Saintess? Not Anymore! I'd Rather be a Destroyer

"Hey! Tell her! Don’t just stand there gawking like an idiot! I’m too young and beautiful to totally die like this!" Avriel yelled, panic clear in her voice.

"Tch. Here’s a display," Ragna reluctantly stated, projecting an image of the real Aurianna hiding inside a cave.

"Oh, so that’s where she is. I guess I’ll have to go in there to catch her as well. That would be fun," Bomb stated with an eerie smile.

’If she enters it, Aurianna would probably be captured today,’ Ragna thought nervously.

"Sorry, but with One there, she’s not even going to last a day in a battle with twenty-nine of us. You’re so predictable, thinking she would even have a chance by killing us," Bomb stated mockingly. "Ah, I really wanted to see if she had fallen like the rest of us. Maybe we would’ve used her against her own sister. But she’s still clinging to those pathetic human connections. That’s why she’ll never be as strong as us. Ahhahahaha."

"Ah, it’s finally done!" Bomb beamed as Peter coughed heavily, the remaining wisp fully seeping into his body.

"Gothiel," Bomb called calmly, staring at him with a smile filled with expectation.

"Finally, it was successful. You didn’t explode and die. Gothiel, how much I missed you. I have so much to talk about with you," Bomb beamed happily.

Peter nervously avoided eye contact.

"What’s going on?" Bomb stopped smiling, staring at Peter as she realized something was off. The soul that was supposed to be inside him wasn’t behaving the way she expected.

"How the hell did it fail? Your soul should look exactly like his, or merged. What’s going on?" Bomb asked with a deep frown.

"I find it hypocritical that you call my lady Aurianna pathetic for clinging to mortal connections when you do the same thing," Penma scoffed nervously.

"What?" Bomb asked coldly, her gaze snapping to Penma. The pressure made Penma flinch and quickly hide behind Ragna.

"Well, she has a point," Ragna chuckled lightly.

"Gothiel is more than just a pathetic human connection. I gave him everything. So why did he want to leave? I made Gothiel a god, but he had to stupidly die just to protect me?" Bomb asked, her expression growing grim. It wasn’t care that showed on her face, it was obsession.

"He died happily though, so I don’t understand your purpose," Peter blurted out.

"Ah, I see it in your eyes. You probably have his memories and experiences, but not fully him," Bomb realized as she stared at Peter.

"Well... I guess I’ve failed," Bomb sighed, slowly sitting down on the ground.

"Tch. Now that you’re done, can you handle the rest of the mortals?" Time asked, her tone sharp with impatience.

"Hey, don’t tell me what to do," Bomb threatened, her glare heavy enough to make Time shrink back slightly.

"Now then..." Bomb said as she knelt properly before Peter. "As Aurianna Vanluad, the knight of Gothiel, I hereby serve you as my new master, since you have Gothiel’s imprint on you."

"What?!" Ragna and Time gasped in shock, their voices overlapping.

"Huhhhhh?" Peter blurted out, utterly confused.

"I’m so confused right now," Penma muttered with a completely stupefied expression.

"Don’t tell me you’re defecting?!" Time asked, disbelief clear in her voice.

"I’m not. I’m just going to protect him since he has the soul of Gothiel," Bomb stated calmly, as if this were the most natural conclusion.

"Just extract it from him!" Time yelled.

"No way. Do you know how many attempts failed across every verse we traveled to?" Bomb snapped coldly. "What’s more, if I do that, Gothiel’s soul would disappear. I can’t have that."

"Are you serious?" Time asked, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms.

"Come on, Time. I have no reason to betray the alliance," Bomb said, then paused. "But I guess I’ll make one more demand. When the mortals are enslaved or whatever, he sticks with me."

As she spoke, Bomb casually rubbed Peter’s head, not noticing his vacant stare as his thoughts drifted far away.

At that moment, Peter’s mind was spiraling. Memories that weren’t his own began to flood in. The face was the same as his, but their life were entirely different.

Gothiel. That was the name of the man.

He was merely a powerless human, while Peter was an elf. Gothiel lived in a world where people could form contracts with ancient spirits. The spirits fought for them, but in return, the contractors gave up their life force.

Gothiel had met Bomb when they were both children. She was called the demon child, and he was nothing more than a commoner. Yet, driven by a strange sense of courage, he walked into the cave where Bomb was chained.

That was where he met her for the first time. A girl who looked exactly like Aurianna. Her expression was far colder, sharp enough to frighten him, but he said nothing. He simply walked closer and tossed the keys to her chains onto the ground.

He had stolen them, when no one was looking. The security was sloppy, almost laughably so.

"Are you helping me?" Bomb asked with a cold smile.

"I just don’t want to see a kid like myself live like this," Gothiel stated calmly, staring back at her.

"Hey, do you have anyone you live with in this town?" Bomb asked.

"No," Gothiel answered nervously, confused by the sudden question.

"That’s good," Bomb chuckled as she stood up. She was extremely malnourished, her bone outline clearly showing on her skin.

She pressed her hands against the chains, and they melted away. Seeing this surprised and confused Gothiel. Why she was locked up here he didn’t know. All he heard a few months ago was that she was a demon child and everyone must stay away from here.

"If you could escape, why didn’t you leave earlier?" Gothiel asked.

"Hmm. Why did I endure this?" Bomb murmured to herself, her tone cold.

"I obeyed because my mother and father were alive. But it seems they were killed just now. That means I have no reason to endure," Bomb stated flatly as she walked forward and melted the bars. They were spirit-magic-imbued prison bars to trap monsters and spirits, yet she destroyed them effortlessly.

"What is your name?" Bomb asked staring at him.

"Gothiel," he answered.

"I’m Aurianna," Bomb said.

"So where will you go now?" Gothiel asked.

"Anywhere, as long as it’s not here," Bomb replied, then tilted her head. "Wanna come with me?"

’Why would I leave with a random girl?’ Gothiel wondered as he stared at her. And yet, something about her made him want to say yes.

"I guess you’ll need an escort. Look at how skinny you are," Gothiel said looking at her shabby closed and malnourished face.

"Then carry me. My legs feel weak after all," Bomb stated, stretching out her arms.

Gothiel hesitated only a moment before bending down and lifting her into his arms.

"Hey, Gothiel. Take me to the edge over there. I want to see the city before we leave. After all, I can’t stay here," Bomb said pointing at the mountain cliff edge at the opening of the cave area, and Gothiel complied.

She looked down on the city with a cold expression and pointed toward the city and began drawing lines in the sky. Gothiel watched in confusion as she traced invisible patterns. When Bomb crushed her palm, the city erupted into a massive explosion, a towering pillar of fire and smoke rising before Gothiel’s eyes. And Bomb simply laughed happily.

That was when their life together began.

And through those memories, Peter finally understood why the ritual had failed so many times and even now. That was because Gothiel did not want to be revived.

Bomb was nothing more than a cruel monster to him. He had been a doll kept at her side, forced to witness everything.