It was from that moment.
That my hellish days began.
After defeating the Hero, Insect King Valkan simply tossed him aside.
I stared at the Hero's cold corpse for a moment.
*
[Skill, 'Noble Sacrifice' has activated!]
[Warning, the skill's operational range is too vast!]
[Beginning calculations for causality modification!]
[Modifying causality... 0%]
*
Fear gripped me. I couldn't believe this reality.
"Only the two of us remain."
That's when Valkan approached me. His bandage-wrapped hand reached toward me.
His bandages were torn in places, perhaps from wounds inflicted by the Hero's sword.
Thanks to that, I could see the skin hidden underneath.
Skin so rotten and dried up it resembled an ancient dead tree. Grotesquely protruding blue veins.
And centipedes and scorpions crawling across them...
How could anyone become like that... his body was far removed from anything living.
"Do you know what my dream is?"
As I tried to hold back my nausea, he spoke.
"Try to guess. I'm in a very good mood right now. So who knows? If you get the right answer, I might show you mercy..."
I racked my brain. But perhaps due to my mind being frozen with fear, all I could come up with was:
"T-to stop the Hero..."
"Wrong. Well, that was one of my dreams, but not the greatest one."
He grinned.
"My dream is to create Gu Poison. A poison so terrible it could plunge the world into chaos..."
Gu Poison.
Placing snakes, centipedes, scorpions, and such in a single jar.
The venomous creatures trapped inside fight and kill each other until only one remains.
I had learned at the temple that the creature that becomes the completed Gu Poison possesses tremendous power.
"Since the beginning of human history, only three Gu Poisons have been created. Those three were recorded in human history as calamities, and were subsequently sealed and confined. To think that a single life form could terrify tens of thousands of people... isn't that beautiful?"
He stroked my cheek.
Through his loosened bandages, I could see his eyes. His dark red eyes were rolling with madness.
"I've been preparing materials to create Gu Poison for a long time. And finally today, all the materials have been gathered. What evil thing might emerge when the most sacred is corrupted by the most vile method... Aren't you curious, Saintess?"
Only then did I realize.
That I was the 'material' he was talking about.
"Don't worry. You'll live for a very long time. I'll make sure of it."
Looking back, I should have bitten my tongue off right then.
*
[Modifying causality... 2.285714...%]
*
"Kyaaaaaaah─!!!"
"Please be quiet. You're startling my children."
"Kyahuaaaah─!!! Kyaak!! Kyaaaah!!!"
On the first day after the Hero died.
He threw me into a pit filled with all kinds of insects.
Maggots, ants, earthworms, cockroaches—dozens of species crawled all over my body.
"Since it's the first day, you'll need time to get acquainted with my children. Don't worry. I've personally asked them to treat you delicately. They won't do anything unnecessary."
I screamed.
I screamed.
I screamed...
*
[Modifying causality... 16.462812....%]
*
I had to scream because the creeping sensation all over my skin was enough to drive me mad.
At times my voice gave out completely, but I couldn't stop.
Whenever maggots burrowed into my ears or flies entered my mouth, an indescribable revulsion surged through me.
My holy power would automatically heal my damaged throat, and I would scream again... this cycle repeated endlessly.
*
[Modifying causality... 30.128192....%]
*
The third day.
...They say humans are creatures of adaptation.
After about two days, I could somewhat adjust to the horrifying sensation of creatures crawling all over my body.
Of course, the unpleasant feeling remained, but I was able to regain a bit of my sanity.
Thanks to that, I realized I needed to escape from here.
I couldn't just rot away and die in a place like this.
The Hero's party may have been defeated, but... someone needed to report this to the Empire. The people who had lost hope needed someone to support them.
...Though I say this, in truth, my most desperate wish was simply to escape this place.
Having made my plan, I immediately put it into action. I used purification to heal the lingering effects of the paralyzing poison, and burned the insects covering my body with holy power.
I also applied the stealth techniques Adel had taught me as a pastime, to avoid being detected by Valkan.
It was going smoothly. Until halfway through.
"What an impudent wench."
There was one thing I had overlooked. The insects in this castle were the Insect King's eyes and ears.
Despite being cautious, I couldn't deceive the full extent of the Insect King's detection range.
And so my escape plan ended pathetically.
All that remained was another round of despair, even stricter surveillance, and terrible punishment.
"Since you've rebelled, I must give you appropriate sanctions. So you'll never think of escaping again. From now on, don't expect any mercy from me."
"Wait! I'm sorry!! Please wait...!!"
After that, I was moved to a room inhabited by all kinds of venomous insects.
That place was... truly worthy of being called hell.
Insects with paralyzing venom, neurotoxins, acidic poison, hemorrhagic venom, and many others bit me.
Nausea led to vomiting, my breathing was constricted, and my flesh melted away.
The pain was more horrific than I could have imagined, and thoughts of wanting to die consumed me.
But they only tormented me to the brink of death, never beyond.
I spent two days there.
The third and fourth nights, which felt like eternity, passed that way.
*
[Modifying causality... 61.456719....%]
*
"I have something to show you."
"..."
The fifth day.
The Insect King visited me again as I lay exhausted from continuous torture. I was afraid of what he might do next... but I couldn't move.
I was too tired to react.
Regardless, the Insect King dragged me somewhere and threw me down.
And there.
"These are your companions."
My party members were there.
No, more precisely, what had once been my party members.
They were nothing more than chunks of meat.
It was, so to speak, decomposition.
Just as microorganisms strip away flesh when a corpse is buried, my companions were undergoing the same process by insects.
"Ah..."
Camilla's brave eyes were no longer there.
Only empty eye sockets remained.
Adel's smooth skin, black as obsidian, was no longer there.
Only a maggot-infested shell with holes everywhere remained.
Lily, who had been such a bright child... was also gone.
Only a red-haired girl who had died with an agonized expression remained.
"Aah..."
I couldn't say anything.
It felt like something was stuck in my throat.
Tears were flowing from my eyes before I realized it.
Why?
Why did it end like this...?
We didn't venture into the Demon Realm for such a miserable end...
"As expected of representatives selected from humankind. Their vitality was remarkably tenacious. They only finally died yesterday. Who would have thought they'd stay alive even as insects gnawed away their skin? Kekeke... Thanks to that, I was able to collect much resentment."
"..."
The Insect King looked at me and said:
"Don't worry. I won't make you like that so quickly. The first week is merely play."
Thud.
His bandage-wrapped hand landed on my shoulder.
"In the second week, I'll inject venomous insects directly into your body. Just like myself. I must create at least a minimal vessel for Gu Poison. In the third week, you'll have to give up a limb or two to my children. As a Saintess, you can heal limbs quickly, can't you? And in the fourth week, to the larger species..."
With each word,
As the Insect King spoke, chills ran down my spine.
He calmly explained the future awaiting me. A future too horrifying and frightening to even imagine.
"And after that, you'll function as a mother."
"...What?"
But nothing was more terrifying than what he said next.
"Exactly as I said. You will become the mother who gives birth to the citizens of my kingdom. Confined in the deepest underground, violated by all kinds of large species... diligently laying eggs."
"Ah, ah..."
"Don't worry. You are the most important resource in my castle. I will never let you die."
"Ah, aaah..."
I sat there and wept.
The fate given to me was so miserable, so terrifying.
I couldn't bear it without crying.
Seemingly pleased with my reaction, the Insect King said with ecstatic eyes:
"Aah... Yes! That's the look! More! Suffer more! Live long and emit resentment and grudges. Condense the knots in your heart. And finally, finally..."
"Aaaah......"
"Transform."
I cried for a long time.
Even as the Insect King and his insects left, and my party members' corpses were moved somewhere else, I sat on the floor crying.
Only despair remained, swirling around me.
The fifth day passed like that.
*
[Modifying causality... 75.915643....%]
*
The sixth day.
I adapted to everything.
I resigned myself to everything.
I had no thought of driving away the insects crawling on my body, the lingering ache of poison, or the numbness occupying a corner of my heart.
Only one thought filled my mind:
'Will I have to live like this from now on?'
And how long would that 'from now on' be?
10 years? 20 years? Or would it continue for centuries?
Would I ever be able to die?
The longer the years I imagined, the deeper my despair grew. Each time, tears welled up in my eyes.
The sixth night was filled only with such thoughts.
*
[Modifying causality... 95.999999....%]
*
After hours of crying uncontrollably, falling asleep from exhaustion, then crying again,
When I finally came to my senses, something was hanging on the castle wall.
I knew immediately what it was.
"..."
It was the Hero's taxidermied corpse.
The Hero's corpse with limbs severed and skin preserved.
It was framed and displayed in the Insect King's audience chamber.
Seeing it, the Insect King merely uttered words of satisfaction:
"A souvenir."
"..."
Souvenir.
That infinitely casual expression described the Hero's final fate.
"It's also proof that I captured the Hero. With this, I too will be recorded in history books by future generations. Kekeke... I'm already excited about what words will be written."
With those words, he left the audience chamber.
He didn't direct any more insulting words at me or inflict additional torment.
But I remained rooted to the spot for a long time.
For a long while, I stared at the Hero's corpse hanging on the wall.
"..."
*
[The subject of the curse has died!]
[With the subject's death, the Curse of Distortion is lifted.]
[With the subject's death, the Curse of the Soul is lifted.]
[With the subject's death, the Curse of Obscurity is lifted.]
[With the subject's death...]
.
.
.
*
I still don't know his identity.
I don't know why so much guilt flowed behind his back.
I don't know why such an unpleasant sensation was felt whenever I saw him, or why he remained until the end fighting the Demon King's army despite receiving so much contempt.
But one thing is certain: he was definitely a Hero. He stayed until the end and fought fiercely against the Demon King's army.
And we... we suspected him of being a spy when he wasn't, and drove him away.
Now that he's just a piece of meat, I wonder why we hated the Hero so much.
This is the price of distrust.
All party members are dead, the Hero is taxidermied, and I will remain here to suffer for the rest of my life.
"I'm sorry..."
I quietly apologized in front of the Hero's corpse.
Though the recipient was no longer breathing and there was no one to hear, I couldn't stop myself.
My quiet murmurs soon turned into sobs that spilled onto the floor.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..."
This is our ending.
An ending with no honor, no glory, only pain and misery.
Belated regret washed over me.
If... if I were given another chance, I wouldn't have treated him so harshly...
"I'm truly sorry..."
I sat there in a daze for hours.
...That's when it happened.
*
[Causality modification complete!]
[Skill activated!]
[Searching for Save Point!]
*
Suddenly, the world stopped.