Chapter 121

Disloyalty.

The last surviving member of the royal guard sworn to serve the Lord and the seed of a calamity that would one day hasten the world's end.

Not much was revealed about this character in the official setting.

However, piecing together various hints and speculations, the following seemed plausible:

It was a star.

A star that shone brilliantly in the night sky.

Yet—

"It’s dangerous."

The problem lay in its lack of control.

A body inherently imbued with starlight.

Perhaps it was the price of wielding an uncontrollable power.

The radiant hues the girl possessed were not a blessing but a curse that ruined her life.

The light brought nothing but tragedy.

"The child chosen by the stars."

The girl stood out from a young age.

She possessed an innate authority to borrow the power of the stars.

While countless geniuses hit walls and faced despair, with only a select few ever even reaching the stars, this girl was born with one already within her.

Even in the annals of the continent’s history, such a birth had no precedent.

She was, in every sense, loved by the stars.

But—

This extraordinary power was far too much for someone so young.

At an age when neither her body, mind, nor spirit could support it, the ability would frequently go berserk, incinerating her surroundings in pure white.

Wherever the girl stayed, only white wastelands remained.

This was no blessing.

It was a cruel curse disguised under the name of love.

A forcibly imposed destiny tightened around her neck.

"It hurts."

"I want to stop."

"I’m scared."

"It feels like my body is burning."

"Get out of me."

Despite her desperate pleas, the star’s recklessness continued unabated.

In the end, the girl was forced to resign herself.

She was only ten years old at the time.

By then, two villages had burned to the ground, and dozens of people were either dead or injured.

The silver-haired monster trembled amidst the ashes she had created.@@@@

It was an exceptionally snowy winter.

At that moment, someone extended a hand to her.

"How intriguing... You’ll prove useful."

It was none other than the Lord.

The old man recognized the destructive authority she possessed and sought to make her the final member of the royal guard.

From then on, the monster’s life plunged into true hell.

The Lord subjected her to relentless violence and brainwashing, attempting to mold her into a tool. But the power of the stars was not something that could be refined through mere oppression.

Ultimately, the girl showed no improvement and was confined to the depths of an underground prison.

Devices to suppress her rampages, thousands of mana-vacuum scrolls, and chains binding her limbs restrained the monster.

Her fate was one of complete powerlessness.

Time passed cruelly.

The monster remained imprisoned for over 13 years. The constant abuse and brainwashing shattered her.

Life held no meaning anymore.

Only despair and the harsh reality of self-torture remained.

Eventually, the girl, having embraced hatred, resentment, and pain, let out a piercing scream and unleashed her final rampage.

The fully unleashed starlight pierced through the underground and set the empire ablaze.

Whoosh—

It was as though she sought to return the pain she had endured to the world.

Burning.

Scorching.

Indeed, the rational choice might have been to kill her on the spot.

After all, my mission was to prevent the apocalypse.

But—

I hesitated.

The person in front of me was still a girl.

The roots of her calamity wouldn’t take hold for another five years.

Was it truly justifiable to kill a powerless lamb based on a future that hadn’t even been decided?

Though I had waded through the depths of darkness and been branded with sin.

That didn’t mean I had lost my humanity.

I withdrew my intent to kill.

Instead.

I enveloped the wounded monster with a faint warmth.

For now, I had decided to wait and watch.

"Let’s get out of here for now."

Taking slow steps, I moved toward the exit of the iron cage.

As I did, someone grabbed my sleeve.

It was the girl in my arms.

Her trembling eyes seemed to fear freedom from her restraints.

Her hoarse voice spread into the cold air.

"No... If I go outside—"

"Why not?"

"If I go outside, someone will get hurt again. That’s why I was told I have to stay here..."

"Who told you that?"

"...That man."

That man, she meant the Lord, of course.

Was it the result of prolonged brainwashing and abuse?

The girl seemed terrified of the outside world.

No—more precisely, she feared that her existence would harm others.

Had she been trained to never attempt escape?

"It’s fine."

Strictly speaking, the Lord wasn’t entirely wrong.

He had instilled an extreme fear in her.

She was, after all, an unpredictable ticking time bomb.

But that problem was something I could handle.

Though her control over her powers was still weak, I could suppress her rampages as they occurred.

It would be a challenging task requiring constant attention.

But I smiled softly.

"You’ll be fine with me."

"..."

Her expression was one of incomprehension.

There would be time for explanations later.

For now, I resumed walking.

"Do you have a name?"

"Disloyalty..."

"That’s a name you’ll discard from now on. If you don’t have another, we’ll create a new one."

From today, I would give you a name.

I bestowed a quiet identity upon the girl who had only ever been called a monster.

That name was—

"Neria... Neria Lightni."

Her new name.

The first seven letters to ever define her life.

"Shall we go, Miss Neria?"

"..."

There was no particular response.

I merely considered her silence a moment to remember and stepped out of the iron cage.

Outside, pure white snowflakes swirled in the air.