Chapter 487

Chapter 487

The three sisters grew up looking out for each other.

Although Stheno and Euryale never blamed Medusa, Medusa always felt guilty towards her two sisters.

Because she was born cursed, and because of that, her sisters had to live unhappy lives.

Deep down, she constantly worried if her sisters harbored resentment towards her.

Thus, she looked up at the stars and made a wish.

Clasping her hands together, she fervently recited her unspeakable wish to the stars.

On a day like any other, as she was making her wish,

- Are you longing for something, child?

That being appeared.

It was a night when her two sisters, having returned from fishing, had fallen asleep early from exhaustion.

Medusa, too, had secretly left the house that day, sitting by the sea, gazing at the Milky Way, making her wish.

That's when the being descended.

The one who came down on the starlight was someone in a black robe. The voice was androgynous, resembling both a newborn baby and a dying old person.

- I've heard your prayers and have come to you. I think I can help you.

It was Medusa's first time talking to someone other than her sisters. Hesitantly, she cautiously asked.

- Who are you?

- I am a messenger of those stars. Since you always look at us, I came to hear your story.

A black shadow inside the robe smiled slightly.

- Do you have a wish? Tell me. I can help you.

Medusa, staring blankly at him, blurted out as if enchanted.

- I want to look like my sisters.

- The same appearance?

- Yes. I hate getting scornful looks because I'm different from my sisters. I hate seeing them suffer because of my cursed appearance... I want to look just like them.

The robed being readily nodded.

- Alright, I'll grant your wish.

- What?

- It's not difficult, watch!

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The robed being clapped three times loudly and pointed to the cabin not far away where the three sisters lived.

- Go home and sleep well. By tomorrow morning, everything will be as you wish.

Medusa, getting up awkwardly, bowed to the being and ran towards her home.

She couldn't fully trust the shadow, but a glimmer of hope was sprouting in the heart of the young monster.

Maybe, just maybe.

By tomorrow, she might be living as a beautiful human, not as a hideous monster... She harbored such hope.

But the next morning, what Medusa found upon waking up was,

- Kyaaaaaaaaak!

Her two sisters had turned into monsters just like her.

Stheno and Euryale, their limbs twisted grotesquely, their hair transformed into snakes.

Their small lips, which used to sing lullabies, were torn long with fangs, and their affectionate eyes now held a petrifying power and became blurry.

Medusa, dumbfounded, gazed at this scene, hearing laughter.

- Ahahahaha! Ahahahaha!

The robed being had opened the cabin door and entered.

- Congratulations, Medusa! I sincerely congratulate you!

The being, who had removed its robe hood, was made entirely of shadows.

The pitch-black shadow, with a mouth like a white void, was laughing heartily.

- Your wish has been fulfilled!

- No... this isn't what I wished for.

Medusa ran to the being, grabbed its robe, and pleaded.

- Please return my sisters to their original forms! This isn't... this isn't what I wanted!

- What are you talking about, Medusa. This was your true wish.

The existence did not stop laughing.

- Every night, looking up at the sky, praying, the darkness in your heart, this is it!

- No...

- Jealousy and anger towards your beautiful sisters, unlike you... Wishing that all other existences become hideous monsters like you. This is your real wish, isn't it?

- No! I never wished for this! I...

Medusa glared at the existence with trembling eyes.

- What the hell are you?

The existence shrugged its shoulders,

- A devil that grants wishes, the owner of the Monkey's Hand, a fallen constellation... Well, I have many nicknames.

It pulled up the corners of its white lips and laughed wickedly.

- ...Many call me the Demon King.

- Demon, King...?

- Isn't who I am less important right now?

The Demon King gestured towards Medusa's two sisters.

The transformation process was almost complete.

Stheno and Euryale, who had lost all human form, desperately moved their lips, looking at Medusa.

- Medusa, our dear, there's something...

Trying to convey something to their sister, with a breathless throat.

- There's something, I must tell you...

- ...Grrr.

Spitting out a monstrous voice as if their blood was boiling.

Soon, the light vanished from the two sisters' eyes, becoming cloudy and dull.

What remained there were... two other monsters, resembling Medusa.

- Ah...

"But damn it, what's with this human compassion... Seeing a monster going after a newborn, how could I just run away. Eventually, I joined in."

Lilly bowed her head deeply.

"Thank you so much."

"Ah, no need for thanks. It was the right thing to do as a human. Now, let's safely get out of here, raise the kid well, and..."

The golemancer stopped speaking and jerked around to look behind.

"...What?"

Thud...! Thud...! Thud...!

The north gate of the castle they had exited was shaking violently and then,

Crash-!

It was effortlessly smashed.

And what burst out was Stheno.

The monster looked ragged from the intense battle.

It had no legs, its side was torn off, its chest was deeply gouged, and its neck was half severed, flapping loosely.

And with that battered body, it bizarrely balanced itself and charged forward again.

"This is crazy! Damn, damn, damn...!"

In a panic, the golemancer tried to speed up the golem but realized there was no way to do so. So,

"Just keep going straight!"

She shouted, leaping off the golem.

The golem continued down the road, while the golemancer gritted her teeth and stood in the path of the onrushing Stheno. A panicked Lilly shouted.

"Don't do this, get away! That monster is after me... after my child! If you avoid it, you'll be fine-"

"Ever heard of the term 'sunk cost fallacy'?"

Stheno rapidly closed the distance. The golemancer, trembling, began alchemizing a new golem from the surrounding materials.

"In gambling, when you lose money, you pour more in because you can't bear to lose what you've already lost, even though you know you can't get it back. That's how I ended up ruined."

"..."

"What can I do? I've already put everything into this game."

Koogooogoo!

A new golem, made of dirt, stood up, blocking the path. The golemancer shouted.

"If I'm already ruined, might as well go all in with what's left!"

Kwagwang-!

Stheno pounced, and the newly created golem shattered into pieces.

The golemancer flew through the air like a puppet with its strings cut, crashing into a ditch on the side.

Lilly couldn't even scream. Suddenly, Stheno, having leaped forward, was right in front of her.

Bang! Wooddeuk!

With a light kick, the golem carrying Lilly and Cid lost its lower half and collapsed.

Lilly rolled on the ground, holding Cid tightly. Startled by the sudden event, Cid burst into tears.

Waaaah...! Waaaah...!

"..."

Stheno, standing numbly in front, looked down at Cid.

There should be nothing visible in those destroyed eyes. Yet, as if she still had sight, Stheno was looking exactly in the direction where Cid was crying.

Was it an illusion?

Lilly thought that Stheno's empty gaze... somehow seemed sad.

"...Little one."

A human voice leaked from the monster's mouth.

"There's always been something, I wanted, to say."

Lilly, about to unleash her fire magic, stopped herself unknowingly.

Stheno, with unclear articulation but desperately, said,

"Your birth is not... a curse."

"..."

"We don't... resent you."

Lilly didn't know to whom this monster was speaking.

"By coming to us... we were happy. You were... a great blessing... to us."

But instinctively, she understood.

"Dear."

This monster was... a mother who had raised a child.

"Thank you for being born."

A mother who had been persecuted and pointed at, just for bringing a child into this world.

"This world is cruel... but also filled with... beautiful things..."

Stheno's hand slowly stretched out. The metallic hand of the monster had no fingers left.

Lilly did not stop it.

"May your life be filled with joy... just as much joy as you brought us..."

Tock.

The tip of Stheno's hand touched Cid's forehead.

Cid was no longer crying. He opened his large green eyes, clearly looking up at the face of the monster reaching out to him.

The monster was smiling.

As if, in the distant past.

Relieved, having conveyed all the words she wanted to say to her sister, whom she had raised like a daughter...

"I bless you."

And then,

Ta-at-!

"Get down!"

Lucas, bloodied, charged from behind Stheno and thrust the blade of light.

Lilly closed her eyes, holding Cid tightly.

Stheno did not evade.

Denggeng...!

The cleanly severed head of the monster flew into the sky.