"So that was how I lost."
Sherry fell to her knees, her face ashen.
Thinking of her parents' tragic deaths and all the humiliation she had endured over the years, she had lived her entire life for revenge and poured everything into that goal. Today's crushing defeat was like a denial of all her efforts over the years, making her realize once again just how weak and insignificant she was.
It was as though, in an instant, she had become that helpless girl again—watching tragedy unfold as her family was destroyed and lives were lost, unable to do anything but cry.
At the instant she fell to her knees, a brilliant light suddenly flashed before her. Sherry instinctively shut her eyes and raised an arm before her. When she adapted to the light and opened her eyes again, her pupils Shrunk, and she froze as if struck by Raigeki.
She saw the man before her.
He wore the same gentle expression she remembered, with that familiar face—even every wrinkle was identical to what she had seen in her dreams.
Sherry's heart trembled violently. Tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes as she quavered, "F-Father?"
At that moment, she could barely suppress the urge to throw herself forward and embrace him. Even the rational thought that her long-dead father could not possibly be here had nearly flown completely from her mind.
But that "father" did not come forward to greet her gently as he once had. Instead, he said coldly, "No. What you see is merely a form shaped from your own heart's desire."
Sherry froze.
"Now you understand what it is you truly want, don't you?"
The "father" before her smiled meaningfully.
"Is revenge really what you want? Once you achieve it, where will a life that has lost its purpose