Sparks flew, and the screeching of metal scraping against metal filled the ears of all those who were present to witness this fight.
"Destroy each other? Hahaha... how wonderful."
Mackayla and Melody locked eyes as the redhaired woman spoke, both demented with corrupt expressions.
"It would seem that I have finally found someone who understands. Indeed, let us destroy one another!!"
Mackayla found herself shoved back by the woman who she had interlocked weapons with for a few moments, however as she skid along the dirt, Mackayla used her own sword, stabbing it into the ground to stop her from sliding back further.
Looking up with a smile, Mackayla quickly stood, holding her sword in a single hand as she twirled it about like a baton, matching the casual movements of her opponent.
"Is that all you got?", the blue haired knight asked.
"Of course not.", the scarlet haired woman responded with a strange delight in her voice. "Do you think a fellow servant of her eminence would be so pathetically weak? Merely leeching off her greatness.... absorbing it just being in her presence..... it is enough to make one more powerful than imaginable."
Mackayla rushed forward with wide eyes, smiling as she swung her sword a number of times, each of them blocked quickly by the woman's wand.
"What do you mean fellow servant!?", she shouted.
As Mackayla asked this, the lips of the redhaired woman curled upwards, and she could have sworn that the woman let out a short laugh.
"Oh..... do you not notice it yourself? You are already serving her in ways which you do not even know. Truly..... as expected of her eminence. To be able to tame even the humans..... who believe themselves to be fighting for humanity..... hah.....hahaha....."
At this statement, the swings of Mackayla became faster and quicker as the two interchanged blows at speeds faster than a normal human would be able to perceive.
"Oi... how is that woman keeping up with Melody?", Yirald asked from afar.
"This is..... certainly unexpected.", Fergo responded.
"Do you not understand? Her eminence is gracious. Therefore she gave the people of this town a chance."
Looking back to those who were confused, Charlotte smiled brightly.
"It is because she does not wish this slaughter to be meaningless. There must be purpose to it. Even if that purpose is merely..... her own entertainment."
As Charlotte stated this, Oraguth chuckled to himself.
'Truly..... the Queen of Evil.....'
The two women shot across the battlefield, the earth being torn up and the very skies being ripped apart with their blows.
It was perfectly even.
"Hahaha.... and I even used my debuffs on you already..... truly... you are nothing more than a parasite..... just as I am.....", Melody stated with demented fervor.
"A parasite!? What is that supposed to mean!?", Mackayla shouted in response.
"You have relied on her for many things, have you not? Just as I relied on their excellencies and her eminence... you too are a being who cannot live without them."
As the two fought, Melody drove her words into Mackayla, who didn't stop moving for even a second.
The two women were beginning to wear one another down, bit by bit.
On many occasions, the sword of Mackayla had grazed the arms and face of Melody, and similarly the wand of Melody had grazed Mackayla.
Despite the blunt nature of her weapon, even a graze was enough to rip off a piece of flesh, and the number of wounds on the two increased as time passed.
Small chunks of flesh went flying and blood sprayed as the girls exchanged hundreds of blows each second.
"What do you mean I cannot live without them?"
Slamming her sword down from above, Mackayla was met with yet another block by the wand of Melody, however this time the sound of chipping could be heard as the wand struggled to uphold the weight it was carrying.
"Her eminence assisted you..... did she not? Everything about you would suggest that you received something from her. For when you receive from her eminence.... you become tainted."
"Tainted?"
Mackayla stopped her furious attack for a moment, giving Melody the opening to slam her in the face with one of the orbs on the end of her wand, leaving Mackayla with a black eye and red marks on the side of her face.
Thrown to the side, Mackayla tumbled across the fields, eventually coming to a stop and standing quickly as if she had not even been hit by the attack.
"What do you mean I have been tainted?", she asked with fear in her voice.
"Do you not see the darkness around you?", Melody asked, rushing at Mackayla once more, not giving her a moment to relax.
Taking her weapon, Mackayla grit her teeth, blocking the blow of the woman and twisting her sword about the wand in a disarming fashion.
Maneuvering the wand aside, Mackayla thrust forward at Melody who had been exposed as a result of the technique.
"What are you talking about?", she spit with anger, aiming her sword straight at the chest of the demented woman.
It was then that Mackayla saw it.
A black tar was creeping up her sword, originating from her own hands as it wrapped around the weapon, giving it the aura of death.
However, as she thrusted this blackened weapon at the chest of the woman, contrary to expectation, the woman held out her arms and smiled with a horrible happiness.
It was disturbing, and terrible enough to make Mackayla wish to puke.
As Mackayla thrust her sword straight through the futuristic armor of the woman, piercing her chest with the black energy, she was met with a disgusting smile.
"Ah.... it is truly wonderful to have thrown away all semblance of humanity....."
"Wha...."
Despite having a sword thrusted into her very heart, the woman was smiling as if nothing was wrong.
And then, as Mackayla pulled her weapon from the woman, they exited.
Parasites.
From the hole in her chest, slimy parasites burst forth, consuming the darkness which had enveloped the blade of Mackayla.
"Wha..."
Jumping back as the strange insects exited the body of the scarlet haired woman, Mackayla shook them off, slicing them into pieces before they reached her hands.
'Would they eat my soul if they reached me?', Mackayla thought.
"Heh..... heh.... heh heh heh... ah... you are too smart, girl... it is truly no wonder her eminence held interest in you.'
Having dropped her wand, the woman before Melody was now leaking with blood and guts as the parasites continued to exit her body, surrounding her as if they were her pets.
They looked like slugs with eyes and sharpened teeth, blobs of flesh which had been turned to animals.
'She had all those things inside her!?', Mackayla thought. 'Is she... was she a human at first..... but was then taken over by these monsters?'
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
'Or was she a monster to begin with?'
It was then that the red haired woman grabbed something from her pocket while holding her free hand forth.
"Attack."
As she said this, about 20 of the parasites rushed at Mackayla who begun slashing them before they could reach her, the dark energy reaching up her hands and overtaking her arms.
After slicing the attacking parasites to pieces in seconds, Mackayla looked up to see something horrible.
The red haired woman was stitching her very chest together as if nothing had happened.
"Ah.... you took out the little ones like they were nothing... I suppose her eminences corruption is too much for a mere parasite to handle... then..... it looks like it is time to finish this."
Dropping her wand, Melody rushed forward, no weapon in hand.
And then, from nothing, a sword formed.
The energy gathered in her hand, allowing her to create a sword from nothing, catching Mackayla off guard.
"Ngh....."
Having jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a direct slice to the head, Mackayla's arm was lopped off in the maneuver, to which she jumped back and blocked the next blow.
Many more blows were exchanged after that, and the speed of her opponent seemed to increase as time passed, however that was not what Mackayla was concerned with.
Her arm was gone.
And yet, she felt no pain.
'Why?'
Losing a limb was enough to fill her with horror, but the fact that she felt no pain instilled her with even greater fear.
"Why..... don't I feel anything?", Mackayla asked while continuing to swing her weapon, cutting off the hand of her opponent.
Blood sprayed, and the two continued swinging at one another, cutting each other to pieces.
Fingers here, limbs there, chunks of flesh, sprays of blood.
"Why..... don't I feel anything!?!?", Mackayla shouted.
"Why?", Melody responded, laughing as she thrust her blade forth once more in stabbing motion.
"Because we are no longer human."
It was at that moment that the two women, both having been battered, bloodied, and torn apart to the point where one might not even think they were still living, stabbed each other one final time.
This time, their blades were aimed straight for each other's eyes.
And there was no blocking.
Both swords were thrusted into the left eye of their opponent, driving straight through and piercing all the way through the skull, out the back of their heads.
Blood sprayed from the location of impact, yet as this happened the two women came to a complete stop.
Locked in place, they were unable to move without letting go of their weapons.
Their faces were mere inches apart, each of them torn apart as if they were mere dolls.
From these few inches away, the two girls looked once more into each others remaining eyes, staring directly without taking another breath.
"Hah....."
"Heh....."
And then, both smiled.
"Hahaha....."
"Heh heh heh..."
And they laughed.
"AHAHAH!!!!!"
"HAHAHA!!!!"
"You look like a monster!!!!"
"And you like a psychopath!!!"
"AHAHAHA!!!!"
"HAHAHAHAH!!!!!!"
Both women then pulled their swords from the head of the other, slicing it straight upwards so as to create a vertical slice in the very brain of their opponent.
Their heads having been split directly open, chunks of brain matter flew out violently with a spray of blood, at which both women fell backwards, laughing in demented manner.
"AHAHHAHAHAH!!!!!"
"HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!"
It was a scene of chaos.
"I see!!!! So that is how it is... hahaha..."
"And now you understand..... exactly why I have come to this side..... hahaha...."
Mackayla, in that moment of madness, having been in contact with this woman, had experienced something strange.
She experienced a unity of sensation.
She experienced the suffering of this woman.
Memories of being raised by a demented man who wished for nothing more than to eventually marry the girl he had adopted entered the mind of Mackayla.
Memories of the death of Melody's parents, of the existence of the parasite, and most importantly, the slaying of that man.
All these memories of Melody's suffering flowed into Mackayla's mind.
Similarly, the memories of the death of Kyle, of the torment which Mackayla endured under Larios, and finally of the terror of the Determined, flowed into the mind of Melody.
This sharing of suffering had been spread to these two, and it was enough to make them go mad.
The sadness, the pain, the suffering, it was all great enough to make a sane person break down crying- and that was exactly what the two wanted to do.
However they did not.
Because they understood now that the time of their suffering was over.
Therefore, they fell into madness, laughing as they welcomed this new era.
An era where nobody would live to suffer.
Standing up with pieces of her brain falling from her head, Mackayla held out her hand to Melody.
"Heh..... who would you say won that battle?", she asked, looking onto the city with a corrupt smile.
"Does it matter?", Melody asked. "It was the victory of her eminence."
"Heh.... true enough."
Grabbing her needle and threat, Melody begun to string her very head back together, and soon did the same for Mackayla.
"Shall we slay them all?", she asked while patching the girl.
"Of course."
----
Mackayla finally understood.
She understood two things.
The first- she understood why she felt no pain.
It was not that the Determined had set a condition on her that removed her ability to feel pain.
Rather, it was that so much pain had been inflicted on Mackayla when she met the Determined in that other world, that physical pain felt like nothing more than being tickled.
The same thing had happened before to Mackayla as her fingers were chopped off by Larios.
Having returned from that other world of torment, even being tortured felt like a soothing bath.
The second thing that Mackayla understood was the reason why this woman had become what she was.
Mackayla now understood why a person would be drawn to the Queen of Evil.
Before, it was inexplainable.
The only explanation she could come up with was that this woman was no human.
That she was a monster.
How true, and yet how false that was.
'There.... is no such thing as someone who is simply born a monster.'
'A wild animal which runs on instinct..... that is nothing more than that. An animal. Yet in order for something to become a monster..... it must be made.'
And what could make a person into a monster?
Suffering.
Hatred.
Desire.
These three things embodied the Determined, and those who experienced them were drawn to her.
Heading into the city, Mackayla joined the rankings of monsters as they invaded the tranquil place.
"Heh... heh..... I see now..... your eminence..... is that what your followers call you? I see now..... why people would follow you... heh..."
With dull eyes and an expression of tranquil happiness, Mackayla and many others entered the city without a care in the world.
Looking up to that decrepit flag, Mackayla thinned her eyes with a smile.
"Ah..... it is true that she is crushing the hearts of the world..... but that would also mean that within her very hand.... she is in possession of them in the first place."
Looking around, Mackayla watched peacefully as the people around her were slain by those who she had labeled as monsters.
"So those who create scenes like this.... are monsters... I see....."
Taking her sword, Mackayla approached a household, bursting in the door with a demented smile.
"Yet.... in order for someone to truly be a monster.... they must choose to make those around them suffer.... despite knowing the consequences."
"What are you doing in our home!?"
"Who are you!? Eh!? Mackayla!? Is that you!?"
A husband, wife, and daughter stood in the center of the room, the man stepping forth as he shielded his family.
"Mackayla, what's going on? What is happening outside?"
"Then that would mean that humans who are born with the predisposition to do what is right... yet still choose to do wrong... are the greatest monsters of all."
Whispering these words, Mackayla smiled as she slashed at the chest of the man, causing his organs to spill from his body as he fell to the ground.
"Mackay.....la...."
With this last phrase, the man no longer could breathe as his lungs were now outside his chest cavity.
"Hahahaha... I thought so hard about it... I sat there and thought and thought and thought..... about whether Kyle was right or wrong, about whether or not I was actually helping anyone..... about what I should have been doing this entire time..... hahaha..."
"Agh!!!!"
"Papa!!!!"
The wife and the daughter let out their screams as they watched the father drop to the ground, blood pooling around him.
"I should have realized that there was no right answer in the first place."
----
What ensued was a slaughter.
Hundreds of unarmed families were killed without mercy as the monstrous army flooded into the village without any retribution.
[They're all class 1, so make sure their deaths are quick and painless!! Ah, and try not to kill their family members right in front of them if possible. If you have to, then make sure to do it in quick succession so they don't have time to be sad.]
"Yes, your eminence."
"Understood."
Orchestrating dozens of battles across the world at once, Claire sat in her demonic throne.
This woman, who took the beautiful form of an angel and the corrupted figure of a demon, held the entire world in her hand, controlling everything as if each and every person was a puppet which she held the strings to.
With a peaceful smile, this girl watched a series of screens- all of which contained gruesome scenes of slaughter.
"There go two more..... and another one over here..... another hundred there.... hahaha..... I'm losing track of how many there are."
"Are you really alright? You....."
"How could I not be alright!? Hahaha!! This is what I wanted, after all!! This is what I ordered!!! Look!!! Look at that!!! A child just died over there! I was the one who ordered that! And look! All those innocent people are now dead! Because of me!!! I'm the one who created this scenario! The entire world has been plunged into chaos, and it's all because of me!!"
With excessive motions the girl smiled with madness as she described the scenes of terror, watching with what looked to be a mix of pleasure and pain.
"I..... did this for the sake of..... hahaha..... for the sake of the people..... of this world..... heh... so that the innocent.... wouldn't have to suffer..... even if I were to lose..... heh....."
Slowly devolving into madness, the girl's expression became one of fear as her angelic hand begun to shake.
"R.....right?"
"Don't ask me. You were the one who ordered this. Now finish it off, or you'll really regret it."
"C-Clarice.... I..... was doing... the right thing here.... right?"
"I said don't ask me. I am the evil part of you, so how do you expect me to know what's right?"
The girl's eyes widened as she watched the continued scenes of slaughter, and she begun to bite her nails in nervousness.
"Yeah.....I have to see this through, don't I? After all..... if I don't..... then all those people will have died pointlessly.... heh.... hah..... heh....."
Widening her eyes with a demented smile, Claire stood up.
"Yes..... that's right..... it was all for the sake..... of destroying that man..... heh....."
With a grin which was truly that of a demon, the girl's eyes became wrecked with madness.
"You're right, Clarice. I've already come this far. If I wasn't willing to destroy every last person in this world..... then why the hell would I have become what I am?"
Smashing the glass of wine in her hand, the girl nodded with a smile, licking the red fluid with a crazed expression.
"I became this way for one reason. To redirect the suffering of this world..... to those who have caused the most suffering."
----
[Time Log]
[10:00 AM- An army of monsters appears before the village of Repan]
[10:04 AM- The single knight stationed in Repan engages in a duel with the woman who appeared to be the leader of the group of monsters.]
[10:10 AM- After furious battle, both women are driven to madness. The knight who once fought to protect the people of Repan joins the monsters in slaying the people]
[10:15 AM- The monsters enter the village and slay every last person.]