Mister Zero, Her Story: Interlude – Monologue
I am the Witch of Absolute Death.
Standing before me is a human named “Luo Yan.”
She looks at me, not with hatred, but with endless sorrow.
“Why…?”
I reach out and touch her cheek, coldness and death clinging to me, revealing my true nature.
Finally, she understands…
I’ve been deceiving her all along.
Deceiving her into thinking she could save the world…
When in reality, she was destroying it.
This was a conspiracy, to make her unleash the “Malice of All Worlds.”
And I… am the architect of this conspiracy, a member of the “Malice.”
Among the ten ethereal concepts and wills, I was chosen, stealing the concept of life, becoming the first Primordial Demon to descend upon this world.
Carrying the will of the “Malice,” I, along with nine God’s Chosen, defiled the rules of the gods, dragging them down from their divine realm, turning them into tangible beings.
Only then could the “Malice of All Worlds” truly touch this earth, ending this flawed cycle, leaving behind our “bitter fruit.”
It was for this purpose that I chose her, the one who sought to save the world.
I deceived her, I tempted her, I seduced her, I used every possible method… turning humanity’s only hope into the culprit who unleashed the “Malice.”
This wicked conspiracy had finally succeeded.
But why… didn’t she hate me…?
She simply looked at me with sorrow, tears in her eyes.
“Witch of Absolute Death…”
She spoke my name, the name of one of the ten concepts of the “Malice of All Worlds,” the name that represented me.
But in her voice, I heard no resentment or accusation, only disappointment and sorrow.
Behind her stood nine frightened, young God’s Chosen.
They were meant to control the rules of the gods, but in this ritual, they were twisted by the “Malice,” transformed into demonic powers.
This also meant that the gods had fallen, the “Malice of All Worlds” successfully replacing their rules in the New Era.
But…
Why…?
A wetness on my cheek.
“Are these… tears?”
“I think… I’m crying…”
What was I hesitating for…?
What I wanted to achieve, the purpose of the “Malice of All Worlds,” the complete destruction of this era of human civilization… hadn’t I already succeeded?
Luo Yan looked at me and slowly closed her eyes, her body collapsing.
To complete this ritual, she had exhausted all her strength.
And even worse, to protect the nine God’s Chosen, who should have been annihilated at the end of the ritual, she had sacrificed her own life force.
Therefore, she was dying.
In my arms…
I held her. Although she was much taller than my physical form, I could only feel her fading soul, as light as a feather.
My vision blurred, and “tears,” unique to living beings, seemed to fill my eyes.
An indescribable feeling stirred within me, an “emotion” only living beings could experience.
No… I was the Witch of Absolute Death, I was the “Malice of All Worlds,” why would I have such a flaw…?
But now, I, possessing a life, filled with emotions, shedding tears…
Was I still the Witch of Absolute Death?
Was I still the “Malice of All Worlds”?
“Why…?”
I whispered again.
I longed for an answer, from anyone…
I needed to know… why.
Just then, a pure, silver light appeared before me.
I looked up and felt a strange familiarity in this light.
This was…
The silver light seemed to be observing me curiously, then it twisted and shifted, gradually taking on a human form.
Finally, a girl, identical to me, appeared.
Her face, even her expression, was exactly the same as mine, the only difference being her long, radiant silver hair.
And I… was shrouded in the darkness of death and despair.
She looked at me, then at Luo Yan in my arms, and tilted her head slightly.
Like a child.
No, she was a child.
The rules of the gods, fallen to earth…
“I think… perhaps you can give me the answer.”
I reached out to her, and she mimicked my gesture, extending her hand.
I took her small hand.
Cold.
And my hand… held the warmth of a living being.
…
I am called the Saint.
I led the surviving humans, wandering the Endless Wasteland, searching for hope.
And finally, I found it.
The Endless Wasteland wasn’t completely lifeless. The “Calamity Tide” hadn’t only left behind the “Malice of All Worlds” and its calamities.
Miraculously, energy nodes appeared in this world, radiating energy endlessly.
I named this unknown energy phenomenon the “Ember.”
—The kindling that ignited the New Era.
Using the “Ember,” I and my followers built a mega-city in the Endless Wasteland, based on the design of “Dawn City.”
And finally… I named it “Noah,” a word from the Old Era that meant “the last hope in the apocalypse.”
I looked down at my reflection in the clear Ember.
…Not beautiful, and a bit fierce.
I smiled, using this face that had never smiled before.
Yes… I was once the “Witch of Absolute Death,” but now, I carried Luo Yan’s life and will.
As she died in my arms, driven by human emotions, I had shared my life with her.
But her weakened soul couldn’t bear the weight of life, so I let her slumber, becoming the first Slumberer.
And now… the time had finally come. With the “Ember’s” endless energy, the Slumberer would awaken.
Within this shared life were two distinct souls.
Luo Yan’s consciousness was awakening within me. She saw me, and I saw her.
“We are different, yet the same,” Luo Yan whispered, but it seemed as if I were speaking to myself.
“We are the same, yet different,” I continued, as if echoing her words.
A brilliant silver light filled the air, pure and flawless, like the embodiment of ultimate beauty and goodness.
But we both knew that this silver light was born from a wicked transgression, a mistake we had both made.
“Promise me, Luo Yan,” I whispered.
“Tell me, Absolute Death,” she replied softly.
“Let everything… return to how it was… okay?” Tears streamed down my face, just like many years ago. “This world… and she… shouldn’t have to bear this malice…”
The silver light coalesced, faintly forming the image of an innocent girl, curiously observing the world.
“So… you’re a traitor now,” Luo Yan said, her voice as cold and indifferent as I remembered, even though we shared a life.
“I’ve always been a traitor, whether to you, to the ‘Malice of All Worlds,’ or to… her.”
The small, silver figure stood silently, seemingly both oblivious and omniscient.
“But I, too, am a traitor.”
Luo Yan smiled. It was the first time I had seen her smile, although it appeared on our shared face.
“Come, let us, for her sake, so that everything can return to how it was…”
“Betray everything.”
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