Evil

You're a Cruel One, Fate

A barrier of purple, radius 30 metres formed as five argent metallic canisters appeared in my hands.

They immediately seemed to recognise the skill and turned to me, vicious looks on their face,"It's that trump card imprint Ursine used to defeat Galagan with! Why is it with this bitch?!"

"No matter! Now that she's trapped inside with us five, let's finish her off quickly!"

The imprint Peace and Quiet. Inescapable till the user died or when 20 minutes passed. A barrier which separated this pocket of space from the rest. It may have seemed weak but—If it was used in conjunction with the canisters from the kosmimarians then...The result would prove similar to the enclosed area I fought in the Emporium of Equals.

Unfortunately, it was incredibly taxing to summon it and despite being able to recharge mana, my mental capacity still had a hard limit. With all this dying, it was damn well near it.

I shot forward at breakneck speed towards them,"Time to die motherfuckers!" I directly threw all the canisters at them, pressing the remote as—

BOOOOOOOOOOOM——!

1 life remaining.

"This strength...! This cannot be—"

My eyes blinked open as the sphere had disappeared, five half-dead men laid on the deck. Without mana, they were akin to mortals. Sitting ducks.

"Midnight owl." I murmured as my mana wrapped around their bodies, pulling them with me as I peered down at the battlefield,"Look carefully." Two words. Nothing more. Silence.

I didn't speak loudly but the battle came to an abrupt halt as thousands of eyes turned to me, no—To the five bodies that floated beside me.

I heard gasps, mixed fear and admiration. A dangerous voice sounded.

"Lass. I must admit. I underestimated you. I thought those five would be able to take you down. Who would have thought that they would instead lose to some no-name rank 1? How about this, you let them go and join our Wallaby clan."

I floated towards him, a metal canister appearing in my hand,"You misunderstand."

"Hm?"

"You seem to think that I am weakened and would jump at the chance to join you," With a simple spell, I sliced their throats open, crimson dripped down into the deep sea before I stored their corpses,"But I really just want some peace and quiet."

Five metre sphere. No escape. I let out twenty spheres.

One into a life.

As the blast sounded, the sphere reduced to nothing, I slit the man's throat and stored him before I landed on the sandy beach a lowly rank 3 soldier stood before me.

Just as my fist was about to crash down on the soldier—

"Stop." A hand grabbed mine and stopped the attack entirely.

A grey hand.

I looked up. Lucius.

"What are you pulling?" I glared at him.

"You cannot kill him."

"Why?" I spat out.

Lucius pointed to the soldier's chest. Just visible through the uniform and there sat—

A red heart imprint.

Identical to his.

My mind blanked.

"Oh."

Oh.

Naïve.

I had truly been naïve. So, so, naïve. All this while, I'd imagined that he liked me because of this red heart. That he must have been my soulmate all because of this dumb heart imprint, not realising that one small difference in colour could mean a whole world of change.

My mind fought back. Retaliated.

Then that curse...How did I solve it? I must be the one who—

[Answering Artemis, the curse was not one which required the true soulmate, but rather it was a lie. The curse was a lie. The true condition was merely a female magister.]

Ah. So that was it.

The puzzles fit into place perfectly. Too perfectly.

Pain. My heart ached. This agony was more than any shitty attacking a rank 6 could muster.

"So that's it?" My voice was full of accusation, trembling, ready to break at any moment,"This all my feelings amount to in your eyes? Leaving at the drop of a hat?"

"...I had originally thought you were my soulmate. But seeing him, I understand now that we are not fated. When you find your soulmate, you will understand my words, Artemis. I do not wish to fight but—"

"FUCK OFF!" I screamed at his face, sending him staggering back with a punch. I stumbled on the sand before quickly regained balance.

A multitude of emotions stabbed my heart like thin needles, puncturing it.

I shot to the skies and quickly left before landing in a nearby forest a kilometre away. Anger. Rage. Fury.

I slammed my head against a tree till my forehead was raw and bleeding, streaks of tears streaming down my face as I slowly slid down, fists pounding slowly against the tree trunk.

Oh my, it seems as if history has repeated itself.

"..." That cruel voice sounded.

Didn't you promise yourself that you wouldn't fall in love? The consequences were abundantly clear, were they not?

"..." Mockery evident. Smugness.

And yet, like a fool, you fell for another one. What a sad sight. I even warned you. The power of nonsense loves brings along is terrifyingly effective against cold individuals such as yourself. Alas, my warnings seem to have fallen on deaf ears. A pity, really.

"You bastard...You saw this coming, didn't you?"

I can neither confirm nor deny that, my dear Artemis. But I can say that this is rather entertaining. After all, a good game has to have ups and downs, right? I can't have you frolicking around and winning all the time now, can I?

"That soldier, who is he?"

Oh that man your dear Lucy fell for? Hah! He's no one! That's the beauty of it Artemis! You, a powerful woman matching a rank 6 magister in strength and yet, losing out to a random nobody! Don't you feel it in your bones, Artemis? Hm? Helplessness in the very depths of your soul! HAHAHAHA! Such misery!

I was spent. Utterly broken. Exhausted.

Cruel. What a cruel world this was. This ruthlessness I had been attracted to had come to stab me in the back without me even blinking once at it.

You're a cruel one, fate.