Tainted

'Goodbye… everyone.'

Esme's fleeting thoughts as she stared at the rend flesh and spraying blood was one of melancholy.

She allowed all the emotions to flow through her, every ounce of her guilt and sorrow pulsating within the depths of her being.

Esme felt it all.

She closed her eyes and let tears stream down, slowing like the blood that spurted from the necks of all the innocents who died.

Her only comfort was that her actions had freed them. Through their deaths, they could finally find rest.

"Haaa…" Soft puffs of wind danced away from her succulent lips as she gazed upon the red-colored world.

It was a lot different from what she used to see.

"This world is evil. It's too evil…" Esme slowly turned away from the desecrated sight of her creation.

She faced Rey, allowing him to see her in all of her nakedness.

"It has tainted me. Tainted you. Tainted everything and everyone…"

More tears fell from her eyes.

"I hate this world." She cried, pain and hatred forming a horrible mix on her face.

Rey approached Esme, and in one swift breath, he was right in front of her.

"…"

"I understand." Rey drew her close to himself, allowing her smaller frame to fall on his muscular build.

Her head descended on his chest as he wrapped his strong arms around her.

"I… I hate this world so much…" Esme felt her tears pout out, staining Rey's dark robe with its contents.

But Rey didn't mind.

Instead, he shortly caressed her long hair and nodded through it all.

His silence was her comfort.

Her screams and cries were able to fully rush out of her, enveloping the entire room in her pain.

Esme didn't really know how long they stayed like this.

All she knew was that it felt like an eternity for her. Everything felt so raw and primal that she thought she would sink inside forever.

But, everything had to end at some point.

And for Esme, it all ended when her eyes slowly closed shut and she fell into the realm of unconsciousness.

*******

'She's finally asleep, huh?'

Rey looked at Esme's smaller, thinner frame and felt a string of melancholy echo within himself.

In a completely different context, he would have freaked out if someone like Esme was hugging him so tightly.

But… given the situation, Rey felt no pleasure at all.

He just felt genuinely sorry for the girl.

'I lied…'

Rey felt tears falling down his eyes as well. He was grateful that they were only coming out now, after Esme was asleep.

'I… I don't understand.'

He knew full well that he couldn't relate to the pain the girl was experiencing.

It burned his heart, but he really knew nothing.

He couldn't say anything.

He could only stand there like the idiot that he was.

'I'm sorry you had to experience this, Esme…' Rey took a peek at her Status Window, seeing her Level rise once again to a much more impressive height.

A sad smile formed on his face as he sniffed.

'At least you're stronger for it.'

[STATUS WINDOW]

- Name: Esme

- Race: Half-Elf (Human and Elf)

- Class: Elementalist (B-Tier)

- Level: 27 (98.14% EXP)

- Life Force: 100/100 (+100)

- Mana Level: 200/200 (+200)

- Combat Ability: 3 (+3)

- Stat Points: 260

- Skills (Exclusive): [Absolute Appraisal]

- Skills (Non-Exclusive): [Absolute Magic Mastery]. [Absolute Magic Application]. [Grand Mana Recovery]. [Absolute Elemental Control]. [Executioner]

- Alignment: Chaotic Good

[Additional Information]

A genius, even by Elven Standards… with a special heritage and connection to the World.

She is currently lost and immensely bereaved.

… Help her.

[End Of Information]

********

'Now then…'

After Rey placed Esme into his [Grand Inventory], he set his eyes on the door that existed at the furthest end of the room.

Perhaps Esme could not sense it, but he could.

'There's something else…'

Rey could sense Monsters, but he could also sense people there as well.

'Let's see what this is all about.' Of course, he kept his guard up, though he didn't feel any sort of threatening presence from them.

In a flash, he appeared behind the doors and proceeded through the white hallway that lined his sight.

Once he reached the end of the hallway, he noticed that the path was divided into two points.

In one direction, he was guaranteed to find Monsters and other humans who seemed to be capable to an extent.

And the other side only had a handful of humans, and they didn't seem to be threats of any kind.

'[Replicate].'

Rey decided to split himself into two equally powerful entities—

one clone and one original.

He also ensured to keep a strong mental link with his replica so he could perceive everything it experienced in real time.

"Let's go…"

Rey decided to take on the more dangerous path, sending his replica to the other end.

They were both equally powerful, but Rey's intelligence and ability to make useful decisions on the spur of the moment made him more capable when it came to actual combat.

To be safe, he decided this would be the best arrangement… though he already knew none of the enemies here would be able to take on his Replica no matter how hard they tried

Rey walked down the right path until he got to the furthest end. He saw a large door, where he saw a warning sign above.

[BEWARE: Dangerous Monsters Beyond This Point]

'Are they keeping Monsters here? Rearing them? Breeding them?'

Rey had another dark thought, but he banished it from his mind and ventured inside.

"W-who are you?!"

"I-intrude—!"

Before the several enemies inside the squeaky clean room could say anything, Rey instantly killed them with [Severing Claw], coupled with [True Homing].

They were all very weak, so it didn't take a moment.

"Huuu…" Rey set his sights on the activities within the room, beyond the pool of blood and gore that spilled on the ground.

The good news was that his worst fears about the nature of the room didn't come to pass.

Monsters weren't being bred with humans.

However, what was occurring here could be perceived as equally appalling to some.

"They're feeding humans to the Monsters…"