Prologue
In the depths of a gloomy forest, a voice of anguish echoed, reaching no one.
“I can’t let it end here… I have to stop it… No matter what…”
The voice belonged to the soul of a young girl who had once lived a peaceful life. Her mortal remains had long since turned to bone, and the bodies of her guards had already decayed. Their souls, full of regret, had returned to the cycle of reincarnation. But the girl’s soul alone remained, unable to move on. Not until she destroyed her detestable foe and reclaimed her beloved country. Her powerful will bound her soul to this land.
But day after day, no one appeared who could fulfill her burning desire for vengeance. Her resentment, hatred, and regret only swelled. I can’t end this. I will stop them. The girl had reached a point where she would use any means necessary… She was prepared even to become a cruel witch.
“…This is…! This is undoubtedly worthy of that person…!”
One day, a ray of hope finally pierced the gloom. But it was an evil light. Though she had lost her eyes and couldn’t see the speaker, her soul could feel it—a light so wicked it chilled her to the core. If she followed this evil light, she knew it would be easy to defeat her hated enemy and end her suffering. But she also knew what likely awaited her beyond that… destruction.
“If I can defeat them… If I can stop them…”
It doesn’t matter, the girl thought. If her enemy intended to use her, she would use them right back to fulfill her vengeance. She was ready to be guided by the evil light, even if it meant her end as the Witch of Ruin.
“I cannot possibly revive this one myself… I must inform that person.”
But the evil light departed. The girl realized this was time granted to her—time to solidify her resolve. Time to bid farewell to the person she once was and to betray all those who had loved her. Her life had been short, but it hadn’t been empty. Memories surfaced and faded, surfaced and faded…
“Once I end everything, I suppose I will also disappear from this world…”
Her life had hardly been a happy one. She was envied for her talents, feared as different and heretical. She’d had almost no place to call her own. Even so, there had been a few people who understood and loved her. “You weren’t born to be unhappy. You were born to be happy. The day will surely come when you use this talent to seize your own happiness.” The words of a certain woman, who had loved her like her own daughter, suddenly returned to her. If she followed the evil light, those words would become a lie, and the girl would be betraying that woman.
“If… just if… someone who understood me… someone who would walk this path with me… were to appear…”
A crack ran through her nearly-formed resolve. Perhaps… perhaps a different path existed, one that wouldn’t betray the words of the woman she loved most. A vain hope for someone who had never appeared began to swell, making her determination waver painfully.
“They won’t… I have to stop this empty hoping…”
The girl did not yet know. She did not know that this very night, an even more evil light would appear. And she had no way of knowing what awaited her at the end of the path it would guide her down.
Tonight was the full moon—the night of the Crimson Moon. A night when creatures of darkness writhed restlessly. The light of the crimson full moon would guide the girl to a new destiny.
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