"Urgh..."
On a rainy night, a low, guttural groan escaped my collapsing lungs—disrupting the melodious symphony of nature.
Lying bareback over a rough rock—moist with my own blood and rain—sent chills down my spine.
My body had long since fallen numb. But still, pain seethed through every bit of my muscle as if it were torturing me.
I wished for it to stop. I wanted to hold myself together. But I couldn't, since all of my limbs were gone.
Or more accurately, torn apart. My body was heavily wounded, to the point that my insides sprawled out of my body.
Nerves, muscle tissues, bones—everything dangled to the last bit of my body.
And no, it wasn't done by animals. For even they know not to torture their prey so harshly.
Instead, it was humans. The kind that I had bled to save. Not once, but countless times.
Why did they do it? I did not know.
Even as the cold droplets of rain relentlessly poured down my wounds and eyes, I couldn't react. My body had lost all its strength. And I had lost my will.
Even as I looked at the mourning sky, I could vaguely feel the presence beneath.
Death was calling for me. Approaching me. Wrapping its arms around my soul.
'I do not want to die...' the thought kept ringing in my head. Each breath I drew moved me a step closer to my demise. Yet, something within me kept me awake.
Welling inside my eyes, a strange heat slipped out from the corner, mixing with the cold rain.
I gritted my teeth in despair, recalling that everything had been over. But in that instance, something inside of me snapped. My soul shattered my suppression and called out to the heavens as a final plea.
"WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! WHAT DID I DO WRONG!?! GODDESS ARIA, WHY DO YOU NOT RESPOND TO ME ANYMORE!?? TELL ME!!! WHAT WAS MY SIN!!!" I yelled using every last bit of strength, my voice guttural and wavering.
I patiently waited for the response, but even in death, no one replied.
The heavens decided to turn their gaze away.
The goddess I served with my life discarded me once my use was exhausted.
The comrades I called my family backstabbed me.
The love of my life rejected me the second I lost my powers.
And the people I risked my life for hunted me down, tortured me, and threw me into the wild to rot and die a painful death.
And yet, here I was. Oblivious to my own sins that the world had punished me for.
Tears, which I had been holding back for the last 30 years, broke through, and my wails outreached the forest.
My voice overpowered the turbulent river that overflowed merely a step away from me. My vision blurred as my memories began to shine before my eyes.
'Davey Lionheart... Right, that was my name...' I thought, recalling myself.
I was an orphan who survived on the world's leftovers. At the age of 10, I joined the church of Aria, the goddess of light.
In my eyes, she was the beacon that brightened my life. The thought of serving the strongest divinity gave my life a meaning.
I pledged my life and worked harder than anyone. As time passed, my talent for swords was revealed under care.
And I was chosen by the goddess as her new saint. I believed that it was all her doing. Bestowing a talentless person like myself with such a talent.
I trained till I fainted, all to show her that I was thankful. At the age of 19, I became the strongest divine knight and received an oracle.
It was a mission, a chance to prove my worth. As such, I set out with my comrades and my love to fight against the forces of evil—the demons.
After a grueling fight that lasted months, I beheaded the demon king and won the war. But I lost my powers in exchange. And the next second, I was backstabbed by the same people I saved.
They thought I died, but I survived. All to find answers. I traveled across the world, went back, and saw them happy. Saw her happy. Without me.
And here I am, dying without answers. "How pathetic, I couldn't even find answers before my death..." I let out a grueling laugh as something warm seeped through my eyes.
My vision which was darkening, suddenly turned red. Blood slowly trickled down the corner of my eyes as a voice called out to me.
"Davey Lionheart, this was the path you chose for yourself. The path of humility and fake love that you chose over self-respect." A soft, yet equally cold voice echoed in my mind.
"As you are now, you will once again be born into this world and suffer the same. For this fate of yours is cursed." It continued, growing weary as my mind continued to grow bleak.
"Take my hand," it called out, as a bright cerulean light flickered before my eyes. "Accept your pride and shake the world beneath your feet. I will give you life, but only if you accept to become what you hated till now."
The bright light stretched into a translucent screen as a message appeared on top.
---
[You've been presented with a choice.]
└ [Refuse the offer and accept your fate to be repeated infinite times.]
└ [Accept your pride and be reborn as a demon in a different world.]
---
The world had already rejected me. And I was about to die a cruel fate. But even when the gods refused to look my way, an enemy extended his hand.
It didn't demand that I kneel like the goddess. It didn't expect anything in return, like my family.
It was then that my sense of justice, which I had built over the years, collapsed. 'Was I truly bringing justice to the world?' I asked myself silently.
'Or was I merely helping the 'demons'?'
Enraged by the treatment I received after saving this world without anything in return, I accepted the help without hesitation.
The screen in front of my eyes flickered with bright, blinding light. And somewhere in an unknown space, an unknown figure smiled deviously.
Yet I knew better than anyone. I was done being a puppet. I was done caring for others. I, too, deserved to live.
If the price for my freedom is that I become a demon, so be it. I will become what the world so feared.
"EVEN IF THE WORLDS CHANGE..." I roared at the top of my lungs, my voice filled with spite and rage.
"I WILL RETURN TO MAKE YOU ALL PAY!!"