Path of the Demonic Villain

The sound of rushing water filled the small washroom as Vivia kept scrubbing her hands over and over again, as if the stream could somehow wash away the stain of what she had done.

After a moment, she shut off the tap and stared at her damp reflection in the mirror.

’I can’t believe Dad would saddle us with all that debt and leave us to face the consequences. Now, I’ve crossed lines I never thought I’d approach. I’ve killed people,’ she thought.

For a moment, her breath hitched, and a cold shudder ran down her spine as the weight of her actions pressed against her chest.

’If only those bastards hadn’t threatened to take Claire to pay off the interest, I wouldn’t have been forced to do what I did.’

She exhaled, raising her hand to stare at her damp palm.

’I won’t let Claire get dragged any deeper into Dad’s mess. So I can’t blame myself. Yes. Don’t blame yourself, Vivia.’

She tried to force a reassuring smile at her reflection, but the expression died on her lips.

After a few seconds, however, she suddenly cleared her throat and looked away from the mirror.

’I’ve been feeling so thirsty for a while now...’

She turned on the tap once more, bent over, and cupped her hands beneath the running stream, drinking greedily directly from the basin.

When she was done, she raised her head, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. But then, all of a sudden, her body locked in horror as she saw another reflection standing in the mirror beside her own.

Vivia spun around in fright to see a woman in a black gothic dress with purple eyes and purplish-black hair, standing not too far from her.

"W-who are you?!" she stammered as she subconsciously reached into her coat and drew a small knife.

The intruder smiled slightly and said in an ethereal voice.

"Someone who loves her family just as much as you love yours."

By now, Vivia’s hands were trembling so violently that she could barely keep a grip on the blade. She couldn’t move and she suddenly felt paralyzed.

Of course, anyone would be terrified by a stranger appearing out of thin air in a private room, but Vivia was sharp enough to recognize that a good portion of this overwhelming terror wasn’t her own.

It felt like it was being forced into her mind by an external entity.

In other words, she was under the status debuff: [Fear].

’Shit. This is bad! This must be an Apostle of the Moon. I heard a few of them have powers that manipulate the mind, and this status effect is one of their passive effects.’

As she thought that, she flinched as she suddenly remembered how thirsty she had been feeling until she couldn’t take it anymore and drank water. Her eyes darted to the bowl. ’She must have done something to me after I drank the water!’

She gritted her teeth. ’And it seems that she is an Apostle of a really high rank, considering even my Lucid Braid cannot fully break the effect.’

The Lucid Braid was the name of the braided black leather bracelet she wore. It was a tier two purple artifact that cleansed certain status effects in exchange for a burden on the physical body.

’This is really bad. I need to escape!’ she thought before her eyes narrowed. "Think fast!"

Since the Lucid Braid had drank enough of the debuff to let her move, without any hesitation, she threw her dagger straight at the intruder’s neck.

The blade whistled through the air, but the intruder casually tilted her head, letting the dagger slide past her ear and embed itself into the wall behind her.

However, that momentary distraction was enough.

As a rogue, one of her class traits was stealth and the ability to evade even under close observation by using sudden distractions.

And so, by the time the woman turned her focus back, Vivia was already out of the bathroom and at the end of the hallway near the stairs leading to the ground floor.

’Oh no, Claire!’ she thought as she leapt over the entire flight of stairs in a single bound.

However, the moment she landed on the ground floor, her heart sank as she saw the intruder sitting on the armchair in the living room, with her left leg crossed casually over her right.

Vivia froze for a second, but when she suddenly remembered her sister, she turned to the kitchen.

Standing by the counter was Claire, who had a lost expression on her face.

She was just standing there, but even with her eyes open, it looked like she couldn’t see anything.

"Claire!" Vivia yelled and burst forward with explosive speed.

Then she grabbed Claire by the shoulders and began to shake her.

"Claire, wake up! Look at me!"

When the young girl did not react at all, Vivia turned to the lady casually leaning on the couch and yelled.

"Why is an Apostle of the Moon here?!"

The lady smiled and said in a calm, ethereal voice. "Take a guess, dear."

"...?"

Vivia’s thoughts raced.

’Huh?’

And then it hit her.

The words the intruder had said earlier: "Someone who loves her family just as much as you love yours," flashed in her mind.

’Wait a minute...’ her eyes widened. ’Could she be related to the apostle we killed?’

While Vivia was piecing it together, the woman asked softly, "I’m curious. What is it that you fear the most?"

"Why should I tell you?!"

’No! I must not say it!’ Vivia tried hard to resist the urge to speak or think about it.

It felt like something was twisting inside her head, trying to pry open her thoughts. But when her eyes subconsciously fell on the wet glass on the counter, the thing she feared the most flashed through her mind.

It was the death of her loved one.

Her sister, Claire.

"I see," the intruder said softly. She slowly turned away, and for a brief second there, a somber expression crossed her face.

"Please," Vivia begged, her voice breaking. "Don’t hurt her! Take me instead!"

But then the intruder turned back to her, and her face hardened. "It seems that we both fear the same thing. You see, I too dread the thought of losing my loved ones. Since you almost cost me one of mine, I’m afraid I can’t forgive you."

Her voice then grew cold and lifeless as she added, "Kill her."

"No!" Vivia screamed.

However, her hand moved on its own into the inner strap of her coat, drawing a second dagger.

She tried to stop herself.

She tried so hard that tears spilled out of her eyes, but in the end, her body completely betrayed her. She raised her blade and drove it straight into Claire’s throat.

Dark blood erupted from the wound, spraying across Vivia’s face and hands as the steel tore through muscle and windpipe. Claire choked, a wet gurgle escaping her lips as her eyes, wide with uncomprehending shock, began to pool with blood before she collapsed heavily onto the floor.

But Vivia couldn’t stop. Trapped inside her own body, her arm raised the crimson blade again and again, driving it repeatedly into her sister’s chest and neck, tearing through flesh and bone while she screamed at the top of her lungs, helplessly watching herself butcher the one person she had sacrificed everything to protect.

Meanwhile, the intruder, seated on the chair, clasped her hands together and prayed as the horrific bloody madness continued.

"Oh Goddess of the Silent Moon, please accept this poor, unfortunate soul into your cool, eternal embrace," she whispered softly, her voice cutting through Vivia’s frantic screams. "Purify her spirit of this world’s suffering, cleanse her pain beneath your silver light, and guide her gently into the shadows of your everlasting peace."

***

At the same time the horror was taking place...

Fioravanti Villa.

——

Dante stepped into his quiet room and shut the door. He walked over to the corner where a gramophone sat on a polished wooden table. Heading to the wooden crate of shellac discs beside it, he slid his fingers along their paper sleeves, searching for the right one.

Finally, he settled on a classical piece.

He pulled the disc from its sleeve and set it onto the turntable. After winding the hand crank, he lowered the stylus onto the dark groove. The brass horn hummed to life, filling the room with the warm, crackling notes of the piano.

The song reminded Dante of a piece he liked in his previous life called Moonlight Sonata.

At first, his head alone moved to the beat. But as the seconds passed, Dante began dancing, losing himself completely in the music.

As he swayed across the floor, Edward appeared beside him and joined in without a word.

They bowed to each other, took hold of hands, and glided together across the dimly lit room.

Then they separated and kept dancing.

They danced simply because they could.

They danced because it didn’t matter what was happening in the world right now. For them, life was... good.