Maniac

Why is it dark again?
I finally got out of there...

I feel dizzy. I can’t see. I can’t move.
What’s going on? I don’t even feel my body.

Oh—right. Didn’t I die?
Didn’t Sunflower tear my throat apart?

I hear whispers. Someone’s speaking...
It sounds like Sunflower.
I don’t recognize the other voice—probably the one who ordered my execution.
Still, I clearly remember dying. So how am I alive?

The whispers grow louder—
And then I hear that old man, Dawn, speaking about the witch.

Something stirred inside me as he told that story.
Something... ancient. Hungry.
It started taking control of my body.
I resisted. God, I tried.
But the force grew stronger—
And I gave in.

THUD!
It slammed my head into the darkness.

OW!
The pain was real. It could hurt me.
I tried to fight back—
But it was too late.
It had full control.

THUD!
It kept hitting the darkness. Over and over.
We started to fall.
But it didn’t care.

Blood poured from my forehead. The pain was unbearable.
Then... everything went black.

I slowly opened my eyes.
To my surprise, I was greeted by sunlight.
I didn’t know where I was, but the trees around me—massive, towering—they looked like the ones near Tresia.

Now what?
Do I go back?
No. They’ll kill me on sight.

I didn’t hear the full conversation, but I pieced together enough:

I’m mentally unstable.

I’m cursed.

I’m destined to destroy and burn the village.

I stood up from the grass—
My heart raced.
Sweat dripped from my brow.
The world spun.

In just a few steps, I collapsed.

“Burn the village.”

The voice echoed in my head.
My thoughts twisted.
Anger toward Tresia swelled within me.
I tried to resist...
But I couldn’t even move.

“Burn the village.”
“Burn the village!”

Lost in the forest.
Starving.
The throbbing in my skull never stopped.
I couldn’t sleep—couldn’t rest.
The voice embedded itself into my mind, like a nail driven deep.

Something inside cracked.

First a faint smile...
Then a wide, terrifying grin.
I began to laugh.
Loudly.
Hysterically.

Twisting my body, laughing in every direction.
My belly ached—
But I couldn’t stop.

“Burn the village!”
This time, it wasn’t the voice.
I screamed it.

Completely overtaken.
Completely corrupted.

I stood up.
The pain in my neck was gone.

I remembered Sunflower’s precise, ruthless strike—
My throat slashed in a single motion.
I touched my neck.
A faint, healed line.

My hands and legs pulsed with strength.
I felt... unstoppable.
Calm.
And utterly unhinged.

Darkness fell.
I searched for firewood and found a sturdy stick.
As I thought about lighting it—

FWOOSH.
The stick erupted into flame in my hands.

To a normal person, it would’ve been horrifying.
To me?
It was a gift.

I smiled and stepped into the night.
Heading toward Tresia.
How did I know I was going the right way?

Call it a feeling.

Twenty-one men in black hoods approached the dense tree line.

The commander stood in front, issuing quiet orders.

“Commander! Over here!” one of the scouts shouted.

The commander turned and rushed toward him.

As he drew near, he understood the horror on the man's face.

A flock of chickens pecked hungrily at a pair of corpses.
Some tore at the faces—others gnawed at the legs and chest.

The bodies were torn, half the skin missing.
But even in that state...
Anyone who had worked with them for years would know—

Henry and Rose were dead.