Fated to Be Loved by Villains
chapter-196

Tatiana Grachel was a priest who worshiped the Ancient Gods of another world.

Given that she served such mighty beings harboring ancient curses, it was only natural that her mind did not easily yield to ordinary challenges.

Such a strong mental fortitude also increased her adaptability to sudden situations.

…Where is this place…?

She struggled to look around.

Around her was a pitch dark place.

While still fighting her dizziness…

She tried to remember her last memory…

"...!"

She immediately covered her mouth.

Because she remembered the sensation she had felt when her head fell off and rolled on the ground.

It was a scene that she remembered for sure.

The black monster before her eyes, as it detached her head in one strike.

She was killed.

By Dowd Campbell.

“Umph…Heuurk…”

As the nauseating feeling rose from within her, she immediately covered her mouth again.

Fortunately, even in such a state, her strong mental fortitude still allowed her to analyze her current situation.

Is this…the Image World…?

That was the conclusion she reached after looking around for more.

She felt as if she was floating around, a sensation that could never be felt in the Material World. All the physical stimulation that she should feel all over her body also felt faint to her.

This was something that she was familiar with, albeit only theoretically, as the feeling one would feel when they entered the Image World as a ‘Spirit Form’.

"..."

But that begged the question, why exactly was she here?

Especially since she was someone that had died not too long ago.

“Hm, I guess the processing went well.”

As her mind wandered like that, she heard an odious voice.

The voice she would never be able to forget.

“As expected of Dean Walter. It’s my second time asking him for a favor, but he did a really neat job.”

Since it was the voice of the culprit who took her life away!

“Dowd Campbell…!”

She called his name with a growl.

A wicked Killing Intent began to flow through her body.

Even though she became a Spirit Form, the power she had built throughout her life seemed to be intact.

There was no catalyst she could use to refine such a power, but she could still use the forbidden knowledge she had accumulated about the curse even if she was a Spirit Form—

“There you go, you’re better off like that.”

Dowd said with a yawn.

“Otherwise you won’t be worth using.”

As he said those words, he flicked his finger.

At that moment…

A strong twinge, so strong that it felt like it was burning her mind blank, traveled throughout her whole body.

It felt as if her legs were being cut off, her skin was being ripped out, and her body was being torn apart by the things ‘inside’ her as they threatened to burst out.

“Ah…Aack…! Aaaargh, aaack–!!”

She let out a desperate scream as she wrapped her arms around her head and entire body.

Her throes caused her to unconsciously lose control over her body and roll on the ground like a writhing bug.

It was…

As if she was experiencing ‘death’ while being alive.

And Dowd’s next words proved that such an assessment was accurate.

“This is exactly what you’ve done to Riru’s family.”

The Garda Clan.

People who she sacrificed for her ‘ritual’, sparing nothing including their dead bodies.

“I asked Valkasus to render it as similar as possible.”

Basically, what Dowd did was to get her to ‘experience’ what those people had gone through in the moment of their deaths.

He explained as such in a calm tone.

“You bastard…!”

She gritted her teeth again.

Her eyes were bloodshot as she glared at him. She wanted nothing but to tear him down to death.

However, before she even threw another curse at him, Dowd flicked his finger again.

This time, she felt a different sensation of pain from before. Her body felt as if it was burning, as if her limbs were bursting apart, as if her head broke after falling from a high place and hitting the ground.

“Ah…ha…ah…-!!”

She had the urge to vomit. Drools already slipped out of her mouth. But, all she could do was to moan in pain with a pale face.

“From now on, I’m going to recreate and inflict every sensation that the people you killed had experienced on you.”

Even after seeing her like this, Dowd continued peacefully.

He didn’t seem to be bothered by the sight, as if it was ‘natural’ that she was treated like this.

“If you want me to stop this, you need to promise me one thing. So, will you?”

“...What?”

Though she showed him a vicious look, Dowd continued without a change in his expression.

“Instead of the Prophet, submit to me.”

"..."

“No, rather, instead of her, worship me.”

Even when her whole body was suffering from the terrible pain.

Sparks shot out of Tatiana’s eyes.

Because those were something she would never let go.

She sent him a glare, there was a spiteful look on her face.

“Try making me do it yourself…!”

If it was anything else, she might have reacted differently.

But, even if he were to kill her hundreds, thousands, or even ten thousands of times…

Her loyalty towards the Prophet would never waver.

Because the Prophet was the greatest benefactor in her life, she was the equivalent of her mother.

Yet this man, the man who had killed her, was telling her to betray the Prophet and worship him instead?

She’d rather let her whole soul suffer from this kind of pain for eternity instead.

“As you wish, then.”

However…

As if mocking her desperation…

Dowd continued, the peaceful expression didn’t leave his face.

“Let’s see how long those words will last, shall we?”

She told herself that she’d never waver.

Then, she closed her eyes tightly.

Even if this man kept on doing wicked things to her…

No matter what kind of terrible things she had to suffer through…

She’d never let wills give in!

“Alright.”

At that moment, when the sound of a finger flicking dropped…

A terrible sensation took over her whole body again.

It felt as if there was a tentacle wringing inside the blood vessels all over her body.

"...!"

A scream that she failed to let out came from her vocal cords as a moan.

“Ah, keu, heuuk–!”

“It’s Alan Ba-Thor’s death this time, so it’s going to hurt a bit more than before.”

Dowd Campbell continued.

“I learned it just a little while ago; The Image World’s rules are different from the Material Realm. Well, to put it simply, I can keep doing this to you without worrying about time and physical limitations.”

Saying such a scary thing without batting an eye.

“By the way, I wasn’t joking about being curious to see how long you can hold on.”

As he said that…

He flicked his finger again.

Again, and again.

And again.

"---!!!!"

Tatiana’s scream endlessly echoed in the Image World, as if responding to his actions.

How long had it been since she started to suffer from the terrifying pain?

Tatiana's sanity was being submerged into greater depths.

…Prophet…

Her consciousness was sinking.

To somewhere far away, to the place where she had kept the most precious scenes in her memory. The scene that had created the ‘willpower’ that let her endure this ongoing torture.

-Oh, is she a survivor? She's still breathing.

-...Leader, are you interested in this person? Looking at her injuries, it seems like she’ll die soon.

-Come on, everyone from the clan from the bottom of the sea is a powerful Curse User. She won't die from this.

It was her memory of the first day she met the Prophet.

She could remember the warmth that touched her bare body which was swept out to the seashore.

And she could remember the face behind that bizarre-looking mask, which strangely made her feel comfortable despite how it looked.

-...Who…?

She could also remember how that person, while carrying her, answered the question that came out of her mouth like a moan.

-Hm… I can’t tell you my name since everyone who knows it would die.

-...Mm…?

-Call me the Prophet. That will do.

That day, she became the sole survivor of a certain clan that lived under the sea. The clan whose members worshiped the Ancient Gods and were purged by the Tribal Alliance Hunters because they deemed the clan as ‘sinister’.

With her body ridden with wounds, with no place to come and go, her young self could only wait for her certain death.

Yet, the Prophet had accepted her unconditionally. She fostered her power and provided her the conditions where she could enact her revenge.

Her consciousness sunk even more.

With the memory of the day she began to truly worship the Prophet as her ‘new master’, a turning point—

“Ah, finally.”

Amidst that…

A voice intervened.

“I found it.”

Suddenly.

Tatiana felt shivers running down her spine. There was no way that she could hear that voice here.

Because this was the memory of the Prophet and herself.

There was no way that anyone would be able to enter her ‘conscious memory’.

Yet, she really had heard someone else’s voice here.

…What the…

Upon hearing the voice that echoed in her head, Tatiana looked up, clearly horrified.

Then, she saw him, Dowd Campbell, looking down at her, who was lying on the ground.

There was a subtle smile on his face.

Though there was a cunningness in his smile that sent shivers down her spine.

“You see, among the people I’m close with, there’s someone who’s very familiar with going around in a ghost-like state. There’s also someone who’s a master of sorcery. One who isn’t any worse than you, if not more talented than you are.”

As he said so, Dowd reached out and grabbed her head.

At that moment…

The memory of her first meeting with the Prophet was ‘erased’.

"...!"

She wrapped her arms around her head in horror.

It was an unsightly gesture, but the shock she received was so great that it didn’t even cross her mind.

“What…!”

She could not remember.

The warm touch, the face she saw for the first time, the first conversation they had…

Anything about her at all…

As if everything was painted white.

“Indeed, precious memories are something to rely on. It’s the one thing that allows humans to have such an endless mental fortitude.”

Dowd rambled on as he took his hand off her head. Meanwhile, her eyes shook frantically.

“I figured you’d recall such memory if I torture you for long enough. Then again, everyone would do the same. In this Image World, I can lay my hands on you as long as you recall such a memory.”

He calmly explained.

“To put it simply, the torture is just a means to get to this part.”

It was at that moment…

Tatiana finally realized this man’s intentions. Her eyes were filled with horror.

“You…you…you…evil fucker…”

She said in a trembling voice.

Her expression that had never been shaken even by the cruel torture, collapsed instantly.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Me… Me… My ‘existence’...! You tried to throw it all away…!”

Mind manipulation. Brainwashing.

His goal wasn’t just to give her pain.

But to take away all of her ‘memories’!

“No, not really.”

At her cry, Dowd replied mockingly.

“I’m only doing this so that ‘I can use you’. You did the same thing when you killed Riru’s family, no? I mean, you even pulled the dead into something when you didn’t have to.”

As he said that…

He grabbed her head again.

“Ah… Ah…”

Once again…

Another memory of hers was erased.

Black ink was sprayed on her memory of the day the Prophet wished her a happy birthday for the first time.

Again, he held her head.

“Stop…”

And there went another memory.

This time, it was her memory of the Prophet complimenting her.

And the memory of the Prophet hugging her tightly, telling her that she was her family.

“No…! Please…! Stop…!”

Then, another memory was gone.

And another one.

All of it was erased.

This continued.

Until everything was gone.

"...!"

This lasted for so long that she couldn’t even scream out anymore.

Suddenly, she realized a terrifying fact.

She could not remember anything.

Just like the food she ate for dinner a long time ago.

She knew that someone precious, so precious that she’d wholeheartedly give her soul to her and worship her existed.

But…

…Who…was it…?

Her face went pale as she fell on the ground.

She had stopped caring about the physical torture she was suffering from.

Instead…

She felt such an emptiness that felt as if it took her ‘soul’ away.

That feeling filled up her whole body.

“...No way.”

Tatiana crawled as if wriggling on the ground.

Her head, that hadn’t dropped lower even once when she was being tortured, sank deeply.

She repeatedly bowed her head to the man in front of him, kneeling down, as if she was going to lick his feet if he were to tell her to.

“...Please…”

Her voice sounded weak as she begged.

“I’ll do anything…you want me to… If you want me to be your slave, I’ll do it, if you tell me to become your toy, I’ll gladly serve as your toy…”

With such sincerity, she swore to give him anything she could give him.

“Just…please…don’t take this away from me…”

The memories she truly cherished…

All the things that served as her ‘foundation’... She begged for him to not take them away.

Again and again.

Though her vision was blurred by her tears, she prayed that her voice could touch his heart even for a bit.

“Okay.”

Then, he dropped such a casual reply.

“I won’t erase it. That isn’t my intention from the beginning, anyway.”

"...!"

Hearing those words, Tatiana looked up at him with a bright expression.

“Instead.”

But, when she heard what he said next…

“I'm going to rewrite it.”

That bright expression turned into despair.

“...Excuse…me…?”

“I said, I’m going to rewrite it.”

Dowd reached out again, holding her forehead as light vanished from her eyes.

“I won’t erase your memories, but…”

To Tatiana, who was crying with an expressionless face, like a doll.

He dropped a stern declaration.

“I’ll rewrite the target of your loyalty from ‘the Prophet’ to ‘me’. This is why I’m doing all this.”

Over the memories of the Prophet, which had been painted black…

The memories of someone called ‘Dowd’ were painted.

It took over the Prophet’s position, which basically meant that he brainwashed her in this way.

As he did this, Tatiana, who was looking at him finally realized…

That this man, from the very beginning…

Had never thought of giving her mercy even a little.

“...Devil.”

At the same time such a word came out of her mouth like a moan…

Tatiana's consciousness was cut off.

A while after that…

Inside the Image World, Tatiana Grachel was trying hard to lick my feet.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Both Valkasus and Caliban alternately looked at her and me, astounded.

All that shit might have felt like forever for this bitch, but only 15 minutes had actually passed.

That was how the Image World worked. The time axis worked completely differently from the Material World.

Entrusting Walter to take care of the details was the right thing to do.

“Wait.”

“Ah, aah…Master…”

“No, I said, wait.”

“Ah, euh, aah…”

She looked up at me with a desperate look in her eyes.

From her eyes, it seemed like she was begging me to let her lick my feet just once.

As planned, I managed to ‘overwrite’ the loyalty she had for the Prophet onto loyalty toward me.

It was just…

The plan worked a little too well.

…Wait.

Does that mean she had been treating the Prophet like this?

Not only is she a lunatic, she’s also a pervert?

“...Do you think you have any right to say that?”

“...Agreed to that.”

"..."

The gazes they sent me actually hurt me.

“...But, why?”

“Well, I’ll say that, at this point I’m genuinely considering this as an art. Hats off to you.”

“I agree, Boy King.”

"..."

Honestly, I knew that I deserved to be treated like that this time.

But, it wasn’t like I had another choice.

< Item Info >

[ ▲ Tatiana Grachel ] [ Processed ]

[ Specialty: Curse ]

[ Form: Soul Spirit ]

[ Processing Options ]

▶ Subordinate as a familiar

▶ Use as an enhancement material for an item

▶ Resummon in full form (Becomes annihilated after one use)

Adding her soul into an item as a reinforcement material wasn’t a good option. She was too good of a bitch to not be used extensively.

That was why I didn’t consider summoning her in her full form either, since I could only do that once. Using her as a Familiar would be better in this case since I’d get to use her more than once.

The problem was, if I wanted to turn her into my subordinate, as a Familiar, without ‘her own consent’, I’d have to deal with a penalty; Most of her abilities would be reduced in strength.

To put it in another word, unless I gained her consent, the option was useless.

“...Is that why you brainwashed her? So that she’d consent to submitting herself to you?”

“Yes.”

"..."

“I mean, she’s a bad person anyway. Feels nice that I didn’t feel guilty after doing all that to her.”

Like, she deserved all this being done to her, considering the things she had done to Riru.

Compared to when I used Lana, when I actually felt guilty for doing so, I really didn’t feel anything because this woman was such a bitch.

“...Well, you do have the tendency to be so merciless when handling your enemies. You’ve always been like that and the tendency feels like it’s gotten stronger now.”

"..."

Well…

Maybe that was because I’ve been influenced by the things that I used to do for a bit.

To be exact, the things that I did before I transmigrated into this game.

Then, Caliban said with a sigh.

“Anyway, what are you going to use her for? You even went out of your way to turn her like this.”

Huh? I thought I told him about it already?

“Haven’t I told you about it before I did all these things?”

I put the lion breastplate with Tatiana’s soul in it into my inner chest pocket before continuing.

“I have someone to see in the Holy Land after this.”

Archbishop Luminol.

He was someone I needed to deal with before the ordeal began.