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–––The pope’s viewpoint

“A…favor? What do you want?”
“It’s easy. I just want you to sleep for a while.”

I could not understand what she meant, and she just smiled at me.

“Sleep..?”
“I’m not telling you to die. I just want to take a bit of your life force.”

Saying that, Meria lifted her clothes. I was shocked to see a young girl do that in front of me, but something else left me speechless when I looked at her.

“What… is that?”
“Heheh.”

There was a gemstone embedded onto her body. It was as large as my fist, and it kept pulsing like it was alive. I was lost for words, no human was supposed to look like that. Meria looked at it, gently caressing the gem like it was something very dear to her.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it? This is the power that keeps me alive.”

Even if her body was not fully human, I could not push her away. She continued to talk, without even looking at me hesitating.

“After you abandoned me, I woke up alone in a dark forest. I probably got caught in some branches and managed to survive somehow. After that I wandered aimlessly through the forest for many days, hiding from monsters and trying to survive. But I was just a child, I quickly got exhausted, and eventually collapsed. Some monsters found me and decided I would be their lunch. All I remember is watching their fangs tear me apart as I fell unconscious… and next thing I know, I was lying on a warm bed.”
“…”

I was shocked she managed to survive that, but considering how close she got to being eaten by monsters… I could understand why she resented me so much.

“My body was already like this when I woke up. That person told me I had died once, and I had been revived thanks to this heart.”

That person..? It must have been whoever saved Meria. Still… I did not like the eerie glow of that gemstone.

“This heart works by absorbing the life force of other people. It won’t just keep working forever, I need to refill it with life force to keep on living. Hence the favor, pope.”

I heard myself gulping loudly, already knowing what she would say next.

“Please give me some of your life. People with powerful magic also have strong life force, so I’ll be able to live for much longer. If you feel even a smidgen of guilt for abandoning me, then you’ll do at least that to atone for your sins, won’t you?”
“Meria…”

She said that, her face and voice identical to Freya’s. I knew she would request that, even though I was already old with not much left to live. I did not mind giving her whatever I had left, I just needed to ask some questions before I did that.

“Meria, I’ll gladly give you all of my life. But I need to know some things before that.”
“What is it? I’ll tell you if it’s something I can share.”
“You said you need other people’s life force, so how many lives have you taken already? And what happened to all those people? That’s all I want to know.”

The moment I asked that her smile vanished, replaced by a frown. It seemed like she did not want to talk about that.

“…Why do you want to know that?”
“I won’t say anything if you took the lives of evil people. But if they were innocent, and you took their lives, then-”
“Then what? Are you saying it’d be better if I had died then?!”

She screamed at me, her cool composure completely gone. That reaction essentially confirmed my suspicions. Still, I had no right to condemn her sins, it was my fault that she was driven into a corner like that.

“Meria… you can have all of my life if you want. But you’ll have to promise me you’ll tell Freya everything. I’m sure you two can find a way for you to live without that thing.”
“What..? You really think life is convenient like that?!”

Her reaction reminded me of a child’s tantrum. A child that was driven into a hopeless corner and could not find a way out no matter what she tried.

“Even if you couldn’t find a solution alone, maybe you can do something together. Please Meria, tell Freya-”
“Shut up!”

Meria rushed up to me at an incredible speed and took hold of my throat, pushing me onto my bed with incredible strength.

“Guh..!”
“Who would ask her for help?! She just saved herself so she could selfishly live her life!”

I felt like I had caught a glimpse of the deep darkness Meria was living in. They used to be such good sisters, but now this was her. Her hand pressed harder on my throat, making it hard for me to breathe. At the same time, her hand and the gem gave off a strange light, draining my body of something precious.

“I’ll tell you one thing before you sleep. I’ve taken the lives of countless people, all to survive. And I have no plans to stop doing that.”

Only Meria’s voice rang clear as my consciousness faded into a dark mist.

“And now us, the oppressed, will enact vengeance on this world. We’ll crush all these people who just abandon others without looking back.”
“What…are..!”
“You’ll find the world has already ended the next time you wake up, if you ever do. And I hope you feel despair! You’ll realize everything you ever did was meaningless!”

I had to stop Meria. She was about to do something that could never be undone. But I no longer had the power to do anything. Freya… only she can save her sister. Those were my last thoughts before I fell unconscious.