—Why?
—This clearly wasn't a curse I should have had to bear.
It was a sin committed by a distant ancestor, the manifestation of the Mountain God's curse brought down by Lord Saburo, whose face I did not even know.
What's more—I wasn't even part of the main family.
I had already changed my family name and even married far away.
Yet the curse would not let me go.
The curse followed me to the ends of the earth.
Even death made no difference.
Even now, carved upon the Throne of Humanity after death, the curse still clung to me relentlessly.
Ahh.
It got in after all.
That terrifying thing, as though it would devour every part of me—along with that demon's blood, it entered this corpse.
What... did I ever do wrong—
Please, please, anyone.
Save me.
Forgive me.
O serpent.
That enormous serpentine body.
That enormous snake god tightly coiling around my body.
Slip into my body, devour my brain, and with those massive fangs—pierce my heart.
"...Urgh."
Drip.
Crushing Hell released her grip, and Assassin Paraiso fell to the ground—into a pool of blood formed from her own.
Struggle still remained in her eyes, but there was no turning things around now.
"Sorry."
There was not the slightest hint of apology in Crushing Hell's voice.
"This wasn't what I wanted, you know."
Barefoot, she chuckled as she walked over to Assassin Paraiso and crouched down, meeting those hollow eyes.
"After all, the sorcerer said we needed to deal with Chaldea's Master and the others as quickly as possible."
"And they were far more troublesome than expected."
"Well then—goodbye."
Her hand gently caressed Assassin Paraiso's cheek, satisfaction in her eyes.
"Let me apologize to you again in hell for today's suffering."
"Stay alert!"
"It was because you lot