"Tell me about yourself," he said quietly. "There's nothing I can do anyway. If I'm going to pass out… I'd rather listen to someone than be alone. You never really talked about yourself before. Consider it the last wish of a dying man."
"…Well." I didn't answer right away. I pressed harder against the wound in his stomach, trying to slow the blood, then sighed. "There's not much to tell, but… sure."
I took a breath, digging up memories I usually tried not to think about.
"You know how common human trafficking is here. Demons, rogue sorcerers… pulling humans from Earth and selling them in Limbo like cattle."
"Yeah," he muttered. "I've read. Even with the Sorcerer Supreme watching Earth, it's impossible to catch every dimensional breach."
"Exactly… One such breach brought a woman here by some vampire along with many others, who then sold them to Mikuri."
Not many people knew she had planned to come here herself.
"Mikuri? The one they called the Breeder? I've heard of him. Isn't he dead?"
I let out a small laugh. I still remembered the day he lost his head. Best day of my life.
"Yes, yes the same. He was quite a businessman. He bought humans though mostly women from the smugglers, impregnated them, and sold the children. Sorcerers needed test subjects specially. Some buyers wanted labourers. Anyway, there were a lot of options for him."
"Is he a rabbit or something? Also, doesn't he care about his own children?"
"There's a rumour that he was a high-level incubus-type demon descendant, some says he had connection with Greek Pantheon and got some blessing from zeus himself after giving him some service. As for caring...well, he's a demon. Is that racism? Anyway, it was his nature and didn't have problem with that. He lived like that for over a hundred years."
"…You still haven't talked about you."
"Right. Well… the woman got sold, he got her pregnant, and I was born. Same as a lot of others."
"…Is she alive?"
"Nope. She's dead. My father killed her after she tried to kill him."
"What the hell? Why would she—"
He paused, then winced."Wait… he raped her. Yeah. That tracks."
I laughed before I could stop myself.
"What's so funny?"
"After she gave birth the second time, I heard her talking to herself. She wanted to learn magic. Someone told her the only way was a ritual, sacrifice her husband and kids. More kids and the stronger husband, the more magical the sacrifice will be the better results she will get, that's why she even came here after all demons are generally more magical in nature than humans."
I was pretty sure some demon fed her that idea. More evil, better soul.
".....Fuck, that's disgusting. Was she even human, or a demon in human skin?"
"Why are you surprised?" I said. "Humans aren't any better than demons. From what I've seen, there's no real difference. Both will do anything to get what they want. Brothers killing each other over property, human trafficking across countries, riots staged before elections so politicians can grab votes, poisoning public water while drinking purified stuff themselves. Same filth, different species."
"…When you put it like that…"He paused, then frowned."Wait. You said the second child. That means you had siblings?"
"They're dead now," I said, without much emotion.
"…Dead? Plural? How?"
"Humans and demons can have children together, but they're not the same species, especially when one side is way stronger. Mikuri was a demon, and a powerful one. A normal human body can't handle that kind of strain and still stay normal."
"Yeah… interspecies stuff is always messy. I don't know why people keep ignoring that."
"Exactly. Giving birth to me lowered her life expectancy. But since she was still alive, how could my dad let her go? For him, she was a tool, a tool that could be replaced anytime. Use it until it breaks, that was his philosophy."
"I feel pity for you."
So was I. Others reincarnated as humans, mutants, Asgardians. I ended up a human–demon hybrid. My mother wanted to sacrifice me and father wanted to sell me.
I sighed and continued.
"They both had their own plans. My mother gave birth to two more children after me, but unlike me, they weren't healthy. The second one died the moment he was born. I still remember the nurse throwing the body to my father's pets, the three-eyed cat."
"I'm gonna throw up… bleh." He was pale. Too much blood. He didn't have much time left.
"When the third was born, my mother killed him herself. She couldn't wait anymore, her body was already giving out. My father found out, got pissed and killed her."
He nodded, not reacting much this time."What about you?"
"Well," I said after a pause, "since my mother dared to go against him, he decided to take it out on me. Guess killing her in one go didn't satisfy him."
He looked at me, clearly waiting for more.
Did he really want to know what he did to me? No. Forget it. I wasn't telling anyone that.
"If you want to call it that," I continued, shrugging slightly, "it was kind of a blessing. I wasn't sold off to some sorcerer who'd carve my heart out while keeping me alive. A lot of my step-siblings ended up with fates way worse than mine."
Even thinking about some of them still gives me chills.
"I stayed on as a servant in the house," I went on. "Though calling it a house would be generous, it was more like a pleasure hall. Anyway, that went on for years… until he finally screwed up."
I exhaled slowly.
"He bought a girl who was supposed to be a sacrifice for some demon. Property already claimed, basically. He messed up, killed her by accident. The human sorcerer she belonged to came looking for answers, and Mikuri picked a fight he couldn't win."
I smiled again remembering that day. "Turns out the sorcerer knew had a lot of artefacts on him. The fight didn't last long. My dad's head got separated from his body right in front of me."
"You must've been happy," he said eyeing on my face.
"Yeah," I replied without hesitation. "It was the best day of my life."
…Well, this life in hell, at least.
DING
Congratulations.
You have fulfilled a hidden condition.
System unlocked.
Selecting system functions…
Gacha System selected.
Adjusting parameters…
Process complete.
Functions ready to use.
"…."
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Ghost Rider Penance Stare solution