A moment of silence passed before I moved to the exit I've discovered recently.
But before any of that. I fell face-first onto the blood-stained dirt.
"Whoa!" I felt my body being torn apart; the injuries Ruina sustained didn't magically disappear after I took over.
"How is she still alive and maintaining such a passive expression?!" I felt my heart beating, and each beat was another wave of pain that crashed over me like thousands of needles poking through my skin each time it beat.
"Tissues torn to shreds. No sign of recovery. I guess it's no surprise there. Even if she's the strongest warrior, how can she ever heal without proper nutrition?" I sighed and clenched my teeth as I dragged my feet into the horizon.
However, the world was not so kind as to give me time to adjust to my new body.
A group of Demons flew over with blinding speed. Speed that I could not react to mentally, but my body instinctively remembered the methodical way to kill them in the most efficient way.
"Cut to the throat… Slicing their vocal cord so they don't call for help." I studied Ruina's clinical way of killing the Demons.
"Stab this one through the heart. Slash 56 degrees upward to cut the second heart." The creature with sharp fangs and blade-like arms was cut through like butter.
"This is brilliant… No wonder she's the strongest knight in existence. I suppose this is the reason he chose her."
A cleave through the wing of a Demon with a jet black wing that was sharp enough to cut the air to stop their escape before beheading it with the flick of my wrist.
As soon as my body finished killing the demons, the pain that had faded once the slaughter started returned once more.
I winced as I was once reminded of my goal from the pain.
"Right… No time to admire. I need to find the exit. It should be north of here. Close Mt. Reinhardt, rather… What's left of it after it was taken over by those pests." My brow furrowed as a piece of unwanted memory flashed through my mind.
—--------
'M-Mom… W-Wake up. Y-You said we will reach Mt. Reinhardt together. Please, d-don't leave me alone.' A little girl with platinum hair knelt and shook an older woman who resembled the little girl lying on the cold and frosty ground, with a pool of crimson forming around her chest.
In front of them was a towering mountain that pierced the clouds with its snowy peak.
But the base of the mountain was covered with blood and the bodies of those who dared to reach the heaven.
'Foolish humans. Trying to accomplish something despite the rest of your puny race struggled to no avail.'A Demon wearing a suit adorned with golden spider lilies descended from the sky above.
The glasses the Demon wore reflected the little girl glaring in defiance at the Demon whose hand was soaked in fresh blood.
'How boring. I will leave you alone. You will die by yourself anyway. No need to waste my time on a brat like you.' The Demon picked up the older woman by her legs and took a big chunk of her flesh off her thighs in front of the little girl.
'YOU!-'
—-----
"Tch, everything is going to change. The past should stay the past. Stop bothering me." I swatted the little girl who was 'in front' of me away. My hand phased right through her.
I continued to embark on the endless trail of the abyss. The river of blood seemed to have flowed even faster as I walked alongside it.
"My mood is soured…" I sighed, and my arm instinctively moved behind me to block an ambush by grabbing the arm of the Demon.
"Move, I am in a hurry." I crushed the arm of the Demon and severed its vocal cord, and started running.
After a while, I stopped once I got into a safer area.
"Again… I ran again. I swore to never run again. Even when things get annoying. Why do I always do this?" Tears threatened to fall, but Ruina's tear gland had long dried.
"I can't even be a crybaby, huh? Serves me right… But, even if I'm condemned to rot in hell… I don't care. I need to do my part before I return your body… Ruina." Before I even noticed it, I was already at the destination.
"Mt. Reinhardt. I wonder if that Demon is still there." I walked to the starting place where things started to go downhill for Humanity.
"The Dimensional Rift. As expected… It's still here." The rift warps the space around it, making the space twist like noodles.
"Hmm? Is there still one of you puny races left? How… Annoying." The same infuriating calm voice echoed behind me.
"You!" I twisted my body around just to find no one behind me.
"This is why I dislike inferior races like you. So ignorant, and utterly pesky." The Demon huffed and adjusted their glasses behind me again.
"I will kill you!" I tried to launch forward with a slash before my body stopped itself.
"Wha-" My arm moved to deflect an invisible attack.
"Hoh? Who are you? No ordinary person has ever deflected this attack, let alone with such ease." The Demon's posture changed from slightly slouching to standing tall and looking down at me with towering height.
"You don't- Oh…" I realized why they didn't react when they saw the little girl he had spared standing in front of him.
"Hmm? Cat got your tongue? Well, it doesn't matter. You will die here regardless." The Demon slouched forward, their claws readied in front of them like five blades ready to cleave away my life with ease.
"You are right… It doesn't matter. Because you will die here." I returned the words to him with a smirk. But it didn't mask the slight tremble of my voice.
"Big word for someone scared. Let me guess, you possessed this body." Before I could even register his words, my body moved to block his lightning-fast attack.
"How did you-" The Demon kicked me on my stomach, making me gasp for air.
"You are weak. You move like a warrior, but your mind cannot keep up and fall for such a simple trick like this. I can simply hit you without killing intent." Just like they said, they kept on targeting non-lethal spots without the intention to kill me.
"Fight back, you are boring me." The Demon yawned as a tail poked through their dress pants before tangling my arm and twisting them.
"AHHH!!" I let out a blood-curdling scream as I felt my bones break.
"Pathetic. Inferior race, truly. Given a godsent opportunity and finding a way to squander it." They clicked their tongue and frowned in disgust.
"Stop… JUST STOP! WHAT DID WE EVER DO TO YOU?!" I sobbed as I felt my body torn apart in real time.
"Here we go again. You people always ask the same question. Always why and never how. Listen well. Do you think all of this is a coincidence? It's you guys who doomed yourselves. Killing our beloved crown princess and then daring to summon us to do your own bidding!" They gritted their teeth as their tail instinctively let go of my arm and lashed out on the ground, creating a small crater.
"W-Wha-"
"SHUT UP! Every word that comes out of your mouth is pissing me the fuck off!" They grabbed me by the neck and squeezed tightly.
"DIE! YOU SCUM!" I felt my vision turn white as I lost control of my own body.
—--
'Am I dying? All because someone started this cycle of violence?' I felt my fingers losing feeling, then my arms, then finally… My heart.
"Are you going to give up here, Cockroach… No, Vivianne?" A familiar voice echoed in my mind.
'Am I already dead? Why do I hear Ruina?' I opened my eyes and found myself in an arena.
"Finally awake? Taking over my body and almost killing myself. Listen, you have one choice. Give me your body. I'm not asking." Ruina threw back the words I've said to her before with quiet fury.
"I-" I felt a burning sensation on my cheeks before I felt myself losing control of my body, before I could reply.
—--
"Tch, I've lost myself for a moment over an insignificant fool." The Demon threw me aside.
I waited for the perfect moment before I picked up my sword and cut off their arm cleanly and efficiently. Cutting through the joint instead of the bone to conserve energy.
"My name is Ruina Sinclair. Yours?" I shook off the blood from my sword before taking a bite out of their severed arm from the ground.