Hatred

"Everybody in this village knows of Faye's circumstances, it isn't some secret", Minerva began, as her previously tense body relaxed a little. Many within the crowd nodded agreeing with the old mage's words, some annoyed at the fact that they failed to remember the existence of Faye hence missing out on a free reward. The crowd lacked a sense of danger, something that the captain and his men had picked up upon, resulting in a few raised eyebrows at the greed of the villagers. If only they knew of the terror of Devil Apostles, perhaps then they wouldn't be looking at this Demon Hunt as some game. 

Pointing at the downcast girl, the mage continued from where she had left, "The girl has no talent, none at all, but her strength surpasses that of Elric's, and on to-", her speech was cut off by Edin's raised hand, signalling for her to stop. The mage had only given him two pieces of information but both alluded to the girl being the candidate. The Devil Apostle Candidates all shared a common trait, Low Mana Talent, the lower the candidate's talent, the higher the likelihood of being selected was. This worked inversely for God Apostle Candidates, who required high mana talent. And just like how Perfect Mana Talent represented a perfect God Apostle Candidate, no Mana Talent represented the perfect Devil Apostle Candidate. 

On top of this, the two extremes of Mana Talent were as rare as each other, they were something that tended to appear once a century, and now someone with no Mana Talent was sat before, awaiting her judgement. However, no Mana Talent wasn't enough evidence to execute the girl, there have been cases of those with no Mana Talent and Perfect Mana Talent not possessing the other qualifications needed to be considered an apostle candidate. It just so happened that the girl's strength was one of these other qualifications, glancing at a man clad in leather armour with a spear held at his side, Edin believed this to be Elric; he was the only one among the villagers with two core node enhancements. 

A quick inspection of the man's body showed that his Strength Node was at level 2, which meant that he had an all-round strength enhancement of 100kg. What this meant was that his lifting power, striking power and kicking power had increased by 100kg, of course, if the warrior used specific techniques he could further increase things like his striking power and kicking power. The fact that Faye was stronger than Elric despite his gains from node enhancing suggested that something was at play. There was always a balance in this universe. To gain something, you must give something in return. With the information he had, Edin could only assume that the girl's Mana Talent had been sacrificed in exchange for her enhanced strength but this assumption wouldn't stand for long after the Knight signalled for the mage to continue.

Nodding her head at the Knight, Minerva continued, "There's one last thing that I think you'll find of interest regarding this girl, her mother died giving bi-", her words were interrupted once again, however, the elderly chief wore a smile upon her as she looked at the middle-aged man who had pushed through the crowd, his face contorted with hate. Upon realising the identity of the man, murmurs surged through the crowd, wondering what would happen with the appearance of Articus, Faye's father.

"I've never seen that stone-faced fellow make a face like that"

"Why wouldn't he, his daughter's being accused of being a demon"

"What do you think he's gonna do"

Hearing the words that were being whispered, Edin raised his eyebrow in interest, the man that stood before him was no doubt full of hatred, but, who was this hatred directed towards?

Before Edin could say anything, Minerva stepped towards the black-haired man whose eyes were fixated upon the girl kneeling on the ground, her black hair falling upon her face. Her appearance was reminiscent of his late wife's, every time he looked upon her, blissful memories surged through his mind, and even now, the joy he felt from those times filled every cell of his body. But along with these memories came the painful reminder that his beautiful wife died giving birth to the girl before him, it was like a wave of sadness and rage surged through his body trying to drown the happiness he felt from those memories. The war between the two sides was always stuck at a stalemate, which is why he gave her a decent upbringing: toys, pets, dresses, teachers. Everything but love.

But now, this stalemate had been broken by a new participant which sided with the negative emotions: Hatred. When the chief had accused his daughter, he was hit with momentary confusion before a singular memory appeared in his mind, a memory he thought he had erased from his mind but as it took root in his brain, understanding swelled in his mind paired with intense hatred. That thing wasn't his daughter, he was sure of it, it was the demon these knights were looking for and as he watched Minerva explain her accusation he felt anger rush through his veins. She had no right. That demon killed his wife. How dare she steal such a moment from him. This is why he now stood in front of the large Knight, staring at the man who would grant his dead wife justice.

Ignoring the purple-robed mage moving towards him, Articus felt a calmness wash over his mind as he seethed with cold rage,

"My wife...My wife...for the entirety of the pregnancy she was perfectly healthy, even when she went into labour, I could still sense her strong will.", his words paused, his face twisted in agony as he recalled his wife's final moments. "As she was giving birth, her body was rapidly weakening I had assumed that it was a normal part of the birth process, but the midwife's reaction said otherwise, she said that my wife was dying, that she wouldn't make it and that she could only hope to save the baby. Back then, the shock of the news that I had received had left me unable to think coherently, but now, I remember it as clear as day, and everything makes sense. Sir Knight, as my wife was giving birth, it looked like her very life was being drained out of her like...like something was sucking it out from her. As soon as she gave birth, she died, that strong will of hers couldn't hold up against death. And that demon there was responsible for it."

"I see", Edin sighed, realising that he had found what he was looking for, the man's account was the final piece of the puzzle that he needed. It turns out the sacrifice that was made was the life of the girl's mother, granting her monstrous strength, if that didn't scream demonic he wasn't sure what else would. The Knight had long ago concluded that the girl was an unawakened candidate based on her reactions throughout the entire ordeal. The expression that she wore on her face, he had seen it before on those who had long given up on life, it threatened to shake his hardened heart which prepared itself for what was to come. Though he didn't want to, it was a duty placed upon him as a Knight of the Warforge Kingdom, he had to purge the evil from this village, the evil yet to be born.

As the Knight prepared for the execution, in the depths of Faye's heart, the light of hope had almost extinguished though it still called for someone or something to save its host from her impending doom. Suddenly, a section of the darkness surrounding the lone light, twisted and merged forming an arm that connected to an outstretched hand. If it weren't for the light, the construct wouldn't have been visible as dark colour blended in with the surrounding darkness. Then came the words, words that shouldn't have caused the light of hope to grow brighter, but they did.

"Child, why do you run from the darkness?"

"It is only trying to save you from your plight."