"I'VE ALWAYS known that I love you more than you love me, Yoan. But I was hoping you'd at least put our baby above me. All you have to do is make sure our child is alive until I returned. Is that so hard to do, huh?"
Yoan couldn't say anything to Neoma's outburst, so he just remained silent while accepting all the harsh words she was throwing at him.
[I deserve this.]
Fortunately, the red flame that burst out of her body had quickly disappeared so it didn't hurt anyone.
However, Yoan could tell that the dangerous flame was still there.
"You saved so many people who aren't even related to you countless times, Yoan," Neoma said in an angry, bitter voice. "So, why can't you save our baby?!"
The pain and guilt in Yoan's heart tripled. "I'm so sorry, Neoma."
"That's not what I want to hear from you, Yoan!" Neoma yelled, angry and crying this time. "No matter how many times you say 'sorry' to me, your useless apologies wouldn't bring our baby back to life!"
Yoan could only bite his lower lip.
He was at a loss, too.
Of course, he was heartbroken about losing their baby. But he knew that his pain couldn't be compared to what Neoma was feeling at the moment.
Neoma yelled while clutching her head. "Yoan, why do you never say the things I want to hear from you? Are your feelings for me that shallow?
"You know that's not true, Neoma."
"Your actions say otherwise, Yoan– you love this damned world more than you love me and our child."
"Neoma–"
"Shut up."
Yoan was forced to shut his mouth when Neoma suddenly approached him.
Then Neoma snatched away the glass jar from Yoan in a quick and careful way.
"I don't need you anymore, Yoan," Neoma said coldly while looking at Yoan with empty red eyes. "The only person I need in the world is my baby– you and the others could drop dead for all I care."
After saying those painful words, Neoma vanished instantly.
Yoan tried to follow Neoma, but much to his shock, her traces disappeared as if she were telling him not to look for her. "Neoma…"
***
NEOMA sobbed like a child while hugging the glass jar where her baby was stored.
She wanted to run away from the world, so she let the Eternal Flame take her away.
The flame brought her to his place. It was a beautiful garden at the foot of a volcano, but she couldn't enjoy the view.
She just sat under a huge tree and stayed there while mourning.
"I'm sorry, baby," Neoma said, shutting her eyes tight. "I'm sorry your mother was stupid enough to trust those damned gods."
She hated herself for letting those damned gods deceive her.
Worse, she even took her baby from her womb with her very own hands.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Neoma killed her child.
"I'm sorry," Neoma whispered in a broken voice. "I don't deserve you, baby."
"How long are you going to cry, huh?"
It was her "Soul Beast."
Neoma didn't understand before why Lord Yule smiled sadly when she gained a "Soul Beast." But she finally understood now.
Her Soul Beast was a god.
"Do you know who I am, you little princess?"
Neoma raised her head and glared at the man standing in front of her. "Do you want to die?"
"I am Crimson, the God of Wrath," Crimson said, squatting down to meet her eye level. Then he grinned at her. "Hey, little princess. Your wrath is making me stronger because for some weird reason, our souls are connected to each other. I hate it, but it doesn't feel that bad anymore now that you've received the Eternal Flame's power. We can now set the world on fire with your anger and your new flame! Let's burn everything to ashes!"
"For someone who's supposed to be the God of Wrath, you look quite happy."
The god's grin disappeared. "Are you trying to insult me?"
"Your face is annoying and your voice is too loud," Neoma said bluntly. "I curse you to be reborn as a donkey next time."
"Why a donkey?"
"You look like one."
"Cheeky brat–"
"But you're right," Neoma said, standing up while hugging the jar in her arms as careful as possible. "Crying won't solve anything. We should just burn everything to ashes."
Crimson laughed hysterically while standing up. "Just keep your anger burning and I'll do the rest, little princess!"
***
"PLEASE STOP, Princess Neoma!"
Pfft.
Neoma laughed at Tara's pleas.
The Queen of the Spirit World was begging on her knees while her entire kingdom was on fire.
Of course, the queen's palace and the villages weren't the only things getting burned.
Neoma, whose wrath was amplified by Crimson's influence, also set the fairies and other living things there– including the trees, plants, and flowers– on fire.
She burned those who were corrupted by the malicious Darkness.
[But Tara didn't know that, and I have no intention of telling her. I want her to think that her people died because of what she did to me and my baby.]
"I'm sorry!" Tara begged her, clasping her hands together. The queen tried to fight Neoma in order to protect her kingdom, but Her Majesty was inferior to her in every single aspect. "If you want to punish someone, then please just punish ME! Leave my people alone– I'm begging you! They are innocent! I was the only one who worked with Larissa!"
If Neoma wasn't under Crimson's influence, then she would have listened to Tara.
But the God of Wrath was currently in charge of her emotions, and that meant her conscience wasn't functioning properly.
That was how she could withstand the cries of the people around her.
Moreover, Crimson would remind Neoma of her dead child every time she would waver a bit. Hence, she would always end up losing to her Lunacy.
"Your apology won't bring my baby back to life," Neoma said coldly, the anger in her heart only burning fiercer. "You took away my world, so I'm taking yours."
Tara looked shocked by her declaration, then anger distorted her pretty little face. "Mona Roseheart was my friend! Your mother would be disappointed if she found out that she had a murderer for a daughter!"
Pfft.
Neoma laughed at Tara's attempt to prick at her conscience. "It won't work on me because I have never met my mother in my life," she said indifferently, then she put her hand on top of Tara's head– causing the tiny queen to get paralyzed on the spot. "And if my mother chose to take your side just because you were her friend, then I'd kill my mother for being a bad grandmother."
She could say those calloused words because she didn't meet her mother.
Moreover, it wasn't like she said anything wrong.
"I curse you, Neoma de Moonasterio," Tara said, tears rolling down her cheeks in silence. "I curse you to receive eternal damnation after your death."
"I've already been to Hell, and I loved it there," Neoma said, gathering her flame in her hand. "Goodbye, Tara. May you never rest in peace."
That was how Neoma killed Tara and burned the Spirit World to ashes.
***
THE WORLD was unusually quiet.
Yoan refused to leave his mansion after Neoma left him to set the entire world on fire.
He ignored the cries and pleas of the people begging for his help.
After all, Yoan didn't have the heart to stop Neoma.
Moreover…
"If the World is letting Neoma burn it down to ashes, then it must mean Neoma is doing the World a favor," Yoan said while sipping his tea. "And I also noticed that the people Neoma had burned to ashes were those contaminated by Darkness. She left the others alone."
Hence, it wasn't hard for Yoan to realize why Neoma had set the world on fire.
[But I know that she also did that to relieve her anger.]
That was why he couldn't bring himself to stop her even though it had already been a few years since she started her mass 'cleansing.'
Not until that moment, at least.
"Neoma de Moonasterio has already fulfilled her job," Lord Levi said while drinking tea in front of him. "Neoma de Moonasterio needs to be stopped now."
Yoan smirked bitterly. "You know I can't do that, Father."
"You have to."
"Father–"
"Yoan," Lord Levi said sternly, cutting him off. "Neoma de Moonasterio has been contaminated by the malicious Darkness– hence she must be stopped at all costs."
Yoan dropped the teacup in his hand. "Neoma was contaminated…?"
***
EVEN THOUGH Neoma had already given in to her Lunacy and Crimson's influence, there was one thing that would bring back her sanity without fail.
Children.
No matter what the race, Neoma couldn't bring herself to burn children– especially newborn babies– even though they were contaminated by Darkness.
That was when she found a new way to save them.
Neoma ate the Darkness that contaminated the babies and children and let the Eternal Flame burn the Darkness that she consumed inside her body.
She had been doing that from the beginning.
But now she had reached her limit.
Her body was breaking down not only because of the Darkness– but also because of the Eternal Flame that had been burning down her insides again and again.
She lasted long because of her natural ability to heal herself.
But her body was now beyond repair.
"Foolish little princess," Crimson said bitterly while walking away from her until he disappeared. "You could have burned those children to ashes and purified them the easy way, but you chose to be a hero instead and take the difficult path."
"I'm no hero," Neoma said, smiling bitterly. "I'm a mother."
And she would never regret her decision.
As a mother, she knew how painful it was to lose a baby.
Hence, she wouldn't want other mothers to experience the same hell that she had gone through.
She had already done her part.
The World was already healing and the malicious Darkness had weakened because of the Eternal Flame.
Thanks to that, ordinary divine power could now purify Darkness.
To simply say, the World was safe now.
"There's only one thing left for me to do," Neoma said, looking up at the sky while smiling sadly. "I'll kill the gods up there before I go."
Yoan, who was suspended in the air while looking down at her, bit his lip before he spoke. "Princess Neoma de Moonasterio, I am here as the God Slayer."
"So what?"
***
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