Reborn As Noble

The girl’s disguise began to crack and peel away. Her silver hair faded into a dull, dark black, her emerald eyes shifting into narrow, glowing red slits. Her skin darkened, turning a deep, ashen black, and her teeth sharpened into jagged points.

She gritted her teeth as one of the light spears pierced through her chest, the holy energy burning into her flesh. She gripped the shaft, her hands sizzling as she ripped it out with a guttural snarl. But the moment it left her body, it exploded, sending a shockwave of light through her torso.

She screamed, her body convulsing as another spear struck her shoulder, then her thigh, then her side. Each impact detonated in a burst of radiant energy, tearing through her dark flesh and scattering black ichor across the ground.

When the explosions finally ceased, her true form was revealed. Her skin a deep, ashen black, her eyes glowing a faint, malevolent red. Her body was covered in burns and wounds, black ichor dripping from the fresh wounds, her breathing ragged and labored.

She glared at Javier, her lips curling into a twisted, manic grin. A low, guttural laugh bubbled up from her throat, growing louder and more unhinged with each passing second. She threw her head back, one hand pressed against her forehead, her body trembling with dark amusement.

”You think this ends here!? You think we can die!?” Her voice cracked, dripping with venom. ”Even if you destroy us here, we’ll just come back! You can’t kill what feeds on sin! You can’t erase what thrives on hatred! We are eternal! And we will never stop!”

Her grin widened, stretching into something grotesque and unnatural, her red eyes gleaming with manic delight.

”Go ahead! Launch every skill you have! Every holy power you can muster! Burn us, shatter us, scatter our ashes to the wind! It doesn’t matter! We won’t vanish! We can’t vanish! We are born from the darkness that has always existed in this world! Every war, every betrayal, every drop of innocent blood spilled in anger, every whispered curse and silent grudge!”

She spread her arms wide, her body trembling with dark ecstasy.

”As long as mortals sin, we will always exist. As long as there is greed in a merchant’s heart, envy in a lover’s eyes, wrath in a soldier’s blade, and hunger in a starving child’s belly... we will always return~. So go on, little prince. Destroy these bodies. Kill us as many times as you like. It won’t change anything. We will rise again and again until the day you finally understand that we are eternal!”

Javier dug his ear with his finger, his other hand resting casually in his pocket, enjoying the motion before he pulled it out and glanced at his pinky, blowing the imaginary dirt with a soft puff.

”Eternal?”

He smirked, shaking his head slowly. ”That’s a bold claim for someone who’s already bleeding on the ground.”

He took a slow step forward, his hands still in his pockets, his aura steady and controlled.

”You say you feed on sin. You say you’re born from darkness. You say you can’t die because mortals will always sin. That’s true. As long as greed, envy, wrath, and hunger exist, something like you will always be around. I won’t deny that.”

He raised one palm, and six elements materialized above it, circling in a slow, controlled orbit. Fire, water, wind, earth, light, and shadow, each one humming with power, dancing around his fingertips.

”But here’s what you’re forgetting. You’re not the source of sin. You’re just a symptom. A byproduct. You don’t create greed or envy or wrath. You just feed on them like parasites. And parasites can be killed.”

Javier narrowed his eyes with a cheeky grin, tilting his head slightly.

”Well... you may fool others with that whole ’we are eternal’ speech. But the truth is... you come from one master.”

He tilted his head back, giving her a scary, knowing smile.

”I wonder what your master’s reaction will be when he finds out his little parasites crawled out of his realm before the right time. Hmm? I bet he’s not going to be happy. Not happy at all.”

The girl shivered hard, gritting her teeth before snarling, ”I... I don’t have a master!”

Javier pretended to be a dumb man, tilting his head to the side and placing a finger on his lips with an exaggerated look of confusion.

”Really? But...”

His smirk twisted into something weird and knowing, his eyes narrowing as he straightened.

”Every curse, every dark power, every fragment of corruption I’ve analyzed from what I gathered before carries the same signature. The same source. The same hand. You think I wouldn’t notice? You think I’d just accept that a bunch of sins popped out of nowhere on their own? Please.”

He stretched his arm up casually, his gaze fixed on her, his smile turning cold and mocking.

”I may not be able to completely destroy you here. I know your master can just summon you again. But ooweee~ someone’s going to get an earful of real wrath from their master when they find out you jumped the gun~”

The girl gritted her teeth, her eyes darting toward Gioni, who was just standing up, his massive body still smoking from the white flames.

His face was twisted into a hungry, creepy rage. Drool spilled from his gaping mouth as his fingers dug into the cracked earth, his body coiling like a beast ready to pounce. A low, guttural growl rumbled from deep within his chest as he prepared to charge.

”Gioni... Gioni will eat him... Gioni will tear him apart... Gioni will...”

But before he could move, the girl shouted, her voice sharp and commanding.

”GIONI!!!”

Gioni flinched, his head snapping toward her. His expression shifted from fury to something like a child caught sneaking out of the house. He stammered, his voice trembling with sudden fear.

”Ah... ah... Erebra... G... Gioni... Gioni was just... just...”

”Gioni, we’re leaving now!” Erebra snapped, her voice cold and final. ”Or I’ll tell Master that you slipped out without permission again!”

Gioni’s face went pale, his body trembling as he shook his head frantically.

”N... no! No! Gioni not want Master to know! Gioni be good! Gioni listen! Gioni come now!”

Erebra turned her glare back toward Javier, her eyes burning with hatred and humiliation. Her voice was low and cold, each word laced with venom.

”This isn’t over, little prince. Next time... I’ll make sure you die for certain.”

She raised her hand and snapped her fingers, the sharp sound echoing across the ruined plain.

Nothing happened.

She snapped again.

Still nothing.

Her eyes widened, confusion flickering across her face as she glanced at her hand, then at the air around her. The space where the portal should have opened remained still, empty, and silent.

”What... what happened?” she muttered, her voice trembling with disbelief.

”Going somewhere~?”

( End Of Chapter )