool or plaything to entertain you?"

Harold's face floated to the surface of her mind, warping from the young man who wouldn't leave her alone, to the one that had told her to 'Just die' as her body appeared to be breathing its last.

This was quickly replaced with Granny's, as she promised, though not directly in spoken words, to look out for Nyx after the country had used her for its own purposes, causing Nyx to grit her teeth as her lips slightly curled.

"I never wanted to come to his place, which just turned out to be another form of imprisonment yet, the moment I am not what you want or desire, you turn against me?" Nyx's breathing started to become uneven. "Why? Did I ever claim to be your princess? Did I not play nice? I could have slaughtered my way out, but I stayed... I... I."

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Nyx's voice trailed off before she took a deep breath as her thoughts returned to her former master. "Do you really believe this will break me? Do you think that I haven't suffered betrayal at your hands before? That you can still control me with these methods? I am no longer your tool or plaything."

Slowly, Nyx's gaze moved to the high-grade beast collars that had been scattered around the alley.

"Ha, and do you think that because you have turned me into some sort of monster..." Nyx's body violently trembled, her face momentarily displaying a pained expression. "... That you will have more methods to control me? That these collars will work?"

Her gaze moved to the corpses as her expression darkened. "And you wanted to capture me? To sell me like a slave, treat me as a pet or dismember me for my flesh and blood..."

An explosion occurred in the distance, a red arrow appearing indicating one of her earlier kills had been discovered.

"And you, the nation of the Welshmar Republic..." Nyx's anger was boiling, the bloody puddle in which she stood, rippling in time with the drum-like pulses emanating from her heart. "You wish to kill me just because I was unwittingly placed in this body so you can save a small amount of face. So that I don't bring dishonour upon you just for existing in this plane."

High above, a rumble, though not the same of thunder, emanated outwards, a warning that would conventionally mean that Nyx had been close to suffering punishment for what she had just revealed.

"Fuck off," spat Nyx to no one in particular. "You are just another form of control."

As if to match her mood, a few drops of rain started to splash in the bloody puddles.

"Before, I was forced to become a monstrosity. A being that could only carry out another's commands, suffering agonising pain if they refused. A pitiful existence that had no will of its own and was forced to commit atrocities that will haunt me for all time..."

If anyone were to see her now, naked, covered in blood and talking to herself, they wouldn't doubt for a second that Nyx had lost her mind.

A cold, cruel chuckle escaped Nyx's mouth as she lifted her right hand in front of her face, still wrapped in its demonic appearance and covered in blood.

One at a time, she flexed her claw-like fingers, studying its fiendish form as she slowly rotated her hand.

"Then so be it."

Nyx's voice was so quiet it was almost a whisper as her head slightly lowered "If everyone believes that I am a monster, then who am I to argue? I will not apologise for what I am, for I was not born like this, but made this way by others."

"Today, the human soul called Nyx was murdered." While it was clear that she was furious, Nyx's body still visibly shook as tears fell from her eyes. "And this world's first true monster was born in its place. A soul from the abyss that is neither human, beast nor guardian... The first of its kind, a soul that is truly alone."

While Nyx hadn't done enough to cause her body to explode, she had said enough that a normal summoned would have suffered at least one tribulation yet, even though the laws rumbled above, they did not strike.

Nyx's glowing, blue eyes revealed a sense of despair and loneliness, yet the more she spoke, the more these feelings were replaced with grim, unyielding resolve. "I am Nyx. No longer born from darkness because I am the darkness. For those that wish me harm, only death awaits for I do not forgive, nor do I forget."

Taking another deep, calming breath, Nyx stopped shaking and raised her head towards the sky, the pitter patter of rain gradually increasing around her.

A small, slightly forced a smile crept upon Nyx lips as she, just like she had done when Nyx had accepted that she was female, embraced what she had become. At the same time, the "Happy birthday Nyx~, daughter of darkness. The Shadow Princess."

Little did she know, as she couldn't see under her essence manifestation, that the moment Nyx uttered these words, the lines of the sigil on the back of her right hand started to move as they became much more defined and graceful.

The smile gradually became more natural, to the point it looked like Nyx was genuinely happy. "Now, as it's my birthday, and everyone has come to celebrate, that it would be rude if I didn't 'paint the town red' on my way out."