To Sajyou Izaya, the title "Beast" was no stranger at all.
In his previous life, he'd been a casual FGO player. Holy Grail Wars, Heroic Spirits, Human Order, the Seven Beasts… he knew at least the general picture.
But…
Knowing was one thing.
Facing a real Beast standing right in front of him—and realizing her true identity in the very moment he saw her—especially a Beast that,
in his mind, "harbored a fundamental hatred toward humanity"…
That was enough to make a boy like Sajyou feel an unimaginable pressure.
At that moment, he suddenly noticed that at the woman's feet, black tendrils of shadow, condensed from the grudges of living corpses, were quietly flowing into her body.
In the same instant, the woman's formerly calm gaze turned violently ferocious, overflowing with murderous hatred.
[The grudges of the dead from the Tunguska Explosion are continually transforming into resentment and pouring into the Beast's body. Her blackening is steadily intensifying. Host, please be cautious.]
Seeing that notification, Sajyou Izaya had the sudden urge to grab the system and shake it.
You're great at warnings, but how about giving me a way to fix this?!
Resentment was a strange, intangible thing…
Was there really no way to stop it?
That thought flashed through his mind. He unconsciously looked up again at the pink-haired lady in front of him. Her voluptuous, sensual curves and dangerously alluring charm filled his vision.
An idea suddenly sparked in Sajyou's mind.
…Wait…
If I can't stop the resentment, maybe I can… "purify" it?
With that thought, he immediately activated the magic circuit within his body.
The next second, his unique spell—Empathy—flared to life.
A strand of his spirit quietly slipped into the woman's inner world. In an instant, endless memories of pain surged into Sajyou's mind as if to drown him.
Ancient trees burned to cinders in the flames. Elk and reindeer were vaporized by light and heat. The ground itself cracked open. An entire ecosystem was wiped out in a heartbeat…
Countless images flashed through Sajyou's mind.
The pain was so intense that any normal person would have gone mad on the spot. Even Sajyou was barely holding on.
Almost immediately, he felt an overwhelming "sorrow" rise in his heart, along with a suffocating guilt—I'm sorry I was ever born human.
He quietly bit the tip of his tongue, but even the taste of blood couldn't fully bring him back to his senses.
No… If this keeps up, I won't be able to purify even a fraction of this resentment. I'll just be swallowed by it first…
Thinking this, he forced his gaze back up to the woman in front of him.
She was completely naked. Her long, full legs, her proud, heavy chest, her pure white skin—everything was clearly exposed in his vision, framed by the dying glow of the ruined land.
Calm down. Calm down…
Don't dwell on the tragic images. Focus on the beauty in front of you…
She may be a Beast, but she's… really, really beautiful, isn't she?
Under his repeated self-suggestions, the "fear" in Sajyou Izaya's heart was gradually crushed under the weight of his very human, very male desires.
[Your inner desire toward the Beast of Pleasure has allowed you to withstand the powerful grudge. Through Empathy, you have successfully purified a portion of the resentment.]
The suffocating pressure he'd felt moments ago seemed to lighten slightly.
From the woman's gaze, Sajyou could tell that the earlier "coldness" had vanished. Instead, she now looked at him with a predator's focus.
"Why," she asked, her voice rich and textured as it echoed through the ruined land, "is there a human here?"
Her beautiful golden eyes locked directly onto his. Her gaze pierced through to the unique magic circuits coiled inside his body.
"And… your magecraft is special."
"Why do you say that?" Sajyou couldn't help but ask.
"The resentment of those you've purified can be directly absorbed by me… But my other self cannot absorb it."
"Your… other self?" Sajyou echoed under his breath. "What do you mean… Are there two of you in this world?"
The pink-haired woman gave a faint, ambiguous nod. Her eyes drifted toward the far horizon.
"She, too, is absorbing the grudges of living things," she said softly.
"Within this great explosion, two separate Beasts of Pleasure came into being… One corresponding to 'Light,' the other to 'Darkness.'"
"For a long time now, we have been competing—racing to absorb the grudges of the dead."
Yet this teenage boy had not only appeared at the very heart of the explosion, he'd even begun purifying resentment—and, stranger still, was able to refine those grudges into something she could directly use.
It was unbelievable.
If resentment was like a crude nutrient, then directly absorbing it would be like gulping down unprocessed ore—even she could become "indigested" in time.
But Sajyou Izaya was like a top-class chef, capable of transforming rough ingredients into a perfect dish.
With that thought, greed quietly lit up in the woman's eyes.
This human… would be useful.
Sensing the "desire" behind her gaze, Sajyou involuntarily took a step back.
But in the next instant, an irresistible force wrapped around him. His consciousness sank into darkness.
…
[You are captured by the Beast of Pleasure. She own you now, commanding you to purify grudges into pure energy for her to absorb and grow stronger.]
[Three days pass in a blur. Because you never resist from beginning to end, she gradually lowers her guard. She allows you to move freely within a certain range of Siberia, and even teaches you suitable magecraft.]
[Though her attribute is "Light," her magecraft is fundamentally biased toward the "Darkness." Thus, she often visits you at midnight to provide magical assistance after your busy day.]
"Your efficiency is too low. Is human magecraft always like this?" she remarked one such night, tone slightly impatient. "Tell me, what do you think your element truly is?"
"Flow and Transformation?" Sajyou answered cautiously. That was what had been measured for him back at the Clock Tower—an utterly ordinary dual element.
"That's merely the label your teacher stuck on you. It isn't your essence," she said. "Your Empathy magecraft, crude as it is, reflects your true nature most directly."
"You can understand pain, and you can link yourself to the emotions of others… That is your uniqueness."
"I see…"
She extended a finger. With a slight gesture, a strand of pitch-black thread—unpurified resentment—flew in from afar, coiling obediently around her fingertip like a tame little snake.
"With a single command, it must yield to me, and take on any form of life I desire… The day you can weave your enemy's pain together with their magecraft, that is the day you truly step into the realm of a proper magus."
As she spoke, she raised her hand. More and more strands of resentment floated toward her, swirling around her body under her precise control, constantly shifting form.
Without realizing it, the boy lifted his gaze and stared openly at the beautiful woman standing upon the charred earth.
She now wore a luxurious dress of pure white embroidered with gold—an ethereal garment condensed out of mana itself. Her full chest pushed proudly against the fabric, emphasizing the natural, seductive lines of her figure.
"…What have you been staring at this whole time?"
She seemed to finally notice the boy's unrestrained gaze. Her expression became faintly stiff.
"It's nothing. I just realized I've never asked your name," Sajyou replied with a small smile.
A name…
She blinked, then glanced sidelong at him.
"I have no need for a name," she said quietly.
"But wouldn't it be more convenient if I could call you by one?" Sajyou countered lightly. "I can't just keep shouting 'hey, you' forever, right? Calling someone by their name makes them feel closer."
"How about… I come up with one for you?"
For a moment, the woman was stunned.
Her lips parted, but no words came out.
The hazy moonlight spilled across the Siberian wasteland, catching in the boy's black hair and giving it a faint silver sheen. Under the pale glow, his face looked particularly gentle.
…What a strange human.
Why would a human dare to trust a "catastrophe" so much…
To the point of wanting to name it?
Shouldn't he be cowering in a corner, peeking at her with terror and awe, trembling all over?
Fear, dread, the desperate urge to flee from her presence…
That was how it was supposed to be.
So how could there be such a strange human in this world?
The nameless Beast had never experienced such a scene, not once, since the moment of her birth.
The boy's eyes were especially sincere. His smile was clear as sunlight—without the slightest trace of the ugliness she believed was inherent to all humans.
For a moment, her heartbeat quickened unconsciously.
She, who was almost never at a loss for words, suddenly didn't know how to respond to this boy's intense, unguarded feelings.
In the end, she forced her voice to remain faint and aloof.
"Do as you wish, boring human," she muttered.
"Then, from now on, I'll call you by the name I choose, okay?" Sajyou said, still smiling.
A hint of panic flitted across the woman's face. She turned her eyes away at once.
Her power was enough to obliterate countless magi with just a snap of her fingers—yet at this moment, she didn't dare meet the boy's gaze.
"If you don't object, I'll take that as your consent," Sajyou teased lightly. He looked at her elegant, beautiful profile, thought for a moment, then said, "How about… Koyanskaya?"
…Koyanskaya?
Her expression went blank. She repeated the name under her breath, barely audible.
"So… that's my name?"
"Yeah. I think it suits you," the boy replied with a grin.
"…Boring," she scoffed, lips curling with disdain.
A while later, perhaps feeling the silence beside her, she gave him another furtive glance.
"It's boring… but things are already like this."
"From now on, you will call me that."
…