Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2228: Reflection Amidst Flames

Within the structure of the lower realms, there existed a system to increase the rank and status of Gods and Goddesses. Those on the side of light/good/righteousness were able to summon heroes from other worlds to save planets on the verge of having their fate severed. In doing so, they were able to prevent the world's destruction, and, in the process, accumulate merits that would empower them to increase their standing among the various godly pantheons.

As the Order of Creation mandated that balance must exist between the forces of good and evil, the Gods representing the more positive aspects of creation weren't the only ones able to choose champions. The Gods representing darkness/evil/chaos were also able to select Heroes, but, unlike their counterparts on the side of light, their choices often reflected their interests. In essence, they selected people that would cause chaos in relatively peaceful worlds or designated relatively good people to be reincarnated into situations where they were forced to endure tremendous suffering.

Put even simpler, the Gods of Chaos often sought out lonely, depraved, or outright unstable people as their champions. They would then provide these individuals with systems, wishes, and cheat-like abilities to virtually guarantee their power would increase at a rate their maturity simply couldn't hope to keep up with. As a result, the people they chose would quickly grow stronger, and, in the process, wreak havoc within the worlds they had been reincarnated.

With each world that was saved from imminent destruction, another, comparatively peaceful world would be brought to ruin as a result of a single individual's selfishness.

Long ago, so long that she could no longer recall the exact passage of time, Shion had been given the chance to transmigrate into a fantasy world of her choosing. Her life prior to her reincarnation had been hell, so, the moment she found herself floating in an empty white space, she didn't even think to question the entity that had declared himself the God of Reincarnation. Instead, she eagerly recounted her wishes with the hope of being able to live free and unbound in one of the worlds she had always imagined herself inhabiting.

Like many in her position, Shion had already decided the types of wishes she would request long before her death. This was one of the criteria the Gods meddling in Reincarnation looked for. If a person's wishes didn't match with their interests, they would simply look for someone else.

Shion had been a relatively successful novelist during her first life, so, even though her worlds had some grim elements, she happily reincarnated into one of the worlds she had spent years crafting. As for her wishes, she picked Immortality, the ability to change her appearance at will, and a system that would allow her to play through life as if it were a video game.

Prior to her reincarnation, Shion had been looking forward to exploring the world she had created, interacting with some of her favorite characters, and increasing her strength at a slow and leisurely pace. She planned to use her knowledge of the plot to guarantee the easiest life possible, but, the moment she reincarnated, she found herself lying in a pool of blood in the middle of a prison cell.

As she had been an orphan in her previous life, another common trait among those chosen to be reincarnated, Shion hadn't particularly cared about the circumstances of her birth. She was looking forward to having kind and caring parents, but, even if her reincarnation followed the template of her being born as a Noble with strict parents, Shion was certain she would grow to love them.

Contrasting every expectation she could have possibly had, Shion's mother ended up being a Slave. To make matters worse, her mother had given birth to her several weeks early after experiencing a brutal assault from her Master and his friends. Thus, rather than finding herself in the embrace of a loving mother or the care of a wet nurse, Shion's only comfort was a cold stone floor and a mother that viewed her as a product of sin.

Though most infants in her situation would have died within hours of being born, Shion's wish for immortality ensured her survival. This was the true start of her suffering, as, shortly after discovering her, the Master of the household, one of the candidates for Shion's father, quickly took note of her abnormal qualities.

Either as a result of her developing mind or the fact she had simply suppressed her trauma, Shion was unable to recall everything that had happened to her during her first four-six years of life. All she knew with absolute certainty was that her life had been a living hell. She had been tormented and experimented on in ways that even the most brutal and imaginative authors couldn't put into words.

In the end, Shion was discovered by the Holy Church, and, shortly thereafter, seized as a candidate to become one of the many Saintesses that represented the Church's power. Unfortunately, as was often the case in both reality and fantasy worlds, the Church within Shion's world was unbelievably corrupt. The Saintesses were effectively human weapons that had been brainwashed from a young age to carry out the Church's will. Her mother and former Master were brutally slaughtered to tie up loose ends. As for Shion, she was forced to endure everything from sexual assault to literal mind control magic until the Church was confident she was a perfectly obedient soldier.

Unlike the suffering she had endured during her formative years, Shion could recall her training to become a Saintess with crystal clarity. She may have played the part of an obedient tool, but, from the moment the Church arrived to seize her, Shion had made an effort to memorize the names and faces of each and every person who harmed her. She didn't know how long it would take, but, due to her foreknowledge of the plot, she was absolutely certain the time for her revenge would come.

Shortly after her sixteenth birthday, approximately ten years after she had been forcibly seized by the Holy Church, Shion was finally given the chance to seek revenge when the Archbishop tasked her with getting close to the newly appointed Hero. This was originally a responsibility given to one of the most tragic heroines of her story, but, upon realizing the course her fate had taken, Shion did everything in her power to ensure she would be the one chosen.

Shion's original task was to make the Hero, a young man named Roland, fall in love with her. The Church had always feared the power of the Hero, as, unlike them, the Hero actually had the support of the Gods. The Holy Church had long since lost the Gods' favor, but, due to them eliminating any and all competing religions, they had managed to stay in power for hundreds of years.

In Shion's original story, the Saintess, a pink-haired woman named Celeste, was able to manipulate the Hero into becoming yet another weapon of the Holy Church. Roland would eventually come to realize the truth, but, due to his earnest nature, he never blamed Celeste for exploiting him. Instead, he directed his anger and resentment towards the Holy Church. He wanted to save her and expose the truth, but, shortly after the death of the Archbishop, Celeste ended up taking her own life once it became known how Saintesses were made.

Unlike Celeste, Shion had no interest in committing suicide. She had tried too many times to count, so, having already given up hope on dying a peaceful death, she intended to take out as many vile and despicable people as possible before building a cottage in the woods or disappearing into the mountains. As strange as it may sound, she actually blamed herself for all the bad things that had happened to her up until that point, so, after 'fixing' things, Shion intended to fade into obscurity or become something like a Hermit.

What Shion hadn't anticipated was the fact that she would genuinely fall in love with Roland. Prior to their first meeting, she had always viewed him as another one of her characters. She knew he was supposed to be handsome and charismatic but she had severely underestimated just how quickly he could peel back the defenses of a person's heart and expose the truth. She ended up confiding in him much sooner than planned, and, as a result, Roland ended up pointing his sword towards the Holy Church long before either of them was ready.

After a civil war that nearly brought their home Kingdom of Roma to ruin, Roland ended up being publically executed for dereliction of his duties as a Hero and conspiring with Demons. Shion had made the mistake of revealing that the Demons weren't nearly as evil as the Holy Church presented them to be, so, during their campaign to depose the Archbishop, Roland joined hands with several of the more prominent characters from the Demon Lord's Army.

Following the execution of Roland and all of the friends Shion had made during their journey, the Holy Church readily labeled her a Witch. They pinned the blame for everything on her while using her inability to die as proof of her conspiring with and selling her soul to the Devil. Very few people genuinely believed this, but, fearing the retaliation of the Holy Church, even children gathered to watch as the pyre that would consume her for thirteen years was lit.

Though she quickly gained an immunity to flames, Shion never attempted to free herself from her bindings or remove the nails that had pinned her to a large stone cross. She blamed herself for the deaths of Roland and their friends, so, for thirteen long years, she allowed the flames to wash over her as people would arrive on a daily basis to pelt her with stones and blame her for every terrible thing that happened to them.

What brought Shion down from her cross was the appearance of a young girl wearing little more than rags. She was clearly a slave, and, like many young girls in the same situation, she was forced to endure unspeakable suffering for no better reason than the fact someone had decided she was merchandise.

On most days, Shion wouldn't have batted an eye even if the girl threw herself into the flames that were perpetually consuming her. It was when the girl brought her hands together in a gesture of prayer, tears dripping down her face that clarity gradually returned to Shion's gaze. She didn't raise her head, but, for the better part of an hour, she listened as the girl recounted her years of suffering in horrifying detail.

Though the girl's suffering couldn't even begin to compare to her own, Shion saw much of herself in the downtrodden slave. The fury that had been slumbering deep inside of her for years began to bubble to the surface. Thus, once the girl's would-be Master appeared, Shion manipulated the pyre below to create tendrils of flame. Before the man even realized what was happening, he was pulled into the deepest parts of the pyre. An excruciating sound emanated from his throat, but, due to the crackling of the flames and the early hours, the only person who heard his final cry was the young slave girl.

Raising her head for the first time in more than a decade, Shion noticed a smile on the young girl's face. A similar smile developed across her own, and, from that moment onward, Shion embraced the title of Witch with every fiber of her being…

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