Who are you?

[Aurora's POV]

"Hehehe… I did it… I-I… I did it! … Look, I killed your murders, father. Everyone. I killed them painfully… hehehehe."

Her voice sounded chirpy, but she was crying. Tears mixed with the blood and poured down her paler-than-usual face, falling on the turbid ground that seemed to have lost its color.

She stared at the disfigured corpses of all the people she had killed and turned them into her creations, killing more and doing the same again and again.

Then, she stared at the moon which looked almost purple due to the fog in the air covering it.

She had, once she was healed enough, walked out of her prison cell, and followed bodies lying on the floor. She was able to make her way outside. Curiously, she didn't see any other prisoners the entire way. She didn't care to stop and think why, though. It didn't matter.

Once she was outside, she saw the face of the man who ordered a falsified execution for her father and even ordered her other family members to be killed for reasons she didn't know. Along with the man who personally overlooked the order, the captain of the knight order under the Baron. All so they could break her. Those sick bastards.

She had to kill him and everyone here. And she did.

"I-I'm not going to be their toy anymore… now I am fre—!?"

Before she could finish, she felt a wave of pain wash over her. It was too much even for her now. She puked blood, as she coughed furiously. A substantial amount of sick purple blood leaked from her mouth, nose, eyes, and ears and fell on her tattered clothes and the ground, melting them and charring her skin and the ground.

She looked at her hands and legs. Her skin was turning greyish-purple.

'Ah…'

"Hehe—"

She tried to chuckle, feeling mixed emotions about it—hatred, disgust and happiness, pain and pleasure, slight fear, resignation, and acceptance.

Instead, she vomited more blood, painting the ground in her color.

She heard someone sigh.

"That's the effect of using your necrotic-natured mana too much. Contrary to the fact that you can use it, it doesn't really sit well with the life element. So it slowly turns your body from the living to the same nature as it is: Death. Basically, you were dying—correction, ARE still dying."

She looked at the mysterious knight who had somehow come close to her without her realizing it.

"Your case is especially curious and simultaneously worse since you have a very powerful Necrotic mana and you pushed it to its limit and overused it just now."

He seemed to mumble out loud, making passive observations. He didn't seem to care about what she had just done.

"You're still a low tier and you used spells that only high-tier necromancers can use. Two of them, side-by-side, in fact. It's honestly surprising to me that you're still standing straight."

As if that was the moment of realization for her body, it finally gave away and she fell to the ground—

"Gotcha."

—Or she should have, but the mysterious knight saved her from hitting the ground, holding her gently.

She felt a bit of pity, though. He should have let her fall to the muddy and bloody ground. Maybe she could die like this.

Instead, he picked her up and carried her in his lap in bridal fashion, as he slowly made his way out of the bloody and gory mess this place had become.

She looked around to see all of her creations dying one by one. She could no longer provide them her mana, even if she tried. And she had no reason to either. Every person here, bar herself and the knight, was dead.

Their dead bodies now just lay there, still, in their grotesque forms. Even the baron was no exception.

She felt the burden on her heart she had been carrying for years finally lift up.

She had finally taken her revenge on them.

… Then, why? She wondered.

'…'

Why did it feel so empty and numb inside? As if she had just killed something else that she shouldn't have. It was not the dead people outside. No, it was something inside.

In a moment of calm, she couldn't help but ponder.

'I did it. I became the unhinged monster that they hated and feared… and I killed them all. Painfully too. Then why is it that I don't feel happy? Why is my heart feeling so… empty? Why…?'

New tears kept falling from her eyes as she finally confronted the conclusion.

'… Was it all pointless in the end? I'm still alone and everyone still detests me. They will probably hate me more when they see what I did.'

As if her heart hadn't been wrenched enough, she now felt even worse. She was slowly sinking into an abyss; everything was pointless.

'Was there really no point in my outrage?! My decision to lose my morality and use my vile powers to take revenge on these scum?! … Or was it simply not enough?'

Something dark and sinister seemed to whisper otherwise, pushing forth dark ideas.

'Do I need to destroy this whole town, this whole world to feel at ease? … I will do it… I will—'

"Something tells me you're having some really dangerous thoughts right now."

Her negative thoughts halted with those words.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to stop overthinking for a while, if possible. Don't listen to your negative emotions and thoughts. And try not to lose yourself to that feeling of hatred."

("… I truly hope you don't make the wrong choice…")

The mysterious knight's words brought back pieces of memories. His words seemed to resemble what her grandfather had once told her.

'It's too late.'

She wanted to speak but didn't for some reason. The knight continued his explanation instead.

"Your necrotic mana is very wild and corrosive and it seems to affect your mind a lot. Specifically, it's probably compelling you to kill things that are alive. In this case, it's probably people you want to kill. Don't listen to it. Try not to let it govern who you are, Aurora. You are not a mindless monster."

("Your powers are not something that decides who you become… You are my precious granddaughter.")

'No. Stop.'

She didn't want to remember those words right now. She felt like she was unworthy of it now. She had already made her choice. She was already a hideous monster.

"Right, how about we change the topic?"

The mysterious knight spoke, almost as if he read her mind.

"You're done with your revenge, I hope. Hopefully, it felt good to you. I don't honestly know. You killed the scum that ruined your life… and many more. But now, I hope you'll focus a little and give me some of your time so we can have a proper talk."

He did succeed in stopping her from thinking about death and the destruction of the entire world at her hands, even if they were bordering delusional.

Still, she was quite unhinged right now.

If not for her body not responding, her feeling a high degree of pain, and his neutral and helpful stance towards her, she might have likely killed him in her evergrowing madness and flurry of emotions. The pain had especially been keeping her tamed right now.

Now that she had no choice, she decided to let him have his way.

Her response was rather plain and simple. In fact, it wasn't a reply, but a question instead. Two of them.

"Who… are you… knight? What do you want… from me?"

She asked, her voice barely above a mutter. She had to grit her teeth to not puke blood while speaking.

Luckily, he seemed to hear her quite clearly because he replied promptly.

"Who I am is not important just yet. I promise I'll introduce myself properly once we are in a safer place. As for what I want… well, to put it very bluntly, I want your help, Aurora."

She was listening to his words, but her attention started drifting to the changing landscape.

'Where is he taking me?'

"Where… are you… taking me?"

Forgetting what he had just said, she asked what was on her mind, in her extremely tired and coarse muttering voice.

Intriguingly, she didn't really seem to feel any fear or anxiety about the mysterious knight taking her somewhere without telling her.

Though, it might have something to do with the fact that everything seemed to have dulled down inside her mind and she was just there, being carried, letting things happen… only thinking and talking, for now.

She blinked as the world seemed to start to blur.

She was losing her focus; her awareness drifting into the darkness.

"… A safe place… I'll fix your condition… then we can tal… if you want…"

His words started to zone out.

She mustered her barely-held spirit, trying to stay awake. Things became somewhat clear for a little while.

"—though, I doubt you'll be completely fine even with an advanced potion. Your condition is quite bad, honestly."

The knight's voice she heard was grim when he spoke so, but his next words were optimistic and confident.

"But, don't you worry. I can fix you up."

'You can't… I'm too broken.'

"I… see…"

She now felt hard to even speak properly. She blinked once again, then again and her vision seemed to narrow down further and further, eventually closing.

She couldn't hold it back anymore. So, she closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep. Before she could though, she felt something wet touching her lips. She couldn't tell what, but reflexively opened her mouth, letting the thing breach inside. Things became too hazy for her to remember after that. She fell asleep.

[End of Aurora's POV]

***

[Bishop's POV]

A man in simple priest attire stared in amusement at the scene taking place a fair distance away. It had only been a little while before he got the news that one of his pet projects was disturbed for some odd reason. Something about a lone dark knight breaching the prison of his collaborator(tool), the Baron of this small territory. He didn't know why and how anyone could know about that girl he was keeping. So, he had to check in himself, even if it was late at night.

Curiously, just before the report came in, he felt the magic circle lit, signaling she had gone past her limits and finally started unleashing her magic. He couldn't deny the small joy he felt at that. He had been waiting for a long time for that.

It had been a stroke of good luck— which he considered a blessing from the grand priestess herself, all so he could strengthen the ranks of the great cause he was part of— that he found Aurora, a simple girl in a small town bearing a dangerous(to the world) and useful(to him and his people) power. And not just that, but she was going to be unfathomably talented in it.

He still remembered the tales of the last person who bore the extremely rare magic and succeeded in using it without dying quickly. Necromancy was a problematic magic after all. It killed its users.

The things he accomplished were written in legends and even in some history books, even if they were presented as horror and evil stories to people. Unfortunately, the misguided world didn't like such a supreme power and shunned it because the people in power feared it.

His smile faltered for but a second there. But his thoughts quickly went back to Aurora.

Initially, it had seemed like a useless endeavor, secretly converting a small town into believers of their religion. And all he had were some devotees(pawns) and a disguised church to accomplish it. But it was a necessary mission, so he agreed.

But ever since he heard about the girl, Aurora from the Baron who babbled about how that girl tried to protest against his "just" decision to execute a "traitorous snake" for "divulging sensitive information and other crimes" which the said person may or may not have committed and/or was in the right for doing so, he had found a rather convenient excuse to make sure that she was secured for him to reap at his convenience. This town was a small and insignificant one, so nobody would have cared unless something major happened. Besides, it was almost converted too.

And now, that same Aurora had massacred a small army of men. At such a young age, and from what he remembered, at a mere tier-2, she was a force to recon already.

He smiled as he rubbed the pendant in his hand. It was a little "gift" he had prepared for her so she could be "tamed" a little and easily agree to his suggestions. It also acted as a tool to suppress her powers from killing herself, something that he would inform her of once she was on the brink of death.

It had been a struggle to import this item, but his promises were greater, so it was accepted.

"Ah, it's such a beautiful sight. Another glorious power, ready to join the great cause."

'All for the truth! All for our beloved god!'

He heaved a long sigh, seeing the fruit of his hard work finally bearing… Though, there was a small annoyance as well.

'That knight in black needs to be gone. He is too much of an unexpected and uncanny variable. What is his objective?'

He frowned. In his decade of working here, there had been no such issues ever arising. So why now? Who was this mysterious knight and why was he doing it.

He mulled over it, but then changed his mind.

'It matters not. He's a mere tier-6. I can get rid of him if necessary…'

"… Or maybe not?"

His smile widened. The Church of One True God, which he was a grateful member of, could do with some more devotees. He seemed quite strong for his tier too. Another talent, perhaps.

'Even if there's someone(s) behind him, I'll make sure to get all information out of him later once he's handled.'

He was sure he could be "persuasive" enough to convert him.

"It's a lovely night indeed."

It'll be his delight to present more devotees to the great church and to their great priestess.

"I'm sure she'll be delighted."

He muttered as watched as the mysterious knight took Aurora and started quickly walking in a certain direction. In their wake, a gruesome field lay. He quickly traveled to a place in his path, ready to "talk".

[End of Bishop's POV]

***

Important A/N: So, I just found out my work has already been taken out and posted on another site without my permission(some weird site I don't know of. It came in a google search). I was looking out for that happening, because it's such a common phenomena and is honestly inevitable. It happens and I'm not gonna go out of my way to stop it either.

Anyway, that's whatever, but in distant future if this works is famous enough to be re-posted on other sites(obviously without my permission, because I'll never give them permission to re-post) and if you're reading this A/N and are not reading this from webnovel.com (or Webnovel app), know that I post there (and there only) and this story is free to read there. I'll appreciate if you could read on the official site and comment, review, etc. so I can see them as well and be happy that people love to read my shit. Give and take, yeah? That's all. Peace. :) (As if!)

P.S: Oh, by the way. Yeah, this story is NOT GETTING CONTRACTED! Not in the foreseeable future, likely not ever. So, no premium chapters. Woo! ... yeah, I'm not earning shit from it lol.

Anyway, it's a major decision I made after over a month of indecisiveness. In the end, it's but a passion project and I don't want to make an official commitment to it. (That and I don't want to send my legal and private details to a random company in another country, for whatever reasons.) Anyways, I hope that more people can enjoy it since it's more accessible. It doesn't cost you anything to read...

... So, please be kind and DONATE SOME MOTHER FLIPPING POWER STONES!

Alright, real talk. I need those fucking stones! Look at the meager amount I get now a days! If you guys are slacking on it, expect (even more) slacking from me too. And I'm a real slacker, I tell ya! This is a warning! Hand over those damned power stones. I wanna see it rise! >:D