Western Elysium
Falgorian Palace
In a dimly lit chamber, bathed only in the soft glow of moonlight streaming through the curtains, a young woman stood, her gaze fixed on the starry sky above. The silence was profound, until...
Whoosh!
Two figures cloaked in darkness appeared, kneeling before her. Their faces were hidden beneath the shadows of their hoods, but the reverence in their posture made their loyalty unmistakable.
"Where is he...?" Her voice was smooth and alluring, yet as cold as ice, slicing through the stillness of the room.
"W-we still couldn't f--" stammered one of the figures, but before he could finish...
Swoosh!
A fierce wind erupted from the woman, and with a dull thud, the figure's head fell to the ground. Silence, heavy and overbearing, descended upon the room.
"Princess..." The other figure broke the silence, his body trembling under the immense pressure emanating from her.
"Where might he be?" she asked, her slender fingers lightly touching the diamond-shaped pendant around her neck.
"There seems to be a deep conspiracy behind his disappearance... as though he ceased to exist..." The man's confusion was genuine, but...
"Argh!" Blood spewed from his lips as he collapsed to the floor.
"Watch. Your. Words..." she replied, her voice dripping with venom.
"My apologies... Princess..." the figure stammered, writhing in pain.
Her cold pink eyes bore into him, a suffocating aura of bloodlust threatening to choke the life out of him.
"Ha-hah-ha-ha..." the man panted, kneeling as she finally withdrew her overwhelming bloodlust.
"DO WHAT YOU MUST... I DON'T CARE HOW... JUST FIND HIM. BRIBE, KILL, WHATEVER IT TAKES. BUT IF YOU FAIL TO BRING ME THE ANSWERS I SEEK..." She trailed off, the unspoken threat more terrifying than words could convey.
Hearing this, the man's eyes widened with fear as he rose to one knee. "We will not fail you, Princess!" he cried out with firm determination before vanishing into the shadows.
As the figure disappeared, the woman clenched her teeth, her nails digging into her palm, drawing blood that dripped onto the polished marble floor.
Drip.
Drop.
"Why...?" she muttered, her blood-soaked hand touching the pendant around her neck, her slender fingers tracing the diamond-shaped object at its center.
Her words were a question, but one without an answer. She couldn't understand how things had reached this point—how her world seemed to be crumbling before her eyes. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Her dreams were so close, almost within her grasp. So why...? Why did it all fall apart?
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed, trembling hands covering her face. "I didn't mean for this to happen... I... am so... *sobs* sorry..."
...
...
...
No… This can't be real.
No!
I collapsed, overwhelmed by the reflection glaring back at me. If I had been reborn as some twisted creature or inhuman being, I would have welcomed it over this nightmare.
Why...? Why did it have to be this character, of all the possibilities in the game?
There was that villainous prince who met his end in the third installment. Or the poor fool who got NTR'd in the second arc of the first game. So many tragic figures to choose from, yet why...?
Why did it have to be him?!
Saga of Elysium. There's no doubt.
This is the world of that game.
Wait a minute… Samael had a memory where he…
Hold on…
Why can't I recall it? Damn it. This is infuriating! I'm sure he had a crucial conversation with someone just before his 'untimely' death. But it's all a haze... nothing but fragments.
Hah.
Austin Eren Aurelious. A villain. A damned villain! And now, I am the very bastard himself.
Samael despised this guy for countless reasons... Chief among them being that he was the epitome of an irredeemable villain. A loathsome scumbag who—
Wait...
Now that I think about it...
Hate?
Samael harbored hatred for this guy, but how...? He wasn't supposed to feel emotions... At least, that's what I remember. So how...? And why...? Why could he hate this character, but nothing else ever stirred any emotion in him?
This must be connected somehow. Hmm. But perhaps that's a mystery for another day.
Austin… was a bastard.
A bastard like no one you'd ever encounter in real life. A psychopath. A lunatic. A man who took pleasure in others' suffering. He was both a sadist and, in a twisted way, a masochist. Samael became obsessed with understanding him—what drove him to become such a monster, what dark forces shaped him.
And that...
That was the root of Samael's loathing for the game. He didn't fully understand it, but the more he delved into the true nature of the villain, Eren, the more his disgust and frustration with the game intensified.
It was so unjust... He was never meant to be a villain, but... Fate had other plans. And it was all part of some grand design—to become nothing more than a stepping stone for the hero...