On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

As I feel Luxia\'s Mana coursing through my heart, her corrupted heart shrinks in each passing second. It is likely absorbed into my body, since I can feel the same Mana signature gradually filling my heart.

Compared to my Demonic Mana, the heart that she claims to be corrupted possesses a quite significantly calmer Mana. It makes me wonder what will happen to her if I inject my Mana inside her body, considering what her corrupted heart has done to her.

"Ah, I still have some things to ask you if you don\'t mind."

"I will answer it as long as it something I can answer."

"You have been awake for years now, haven\'t you?" Luxia nods lightly. "Does that mean you have been consciously swallowing up land for all this time because you think no creatures deserve to be alive?"

"I have been awake for years now—it\'s ten years already actually—and I have also been purifying land for all this time in spite of being conscious. However, I never once think purifying land is a good idea."

"Why didn\'t—"

"Because, I can\'t," Luxia says curtly. "I want to stop this body from eating up land, but I am not the one in control of it—my corrupted heart is."

That answer makes me realize why she wants to get out of here despite having a leisure and safe life: it must have been hard for her to watch her "body" doing something she doesn\'t agree with, but not being able to do a thing.

Of course, revenge is still her main motive to get out of here, but I think that is enough reason for her to get fed up with living here. Not being able to do anything even though something is happening in front of your eyes is maddening after all.

"Am I the first person you have accidentally swallowed?"

"Absolutely not. There have been many people I have offered the same deal before you."

"Where are they now?"

"Dead ... They either refused my offer and tried to find a way out to no avail or died as soon as I started binding my corrupted heart with their heart."

I blink my eyes in slight bewilderment at how calm and unbothered Luxia is. She, after all, is one of the causes of the people\'s death, but he doesn\'t seem to think she was guilty of their death at all.

It feels like as if she is saying...

"That\'s their choice anyway, so I am not to be blamed." Luxia shrugs. "Oh, if you are blaming for not helping them to get out, I have to remind you that bringing you to this place is the only thing I can do inside this cursed body."

"Did all of those people die mostly because they tried their luck with binding their heart with your corrupted heart?"

"Yes." Luxia nods simply. "Very few of them were daring enough to find the way out by themselves, so they preferred to accept my offer."

"Am I—"

"No, you are not going to die." Luxia looks at me in fascination. "Unlike you, all of the individuals who I had tried binding my corrupted heart with were already writhing in pain at this point, whereas you can still talk properly."

"Is that enough guarantee that I am not going to die?"

"You are a Demon," Luxia answers shortly. "You posses the most chaotic and uncontrollable Mana in this world, but you can still control it in spite of that. Controlling the Mana my corrupted heart contains should be child\'s play to you."

"I can\'t deny that." I shrug lightly. "Anyway, why are you willing to make a deal with a Demon? I mean, judging by how easily they died, none of my predecessors was a Demon, right?"

"At this point, I don\'t care about who I am making a deal with anymore," Luxia answers nonchalantly. "I have been trying my luck with Beastmen to avoid making a deal with a Demon, but all of them failed miserably, so... You know."

I thought she picked me because she found something different in me, but actually she is already desperate with her situation. I have just conveniently waltzed in, and she saw that as an opportunity to get herself out of her prison.

I would also do the same too if I was her—failing for 10 years straight is frustrating enough for me—but I still have to applaud her for her boldness. Making a deal with a Demon, after all, is rarely beneficial.

For her to really believe in me... I can\'t call her stupid though; she is lucky that my interest aligns with hers. She wants to kill some humans, and I am going to kill a lot humans.

"Amusing..." I unconsciously snort in disdain. "Making the gentlest creation angry is something that only humans can do."

I don\'t know since when I developed such a disdainful view toward humans in general—maybe since the moment humanity disappointed me—but I am extremely okay with that.

I can count the people who have been kind with me on Earth with my fingers, so it is enough proof that humans are naturally jerks. I didn\'t feel it was right to hate on humans before, but now that I am not a human anymore, I am fine with it.

It is as amusing as it is exhilarating to think that I am going to eliminate the race that I previously belonged to. I might kill innocents along the way, but that\'s just how life in this world—not all Demons eat humans, but they are still killed too.

"I think you should stop thinking about whatever violent thoughts you have in your head," Luxia remarks suddenly, waking me up from my thought. "Your Mana becomes more chaotic, and I can\'t stand it."

"Sorry about that."

"It\'s fine." Luxia takes her hand off my hand. "I just still need some time to get used to it. Anyway, how does it feel?"

"What do—oh, your heart?"

As soon as I take my hand off of the bark that is supposed to contain Luxia\'s corrupted heart, I found the shining green stone missing. I immediately figure out where it has disappeared to the moment I feel its Mana signature right beside my heart.

Touching my chest, I say, "Has it just move itself next to my heart? I can feel something next to my heart, but it is strangely not uncomfortable."

"To say that it has just moved next to your heart will be not quite right, but that is essentially what happens." Luxia puts her hand on my chest. "I have converted my corrupted heart into Mana, and rebuilt it into a Spiritual Heart."

"That is... Cool."

Spiritual Heart is an abstract form of heart that sole function is containing Mana. It can\'t be destroyed or seen by the eyes—it doesn\'t even seem it exists, but it is there because you can feel it.

Given such a thing early on, what can I say aside cool? On top of having four times Mana as much as my previous Mana, I also have a better control over my Mana because of it after all.

Rumble.

Upon hearing the louder version of the sound I hear whenever I am hungry, my gaze turns to the faintly shaking ceiling then to Luxia.

"Can I assume this body is shutting down?"

"That\'s indeed what it is doing." Luxia nods in confirmation.

"How should we get out of this place?"

Luxia blinks her eyes twice. "Uhh... You don\'t know too? Doesn\'t my heart tell you anything about the exit?"

"This is unfunniest joke I have ever heard this year, and I even laugh at my ironic life," I say dryly.

"Kuhum! Why don\'t we just go to... The end of this body?"

"Are you saying that we are going to get out of this place through THAT hole?"

Ignoring my question, Luxia jumps on me. "We don\'t have time. Let\'s move—this place will crumble in two minutes!"

"I understand, but why do I have to carry you?" I ask dryly.

"I can\'t run!"

Sighing slightly in exasperation at how similar the current situation with how it has unfolded with Vibiane, I dash at the direction where my heart leads me to. No, my Spiritual Heart doesn\'t help contribute anything to my decision.

Channeling Mana into my feet, I am greeted with surprise. With my currently abundant amount of Mana, and way better control over it, I run, at least, twice faster than I could before—the feeling is amazing.

I don\'t even feel my feet aching despite the amount of Mana I am channeling into them, which makes it even more amazing since I can run even faster than my current speed. I choose not to however, because I am not used to the speed yet.

"Half of the things I can right now see are just blurs," I mutter with a small smile.

"You should slow down! Once you trip, we will die along with the destruction of this place!" Luxia exclaims in panic.

My partner doesn\'t seem to be amused by what I have said, but instead of focusing on the negativity, I focus on my way. Ignoring her the entire way, we somehow manage to find a way out.

What greets me upon getting out, though, is a surprise.