Sacrifices(End)

The description I gave to the girl on the ground echoed inside my mind. I clenched my fist tightly and wanted to smack my younger version on the head for writing the character in front of me.

A face full of acne and stretched-large eyes greeted me. The girl's cheeks were so hollow that she seemed malnourished. Her brown hair was slightly dirty and a few strands of her hair stuck closely to her face.

One of the guys described her as ugly and I was at fault for making her look like this…

< Use [Author's Description]. Blue wants Michael to test the skill. >

Keeping my fist clenched, I did as told.

===

Name: Anabelle 

Race: Human(???)

Skill: ???(Suppressed), ???(Suppressed)

Supporter: None

Overall Stats: Strength Lv 3, Agility Lv 3, Physique Lv 3, Strategy Lv 6, Magic Power Lv 10

===

I took a deep breath after reading the details of the girl.

Anabelle, a girl with an ugly face. Those were the words most people in my novel used to summarize the girl in front of me. Except for the fearsome title she obtained.

She became a villain in the later parts of the novel, a strong villain at that. Her powers which were currently suppressed made her a fearsome opponent that Ray and his party struggled against.

But since Ray was the protagonist, he managed to win due to sheer luck and help from the author aka me.

"Don't worry. I am not with them." I whispered to Anabelle.

The girl stared at me warily. She slowly tried to lift herself off the ground. My eyes caught numerous bruises lining her arms. 

The group had abused her a bit before my arrival.

"Oh you want to play hero like that guy from earlier?" the charred female glared at me.

Her left hand was placed on a marble statue of a knight for support. Her blackened waist and arms were visible to me.

'Their supporter provided them with some group defense skills. It is not possible to stand straight without feeling any pain.'

I upped my guard a bit after noticing this.

"Why do you want to save that ugly bitch?"

"Trust me when I say you don't want to make an enemy of us. We have a supporter."

"Leave that girl and we might give you a clean death.

The group started threatening me and got into fighting positions.

"I am not trying to play hero," I replied coolly. "I am just trying to stay as a human, unlike you guys."

"Being human is overrated." One of them shrugged. 

[ Torture Lover XOX wants the group to demolish the human named Michael. ]

[ Torture Lover XOX will pay for it. ]

"For a low-ranked Supporter, you sure have a lot of money to throw around. You sure you are not going to run out of funds?"

The women gasped at my statements. The males narrowed their eyes and raised their hands in my direction.

"Looks like you don't understand the importance of a supporter. Let me show you what a supporter can provide."

[ Sword Summoning has been used. ]

Seconds after the message appeared, two short swords appeared in the guy's hand. He handed a sword to one of the women and dashed forward with her. 

[ Sword Aura has been used. ]

'This is pretty useful.'

The messages warned me of the skill to be used and I easily devised a strategy.

Summoning my flames, I created numerous fireballs in the air and threw them at the incoming duo.

They tried cutting through the fireballs which I predicted easily. Splitting the fireball into numerous tiny sparks, I set their clothes on fire.

"What the?!"

The duo stopped their advances and tried to put out the fire on their body. I reached forward and kicked both of them in the stomach.

My stats were pretty good which allowed me to push them back with my kicks. I made a mental note to train my physical abilities as well once the scenario was over.

[ Author Eyes have been activated due to the fighting conditions. ]

Suddenly, a surge of mana entered both of my eyes, slightly clearing my vision and allowing me to get a better look at my surroundings.

Blue coats of mana were present around the sword summoned by the man. I sensed the presence of mana gathering around the charred woman.

Whilst leaning against the wall, she summoned her mana and used a skill.

[ Flame Orbs have been used. ]

A grin appeared on my face after seeing the attack being used. My eyes allowed me to see the trajectory of all the fire orbs the size of watermelons flying in my direction.

"Being a fire user against me is pretty unlucky for you."

With my eyes set on the orbs, I reached out for them with my right hand.

*Click!*

Something clicked inside my brain as my control extended over to the orbs flying towards me.

I closed my fists and directed the orbs towards each other, forming a giant orb the size of ten watermelons combined together.

"How…" The woman's jaw dropped to the ground.

I simply redirected the huge orb back in her direction and shifted my attention towards Annabelle.

The sword duo, with half burned clothes, advanced to attack Anabelle. The latter stood still on her spot, her body shaking a bit.

'What is that black energy around her?'

Sparks of black energy, similar to the blue sparks of mana, flickered around her body. Her eyes coldly stared at the advancing sword wielders.

"No! Don't listen to those voices."

I realized what was happening and summoned two eagles made from fire. I directed the eagles towards the duo and stepped beside Annabelle.

"Don't believe what the voices are saying. I am not here to harm you." I firmly spoke to her while staring into her eyes.

The black sparks around Annabelle reduced slightly but they didn't vanish.

"Why?" She asked.

I fell silent. No answer emerged inside my mind. I couldn't tell her that the black sparks around her marked the beginning of her transformation into a demoness, one responsible for claiming thousands of innocent lives.

"He probably wants your body." The male swordsman sneered. He managed to extinguish the flame eagle after facing numerous burns across his right arm and face.

"I am not like you filthy trash. No wonder that guy wanted you to become his Blessed." 

[ Torture Lover XOX is showing hatred towards Michael. ]

I ignored the message and raised my hands towards the group. 

"This feels like a scene from a third-rate cliche anime where the hero has time to talk between the fights."

I concentrated the disgust I felt towards the group into my flames. The summoned flames were a deep shade of blue and shot out of my palm like a vortex.

The flames annihilated the two swordsmen before they had the chance to scream.

[ Your mental trauma has been set off by the skill [Author's Skill]. ] 

I ignored the system notifications and redirected the vortex toward the remaining members of the group.

The charred man and woman accepted their faith since they couldn't run away. The last group member tried to run away but it was useless.

"AHH!"

The flames annihilated annihilated him in the next few seconds/.

Sure it was pretty anti-climatic but I was not trying to create a show. 

+

[ You have killed 5 humans! ]

[ Your actions have been considered as a part of goodwill. ]

[ A different sacrifice has been made! 

The sacrifice is counted towards the completion of the scenario. ]

[ Completion: 9 / 10 ] 

+

I didn't obtain any rewards for the five humans I just murdered. This was expected since I chose the alternate method.

Only those who chose the killer's method gained rewards for killing others.

"Are you all right?" I questioned Annabelle who stared at me with a shocked expression.

"You… just killed them…" she murmured.

"They deserved it. If they continued killing others like that, no one would be able to stop them in the future." I reply with a shrug.

Killing them made sense to me. It was a last resort option and killing others in the apocalypse was a pretty common thing.

It was supposed to happen anyway so killing them wasn't a huge thing.

"You…" Annabelle was at a loss of words.

Why was she looking at me as though something was wrong with me? I was sure I did the right thing by killing them. 

< Because something is wrong. > Blue's mechanical tone had a hint of sadness in it.

'What do you mean?'

< Blue says he is sorry. Blue can't hold it anymore. >

[ Effects of the skill [Author's Skill] have ended. ]

Like water rushing out of a dam, guilt settled inside me…