"Atonement?"
Xu Ye muttered the word but did not interrupt her. He simply listened.
The Red Moon was reflected in Lilith's pupils.
"I heard this from the chief, who heard it from the previous chief..."
"It's a long story..."
"Long ago, long after the Child of Calamity we worshipped disappeared, a black mermaid was born in our tribe. A witch passing through declared that this black mermaid would bring disaster upon our Fishman people."
"Our people were skeptical. Though they did nothing to him, they still felt uneasy. That one remark from the witch cost the black mermaid all his friends, and he grew up alone."
"As he reached adulthood, his power grew increasingly terrifying. He became a warrior of our Mermaid people and led us in expanding our territory."
"At the time, our people grew ever stronger, and our population reached one million. It was the golden age of the Mermaid people."
"Until the chief at the time grew jealous. He resented everyone in the tribe obeying the Black Mermaid's orders. He remembered the witch and her prophecy."
"The chief found the witch again, obtained a potion from her, and secretly fed it to the Black Mermaid."
"The Black Mermaid's tail began to disappear, and he grew legs... He took on humanoid form, which was a grave taboo among Mermaids."
"Our people were uniquely blessed, and we had our pride. Once someone became humanoid, it meant they were no longer one of us."
"The Mermaids tore him down from his pedestal. His parents were killed, his brothers were burned to death, and even his comrades were executed alongside them."
"But his constitution was so unusual that he could not be killed."
"In the end, the chief at the time devised a solution. He commissioned a Black Coffin from an