I kept my mouth shut, my mind a jumbled mess of thoughts threatening to spill out as incoherent babble.

Instead, I turned my gaze to Kyle, who lay sprawled on the ground.

His fingernails had been ripped off, a testament to the brutal torture he had endured.

Cuts, deep enough to be agonizing but shallow enough to avoid being fatal, marred his arms and thighs.

Yet, Kyle seemed to be conscious.

He met my gaze and spoke, his voice raspy.

“You made it?”

“…….”

“Sorry you had to see me like this.”

“…….”

“The fact that the Lord isn’t here… I can guess what’s going on.”

Kyle seemed to have grasped our dire situation.

But there was nothing I could do.

To treat Kyle’s wounds, we needed to get him to a temple or a medical facility immediately.

But even then, his mutilated body…

I squeezed my eyes shut.

'It’s cruel.'

'This is beyond cruel.'

“…I apologize for the delay. Please, rest for now.”

I muttered to Kyle, before turning towards the two humans who were watching me intently.

My gaze shifted slightly.

'Rene.'

She wasn’t in any better shape than Kyle.

She leaned against a tree, her breaths shallow, and mumbled,

“….Sorry.”

Her voice was laced with a heart-wrenching sorrow.

While her condition seemed better than Kyle's, Rene was far from unscathed.

The two horns that once adorned her head, a symbol of pride and lineage for Bares' bloodline, were gone, brutally severed.

And that wasn't all.

I had known for a while that Rene harbored feelings for me.

How could I not?

She made it quite obvious.

Perhaps she believed the reason I didn't reciprocate her feelings was that she lacked Luna's feminine charms.

Somewhere along the way, she had started growing her hair.

Her once-short hair had grown long and flowing.

She took pride in her long, black hair.

And she was beautiful with it.

I had thought so too.

However, her hair was gone now.

The humans standing before me had shorn it off.

Her hair was now even shorter than its original length, chopped haphazardly.

Strands of her black hair, stained with blood, lay scattered around her.

…Countless cuts and gashes covered Rene’s body.

Her clothes were shredded, leaving her half-naked.

Through the torn fabric, I saw her once pristine white skin, now marred and bloodied.

My vision turned red.

“…Why?”

I choked out, my voice shaking with barely suppressed rage.

As I spoke, I unleashed the murderous aura and darkness amplified by Crete’s flesh.

'Kuuuuuu…. '

The air crackled with dark energy, the sheer intensity of it warping the space around us.

“….!”

“….!”

The two humans flinched, drawing their swords.

Their auras were formidable.

No, they were stronger than me.

I knew who they were.

How could I not?

They were the heroes of my story.

And that realization filled me with a profound sense of betrayal.

'I trusted you.'

'I thought you were different from the other humans I had seen.'

'I hoped you would remain true to your character in my story.'

A man who championed justice, always at the forefront of what he believed was right.

That was the person I had written him to be.

I had thought that even though I was in the body of the villain, even though I carried Arsene’s blood, we could still reason with each other.

Because he was a good person.

More than anyone else.

Yes, more than anyone…

“…Why are you doing this?”

I asked, my voice strained, my hands clenching into fists so tight that blood seeped between my fingers.

The righteous, the noble, the unwavering champion of justice.

Nina Hamel.

He was blocking my way.

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