That was something that happened a long time ago. Exactly a hundred years ago. Back when Silvermere was still a patchwork of small, ununified kingdoms. When Amori wasn't the terrifying and forgotten place it is now, but a prosperous and peaceful land guarded by the greatest female knight of all time—Kyra Watts.
"Skip."
[Are you sure?]
I sighed. This had to be some kind of dream—or something close to one. I could still feel the searing pain from the zombie girl's bite on my neck.
Something must have knocked me out. And the fact that I was still interacting with the interface meant this was still connected to the System.
"Yeah, just get to the important part. Probably something I need to remember to make her... obedient."
[Understood.]
"Oh, and… make it interesting."
[Command accepted!]
[Adjusting Bonding process to match Host preferences...]
[Accessing Host memories...]
Accessing... what?
[As a small nation, Amori possessed abundant resources...]
And the surreal, empty space around me… shifted. The ground turned into plush red carpet. Soft chairs lined up like a theater in a room as big as an apartment condo in Eruvia Academy. And a massive screen—almost as tall as the Claudius clan mansion—stood before me.
It displayed a moving montage, seemingly of Amori in the past.
[And as a nation rich in resources, they couldn't escape the reach of greedy hands.]
[They were dragged into wars they never started. Attacked from all sides. Devoured by the neighboring nations. Those who suffered too much gave up, fled to other countries, and became part of the same powers that once oppressed them.]
Another montage. Endless war. Homes burning, corpses strewn like flies, children crying in anguish. Blood pooling into rivers.
[But not all gave in. There remained a stubborn group led by the indomitable knight herself—Kyra Watts.]
[They kept fighting. Through guerrilla tactics, hiding, getting their hands dirty. But they never gave up. No one knew how long they could last.]
["How much longer do we have to keep living like this?" asked one of Kyra's subordinates.]
["Until they leave our homeland."]
"Let me guess," I said, now seated comfortably in one of the front-row chairs, enjoying what the system was showing. "It didn't end well, did it?"
The name Kyra Watts was never mentioned in the history of the Silvermere Kingdom. Not even as a vile enemy.
And that meant one of two things: either they ended up as a rebel group too insignificant to be remembered, or they were wiped out in some wartime atrocity committed by the ancestors of the royal families.
[Correct.]
[Kyra Watts's group became strong—too strong. Those trying to claim Amori were repeatedly thwarted by their ruthless guerrilla warfare.]
[This stalemate eventually led the kingdoms to form a temporary alliance, and devise a far more sinister strategy.]
"Sinister?"
[A strategy called Operation Erasure. It was supposed to be an ultimatum. The allied forces threatened to unleash forbidden magic unless Kyra's group surrendered within 24 hours. That ultimatum… was poorly received.]
[They refused to surrender. Refused to be intimidated. Kyra Watts even proposed a counterattack—sabotage their weapon and make it turn on themselves.]
[But the plan was discovered before it could begin. With twelve hours still left on the countdown, the forbidden spell was released. It transformed every citizen of Amori—men, women, mothers, fathers, children—everyone who remained... into monsters with corrupted Ether, driven by their filthiest urges.]
[It turned Amori into a deadly place. A land of nightmares. A graveyard full of wrath.]
Hm... "So that's what kept you wandering all this time. Let your hatred burn and fill you with the urge to kill, huh?"
I could feel the presence that had been approaching... suddenly stop.
After all, even if I wasn't fully aware, this was still my dream. And I could sense everything here.
As the condo-like space shattered, replaced by a surreal void with no floor or ceiling, I turned around.
I saw the zombie girl who had attacked me earlier. Except now... she wasn't a zombie.
Her messy rose-pink hair now flowed smoothly. Her gouged-out eye had returned. Her rotting body was whole again.
"Is that really it, Miss Watts?"
Kyra Watts clenched her fists. "Is this… the afterlife? Are you... a god?"
Now that was a funny question. Me? A god? "Honestly, it's probably more accurate to say I'm a demon."
"Then… is this hell?"
"You really think you're dead, huh?" I scratched my head.
"Isn't that the truth?"
"You clearly didn't hear what we were discussing just now, did you?"
"We?"
I frowned. Couldn't she hear the System? Or see it? "Listen, you've only been turned into an Undead. Sure, your body's been rotting for centuries and might be hard to fix. But hey—no need to worry about that anymore, right?"
And as always, the System confirmed in perfect timing:
[Correct, Host. Purification will restore the subject's body to its prime condition.]
"No, that actually does make me worry." But Kyra just looked at me as if I was an actual demon.
"It means you'll live again. You'll regain your consciousness. You'll be able to get revenge on the bastards who did this to you. Hurray for you...."
"..."
"But... that's not what you truly want, is it?"
"They..." Kyra's voice trembled as she held back tears. "They trusted me. So much. Old Man Hans. Carola. Aslani. Marc the Butcher. The kids from Riverside. They... believed in me. And I led them to their deaths."
I scotted. "Look, I don't know who Hans or Caroline or whoever is. But hey, don't you sound a little whiny now?"
"I beg your pardon?"
I shrugged. "You said they trusted you that much. That meant they were willing to follow you, to serve you—no matter what, even if it killed them."
"That's... absurd. They trusted me to protect them. Not the other way around."
"Was that confirmed? Or did you just decide that yourself?"
"What?"
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Oh dear. Look at you—so self-centered you think everyone was too weak to stand on their own unless you protected them."
GRAB!
"Don't twist my words. Are you trying to insult them or just giving me a reason so I'll punch you? I don't care if you're a god. Or a demon. I'll still do it."
And I smiled. Kyra frowned.
"Giving you a reason, huh? Maybe. But not to hit me. To keep fighting."
There was a flicker in her eyes. A reopened wound behind that glassy stare. And Kyra whispered—more to herself than to me—"You're asking me to seek revenge."
"Blegh. Revenge is such a hassle. Besides, who are you going to take revenge on? The people who did this to you have been dead for a hundred years. All you'll find now are their descendants, who probably don't even know Amori once belonged to the living."
Not that I hated the idea. I mean, there are a few people in Silvermere's royalty who deserve a beating. Like my father. Then Jacob. Then my servants. And the list goes on.
"So what then?"
"Don't you need something more important than that?" I tapped on her chestplate. "A reason to forgive."
"You... want me to forget the tragedy? You think I can just move on like nothing happened? You want me to forgive them?"
"Who said anything about forgiving them?" I clicked my tongue. Good grief, this woman's exhausting.
"I meant... a reason to forgive yourself."
Kyra froze. Her grip on my collar loosened. She lowered her head.
"What happened to them… that wasn't entirely your fault."
"They followed me—"
"They followed. They fought. They died. That was inevitable. And maybe something they'd already anticipated."
"So... torturing yourself for hundreds of years over guilt that doesn't even have solid ground…"
I saw the drops fall from her downcast face.
"... sounds kinda stupid, doesn't it?"