'Huh? Where..... am I?'

The concept of feeling suddenly engulfed Hailey.

As if she had returned to the world from a state of nothingness, the sensation of touch once more enveloped her body as she opened her eyes.

'What.... was I doing?'

Upon opening her eyes, Hailey looked forward to see a woman.

A silver haired woman who was resting her head on her hands, her elbows placed on the demonic table between the two.

This woman smiled pleasantly, giving Hailey an eerie feeling.

Hailey was sitting in a chair across from this woman, and upon looking around, she noticed that the two were in a small dining room.

Strange lights covered the walls, dimly illuminating the room which the two were in, and Hailey could not help but notice the strangely pulsating walls.

These walls appeared to be made from flesh, and were wrapped with a series of veins and nerves which pumped fluid and electricity.

'I..... know this woman.'

It was then that Hailey remembered.

Her memories flooded into her mind like a stream, not stopping until she remembered everything.

Who she was.

What she was.

Who this woman was.

And where she was last.

'I..... was just with the Indeterminant? And then.....'

Hailey paused her thinking for a moment.

'And then what?'

Looking down, Hailey took note of her own body.

Her hands were once more back to normal.

She was a high elf again.

During the time in which she had been influenced by this woman before her, her skin had turned a dark shade of grey as if tar was flowing through it, and she had been unable to control herself completely.

"Hailey Perstilla. The hero of the Alliance, or..... the former hero of the Alliance. When a Host of Sin dies, their ability dies with them. It is then up to the origin to select a new Host. When a hero dies however, the ability of the hero is lost permanently. And with the origin of these abilities having been defeated, there will never rise a group of heroes again."

The woman spoke calmly, explaining something which Hailey was too dazed to truly pay attention to.

"Do you know why you are alive?", the woman asked.

It was then that Hailey truly and fully realized her situation.

"You..... you!!!"

Shouting out, Hailey stood up from her seat with anger, causing her chair to fall backwards.

"You..... you are the one who ordered my comrades to be killed... the one who took control of me..... the one..."

Her words slowly trailed off as Hailey realized her own position, and the overwhelming power which the woman held over her.

"Ah....."

Her eyes widened with fear as she slowly stepped back, tripping over the fallen chair and landing on her backside.

"Ah....."

Puckering her lip as she stuck her tongue into her cheek, Claire spoke in an annoyed tone.

"I'm not trying to intimidate you or anything. I just want to talk, and yet you go and fall on your ass all on your own? Sit down. Here. Let me help you, since you don't seem to have control over your own limbs."

With the wave of her finger, Hailey stood up, and as she did so the seat too was reset to it's previous position.

Taking a seat once more, the two now sat before each other as if nothing was irregular about the situation.

"Now then..... I'll ask again, but this time I'll use a different phrasing."

Closing her eyes, the angelic woman took her head off her hands, folding them in front of her with a kind smile.

"Do you know why I revived you?"

The woman who sat before Hailey was confusing in every manner.

Her demeanor was off putting.

Hailey didn't understand how to describe it, but the way she acted was oddly unnatural, as if her personality and way of acting was somehow..... split.

"Why you..... revived me?", Hailey whispered, glancing to the bones lining the neck of the woman with a gulp.

"Yes. Ah, I suppose I should start there, shouldn't I? I was the one who revived you. Now you might ask why, but I think there are more important questions that should be answered first. What happened after you came into contact with the Indeterminant?"

Hailey felt uncomfortable with the way the woman talked, and the fact that she was in the captivity of this woman confirmed something which she came to realize quickly.

'So the Indeterminant has been defeated. Either that, or somehow my body is linked to this woman. That would make sense based on how she was able to take control of me..... but what happened after I spoke with the Indeterminant? Why can't I rememb-'

"You're wondering why you can't remember. Right?"

As if she had been read like a book, the eyes of Hailey went wide.

"How...."

"Reading people is simple when you exist above them."

The woman responded casually with an absurd statement, yet it was not one which Hailey could even attempt to deny.

"The reason you can't remember is because the memories don't exist. You did not die. You were erased from existence. I reconstructed your soul by reloading a saved file..... though, I suppose you won't understand what that means. Essentially, you are not the same person you think you are. Yet in essence you are the same. You do not hold any special powers though, and that body is a fresh one."

"I... see...."

Hailey was unsure what to do with this information.

"I had a choice whether or not to revive the other heroes, but I decided that you were the only one who was worth reviving. The hero of the Ruthobold Kingdom wasn't a bad person so to speak, but he was a bit too..... unpredictable. The hero of the Empire ended up fighting against one of my people after coming to the conclusion that he could not accept our existence, so I left him as he is. And as for the hero of the Sultinate....."

The woman bit her lip, slightly disturbed by something.

"She was not a bad person either..... however she was far too obsessed with the Indeterminant. I could have brainwashed her the other way, but..... I don't think there would be a point in that. I would rather not revive people who hold grudges towards me. After all..."

Snapping her fingers, the door to the room immediately opened, and a blonde human woman wearing the outfit of a maid entered.

She carried a platter with tea and immediately begun setting the table, pouring tea for both of the people.

"I am the ruler of this world."

Taking a sip of her tea, the eyes of the woman thinned as she smiled, clearly enjoying the steaming beverage.

"And that means I have the power to make this world into whatever I want it to be."

The maid bowed, quickly taking her leave without a word.

"You..... even have humans working for you?", Hailey asked, looking to the tea with clear concern.

"Hm? Oh..... I have everyone working for me now. Everyone who didn't want to work for me is either dead or alive."

"Wouldn't that..... what?"

Hailey looked up to the woman in confusion at her statement.

"Either dead or alive? Wouldn't that just mean everybody?"

"Well I forgot that the ones who were chopped up into pieces were still alive. They probably wish they were dead though. Can you imagine being cooked alive? And never being able to die? And then being chewed up as you're eaten, feeling every bit of the pain, only to be excreted by the ones who eat you and then living out the rest of your life as you rot away into the soil? That's pretty horrible."

Hailey was breathless as the woman said something so terrifying, even admitting to how horrible it was.

"If you understand how horrible it is..... then how could you do that to-"

"Don't worry. The people I did that to were people who have treated others far worse. Your classmates are alive you know. I revived them back in your home town. Though the town got destroyed by a black hole. Ah, Garret will rebuild later. I can finally say his name! And mine as well! I'm Claire, by the way! Claire Claire Claire!!! I can say my name!!! Hahaha!!"

"Will you be quiet already. You're scaring the guest."

"Ah. Sorry. I guess that was pretty weird."

"Not as weird as the two of us talking. Now look. She's terrified."

"That's your fault!!"

"And yours."

Hailey merely watched as the woman before her spoke to herself as if she was literally two different people.

"Who..... are you? No..... I already know..... but....."

Hailey found herself trembling, but she looked up to the woman.

"You said that you revived my classmates? What..... what do you want from me? Is this some sort of deal? Are you going to try to exchange something with me so that I can see them again!?"

As Hailey asked this question, she did not realize herself how easily she had accepted that this woman held the power to revive her classmates.

"Hm..... exchange something? Well, I suppose so. But more than an exchange, it will be an agreement. It's simple really. Everyone and everything in this world is now under my control. If you can accept and understand that, then I will let you live in my world. If not, I would be glad to painlessly erase you from existence."

No matter how many times she heard the woman speak, Hailey couldn't get used to the insane things which she said.

'Erase you from existence.'

She said such a thing with such ease as if existence itself were merely a switch which could be turned on and off.

For this woman, that was exactly the case.

"I..."

Hailey looked up, hesitating.

She was scared.

Would she truly be allowed to live peacefully?

Wouldn't her life turn to that of a slave?

However, it then occurred to her.

Her previous life was one of an outcast.

After being thrown out and placed in an Academy which was more brutal than she could have imagined, she had experienced the deaths of all of her classmates.

What was Hailey so afraid of?

At the very worst, wouldn't life as a slave be similar to her life in the military?

She would likely be worked to the bone.

However, even then, if she was with her classmates, wouldn't they be able to at least live happily among one another?

"What.... what type of life would I be living from this point on if I were to accept?", Hailey asked.

Sitting back in her seat, the angelic woman closed her eyes in thought.

She paused for a moment, breathing in and out before opening her eyes.

"You know..... I may be a Dictator and a slaveowner.... and it's true that I've done some horrible things. It was at my orders that everyone in the world was killed. Not just your comrades, but everyone. I've become the origin of every sin in the book, and I've messed up a whole lot of things for a whole lot of people. But do you know why I did all those things?"

Leaning forward, Claire looked straight into the eyes of Hailey with sincerity.

With a light smile, the angelic woman let out a sigh.

"I was originally a human you know. I came to this world and I was just... here. No explanation. Nobody to guide me. But I was given some abilities and some knowledge and left to figure the rest out for myself."

Taking another sip of her steaming tea, the girl's silver eyes gleamed over to the untouched cup before Hailey.

"Ah, are you gonna drink? It's not poisoned you know. If I planned on poisoning you I'd make you incapable of movement and pour it down your throat myself."

"Clarice!! You're really going to scare her to death if you say stuff like that!"

"Hm? But that's exactly what I would do."

"Yeah, I would too. But you don't have to say it out loud. Imagine how scared she must be."

Hailey was left to watch once more as the strange two personalities debated with one another.

"Anyways, I'm sorry about her. She really is morbid, isn't she? Ah, but I guess she's really just another version of me. And she has a reason for being that way.", Claire stated with a sad smile.

"I... see..."

Hailey gave up trying to understand this woman.

She was someone she couldn't understand. Period.

"Ah, I guess I haven't explained it but I have two minds living in me. We're the same person..... but with different experiences. What you go through..... really molds who you become as a person I guess."

Closing her eyes with a light sadness, Hailey felt an odd emotion.

She almost felt sorry for the woman.

She felt as if there was a hint of humanity in the way she was speaking right now.

"You know.... when I came to this world, the first thing I told myself was that I wanted to spend my life helping people. Regardless of how much power I had..... I wanted to become a hero."

Placing her teacup down with a clank, the woman let out a crackle.

"Heh."

The two sat in silence for a while, at which Hailey slowly reached for her own teacup, taking a sip.

"Ah, see? It's not poisoned. Nor does it have any strange side effects."

Hailey drank the tea without complaint.

It was just normal tea with sugar.

There was nothing strange or special about it.

"That I know of."

"PFFFT"

Spitting the tea out of her mouth, Hailey looked up to the woman with concern.

"That.... you know of?"

"Ah, don't spit all over my floor! My goodness..... Charlotte, will you come clean this up!"

Entering the room once more, the blonde haired maid bowed before Claire before wiping the mess up.

"Of course, your eminence."

It was then though that Hailey realized it.

Despite being so rude and spitting tea all over the floor, this woman had not become angry with her.

"You....."

Wiping her lip with her sleeve, of which she was currently dressed in a long sleeved dress, Hailey looked to Claire with a strange expression.

"You're not going to behead me or anything? I just spit tea all over your floor after all....."

"Eh? Do I look so cruel to the point where I would kill someone just for something like that?"

"Uh, yes Claire. You're a Dictator, remember."

"Oh. Right. Well I'm not so unreasonable. I believe that people's intentions are more important than anything."

Hailey was shaken to her very core as the woman said this.

'Intentions?'

'She..... considers people's intentions?'

What did that even mean?

How could this woman, this existence of evil, even consider people's intentions and morals?

She was a demon lord.

She was an existence of terror who existed for no purpose other than to create chaos.

Right?

"When I first came to this world.... I gave everything to help the people around me. I tried to protect the weak from the strong. I tried to admonish those who were evil. I tried to help everyone around me. Yet....."

Holding up her own right hand, the woman looked to it with a bitter smile.

"I was invincible."

"Invincible?"

Hailey couldn't contain her own curiosity, and at some point her own fear towards this woman was shoved into a corner.

She felt as if she was having a conversation with a normal person.

'She said.... she was human before. Is this person..... could she really have been a normal person?'

"And because I was invincible, I was feared. I tried to help people. I tried and tried, doing everything I could to assist those around me who I saw were in need. And yet....."

Closing her eyes, the woman leaned back, putting her hands in her lap.

"I was feared by everyone I approached."

As the woman opened her eyes, Hailey witnessed something which she could never possibly imagine within the woman before her.

Sadness.

"Without even knowing it, I had become a monster."

Raising her demonic hand up, she showed it to Hailey.

"No matter what I did, no matter what things I said, no matter how I acted, I was the villain. I was a being of terror, destined to take over the world. They ran from me, bowed before me, begged me for their lives, and looked at me as evil."

Thinning her eyes, the woman stared into the soul of Hailey.

"And there is nothing which makes a person into a villain more.... than being told over and over that you are evil."

With a shrug, the woman relaxed herself, her lips curling up with a carefree smile.

"So I embraced it. I begun to use force to get people to do what I wanted..... for the sake of what I believed was right. I gave up on peaceful negotiation and decided to become a Dictator. However..... even that was not enough. There came a day where I encountered someone evil.... and when faced with that evil, I decided to kill that demon..... no, that person."

Looking to Hailey with a serious expression, Claire continued.

"It was then that I learned..... just how much good could be done in the world if I allowed myself to fall into the depths of evil. And so... I became the very concept of evil. I became the one and only pillar of wickedness, and the very origin of suffering. And when I did so..... I saw things which were far, far beyond anything I had ever experienced."

Standing up, Claire turned her back to Hailey as she begun to head out of the room.

"You should understand a little bit what it means to hate someone to the point of wanting to kill them. There was a man who I hated so much that I was willing to destroy the entire world if it meant making him suffer. Now I've killed him..... and even if I had to do everything all over again, I would kill him again."

Stopping in her tracks, Claire turned back to Hailey.

"So? Do you still think I'm nothing more than a monster?"

Claire said this with a kind smile, to which Hailey could not respond in the affirmative.

"I... do not."

At this statement, Claire let out a relieved sigh.

"I see. I was right to bring you back. I'll send you back to your friends. Live your life how you want. Just understand that this world is my Dictatorship, and that if I order you to do something, you will do it."

Opening the door, Claire stepped through it, her footsteps resounding in the ears of Hailey.

"Or you will be slain as a defective product."

These words, spoken in a corrupt voice, sent chills through the girl as she was left alone.

And then, she was teleported.

Now, she was outside in the dark of night, and before her was a large crater.

"This... is this what became of the Capital?", Hailey asked.

"H-hailey!? Is that you!?"

Turning around at the voice of a man, Hailey looked over in surprise.

"It really is you..... so we're all back together again....."

It was Oliver.

And next to him were all of her classmates, with four particular beings aside.

"You all..."

[Ahem. I suppose it's time to rebuild.]

It was then that the voice of Garett played within the minds of all the people of the world.

And in the next moment, entire cities rose up from the dirt.

"Wha....."

"This....."

"Oh..... my goodness....."

The students were left to watch as a city formed before their very eyes, and they could do nothing more than hold their breath in surprise.

"Just what... just what is happening in the world these days?"