C1062
I was born of blood. A red liquid created by inscribing magic into the blood of the villain known as the White Blood Religion Leader. That was my soul and my body. While humans sucked their thumbs in their mothers' warm wombs, I was trapped in a cold glass bottle, subjected to experiments for unknown reasons.
Beside me were countless brothers. Like me, they were trapped in glass bottles, crushed under magic, forced to drink human blood, burned in flames, or frozen in ice.
When the brothers couldn't withstand the experiments, they would fall to the ground with their bottles. Every time I heard a bottle break, pain tore through my soul as if it were being cut. Hundreds of bottles, no, hundreds of brothers, disappeared each day, until only exactly one hundred bottles remained.
Fortunately, I survived countless experiments and managed to keep my bottle-home intact.
The humans stopped experimenting and left us imprisoned, neglected for a long time. It was a long and boring period. There was so much I didn't know, I wondered who I was and questioned why I lived such a life. After an immeasurable amount of time had passed, the door to our prison room opened again.
Humans in white robes dragged other humans by the hair, humans who bled red blood like my body.
"Let's begin."
The pale-faced man forced one of my brothers from the first bottle into the mouth of an armless human.
"Aaaaaaargh!"
The armless human let out a scream that shook the entire room, scratching his throat before collapsing. I felt his vitality slowly fade. My brother, too, seemed to have melted inside the human's body, disappearing without a trace.
"He's dead. Get rid of him."
As if he had expected this outcome, the pale-faced man waved his hand dismissively, and the humans in white robes threw the motionless armless man outside.
'He's dead.' Through those words, I came to understand what death meant.
"Next."
As the pale-faced man moved his chin, my second brother was forced into the body of a white-haired human. Like the first, the white-haired human vomited blood, collapsed, and stopped breathing. Realizing that the experiments had started again, I trembled in my glass prison.
Now that I understood what death was, I didn't want to die.
The first brother disappeared, and the first human died. The second brother disappeared, and the second human died. This continued for ninety-nine experiments, until only I remained.
"Inject it."
The pale-faced man lowered his hand weakly, his eyes half-closed as if he had given up. I was carried in the hands of a man in a white robe and forced into the body of the smallest human. As I passed through the warm throat, my body spread throughout the human's body against my will.
My body formed from blood absorbed all the human's blood and devoured even their soul.
It wasn't my choice. The instinct I was born with consumed everything human. The small human's life flashed in my mind. Most of the memories were fragmented, springing up and disappearing like foam, but I at least gained a slight understanding of what human life was like.
"All failures, it seems."
The pale-faced man sighed, seemingly thinking that I had died like my other brothers. What was this? I could feel human words resonating through my physical body instead of my soul. It was an unfamiliar sensation I had never experienced before.
"Tsk, what am I supposed to tell him?"
As he clicked his tongue in frustration, I opened my eyes. Using the memories of the small human, I naturally moved my arms and legs to lift the body. I had entered a human body and was controlling it.
"Huh...?"
The pale-faced man's eyes widened as he looked at me.
"W-What is this?!"
His jaw trembled in disbelief.
"How...?"
"H-Has it succeeded?"
"To think that this was actually possible..."
"Then who is that?"
Not only the pale-faced man, but all the humans in white robes in the room let out surprised gasps as they looked at me.
"Who are you?"
The pale-faced man looked at me and asked who I was. Although I had only gained fragments of human memories, I understood that he was asking for a name. This young human's name was Raywen, but that wasn't my name.
"Number four thousand four hundred four..."
I told him the number of the glass bottle that had imprisoned me.
"Number four thousand four hundred four? Kuhahahahaha!"
The pale-faced man checked the number on my glass bottle and burst into deafening laughter.
"Bring her here! Right now!"
***
I stood face to face with a woman who had golden hair and blue eyes. My soul screamed violently that I needed to return to her. I instinctively knew that I had been born from this golden-haired woman. Using the words from human memories, it was undoubtedly what they would call a mother.
"Did it really succeed?"
Mother narrowed her eyes skeptically at the pale-faced man's words.
"Yes. He identified himself as number four thousand four hundred four."
The pale-faced man shook the glass bottle I had been in.
"Who are you?"
Mother looked at me with interested eyes.
"Mother."
I didn't resist the violent resonance of my soul as I said the word "mother."
"Have you gone mad?!"
The pale-faced man stared at me with a furrowed brow. The moment his gaze fell on me, my entire body trembled, and I couldn't breathe.
"Leave him be."
When Mother waved her hand indicating that it was alright, the pale-faced man bowed his head and stepped back.
"Not bad. After all, this child was born from my blood."
She nodded as if to say it was alright to call her that.
"Ah..."
I was euphoric. My existence, my being that had been withering trapped in a glass bottle, had been acknowledged by Mother. This must be what they call being moved.
"My, my name..."
Just as I was about to ask Mother to give me a name, the human body stopped obeying my control and collapsed.
"Huh?"
I couldn't move a single finger or even breathe. Pain that felt like it was twisting my soul filled my mind.
"Huk! T-This!"
The pale-faced man's hands trembled as if he hadn't expected this sudden turn of events.
"..."
Mother said nothing, watching my death with cold eyes. I had to live! I had finally been acknowledged, I couldn't die! I had finally found Mother, who saw me for who I was after living as a being who didn't even know itself. I absolutely couldn't die. A crackling sensation spread through me!
I forcefully escaped from the human body that was trying to hold onto my soul, dragging myself back through the throat and exiting where I had entered.
With a hiss, I flowed over the glass-covered floor like red blood, just as I had been when I was born.
"So the resonance of that body wasn't compatible."
Mother bent down to pick me up and placed me in the only intact bottle, number four thousand four hundred four.
"We'll find you a suitable body very soon."
She smiled a crimson smile as she watched me swirl in the glass bottle.
"I will give you the thirteenth name."
***
After that day, I entered different human bodies daily, possessing them and gaining their memories and knowledge. Whether for long or short periods, the human bodies couldn't withstand me and would break like my brothers' bottles. Each time brought such severe pain that I wished for death, but I endured it thinking of Mother.
After what seemed like an immeasurably long time, they dragged a noble-looking man before me.
The red-eyed man, like my soul, seemed to have a stronger will and determination than any human I had ever seen before.
"This is your last chance, Denier Zieghart."
Mother, who had obtained a new body from a black-haired, black-eyed woman, placed her finger on the forehead of the man named Denier.
"Answer my question. The Zieghart..."
"Kill me."
Denier Zieghart shook his head calmly, as if he was truly asking to be killed.
"I am the Master of the Wise Martial Palace of Zieghart. Instead of harming my family, I would end my life here and now."
He raised his luminous eyes, showing no fear of death. Die? I was surprised. All the humans who had been brought here had clung to our legs, begging for their lives. I had thought this was the rule of this world, so I never imagined that someone like him could exist.
"I guess there's no other option."
My mother briefly licked her lips and picked up the glass bottle I was in.
"Enter this human's body, read his memories, and exit."
She put me in Denier's mouth, ordering me to learn everything about Zieghart, no matter how small. With a crackling sensation, I entered through his throat and immediately felt it. My soul and this man's body fit perfectly, like interlocking gears.
I realized that Denier was the compatible body Mother had spoken of.
"Kuuugh!"
Denier resisted as if he would never surrender to his body. His soul was larger and more solid than any human I had encountered, showing no weakness. But I was born of Mother to devour human souls and steal their bodies.
I chewed and swallowed every moment of Denier Zieghart's life, making his memories and power mine.
Aaaaah! Even as his soul was being cut and devoured piece by piece, Denier never gave up, fighting to the very end. I couldn't understand how he endured such unbearable pain. I had never encountered a human like him before. A profound resonance resonated within me.
Perhaps because our resonance matched, the human memories that I could normally only read in fragments now felt as vivid as if I had lived them myself.
I could retain all his memories as if I had lived alongside Denier. The same went for his body. Unlike other human bodies that had felt uncomfortable, I could feel every sensation down to the smallest hair. I felt like I had truly become human. That was how I learned that I had been born into the White Blood Religion.
The Zieghart of the Six Kings and the White Blood Religion of the Five Demons.
Thanks to the memories I gained from Denier, I learned where I was and who Denier was. Despite being born into the direct lineage of a prestigious swordsman family, Denier Zieghart had a kind and gentle nature. His goal was to build a good family and home before pursuing strength through the sword.
Glen, both head of the family and father, had abandoned his humanity in his obsession with the sword, his older sister left on a long journey saying she hated the cold-hearted home, and his older brother followed his father's example by neglecting his own children.
His younger sister left home to marry only to return as if she were being chased, and his only younger brother was a fool. A dysfunctional family. It was like a stereotypical broken home from the stories, so I could understand why Denier dreamed of having a good family.
However, as Denier had always been less capable than his siblings, few people listened to his voice.
Instead, he was only looked down upon as the incompetent one who fled the succession battle. Still, Denier didn't give up. He carried out many missions alone, wanting to somehow save the ruined Zieghart, until his bad luck led him to be captured by Mother and brought here.
Strangely, my chest ached. It seemed that I had absorbed not only Denier Zieghart's memories but also his emotions.
It's different. Is this what a true human life is? I had lived thinking I was human because I was born of Mother, but after reading Denier's memories, I felt that something was distorted. I didn't seem human, but rather a monster.
"Mother. I..."
"You've taken it, as expected!"
Mother smiled at me as if she had believed in me all along.
"How many of Denier's memories did you read? Tell me!"
She nodded with expectant eyes.
"...Surprisingly, I got all his memories."
Wanting to see Mother smile more and hear her praise, I set aside my doubts and told her that I had gained all of Denier's memories.
"Really?"
Mother grabbed my shoulders, exclaiming how incredible it was. I could feel my soul trembling with excitement.
"Then tell me everything!"
"Yes. First, the current state of Zieghart is..."
Having gained not only Denier's memories but also his emotions, I knew that saying these words would bring misfortune to this world. But to be of some help to Mother, I told her all the information I had learned.
Strangely, it never occurred to me to reveal the thoughts that Denier had kept to himself.
"Well done! Very well done!"
Mother hugged me with both arms. That alone erased any feelings of guilt.
"Try to keep that body for a while. If you can do it, we can make new plans."
Mother asked this of me and left the room. To fulfill her request, I burrowed deeper into Denier's body for a long period. I could feel my body and soul formed from blood merging with the blood flowing through Denier's body.
Now, even I didn't know how to get out of this body. Although I would probably die when Denier died, I had no remorse.
"Very good."
Mother smiled with satisfaction as she watched me maintain the body even after a month had passed.
"Can you also copy Denier's swordsmanship, speech patterns, and behavior, right?"
"Yes."
Having absorbed all of Denier's memories and emotions, I could imitate his swordsmanship, his speech, and his behavior. I showed Mother what I had been practicing.
"Perfect."
Mother clapped with delight as she watched me act like Denier.
"From now on, your name is Denier Zieghart. Live with that name until I call you."
She nodded, saying that from now on my name was Denier.
"Yes!"
I was happy. Both receiving a name from Mother and seeing her joy made me happy. I just smiled, not knowing what the ominous feeling was that was stirring beneath my soul.
"And..."
With Mother's gesture, the 10th Apostle brought a girl who looked to be no older than ten years old.
The girl bore a striking resemblance to the body Mother currently inhabited.
"This is the girl I have marked as my next body. As she is from a village we destroyed, you can say that you found her and rescued her yourself to explain why you haven't contacted anyone until now."
Mother nodded, telling me to take this girl to Zieghart and adopt her as my pupil.
"Originally, she was brought here with her mother, but I have altered her memories so that she thinks she survived alone in the village."
She smiled, saying that since it wasn't done through magic, even Glenn wouldn't notice.
"You said memory manipulation?"
"Yes. I have implanted memories that she survived alone in the village we attacked, trying to get revenge until you rescued her. As long as you act convincingly as Denier, she will be easy to handle."
Mother said it would be easy as she handed over the girl named Martha. That was my first encounter with Martha.
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