The truth from Collin only confirmed the suspicion I'd had from the beginning.
Maybe it was because I'd been betrayed too many times that I couldn't bring myself to truly feel angry at him. Besides, he was already dead. Anger toward the dead was pointless.
Collin's expression softened. Then his face faded, returning to that blank, faceless state. The other souls followed soon after. They swirled around us, stirred by some unseen hand, merging into a single mass of light that descended into the radiant being's palm… and vanished.
I let out a short breath. Enough about Collin. What mattered now was getting out of this cursed place.
"So," I said, trying to mask the calculation in my head. "What do you want from me? For bringing my sister back. What's the price?"
The radiant figure looked at me, its light pulsing gently.
"You must offer something you believe is equal in value to her life," it answered, pausing. "One million human lives."
The number hung in the air. I didn't reject it immediately.
A quiet, cynical laugh slipped out. "Are you insane? That's far too much for the life of a fifteen-year-old girl. You really think that's equal?"
I could have agreed right away just to leave this place faster. But a little acting was necessary. Agreeing too quickly would seem suspicious. In truth, buried deep in my heart, one million human lives meant nothing compared to my sister's. If that was the requirement, I wouldn't hesitate. But I couldn't say that.
"That is a very cheap price… for you," the being replied, as if reading the hidden greed beneath my thoughts. "You and I both know that many lives will never equal hers. What makes them equal is the effort. The sacrifice, the suffering, and the will required to gather and take so many lives. Its value lies in what you're willing to endure for her, not in the number itself."
A shiver ran through me. Could it read my mind?
Its logic was disgusting… yet in its twisted way, it made sense. I masked my discomfort with a muttered, "That doesn't make sense."
"What part doesn't make sense?" it asked, sounding genuinely curious. "From the beginning, nothing in this world has ever been truly equal. Especially people. Human value differs and is defined by other humans. A horse might be more valuable to a soldier than a beggar. And to a father, his child's life is priceless, worth more than the life of a king."
I stayed silent, listening.
"But if you want something truly equal to your sister's life… there is one thing." It paused. "That woman's life. That is the equivalent price. So choose. One million strangers… or the one you hate and love at the same time?"
The choice felt like two blades, both poisoned. I didn't answer immediately. Instead, I asked something else to test the limits of this bargain.
"Before I decide. If I pick one, what will you do to me? Right now?"
"Nothing," it said, sincere as ever. "I will do nothing to you. Your agreement is a promise. And you will fulfill that promise in your own way, in your own time. I am only… offering the choice."
'Liar,' I thought. But I didn't have many options.
"Fine," I said, pretending to weigh it heavily. "I'll decide later. After I leave this place."
Hearing my answer, the radiant being released a sound. A small laugh. Light, clear, and somehow pleasant, like a friend's laughter from long ago.
At first, I thought it was just my imagination. But then I noticed something. The light around me was fading. The colors in this false heavenly meadow were losing their intensity. The cracked cathedral in the distance was turning transparent. My time here was running out. Maybe if I stalled long enough, this place would collapse on its own and eject me.
As if reading my mind yet again, the radiant being said, "You really are an interesting person."
Then it raised one hand and snapped off one of its own fingers without hesitation.
Crack.
The finger came off cleanly. Not flesh and bone, but like a shard of solid light. Still glowing faintly, it offered the piece to me.
I hesitated to take it. But with incomprehensible speed, its other hand moved, gently grasping my wrist. Its touch was warm and comforting. It placed the glowing finger in my open palm.
I stared at it. Nothing happened to me. I didn't turn into some grotesque creature or anything like that. Relief washed over me, mixed with curiosity.
"What is this for? Don't tell me… you want me to eat it."
The radiant being tilted its head slightly, sounding delighted. "How did you know?"
My face darkened. "What?"
"Eat it," it said, serious. "When you've made your choice, and gathered the souls required. Swallow it. Then my promise will be fulfilled."
Before I could ask anything else, or throw the thing back in its face, the world around me began to dissolve rapidly. Color, shape, light—everything blurred into spinning gray mist.
The radiant being itself was torn apart, swept away like smoke. But before it vanished completely, I saw it smile.
And in the next instant, I was back on the blood-soaked field of corpses, in the cold… real… night.
I was still sitting, my right hand clenched. Slowly, I opened my palm.
There, no longer shining but still faintly warm, lay a small object. It looked like a fragment of white marble at first glance, but with a strange texture and a lingering warmth beneath the surface.
His finger.
An inhuman roar tore through the stillness of the night. It came from the necromancer, or rather, the monster he had become. His voice was raspy, wild, overflowing with unrestrained fury, echoing across the silent plain.
"MAD DOG! I'LL DEVOUR YOU! I'LL GRIND YOUR BONES TO DUST!"
I spun around just in time. The monster, with its dozens of crawling limbs, was already moving. It surged forward with a speed far too fast for something so massive, skittering across the ground like a furious giant spider. Its long, serpentine neck writhed through the air, and its head lunged straight at me.
"Shit," I cursed in my head. My mana was still at zero. I couldn't use Severance yet.
My instincts kicked in. I ducked and grabbed the sword of a fallen Mordune soldier lying beside his corpse. But the monster was too fast. In just a few steps, it was almost on top of me.
"I'll start with your legs!" it screeched as its maw snapped wide open behind me, ready to bite down.
I had no choice. I forced my aching body into motion, leaping to the side while twisting my torso. As I spun, I thrust the sword forward, aiming for one of its frenzied, gleaming eyes.
Squelch!
The eye burst, splattering thick yellow-green fluid. The monster howled in agony, the sound rattling my skull. Its long neck jerked upward, whipping its head wildly as it tried to dislodge the blade still embedded in its socket.
I was still gripping the hilt, and the violent thrashing lifted me off the ground. For a few tense seconds, I was dangling in midair, held up only by the sword buried in its eye.
Then, with a harsher snap of its neck, the monster flung me aside.
My body was hurled several meters through the air before I crashed into cold water.
A river.
The water reached up to my knees, soaking my already mud-and-blood-covered body. Pain radiated through every limb; it felt as if every bone had cracked and every muscle had torn.
The monster didn't stop. It roared again, angrier than before, and immediately twisted its body around, crawling rapidly toward the river. Its hulking form crashed into the water, sending waves rippling across the once calm surface.
I tried to stand, but my legs felt like they were made of lead. No time to cross. I turned back toward it instead.
I raised the sword still in my hand and steadied myself. Even with my body wrecked and my mana drained, I forced every last ounce of strength into my stance.
"You disgusting piece of shit," I muttered coldly.
The monster heard my taunt. Instead of raging, it let out a distorted, clicking laugh. "HAHA! YOU STILL ACT TOUGH? LOOK AT YOU! NOW I WILL—"
Its words cut off.
As it approached, its grotesque head happened to move into just the right angle. The pale moonlight hit the disturbed water, making the surface shimmer and sway. And for the first time since its transformation, the monster caught sight of its own true reflection.
It froze.
Its remaining eye stared down at the water. Then, in a trembling voice filled with disbelief, it whispered:
"…What… is that?"
It tilted its head. The reflection followed.
"No… no, that… that can't be." Its voice quivered, terror creeping in. "That… ugly… disgusting thing… that's not…"
It lifted one of its thin, misshapen arms. The reflection raised the same.
"NO!" it screamed suddenly, panic exploding in its voice. "THAT'S NOT ME! I'M HANDSOME! I'M PERFECT! MY FACE—" It stared at the monstrous reflection of its fang-filled face. "—THIS ISN'T ME! THIS IS… A DEMON! A MONSTER!"
It kept muttering, trapped by its own reflection, as if the world around it—my presence included—no longer existed. It was revolted. Terrified. In complete denial of what it had become.
My chance.
While it spiraled into an existential breakdown over the water, I gathered the last scraps of strength left in my worn-out body. My feet pushed off the muddy riverbed, my body surged forward, and I leapt, lifting the sword high above my head with both hands.
The monster was still frozen, whispering "not… not…" as my blade came down.
Swish!
Steel sliced cleanly through flesh, bone, and the thick tendons of its serpentine neck.
The monster's head separated from its body, arcing briefly through the air before splashing into the river with a heavy burst. Its massive body convulsed violently before finally collapsing, sending a wave crashing over me.
I landed unsteadily, nearly falling again. My breathing was ragged, the sword heavy in my hands. I glanced toward the severed head drifting on the water, its one remaining eye still open, blank with shock.
"What did you expect after sacrificing hundreds of lives?" I muttered, my voice tired yet still edged with sharp contempt.
I stepped closer to the floating head as the current pushed it gently downstream. I bent down, grabbed the tangled hair on its misshapen skull, and lifted it with disgust.
"You lived like a monster," I whispered coldly. "And now, in death… you've finally become one."