Chapter 20 - The start of a Promise and an end to another.

Ellie gazed at the sky with glassy eyes, hands sprawling on the ground, mouth agape. Her throat felt dry. No matter how much she tried to throw up, she wouldn't allow herself to do so, shoveling the disgusting taste down every time.

In a way, she had brought this upon herself. But it was unfair. Why should she be tormented for what her past life wanted? They were of the same soul. Yet, so different. They didn't have the same memories, they didn't have the same upbringing, nor the same gender.

She shouldn't have to partake in a shitty contact made by some dead man because he couldn't move on from feeling guilty about being unable to protect his son.

Ellie turned her head downward, looking into the reflection of the man in the puddle of blood.

"I know why you didn't reincarnate with your memory intact." Her glassy eyes turned fierce. "Because you are a spineless coward who couldn't bring yourself to do it. You know that you would rather stay in this fake reality and fail the trial than commit such a sinful act."

Ellie started laughing.

"I truly hate cunning bastards like you. To achieve your goal, you didn't care if your conscience would be wiped clean and experience a true death. You just wanted to make sure that your reincarnation has no way to stop your underhanded failsafe method."

"Don't get me wrong. I like Ray. I would love to see him live in a world where food is abundant and golden wheat fields extend as far as the eye can see."

"I hate you so much, but I don't know what to do." Ellie ran her fingers through the white hair, pulling out handfuls of hair. "You are already dead. But how can you be so cruel to Woody? And how can you be so cruel to me?"

Ellie crashed her fists down into the surface of the pool of blood, hitting the reflection of the vile man she had grown to hate. But no matter how many punches she threw, her fury was still there, growing stronger along with her frustration of knowing that the culprit was long gone.

She was so focused on her emotional turmoil that she forgot to breathe. Her mouth opened wide, sucking in the air greedily.

Then Ellie stood up, turning away from the small pool of blood.

"Looks like our time is running out. My spineless ghost."

She looked upon the sky, where bright figures filled the sky, each having four pairs of inferno wings, flapping gently against the air current. She couldn't make out their figures; their brilliant light cast deep shadow over their bodies. But based on what she saw. They were all identical to each other.

"So that's what it tried to do."

She had come to understand the true essence of Thief of the Divine Light.

Demon Origin Characters allowed their Avatar to transfer them to others. But a person—upon receiving a Character of such Origin—would have their Core Character undergo an attempt on its existence. And if it were destroyed, the Demon Origin would then use what remained to create another copy, allowing it to spread further and wider.

While others might have lost their Character, Ellie was a bizarre case where the Avatar and the Character were one and the same; she would have lost her life. Or worse...

"That's... terrifying to think about."

She didn't know what the other Demon Origin's method of infesting was, but Thief of Divine Light needed its blood to come into contact with both the Avatar and their Character's; the former was to destroy the Promise, and the latter was... well... to destroy the Character.

Her blood must have mixed together with the saint's, the heroes, and the hooded figures' blood when she signed that contract.

"Gosh, why do I keep making things worse for everyone?"

"No. No. I shouldn't have to feel bad. All of you aren't real. That's right. You are but a part of the trial. Once everything is over, you will cease to exist."

Ellie knew deep down that she only said so she wouldn't feel more guilt, her mind was already at its limit. Even if these people weren't real, they felt real, and her emotions were real.

Behind her, the brute continued to drink the pool of blood, not paying attention to her breakdown.

Meanwhile, all the flying demons surrounded a big swirl of flame in the sky, and the multi-eyed beast was still resisting against the Thief of the Divine Light. But then, some of the demons used their wings like blades, stabbing them into their body, and blood came out from their wounds and connected to the fiery ball like umbilical cords. Then, one by one, the demons got pulled into the giant ball of flame, fusing with it. As if fueled by the sacrifice of the other demons, the fire burned stronger, like a tiny sun had come down from the heaven above, it melted away the snow below Ellie's feet.

Then she heard the whispers speak to her, but this time she could understand them clearly.

"You have slain Star Grazer," they said in unison. "She who dares stand in the way of Change. You are my avatar. My vessel. Chosen to carry out my whisper."

"Haha. Goodbye. I hope we'll never meet again." Ellie said to the chaos.

A muffled shriek tore across the sky, making her flinch. The last remaining flying infernal was cut down by something unseen before, forcefully turned back into a pool of blood. It flew toward her with great speed.

"The trial is ending. We will give you back this Character of yours."

"Wait, wait. Dear Lord Aspect," Ellie called out to the whispers, still dangling in the grasp of the chaos creature. "I wish to strike a deal."

But the whispers didn't respond to her words.

'They couldn't hear me.'

Ellie could now understand what the Aspects were trying to convey. However, it was a one-way communication; the latter couldn't make out what she was saying. Ellie knew now why her past life had put in so much work into studying the runes.

"Though, we will make some adjustments so that it won't be able to destroy your Promise to us as easily."

The pool of blood stopped in front of her, twirling and twisting against its will, fire trailing along its surface, and the heat assaulted her face.

"We will give it shape."

Slowly, the outer layer of the crimson hardened, turning into a long, thin, black red metal that was also transparent, almost like glass, encapsulating the boiling blood inside.

"We will give it form."

The black, red metal bent in on itself, turning into a small knife. All the blood traveled down the knife and condensed into the handle, a small trigger nestled near the guard, just subtle enough to be overlooked. A sharp outline trailed along the edge to a small pointy tip, reflecting the sunlight easily, telling others to pay attention to it as if wanting to hide the deadly point. On the other side of the blade, there were sharp, serrated ridges.

"Beautiful," Ellie said, mesmerized by the perfectly crafted weapon with no trace of flaws.

"We look forward to seeing your Promise loom in the physical realm, Corpse Eater." The ethereal voices spoke one last time, before space warping around Ellie, black ink filled her vision as the world darkened.

"Do not break your Promise."

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