Chapter 1

TL: Sibyl

I was a warrior. 

A person who defeated the devil and saved the world.

Did I live well? 

No.

I lived a tough life from the beginning.

I grew up in an orphanage, without any inkling of who my parents were.

The director of the orphanage was a b*stard, so I was forced into a hard time.

When I turned seven years old, I was attacked by a monster. At that moment, a voice rang in my head, “Power of the warrior is restored.”

There was no memory of my awakening. The orphanage turned out to be a temple.

A benevolent but somehow frightened cardinal appeared before me and told me.

“You knocked down a monster, but your friends are already dead.”

The cardinal informed me, in a grieving tone, “You are a warrior. For your dead friends, if you train hard and become strong, then one day when the devil appears, you can slaughter him with your own hands. Will you do it?”

Of course, I nodded.

From then on, I got thrown into hell.

Abused and whipped every day under the guise of corporal punishment.

The whole time, I shed blood and lay down among the bodies of countless people.

That was the most pain I had ever experienced. The cardinal was the one who’d issued this order.

“The more you talk, the less the warrior’s power, so don’t make any noise.”

I pursed my lips, unwilling to let any sound leak from me.

A time of misery and suffering.

I wanted to give up and run away, but I couldn’t because I was the only one who could defeat the devil.

I persevered to protect this world and its people.

After living like that for 10 years, the year I finally turned 17 years old, the monsters burst out, and the devil appeared!

For the first time in ten years, I could go out of the temple, but there was no time to rejoice.

There were too many monsters.

For nearly a year I only killed monsters, without a break.

Sometimes I got company, but they didn’t stay with me for long. Because the two Paladins that the Cardinal sent to watch over me did their best to interfere.

They hated me very much. But when they were in danger of dying, I tried my best to rescue them. After all, I was a warrior.

Since then, the look in the Paladins’ eyes changed, and they helped me little by little.

All of a sudden, one of the Paladins shouted.

“Mal, you can do it, its not that warrior powers are lost. I lied because I was afraid you’d find out that you were being used while talking to other people. The purpose was to kill you and take the Pope’s place!”

The moment I succumbed to shock on hearing those words, the devil attacked me.

After days of bloody fighting with the devil, I managed to win. Soon after that, the cardinal appeared.

I realized it as soon as I saw him.

What I had heard before the battle was true!

I wanted to attack immediately, but I had been seriously injured by the Devil King’s sword that delayed my recovery.

The cardinal tried to kill me when I couldn’t move, but he failed.

The knight who had told me the truth blocked Cardinal’s attack.

Sadly, he was killed by another Paladin.

The cardinal showed his true colours by killing even the Paladins who carried out his instructions well.

All the people who had taught me in the temple, or who knew how the cardinal treated me, were killed.

It wasn’t just that.

“Your insect-like friends were also killed by me.”

I couldn’t remember what it felt like at that time.

Yet I mustered all my remaining strength and swung the sword of the devil which had been lying beside me.

However, my eyes shook, the sight before me hazy.

I tried to attack, but couldn’t succeed. The armor that the cardinal gave me before the battle exploded.

The armor which was meant for protecting me, Nira. In case I lived, they had intended to use it to kill me.

Realisation striking me was the last memory of my first life.

I was a warrior, but I was only exploited till the end, and killed horribly.

Then…

– ■■■

In the sacred white space, I met him. My master, the God of all Gods.

[You were going to have a glorious future as a warrior who defeated the devil. But the cardinal accepted the evil that lay in the world and became corrupt, twisting your destiny.]

The Lord made a promise to me with deep sorrow.

[You can avenge them with your hands. Yes, I will help you with everything. I will give you a chance to be reborn. I will present you with the same strength and memories as of your past life. I’ll help you out the most. If possible, there’s another…]

He did not elaborate it further, but gave me a fair well with a warm smile.

[Please be happy in this life. With those who love you, who care for you.]

Soon after I heard this, I was reincarnated.

My hearing was fine, but my vision looked very weak, perhaps because I was just born.

But until then, there was hope that I will lead a happy life this time.

But alas, the reality was cold.

“Lady! Wake up!”

“Let’s use the sacred power of our lord right now! Come on!”

There was a scream and an urgent noise, then the sound gradually faded away.

The touch holding me has changed, too.

I was very careful of my surroundings till now, but not anymore.

I felt sick because I was being carried around like a backpack.

Something or someone tried to cover my mouth.

I fell helplessly into the water.

And realized a little later.

I was kidnapped as soon as I was born.

Oh, my God…!

It was so shocking that I couldn’t speak, and became furious.

But instead of being frustrated, I tried looking for an opportunity.

After a while, the kidnapper took me outside without putting me to sleep.

I realized intuitively that he meant to kill me.

Seeing this chance, I tried to act nonchalant.

Pushed the kidnapper as hard as possible and began flying high into the sky. Moving fast in the opposite direction shortly after gathering my mana and turning it into a wind.

It was so hard.

No matter how brave I was, this baby’s body had its own limitations.

I felt like I was going to break down soon, but only after flying a bit further did I decide to land.

I felt too weak to land properly.

Fortunately, a familiar and warm force surrounded me, safely dropping me on the floor.

I couldn’t see it, but I could tell by the sound.

“Meow.”

It was a cat.

I was embarrassed, but soon realized. It’s the hand of the Lord.

(T/N:  Hand of the Lord = Hand of the God]

“Meow…….”

The cat cried for a long time as if sighing, and pressed its nose on to my forehead. It seemed as if it was stamping a seal on my forehead.

Something hot wrapped around my entire body like a membrane.

‘Did he have some kind of connection with it?’

The cat stopped short and was small when it cried.

“Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow.”

It was only eight times.

I could see the cat moving away by a few trillion gold strings like light through my hazy vision.

I couldn’t even ask where I was going, but there was a noise nearby. Perhaps, a door opening. I heard people talking.

“What is it? I heard some noise.”

Someone must have found me.

The sound coming my way touched my face.

“You’re not dead.”

Strangely, the woman who is the owner of the hand was not surprised when the baby suddenly got burnt. I felt irritated by the way she spoke. But I was unable to do anything.

“There is no mark. This is cheap……hm, you have a cute face. Well, will it be alright”

The woman hugged me and took me into the warm building.

It occurred to me. I had survived, but it couldn’t be worse.

I had an ominous feeling of falling into a monster’s den.

“Director.”

“What’s that?”

The man’s voice, who was called the director, was very blunt.

“I was at the door. A commoner must have thrown it away to have one less mouth in the family. It’s fine. I think I can sell it at a high price later.”

“Let’s see, it’s alright Miss. But he looks too young?”, as the vice-president said.

“The staff will take care of it. Well, if it’s dead by that time, you can just throw it out.”

“Yes. Put it in an orphanage, the name is… …the diamond. Hey, grow up pretty enough to sell diamonds later on.”

“Yes. Diamond, that’s great. I’ll be going now.”

The woman whispered to me as she walked.

“Don’t die and grow pretty as you are. I want to have a real diamond, too.”

The tone was soft, but it was creepy.

I wanted to kill these disgusting people as well as the director and vice-director of the orphanage.

But there was nothing a baby could do.

‘I shall grow up here.’

As a commodity which will be sold someday.

‘Ha…what the hell is going on with my life….’

It was amazing.

No.

I was kidnapped and nearly killed as soon as I was born, it was fortunate that I survived.

‘First of all, let’s stay here. I don’t know when you’re going to sell me, but at least until then, I was going to provide you with some food and shelter.

It will help you grow.

‘Yes, let’s do that. My second life, again, began in an orphanage.