In the center of a white room, a small young man was bound to a throne of quartz. His disheveled hair and face stained with dried tears completely overshadowed his otherwise ethereal beauty.
This youth was no ordinary person—he wasn't even truly a person at all. Agael—once a young man from Earth—was now an angel. Unfortunately, unlike the usual isekai protagonists people dream of, his reincarnation had not been a blessing. The truth was that life had been merciless to him in both existences. Agael knew nothing but sorrow and the disdain of the world.
When he first awakened in this world, he was thrilled. As an angel, he possessed extraordinary beauty, sacred powers, and eternal life. But as if mocking his fleeting happiness, fate revealed the truth—he was a cupid. A low-ranking angel, tasked only with forming couples whose unions would influence the threads of the world. To make matters worse, cupids had no gender, which made it impossible for them to form true relationships with others.
Even so, Agael endured. He learned to find joy in the small blessings of his new life. That was until he met Aria—a fragile young peasant girl from a village near the capital. Even after learning of Agael's identity, she welcomed him warmly, and soon, they became lovers. Scarred by childhood trauma, Aria suffered from androphobia. By sheer fortune, Agael's lack of gender made it easier for her to accept him.
But the world had never been on Agael's side. Two months ago, as the Demon King's attacks grew more relentless, the kingdom and the church performed a summoning ritual. The king and pope believed that with a hero chosen directly by the Goddess, the era of chaos and darkness would end, ushering in peace and prosperity.
Yet the summoned hero—another young man from Earth named Jonnes—was nothing more than a selfish, lustful degenerate. Within a week, he had already laid hands on both the queen and the princess. Only the saintess had been spared, protected by the Goddess's blessing. When Jonnes set his eyes on Aria, her fragile purity captivated him. Rejected and avoided time and time again, he resorted to drastic measures, leading to the current scene.
"Tsk! The wench killed herself before I even began!" the so-called hero spat. At his feet lay the body of a beautiful woman, bound by chains. Bruises marred her legs and neck, and fresh blood dripped from her lips.
After days of hunting her, the hero had finally captured Aria. But faced with a fate worse than death, she bit through her own tongue, ending her life.
Walking up to the throne, Jonnes seized Agael's chin, forcing the angel to meet his gaze.
"Tsk! Looks like you're broken too."
But then, a twisted grin spread across his face. "Kekeke… maybe I can still make use of the warm corpse." His eyes shifted back to the girl's lifeless body.
Hearing this, something inside Agael snapped.
"Y-you!! How can such a vile creature even exist in this world?!" he screamed, struggling against the chains. But his strength was far too weak.
'Why? Why?! Damn you, Goddess… is this your so-called hero? Is this what the word hero means to this cursed world?!'
Dark thoughts echoed in his mind. His once pristine white wings, already stained with blood, began to turn pitch black. His golden hair dimmed into the shade of midnight, and his lifeless eyes gleamed with a crimson glow.
'A world like this…'
The chains shattered like brittle toys.
Sensing the rising tension, Jonnes stumbled back. "W-what the fuck is this?!" he yelled in fear. Since his arrival, everyone had bowed before him—even the king had "personally offered" his wife and daughter for the sake of the kingdom's survival.
In Agael's mind, memories of Aria's smile and their fleeting happiness played like a film.
'I want more power…'
Since ancient times, the cycle of reincarnation had bound all universes together. But to move on to the next life, one had to pay the highest price—memories.
Memories defined a soul. Even when stripped away, a blank soul retained faint traces—its gender, fragments of its skills—ensuring continuity in the next life. Unfortunately, or perhaps cruelly, Agael had never lost the memories of his first existence.
"YOU DESIRE POWER?!"
A distorted voice thundered through the chamber.
'Yes! I want it!'
"WHAT WILL YOU GIVE IN EXCHANGE?!"
Agael's mind froze. He had nothing of value—nothing the being could possibly desire.
'You can take whatever you want…'
The silence was shattered by booming laughter. "KEKEKE… YOU SAID IT YOURSELF!!"
A sharp pain struck Agael, like a goblin smashing his skull with a mace over and over. Clutching his head, he felt his memories slipping away. His life on Earth, his memories of Aria—everything was dissolving.
'No… don't take Aria!!' he screamed inwardly. But soon, all that remained was emptiness.
"Who… Who is Aria?" Agael muttered hoarsely.
In just seconds, he now stood tall, his eyes glazed, facing Jonnes, who lingered near the body of a young woman. She looked familiar, but Agael could not recall where he had seen her.
Jonnes trembled as he realized something had changed. Though he bore the title of hero, he had never truly trained. Everything he had achieved was thanks to the kingdom and the church.
As Agael's hollow gaze swept over him, Jonnes panicked. "D-don't you dare come closer!!" he cried, voice cracking, tears forming in his eyes.
Agael did not understand why this strange creature before him was making noise. But one instinct remained. Even without memories, it burned deep within his soul. He had two purposes.
"A world like this…"
His dull eyes shone brighter. Not with rage, but with instinct. He needed to find someone—a woman whose name and face he had already forgotten. Yet she was important, and no matter what, even if he had to fight the entire pantheon, he would find her.
And his other instinct…
"…should not exist!"
Black energy seeped from his body. Slowly, like a floodgate breaking open, the once-white room turned into a void of darkness.
The girl's body vanished. All that remained was the withered corpse of a fallen hero.