Chapter 213: Side Chapter: Daniel's Point of View

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I awake amidst the strong headache tormenting my mind, I glance at my surroundings to find myself encapsulated in a large bottle of glass, the glass is strong enough to withstand my jaws without problems… just what is this?

A stream of information rushes through my mind as I remember what had happened yesterday, the shadows of my sins had followed me to my third life.

From all the things I had ever imagined, I never thought that I would meet her in this place, in this time, and in such a time.

I was nothing but an ant now, I was wounded and almost dying, yet they healed me, they showed their kindness only to unleash their divine rage upon me the moment they learned the truth about my being.

But I could not blame them, it was their right to be enraged for what have I done to them in the past, I was worthy of hate and rage, I was worthy of torture as well, I deserved it.

My sins ate away my mind as I had never experienced before, oh, Eustace, what we have done is something that we cannot even forgive ourselves for.

We are wicked and sick, we have done genocide against countless innocents, it felt different in that time though, it felt as if I was always doing the right thing, it felt that every sacrifice was always for a greater good, only to find myself in a predicament after the truth over the atrocities of Bestellen and his mad mind had caused to the world.

I was wrong, I was always wrong, my good friend, we were both wrong, we were all wrong.

Not only that, but we killed one of ours, our people, one of the ones that came from Earth, our lost sibling, the one we could never find. What kind of fate could she have suffered to have been conceived in her second life as our enemy? It was simply unthinkable to imagine, I was not capable of fathoming what she went through just to die so pointlessly against our mad charge.

I thought we were justice, that we were doing the righteous thing, but such effects in my mind quickly dissipated as Eustace was given enlightenment, he needed to change the path he made us walkthrough, the thing he used to unify us all. The moment he realized the truth, all our farse quickly broke down into pieces.

Eustace as the Light Hero, and the Light Guider, the Guider of the Light and Righteousness Path. Guider Jobs are powerful and unique Jobs that gives the wielder the ability to inspire people, to charm them, and to enhance them by letting them walk through the same path as them, to let them walk through the same path as their beliefs.

The beliefs that were inserted within our young minds as we were reborn in Kritias as mere infants, Bestellen, and the popes of the church were like our second parents.

Although we were born in commodity as children of rich aristocrats, our real parents lacked touch with us, but the church was always with us, and when our special capabilities and powers were revealed to the world, Bestellen himself, the culprit behind the impending doom of the world of Kritias showed itself.

He descended and taught us about his beliefs, about the world we lived in, about good and bad, about how things were, and about how he wanted things to be, for everyone to live happily, for all of humanity to live in harmony and peace.

We were humans, so why wouldn't we want to fight for our own race?

But that same mindset made us stupid, made us naïve, and made us way too manipulable.

As if we were puppets, we followed his teachings, and through them, Eustace awakened the ability to lead us all through the path that Bestellen instilled upon our heads, we all were fascinated with the presence of my dear friend, his aura of light, of greatness, illuminated our hearts as it made us forget the pain or suffering, making us forget our sins as if we were being cleansed from them.

I could not have imagined how wrong we were, I was too naïve, I really thought I was a hero…

But I was not a hero, but a terrible monster. I slaughtered the innocent and through the powers and beliefs instilled upon me, I fought as a puppet of Bestellen, the wicked God.

I regret each second that has gone since that time, and I cannot help but feel like my mind is constantly eating itself through the intense guilt I feel… but through that guilt, the sharp pain within my soul, not within my body, emerges like a blossoming rose in spring.

This pain… I shall bear it. This is the mark of my sins and the mark that I want to become someone better.

Anastacia was killed by Bestellen, she had her soul pierced in half, and what I and Eustace feared the most had actually happened, she reincarnated twice.

The boy… and the living armor, both of them, such strange and different beings were, in fact, the very one we killed, the same one we slaughtered, and the same one that we brought upon the obliteration of her innocent people…

But they were different than before. It was as if something within them had taken place, they were not simply the human souls like us, the split of their existence had caused their powers to enhance, and for something more wicked to reign within.

I was completely terrified, taken aghast as I glanced at their souls emerge from within their bodies, being left in the ground as if they were mere wooden puppets of the enormous and monstrous entity that lived within them, the spectral creatures merged together and intimidated me with its enormous crimson eyes, its power was incommensurable, she was not the Anastacia we knew, she was far more than that now, she was something akin to a god.

Fitting for such suffering to bring them to such a power, it was what they had worked so hard to accomplish, or a certain curse brought upon their existence by the wicked Bestellen? I simply could not tell, as I was barely grasping life, their ethereal claws grabbed me with great force, I still remember it, the heart-wrenching pain, the horror, the despair…

Was this… what they went through?

I could not move, I glanced at the presence that violated all common sense with horror and… fascination, I glanced at their existence with great surprise, with great awe and disbelief.

They yelled at me as I was judged by my sins, I only implored for one thing amongst it all, for my family to be spared.

The ones I have spent all of my third life with, those that I love dearly more than anything… I didn't want them to get involved, they did not deserve to suffer from what I did.

But they yelled at me, they told me that I was a hypocrite, I slaughtered the Demon and Beastmen, even the children as if nothing, my mind was clouded and more, but I cannot help but think that deep down, I did it all because I was simply a crazy bastard.

Realizing that I had become what I despised the most was eating me away, Eustace… I cannot imagine how much were you suffering in that regard then, my friend.

Especially because you were in love with that shy girl that had once been simply the Veronica from Earth, she had now gone through hell and had become something else, perhaps the suffering she went through made her even stronger than any of us cowards, she was simply someone to admire, her transcendence into something greater was what she had achieved by herself, something that none of us had ever overcome, we were weak and pathetic in front of such an admirable person…

I implored for my death, I implored for their rage, for their sadness to be appeased through my death, but they refused.

They said to my face that they were not like me that they would not simply slaughter for the sake of it. They said that slaughtering me would not bring anything to them and that I would be more useful as a tool…

And I accept such fate, I shall become your tool, Anastacia… no, Veronica.

I will walk through your path now, through the path… that I believe is the correct one. I cannot back away now, I cannot refuse nor regret, I had accepted my fate, the face within the hands of Veronica…

I will live to serve her, or them, and I will do the best I can to do so… even if it will one day cost my third life.

I sigh as I glance at my family nearby, they were in another large glass bottle, they seemed to have been fed well, I was glad that things were doing fine for them.

I remember how they said that they were not like me that they would not slaughter my family out of pure hatred, that they were better than me and my former allies… And it is true, so true…

Now I wonder what fate awaits me, and that of my allies in the other world, are they fine?

I wonder and worry for the life of Eustace, my wife, and my child…

Gabriel, the Cronos has revealed himself to be part of the Demon Gods Faction and had tried to kill Eustace before my sight, I gave up my life for him, but I think it was the least I could do for my dear friend…

The only thing I desire now is for my wife and child to be fine, to be alive… and to be thriving, whenever you are…

And for Eustace… live, my friend, you were far greater than me, you were always the one capable of leading the masses, of leading and inspiring people, I know you can fight against Bestellen, and save the world of Kritias…

I cannot think any more of this, I move these memories and thoughts away, as of now, I am but a mere tool for those whose I brought suffering and despair… A fitting fate for the wicked bastard that I was… and still am.

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