Banished Villainess

136 :Yello Keith Coloflare 16 ~ Whirlpool of Darkness

A long time ago, the Coloflare region was a desolate land where monsters are rampant. The dungeons that appear from time to time were unlike today; they are pits of miasma, and are often called ‘scabs of hell.’

The only humans who live in such a place are those with resistance to miasma, or those who can use magic to protect themselves from it. Nevertheless, when the density of the miasma of the land reaches far above the habitable, its dwellers had resorted to primitive efforts.

That is, to worship the monsters as ‘gods’, and to offer them people with high magical power as sacrifices.

Those who are born with high resistance to miasma—which is most oftentimes, of the female gender—are able to retain their consciousness to a certain degree even after being eaten by the monsters. They will then control the horde, making them return to the scabs of hell that they came from. However, they, who have turned into monsters themselves, could not retain their sanity for long and are often times, killed by their companions before they completely lose themselves.

That’s what ‘coexisting with monsters’ meant for the dwellers of the land at that time.

But before long, settlers from the outside world, and there began the huge reformation of the region, and soon enough the founding of the kingdom. The settlers were at peace with the original inhabitants and began creating a magic system that was unique to the land itself. The people that would be offered to the monsters were then revered as ‘God-Children’, and become something that would purify the lands of its miasma.

However, the establishment of such a thing did not come through an easy path. The godchildren were made to absorb the miasma in their bodies, harming their hearts and minds, making them susceptible to the temptation of darkness. They fall prey and become monsters one after another before they even achieve strength the strength to purify it.

The king at that time thought that the main cause of that was the peculiar belief of this region in worshipping the monsters as gods. Thus, he overrides it with a different one. The king began gathering young girls with high magical prowess throughout the country. The one to purify the lands shall become the crown princess and as the foundation of a new belief—is to be worshiped as the kingdom’s guardian after death.

The secret arts of the Coloflare Kingdom require both a tremendous magical power as well as a special body constitution; a talent is required in order to use them all. However, the person to successfully do so shall become a god, and by giving her blessings to her adherents, they will be able to use them through piety and discipline. It soon gave birth to the concept of ‘sacred power’ and ‘sacred magic’.

After going through all sorts of trials, two ladies remained. The first one was the then, top fiancee candidate of the crown prince, the ducal lady of House Moon, Yolda. The other one was Cherry, a girl who came from the Blossom Village, a village known to have produced godchildren for generations. The king decided to have both of them be wed to his son instead, and so Yolda Moon was called ‘The Priestess of the light’, while Cherry, on the other hand, was then called, ‘The Priestess of the Darkness;’ they are to perform the purification as a pair.

The Priestess of darkness is to absorb the miasma to her body, while the Priestess of the light was to purify it. Cherry would then be the one to carry the heavier burden, but because the king could not afford to put the ducal lady in danger, both of them agreed to the arrangement.

However, this has resulted in the crown prince being concerned about Cherry more. In order to prevent her sacrifice and to welcome her as his queen, the prince kept vehemently opposing the purification rituals. As a result, Yolda began suspecting that the two of them are conspiring together to her ruin; her heart and body tainted by the miasma, became that of evil itself.