‘Must consume’

‘Must devour’

‘Must consume….’

Sariu: “Shut up!”

Sariu Lixus, a witch with the Supremacy that made her hungry for life forces of those around her. She referred to it as Supremacy of Life, but perhaps a more fitting description would be the Supremacy of Hunger.

Each curse did something different. In her case, the monster resting within her eternally hungered for energy emitted by living beings. In essence, the curse made her something akin to an energy vampire, just much worse.

Energy vampire has a limit to how much energy it can consume, her curse did not. As far as hunger goes, it was a bottomless pit.

The monsters appeared in shape of shadows, extending from her back with its countless tentacles.

When a tentacle would touch a person, it would suck them dry, like draining juice from a fruit.

None else could see this monster that is attached to her soul, extending from her, whispering into her ears of its endless hunger.

Except for Nur Finnerman or as he now called himself, Runfar Sevilles, aka Dark Lord.

Ever since he first met her, Sariu could tell that he was different from anyone else she had met.

Unlike others, he could clearly see the pitch black tentacles of the monster extending out of her back, yet his face did not show any sign of fright. Instead, he seemed to be oddly amused by it.

And the most curious of all, the monsters within her could not hurt him.

At all.

Her inability to touch people and subsequent isolation had driven Sariu to the edges of sanity.

More than anything, she wanted to feel someone’s touch, experience the warmth of someone’s embrace.

Now, she was leading a rather peaceful life in a mansion owned by the very same man who saved her back then.

She couldn’t be more grateful to that man.

But the curse did not just vanish into thin air.

In fact, recently it had been growing worse and worse.

At night, when she fell asleep, she would hear the haunting voice resonating within her soul.

The voice seemed feminine, almost like a whisper, but Sariu’s heart would freeze every time she would hear it.

‘Must consume the lives of mortals….’

‘Free me from this prison…’

‘Must consume…’

Sariu: “Quiet!”

This was by far not the first time she heard that voice in her head.

Ever since her curse first manifested, she could hear that voice, but back then, it was not as prominent.

With time, the voice became more and more frequent, steadily influencing her thoughts and actions.

Sariu started to fear that she might one day lose control.

And she did.

When she was imprisoned, she took some comfort in knowing that she would die and would be finally freed of her curse.

After the deaths of her parents, only one person, Annalisa Lockmayer, cared about her.

But Sariu could not even save her from demise at the hands of Lord Venlander.

Lisa: “I love you, little sister”

So many times, Sariu would reminisce about Annalisa’s final words, haunted by the memory of her heartbeat coming to a halt and her hand losing its final grip.

It didn’t matter who. Her parents, her entire village, Lord Venlander….Annalisa…

Every person she came into contact with suffered an unspeakable fate. All because of her curse.

Sariu: “How long before I doom him too?”

Sariu: ‘Will I always hurt the ones I love?’

Sariu wanted Dark Lord to use her like a disposable tool, so that he can use and get rid of her on some kind of a mission that would require her death. At the very least, that way, she would be of use to him and her curse would not cause him harm.

Even if her curse could not affect him directly, Sariu was all too aware of how much misfortune she brought just by being near him.

Yet for some reason Dark Lord refused, opting instead to give her a life that was as peaceful as possible.

Dark Lord: “We are not so different, you and I. Even if I never met you, it wouldn’t have made any difference. I would not be any luckier. Bad luck was always on my side, long before I met you.”

Sariu: “Nur, please tell me what to do! Anything you want, if you want me to sacrifice myself I will do it!”

In a calm manner, he patted her head.

Dark Lord: “You know what would make me happy? Just seeing you alive and well. That is enough for me”

Sariu: ‘What a ludicrous man. I told him countless times I don’t wish to be a burden to him by being alive, yet he…’

Her curse even seeped into her dreams. While it could not harm Runfar directly, it still wanted to kill him. Sariu’s recurring nightmare was of her curse taking over her body and choking the life out of Runfar’s body. Each time, Sariu would wake up, trembling and frightened.

Tears fell from her eyes, soaking the floor underneath her.

Sariu: “How can someone be so kind? I don’t understand…”

‘Must consume…’ her curse was growing stronger and stronger with each passing day.

If her curse took over her body, then even Runfar would be in danger. When in its non-corporeal form, the tentacles extending from the curse were invisible to most and could only affect those without a blessing or a curse. It can for the most part be contained by wearing something made of mana constricting material.

But if the curse took over her body, even that limitation would not be enough.

Sariu: “While I still am in control of my mind, I shall resist this curse. I must take control over it.”

Sariu: ‘I wanted to die, yet he told me to live. For his sake, I must persevere….’

The strong of will could control the curse, but the ones who were not strong enough were driven to madness and the curse eventually took over their body.

Each passing day was a struggle for dominance.

How long until her spirit would give out?

* * *

As a way to learnt to control her power, Runfar suggested learning gardening.

A simple task, but for someone who could kill with a simple touch it was one of the hardest tasks one could think of.

Luckily, there was the gardener, a tiger type demi-human by the name of Lake Luondo, who would keep her company.

Apparently, when he is not away on some secret mission under Runfar’s orders, Lake would work as a gardener. Strangely enough, he was quite an expert at it.

In a sense, Lake was something like a teacher to her now, as far as planting is concerned.

It started out rather awkward, but soon enough the two of them would talk about anything that came to their minds.

Lake would often tell Sariu about his beloved family and how delighted he would be to come home to see them….

Many times, Sariu would see Lake end up sobbing after telling about his family.

Funnily enough, when Sariu shared a little of her past with him, Lake ended up crying louder than usual.

Lake: “THAT’S JUST TOO SAD!”

Seeing a tiger type demi human crying his eyes out while roaring instead of sobbing was a very disturbing image to behold.

And since she could not touch him without potentially killing him, she could only try to comfort him with words.

Luckily, Lake appreciated the gesture.

Ever since then, Lake and Sariu were something they called ‘Gardening Buddies’.

Sariu would try to plant as many plants possible without draining their life force. If she failed to do so, the plant would wilt and turn to dust in a matter of seconds.

Because of that, her progress was slow, to say the least.

Lake would just sit down and tell her anything that came to his mind.

Sariu would silently listen to his tales, but this time he said something a little strange.

Lake: “Camilla san said that Lord Runfar will no longer be in danger of falling apart since he will be supplying Lord Runfar with mana in nightly sessions”

Sariu: “Nightly sessions? Mr. Lake, what do you mean?”

Lake: “Didn’t you know, Sariu-kun? Camilla and Lord Runfar sleep together”

The feeling in the young maiden’s heart could be best described as a dish shattering into countless pieces.

Sariu: “EEEHHHHH?!!!”

Lake: ‘Me and my big mouth….’