Demon Guiliniweier

System Note: On the night before Aurora's execution, her prison is attacked by a host of fanatical loyalists.

Blood pooled ankle-deep in the prison courtyard as Guiliniweier pressed a hand to his nose, wincing.

"Well, wouldn't you look at that—served right to us on a silver platter."

He and his elite guard had held this place through a brutal onslaught, their blades dulled by endless fighting before finally wiping out the attackers.

Bavanshi, standing amid the carnage, showed no trace of horror. She hopped through the blood-soaked floor, kicking up crimson splashes and marveling:

"They fell like weeds—one wave after another!"

Guiliniweier fought nausea as he gazed over countless bodies strewn about.

"All right. Send word: because the prison was breached tonight, Aurora's execution will be postponed by one day. She'll die the day after tomorrow."

Bavanshi looked up in confusion:

"Why delay? We only just secured her again—why wait another day?"

He shrugged lightly:

"Simply to give any remaining loyalists farther afield a little extra travel time. If we beheaded her too soon, those die-hards would scatter in hiding and keep plotting vengeance. That'd be a nightmare."

"So we leave a sliver of hope that she might be saved. They'll rally in batches, thinking they might liberate her—but by staggering their arrival, we can finish them off in one fell swoop."

He explained further:

"Aurora's Wind Clan can relay messages by wind-magic. Once Solsberry fell, news will spread across the realm. Solsberry sits near the center of Fairyland; by forced march, two days is enough for distant loyalists to arrive."

Bavanshi clapped excitedly:

"Ingenious! That way we trap them all!"

She then frowned:

"But… why not simply set the execution for several days later from the start? You always say a ruler shouldn't issue fickle orders."

Guiliniweier glanced at the rising mound of corpses:

"Truth is, their numbers terrified me. If we let them all gather at once, they might actually rescue Aurora. Better to split them: each group arrives believing time's running out; no chance to unite with others, they'll strike hastily. And the farther ones will press onward desperately, believing they must reach in time."

Bavanshi beamed:

"You really are a genius of slaughter! No wonder you're so exceptional!"

His expression tightened slightly:

"I've said it before: you can't measure a ruler's worth by how many they kill."

She tilted her head:

"But, Guiliniweier, you've been killing so many these past days! When I killed the most in my life, I never matched your tally."

He exhaled wearily:

"That's exactly why I dislike what you've become. Killing has become so ordinary to you—like drinking water or eating bread. Even now, though you know it isn't the key to winning Mother's favor, the habit remains ingrained in your words and deeds."

He paused, voice grave:

"You show no reverence for life. That cannot be corrected by words alone—too much has already hardened within you. It pains me deeply."

He addressed her more gently:

"Bavanshi, I'll say it again: for a ruler, killing is merely one means to an end, never the end itself. Yet fairies—innocent yet savage—fear force but not virtue. Many have sunk to their core, trampling life for mere curiosity. They do not deserve empathy."

"There exist many good people—and good fairies—but in Fairyland they suffer under the cruelty of the wicked. To protect these innocents and build an ideal realm, we must restrain the vile fairies. But restraining them is difficult and costly. Simply slaying them at once is the easiest path."

He looked at her intently:

"But mark this: do not relish slaughter or lose yourself to it. Always hold life sacred. Those who revel in killing for pleasure cannot be called human."

Bavanshi blinked, then asked quietly:

"But, Guiliniweier… I'm not human—I'm a fairy."

Guiliniweier fell silent. He gazed over the sea of fallen fairies and sighed.

"All right. Tomorrow, we rest. But at nightfall, another fierce battle awaits."

He turned to the soldiers:

"Everyone, rest well by day. We strike again under cover of darkness."

He then called Bavanshi aside:

"Bavanshi, there is one more matter I must warn you about."

"Yes?" she answered.

System Note: On the second night after a full day of rest, a fresh wave of fairies again attempts to storm the prison. You ambush and slaughter them.

Guiliniweier surveyed the remnants:

"Good. Aurora's partisans are nearly finished. Now we move to phase three."

System Prompt: You spread rumors throughout Solsberry: eating bread dipped in the blood of a Great Fairy greatly enhances one's magic.

Soon the rumor mill roared:

"Have you heard? That bread soaked in a Great Fairy's blood supposedly boosts magic?"

"Really? That simple?"

"Yes! Word came from the New Darrlington army—they eat fairy-blood bread daily to gain power!"

"Avoiding suspicion, of course Tristan's troops would use such cunning means."

"What cunning! We must find ways to boost our own magic."

"But they say it only works if you dip the bread in a Great Fairy's blood."

"Coincidentally, Aurora will be executed tomorrow—why not dip in her blood then?"

"But Aurora treated us so well… dipping bread in her blood seems wrong…"

"Who cares? A grim but intriguing thought."

"True. Though it feels unkind to Aurora, she's the unlucky one."

"After all, we are free fairy descendants!"

Guiliniweier turned to Bavanshi:

"Hear them? No matter how monstrous Aurora was, until now she appeared wholly virtuous to these fairies—an angel in their eyes. Those who would die for her display a reckless loyalty I grudgingly acknowledge. But as enemies, we cannot show mercy."

He pointed to the excited crowd:

"Their true nature is now clear. I cannot abide such foolish subjects—they irk me."

Bavanshi's eyes lit up:

"So you'll record those lining up to dip bread and execute them in batches, right?"

He shook his head:

"Wrong, Bavanshi. Catch those who don't line up for blood-dipping. Prison space is limited; we must use it wisely. Then we slaughter the rest outside."

She stared in disbelief:

"But won't that kill innocents?"

He shrugged:

"In Fairyland, good fairies and bad exist—but among these, true goodwill is rare. Our purge may miss a few, but that's acceptable."

System Note: On execution day, you witness Aurora's decapitation. Her blood flows in the center of Solsberry's square. As predicted, over ninety percent of the remaining fairies rush forward with bread to dip in her blood.

Guiliniweier commanded:

"As I instructed: arrest all who didn't come to dip bread. Then drive every surviving human into the designated zones I outlined, guarded tightly."

"Deploy Molres within the city. Secure all other gates—no fairy may flee."

He rose to leave the scaffold, heart heavy. By his orders, more fairies would die in a single purge than Bavanshi had slain in her lifetime. Despite his lessons against indiscriminate killing, he found himself unable to lead by example. But he felt he had no choice: these fairies were irredeemable. To build the ideal realm, only those with conscience must remain.

Suddenly, a blade pierced his back.

"Die, demon!"

An enraged voice spat as the knife burst through his chest, and he was kicked off the platform, collapsing onto the blood-soaked ground. He tried to rise, but the wound and blood loss overwhelmed him. Endless Trial could no longer save him: its rewind power cannot reach back before its activation. Now any save would be a death save.

His vision darkened. Gasping, he thought:

"Damn it… This is why I had to eliminate every loyalist; otherwise countless assassins would come for me. These fairies do not revere life— neither others' nor their own."

"Good! I've finally killed the demon!"

He heard the assassin's triumphant shout fade as distant sounds of cheering and calls to finish him off echoed.

Then came a strange rumble, a hissing crackle. The assassin paused, confused. Guiliniweier's body vanished from sight. In his place stood a monstrous figure: a demon-headed creature, its skull-like visage crowned with a blade. On its chest, the mortal wound was visibly healing.

"M-Monster—!"

Before the assassin could react, the beast lunged, its razor maw clamping onto the man's neck and piercing his skull. Driven by a primal thirst for blood, it leapt from the platform, charging at the remaining loyalists.

When Guiliniweier emerged from this demonic transformation, he found himself kneeling amid corpses—the knife that impaled him still in his own chest, and his teeth stained with blood.

He took two stumbling steps back and slumped into the crimson pool:

"I see now… the ones who cannot be called human… that was me all along."

He sat amid the blood and bodies, the weight of his deeds—and of what he had become—pressing down like an immovable burden. The true horror was not just the slaughter, but the realization that in his quest to purge evil, he had himself crossed the line into monstrosity. And in that instant, he understood why the transformation had come: the world he sought to save had demanded a demon's resolve, and he had answered the call. The question now was whether any spark of humanity remained to guide him forward—or if he was forever lost in the abyss he had unleashed.