Stepping forward into the rain without pause, each footfall echoed softly.

It was exhausting just to hold onto the fragile thread of my sanity, already fraying, while all sorts of noise swirled around me, unsettling my mind.

The incessant sound of the rain pouring down.

The crackling of flames that refused to be extinguished by the downpour.

And the voices that ceaselessly urged me to burn everything to the ground.

Voices, voices, voices.

No matter how much I tried to block them out, they continued to invade my ears.

They gnawed at my thoughts.

“───!!!”

Then, amid the cacophony, a different sound suddenly mixed in.

It was small and distant compared to the others, but I felt compelled to move towards it, as if drawn by some unseen force.

As I kept moving toward the source, the faint sound grew clearer.

“──Aaaah!!”

“──Damn it, another one’s been caught! Fill the gap!!”

It was the sound of a life fading.

As the voices of those still fighting without hope brushed past my ears, their emotions washed over me.

Fear, anxiety, doubt.

“Don’t freak out! Hold on until the captains arrive!!”

“Get lost! Do you think I’m just going to let you pass?!”

Nevertheless, their unwavering will to fight back was palpable.

Despite being extinguished, their cries, burning their last breaths, reignited my fading spirit.

I recalled what drove me to move forward.

Reflecting inwardly on my purpose, I used the voices around me as my guide and pressed further ahead, soon catching sight of a fierce battle through the downpour.

Countless heroes surrounded a massive demonic beast.

“Burn it all—!!”

As I spotted them, my voice erupted in chaotic fervor, flames bursting forth from my body.

One of the heroes, engaged in relentless combat against the beast, spotted me and shouted loudly.

“Ugh, it’s a student?! It’s dangerous here, run away quickly—”

But as he turned to give me a warning, his expression froze, a look of shock and alarm emerging on his face.

Anyone would react that way;

What kind of student would be radiating such ominous energy?

Grinning at the crimson energy flowing from me along with the flames, I looked at the stunned hero, thinking about the situation.

There was no way I could avoid suspicion.

But it couldn’t be helped.

After all, I couldn’t control this current situation anyway.

Moreover,

If I burned everything down, it wouldn’t matter at all.

Flames erupted from my body.

The fire burst forth toward the frozen hero, striking a tentacle of the beast that was charging at him and igniting it with a furious crackle.

I barely managed to redirect the flames and thought to myself:

What do you mean burn everything down? Don’t spout nonsense.

But the flames seemed to surge forward again, wanting to spread wildly.

I instinctively knew.

It was impossible to stop the fire.

If that was the case, all I could do was direct this rage.

I turned my gaze.

The colossal beast came into view.

I muttered to myself while looking at the creature.

“Now, look.

That one over there is the one that just put a hole in your side.

How does that make you feel? Angry? Want to burn it down?”

As if in answer to my thoughts, flames erupted from my body.

I realized from its reaction that to it, the target didn’t matter.

It was going to burn them all, one after another.

But I wouldn’t just let it do whatever it wanted with the people around me.

With caution, I focused so the flames wouldn’t lash out at the man staring blankly at me, weaving my way past him toward the beast.

Watching the beast fight the heroes with its massive size and wave of tentacles made me acutely aware of its strength.

Even under siege from numerous heroes, it was the beast that had the upper hand.

No matter how many tentacles were severed or how many wounds it sustained, it would regenerate again in no time.

The beast showed no signs of even wearing down after enduring such a war of attrition for a long time.

I began to wonder if there was a limit to its regenerative powers, especially since it seemed even more robust than before. But I soon understood the reason.

One hero, ensnared by the beast’s tentacle, was impaled and spat blood.

The once-hero’s blood mixed with the rain, turning into a dark torrent that flowed into the beast.

And just like that, the tentacles sprouting from its belly began sucking in the liquid like a straw, ravenously.

It truly lived up to its name as the Beast of Gluttony, consuming with gluttonous glee.

“That must be how it regains energy,” I thought.

With a gurgling sound, the beast seemed pleased as it ingested the hero, who once fought valiantly.

It was a stark contrast to the desperate struggle of the heroes battling it.

To the beast, this wasn’t a fight; it was merely a meal.

With a soft chuckle, I couldn’t help but smile.

And just as I did—

Flare—!

The flames bursting forth from my body exploded against the beast’s tentacle that was greedily feeding.

[■■■■■■■■?!!]

The charred tentacle quickly regrew, but the beast turned its head to me in anger, howling in a fierce voice.

It must have felt like having a spoon taken away while eating, and it was surely furious.

However, right now, I was much angrier than it could imagine.

The flames surged stronger in sync with my wrath.

The flames that broke free swallowed several tentacles sprouting from the beast.

As its attention was drawn to me, I felt the surrounding heroes become restless.

This time, there were no warnings to retreat because it was dangerous.

It was clear to anyone that I was no ordinary person, with dark energy swirling around me in a fury.

Before the heroes could even make a call on the strange presence, the furious beast unleashed a barrage of tentacles toward me.

Swinging, crashing, piercing.

Each attack, given the creature’s massive size, was unfathomably terrifying.

But that was not all.

“You little hellion…!”

No matter how much I burned the tentacles, they just kept regenerating.

Even for just a moment, I realized it.

There was, indeed, a significant power gap between me and the beast, no matter how hard I tried.

“Ugh…!”

Though I exhausted every capsule the elder gave me, a vast power imbalance remained from the very beginning.

Even as I dodged its writhing tentacles and scorched them, I couldn’t inflict any critical damage on the beast, which had yet to be defeated by such a large number of heroes.

No matter how much magic I gathered, my flames were no match for their combined attacks.

I was aware of that;

I acknowledged it.

[■■■■■■■!!]

In the chaotic exchange of flames and tentacles, the beast moved quickly, perhaps frustrated.

It leapt with a surprising agility for its size, and in the blink of an eye, a shadow loomed over me as its gigantic paw came crashing down.

“Agh…!!”

Dodging that attack, I knew, was impossible.

Even if I could take ten steps, it would cover one in an instant, making avoiding its leveled feet out of the question.

With a thundering impact, its immense weight bore down on me, and I screamed as I felt the painful crunch of my bones.

The beast, having merely stepped on me as one would crush an insect, lifted its foot away, leaving me broken and battered in its wake.

I didn’t know why, but the flames that fiercely blazed within me suddenly calmed.

“Cough…”

Before I could even regenerate enough to move, the beast lifted me with a tentacle.

I didn’t resist as it dragged me along, but I could feel it sniffing me curiously.

It was unpleasant, but I didn’t struggle.

Even when it opened its monstrous maw,

Even when it tried to swallow me whole, pushing me toward its gaping mouth,

I still offered no resistance.

Just as its jaw closed, a pitch-black void unfolded before me.

At that sight,

“I… Huh…?”

I thought while curling the corners of my mouth upward.

As planned.

I never thought I could win by facing it head-on from the start.

However, having experienced it before, I already knew.

There was a way to take down much stronger foes while being far weaker.

If my left arm wasn’t enough, I could use my whole body.

The question was how to make it eat me.

Seeing it so eagerly trying to consume me brought nothing but laughter.

Did it really want to eat me that badly?

After all, it was a being that viewed humans as mere prey.

Moreover, dripping with dark energy, I probably appeared to be the ideal gourmet meal.

With a gulp, as the beast swallowed me,

I could feel myself melting at a terrifying speed, as if it sought to digest me.

It was even more severe than when I had been pierced by its tentacle.

I sensed I wouldn’t be able to withstand for long, so I ignited every ounce of strength within my body before it could dissolve completely.

Perhaps it was worth the risk to even dope myself up, fearing inadequate flame strength.

The fire surged, consuming my body as hotter than ever before.

As I felt flames engulfing me, a breathtaking agony surged through, almost pushing me into madness.

Yet, I clenched my teeth and endured.

I had no intentions of stopping.

Whether it was you or me to die here, I had come intending to perish alongside the beast from the outset.

Suddenly, I remembered a promise I made to Yoon Si-woo.

When I promised him to kill me, I thought deeply about what led me to make such a promise.

I wanted to protect others.

I believed that living as Scarlet Evande, protecting others until the very end, would bring me happiness.

Now, having achieved it, I could say I was happy.

The promise Si-woo made, that he wished for my happiness, was also kept.

So surely, this was indeed the best method.

A way to eliminate not only the vehement beast but also the lurking danger of becoming a witch.

Additionally, it would eliminate the need for Yoon Si-woo to kill me, which was the best outcome.

After all, asking a friend to kill me was too harsh a request.

I completely didn’t want to force Si-woo, who still owed me many debts from the past, into such a task. Yet, it seemed this would lessen some of the burden I placed on him.

Ah, my consciousness grows dim.

Still, it wasn’t a broken promise not to push myself beyond limits.

What a shame, he might really be getting mad at me now.

With that thought lingering in my mind,

As I quietly closed my eyes within the dazzlingly blazing flames,

I hoped that this world, which had birthed so many precious people, would meet a happy conclusion.

The sound rang out.

The shrieking of the engulfed beast echoed as it collapsed onto the ground.

The sound of a prosthetic arm, engraved with a young girl’s name, shattering into pieces.

And then—

The seven scattered heart shards finally came together, starting to throb,

Pounding,

As the sound reverberated throughout the world.

“……”