"Get up, you filth."

Leila opened her tired, swollen eyes and groaned. The stabbing pain from the multiple lashes on her back, accompanied by the cuts and bruises caused by beatings, screamed at the smallest movements.

She forced her body to move. Turning to her side to face the handsome appearance of a familiar man whose face had contorted in disgust.

"Oh, it's you." She answered nonchalantly, the corners of her lips tugged upward. "What brings the most honorable Crown Prince to my humble home?"

Leila gestured at her filthy, rotting cell and smiled sarcastically. When he didn't answer, she tilted her head slightly, "Oh my, did you get lost?"

"I see not even two weeks of punishment was enough to cleanse your wicked soul." The disgusted look on his face turned into a scowl, "As much as I want to execute you as immediately as possible, there are many who wouldn't allow me to. Now get up, the king has asked for your presence."

Leila let out a bitter laugh, "Your wish is my command."

She gritted her teeth as to not give the Crown Prince the satisfaction of hearing her screams and pushed herself up despite the excruciating pain.

While she fixed her messy appearance and feign an act of dusting her tattered clothing, the Crown Prince flashed her an odd look before opening her cell.

As Leila took one step, she immediately swallowed a cry of pain that was about to escape from her lips. She inwardly cursed the guard who suddenly pushed her which caused her to sprain her ankle and walked out of the cell wearing a cool, collected face.

As she slightly limped through several hallways of the castle that lead towards the Great Hall, the Crown Prince, who walked behind her, stole glances at the wounds on her back and clenched his jaw. "Why did you do it?"

Leila froze for a second then resumed her walk, "Would you believe me if I told you the truth?"

"If it calls for it, I will."

A laugh burst out of her mouth, "Don't say things you don't actually mean. You may be frequently using that mask of yours you think was flawless, but you always suck at lying."

Though she was in front of him, Leila could feel him staring daggers at her, she smiled. "I had to. For everyone's sake, including yours."

"What?" Leila sighed at the confusion in his voice. They now stopped in front of a large white door embellished with gold intricate patterns. The knights who stood at the sides bowed to the Crown Prince and immediately moved to open the large door. "What do you mean?"

Leila squeezed her eyes shut as the door slowly opened before her, "If I had not done what I did..."

She turned to face him, a sad smile blooming in her face, "the kingdom... and everyone would've burned and die."

There were many happenings that occurred in the dreams that frequented her nights. But out of everything, there were three of them who stood out to Leila the most.

One of them was the birth of the Holy Saintess.

"Congratulations, Duchess!" The midwife happily exclaimed, holding the newborn infant bundled with a cloth. "It's a girl!"

Even amidst the extreme exhaustion, the currently weak-bodied Duchess smiled beautifully. She took the child in her arms and caressed her soft, slightly damp, cheek, "My baby."

The door slammed open, revealing the anxious duke and her younger dream self, whose eyes trembled with excitement.

The duke approached the bed and brushed the duchess's hair from her face gently, "How are you doing, my wife?"

"I'm perfectly fine. Look, we have a new stranger in our family!"

The duke and their daughter, the young Leila, took one look at the baby and swooned. Leila patted the baby's small hand, "Hi baby, I'm your older sister, nice to meet you"

The baby let out a small 'yaa' as a reply, and the simple reaction just made her even lovelier. The duchess smiled at her husband and Leila's expressions, "My, how loved she is."

The duchess observed her newborn's features. She was sweet, gentle, and had the demeanor of a doll-like angel. It was very much like raindrops on a pure white lily after a storm. "I know, your name will be Lieselotte, it means 'loved by God'. '"

The infant opened her small fragile lids, displaying eyes of pink carnations, and giggled. The sweet sound echoed deep within their hearts.

"Mother, what's that?" Leila asked, pointing at the faintly glowing symbol on the infant's neck.

The room was dimly lit, so how she noticed such a thing was utterly puzzling. However, the thought was greatly dampened when the ducal couple realized what the symbol was.

How they dreaded the fact that their second daughter would be facing such predicaments in the future, all because of that symbol engraved in her.

Next was the public condemnation of the villainess character.

"Lady Vanessa Ivonne Raquiel," The Crown Prince's voice boomed through the banquet hall. It was the celebration of the two kingdoms with a deep history of rivalry finally agreeing to a peace treaty and enjoy lasting unity.

It was supposed to be a joyous occasion, yet Lady Vanessa of House Raquiel crossed the line and was exposed by the male interests of her schemes.

In every story of the same genre, one could obviously tell she was the villainess. The spoiled and domineering lady born to a powerful and rich family, who is engaged to the Crown Prince since childhood, and was bound to harass the heroine through malicious deeds.

The Crown Prince's face formed into a frown, his gaze was cold and lit up with fury as he protected Lieselotte's small, slender body behind him. "Not only did you schemed against the innocent Lady Liese but also framed your servants for everything you've done. You did not hesitate to kill people for your selfish needs and you even went so far as to hire assassins to murder Lady Liese.

Your hateful obsession of coveting the queen's throne had caused lives of innocent people. Your selfishness has brought downfall to you and your family, thus made you unworthy of staying by my side. I now announce our engagement to be annulled! Guards, please escort the lady and her family to the dungeons."

"Y-your H-highness!" Lady Vanessa shrieked, fighting off the knights who had grabbed her arms. She trembled furiously, her tears flowing nonstop. "I-I was f-framed! It wasn't m-me! I d-didn't do it! P-please, y-you have to b-believe me!"

"Lady Raquiel." The prince sternly said, warning clear in his tone. "Please surrender peacefully if you do not wish to get hurt."

But as usual, her dream self-had claimed the role as one of the onlookers that stood by the sides, watching indifferently at the occurrences.

It was not because she was forced to but was because she wanted to. All her life, her dream-self had immersed herself in the company of isolation and books and stayed far away from all the noisy drama that seems to follow her sister everywhere.

Though she was a very beautiful, talented, and intelligent person with grace and demure of a blooming red rose in cold winter. Her dream self never got jealous of the attention and the love her sister would frequently receive.

Part of it was probably because the younger sister of her dream self looked strangely like Leila's sister in real life. You can say, she was one of those who pushed her younger sister, to be the heroine of the story.

But unlike the main characters, there was one thing Leila had that they don't...

The fact that she was a mob character.

In other words, a minor character idling by the sidelines.

That was the advantage of being an onlooker, who sees everything in every angle that was very much like an author but only slightly involved.

Such, though Leila didn't mean to, she would always end up witnessing all sorts of situations. Whether the sweet moments with male interests or the hurdles with female rivals that her sister would face, not once did Leila miss anything.

However, there was one scene in her dreams she had written off as a nightmare.

Smoke. Screams. The foul stench of corpses.

Leila ran through the roaring inferno of the once majestic white castle of the kingdom, covering her mouth and nose with a handkerchief.

She jumped against the falling pillars, using her sword to fight off the debris that hindered her way as she ran towards the familiar hallways. The routes that led to her sister's room.

She coughed against the smoke and ash in her lungs and mouth as she burst into the room. "Liese!"

The room was completely enveloped with thick, black smoke. She blinked and squeezed her eyes against the ashes and felt her surroundings blindly until her hand grasped a small wooden table.

She coughed, her strength draining from inhaling too much smoke and without hesitation, threw the table towards the direction of the large glass door of the balcony.

There was a loud crash, followed by the immediate scattering of the smoke like it was being vacuumed out. Leila coughed once again, keeping her nose and face firmly covered, and squinted at the room that was now slightly clear, with the majority of the smoke out.

On the floor beside the bed, lies the collapsed form of her sister. Head to toe, she was covered with soot and ashes from the fire. Leila felt her blood chilled, Liese was not breathing at all.

Despite her extreme exhaustion from fighting off enemies, both soldiers and the common folk, and fire on her way to the castle, Leila didn't hesitate to lift her sister's body off the floor and ran towards the balcony.

She took one look at the distance of the room and the ground. It was high enough to break bones if one didn't jump properly.

Despite the risks, Leila summoned all the courage she could muster and jumped off the railing. Thankfully, she landed on the soft grass without breaking a bone or spraining her ankle.

She took Liese's body further through the garden maze and settled her body on the ground. She then immediately took out several healing potions from her pocket, uncorked them, and placed the edge of the vial unto Liese's lips.

She had emptied all the potions she had brought with her and there were still no sounds of breathing. Though Leila looked composed, deep inside she was desperately praying for a miracle to happen. And to her demise, nothing happened.

She choked on her sobs and covered her mouth with shaking hands. Everyone she knew was dead, and she was the only one left alive.

Despite the blurred sight caused by tears, Leila noticed blood caked on the bodice of Liese's gown. It was splattered around the collar on the left side of the fabric.

Leila fumbled with trembling hands and her eyes widened at what she saw. The symbol on her sister's neck was ruthlessly carved out. The whole chunk of it was gone.

"W-who...?" The words escaped from her lips. She felt her entire being tremble with molten anger, she growled. "Who on earth would do this?"

Blinded by her rage, Leila failed to notice that her surroundings have gone quiet. A shadow loomed behind her; the sharp edges of the blade glinted against the inferno.

As she felt her consciousness fade away, the last thing she saw was a titled ground and a figure who kneeled before her, whispering. "Pitiful being. Blame your god, for he has forsaken you all.

And the darkness finally swallowed her whole.

At that point, Leila would jolt awake, sobbing and shaking desperately. It was strange dreams that didn't seem like one.

The images, the feeling---everything was so vivid that it terrified her inside. She had been dreaming the same thing over and over again that it came to the point that she could react every scene perfectly.

And like clockwork, she would shake the horrible thoughts out of her head and begin her day with a very, very cold shower.

It was a natural talent.

Heads turned, whispers were drawn, and captivation clearly visible like how men and women flock around the goddess of beauty, and worker bees to their hive queen.

With every clatter of her heels against the polished marble floor and calculated amounts of sex appeal, a few attempted to draw near to converse only to have turned them down with nothing but her actions. She was here for serious business, not for self-entertainment, and silently surveyed around for any signs of her targets.

Luxurious setting, expensive dishes, cream of the crop employees, and a faint smell of alcohol lingering.

It was a magnificent and fancy party suitable for the rich and rotten.

Such a place was perfect for any kind of illegal dealings that happen in the dark.

The sophisticated A-line wine-red dress with plunging v-neckline, diamond set of accessories, and black stilettos were façade to hide lethal weapons latched on her body. This particular mission is of national importance after all.

Leila Ravenna Silva.

The best and most lethal female assassin in the world.

Beautiful.

Dangerous.

Utterly intoxicating.

Growing up in a normal, happy family, one wouldn't expect the young and bright Leila to engage in this line of work where her life is always on the line.

However, if it were not for that incident, Leila would've graduated from medical school and performing surgical operations by now.

That's just how it is, things just won't end up the way anyone would want.

It was because of these occurrences that people had selfishly decided that life is full of shit as it is full of obstacles.

And thus, began the birth of newer gods to worship. The first anti-Christ factions.

But Leila thought otherwise.

She sees life as an opportunity to open her eyes to reality. The incident that killed her parents and caused her to be abducted and experimented on, made Leila realize that if she were oblivious to this to this side of the world, she would've grown up to be a naïve person who thinks difficulties in life only involve personal relationships, financial situations, school, career and love life, and just thinking about it absolutely disgust her.

For two years, Leila was made a fool and believed that everything they made her do or take in was for her own good. They made her believe that through this, every pain she felt is another person she would save from dying.

Who's 'they'?

Those motherfucking scientists working under black market.

There were others like Leila in that laboratory, but in the end, out of two thousand children, only the ten remained, and Leila was one of them.

Where they got that many, she had no idea. But Leila was almost convinced they made an appointment with the Storks.

Her younger self was grateful that she survived, and that God may have tried to make it up to her. But little did she know that blessing was actually another curse in disguise.

And so, the experimentations continued.

The more the surviving children stayed alive, the more they increased the dosage of whatever they inject them, and like that, they would expose them to another set of torture.

Electrocution.

Drowning.

Confined in an aquarium filled with zero-degree water.

No food and water for months.

Cut open with knives without any anesthetic.

Injured through whipping, cutting off body parts, beaten up by people.

Every method they could think of.

The first time Leila was injected with the serum, she began screaming. The feeling was like she was being stabbed with hundreds of needles; her bones felt like they were breaking, and her flesh poking from underneath her skin as if trying to break out to the surface.

The immense pain went on for a whole hour and went it finally stopped, the serum had completely numbed her nerves making Leila unable to feel pain anymore.

At that rate, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if the surviving children did end up insane. As for Leila, there might be a few loose screws, but she had held unto her rationality like a stubborn leech.

It was a sigh of relief when the CIA and the United Nations managed to get a whiff the children's existence and ambushed the facility, killing everyone who resisted and secured the ones who surrendered.

The only unfortunate thing that happened was that the serum along all of its data was destroyed in the process. The state of panic had caused the upper heads of the facility to wipe any signs of its existence. So, the agencies involved in the purging had no choice but to rely on the children's testimonies and a couple of body and blood checks.

Since the children's situation was abnormal and had a high possibility to pose a threat to society, the government was reluctant to release them.

But a certain highly influential person gave them the opportunity to render their uneasiness useless, and so, for that cause, ten children were moved around one intelligence agency to another and trained until they became the most elite of the elites, a very valuable asset to the world.

It turns out the thing they injected the children with mutated their cells immensely to the point that even if they have already proven themselves on the side of justice hundreds of times, they still refused to let them return back to their normal lives.

At that point, Leila could hardly remember what normal was.

Every day they would face harsh criticism from their fellow agents for being freaks.

They would kill people on a daily basis.

In other words, they were the real-life Suicide Squad of the century.

And the way they used them made Leila realize that they were no different than how they are treated before. The more they treat them like puppets, the more masks they put on, and they would have to face the harsh reality that they had absolutely no one they could trust.

But thanks for those times, Leila learned a lot of things and experiences that are truly treasures. The government also paid their services with money five times the amount of what salaries the Senators and House Representatives receive monthly.

Leilah had lived most of her childhood in a simple room and was nervous about spending too much despite the ridiculous amount of her wages. So, she just decided to buy a permanent contemporary luxury apartment as the only thing she would exert a lot of money apart from furniture and necessities.

Despite Leila's consistent show of hesitance, her sister firmly insisted that she wanted to live with her.

She already had a gist that her line of work was clearly dangerous and had a high possibility of herself be made a target. But even so, she told Leila that she refused to stand idly by while she worked her ass off for both their sakes.

Being an art student is worth a lot of money, but Leila wanted her to fulfill her sister's ambitions, whatever it is, even though she kept jumping from either fashion designer, animator, to drawing Japanese cartoons and other art-related professions.

Her wages had basically covered all their needs and still have a massive amount left, so Leila wouldn't mind spending thousands to invest in her sister's dream.

After everything that happened, it was the least she could do for her.

Leila maneuvered around the place, the hem of her dress swishing around with every step. She had already compiled all sorts of possible escape routes, the number of guards, suspicious faces on a list in her head as she moved around.

Like how Leila was taught, she didn't miss a single thing down to the dirt every person in the room left behind. She had to be cautious and aim for perfection, never underestimating anyone even beggars on the streets, and refused to allow any of her targets escape from her clutches nor defeat her in any manner.

She walked elegantly, slightly swaying her hips, to mask the cautiousness of her actions through playfulness in order to blend perfectly well. Leila could not afford to fail any of the missions she was tasked to. After all, in this profession, it's to kill or be killed.

Leila was hanging out, sitting, on the bar corner of the hotel's party hall, and swirling her drink when she saw them.

And the sight made the corners of her lips tugged upward, "Found you."

There was one thing she noticed; her targets looked just like in the profiles. But more shitty.

Their fancy suits, clean appearances, and expensive shoes and accessories failed to hide the excited gleam of madness in their eyes.

Mass production and auctioning of viral weaponry and WMD's. That was their business.

After making sure no one was watching, Leila secretly adjusted the two khopesh swords strapped on each of her thighs with one hand and fixed her curled dark brown hair with another while keeping tabs of her targets' movements in her peripheral view.

She had plenty of experience with all sorts of guns, but blades perfectly suited her preferences and fighting style.

One of the best things about their mutation is that all their senses are greatly heightened, therefore Leila didn't bother planting bugs to hear what she wanted to hear.

As she took a sip of wine, Leila directed her hearing towards the direction of her targets.

["Where is the buyer? Tell him I got his toys."]

["He's waiting for you at the VIP Casino room. The boss also assured that you won't need to worry about privacy, he rented the whole place."]

["Ho, he's got great taste."]

["Please follow me."]

Leila maintained a safe distance she watched them disappear behind the closing doors of the elevator. She, then, took one look at the guards stationed beside it and strutted out of the party hall.

Keeping up a quick pace that didn't draw suspicion, she climbed onto a separate elevator and pressed the highest floor button.

Using the key card, she had purchased prior to the party, Leila rented the room two floors above the casino room where the purchase would be held. She had been tailing the suspected buyer for the last two days to ensure she was on the right track.

The room was fancy and clearly designed for the comfort and luxury of the guests. If Leila was on vacation, she would've already crashed on the soft-looking mattress and knocked herself out with some popcorn and movies, but it wasn't the time for that.

She sat on the chair placed on the balcony, closed my eyes, and focused her hearing at the meeting happening two floors below.

["...in a row. You're turning out to be my best customer, ha-ha!"]

["Your toys have proven themselves to be useful, how can I not? I witnessed first-hand how much power it brought me, so here I am."]

["Still, to think you planted our latest viral weaponry in China and caused a massive pandemic. What a way to abuse your power, Prime Minister Huang Zhou."]

["It couldn't be helped, I aimed to be the most powerful person in my country of influence and money, of course, but the enormous population kept placing workloads on my desk. I had to do about those annoying people, plus, I happen to be curious about your work so I thought 'it wouldn't hurt to try' and blasted it off!"]

Heh...so that's what you did.

This guy didn't even wonder the troubles it would cause and unleash a deadly virus without batting an eye.

Leila happened to stumble on a shocking discovery that he had been abusing his wife and children when she infiltrated his house. There she found reports of suspected bribery amongst the official during the election, which resulted in him being a president.

There were more cases that involved him, but this---he's more rotten than she thought.

To think that this guy was laughing at the fact that his passing irritation caused the deaths of hundreds of people around the world made her sick.

["So, this product is more lethal than the last one. Where are you going to use it?"]

["Ahh, I'm planning on having it in the middle of New York City."]

["You really dream big, huh."]

["What can I say? It's what I'm good at."]

'UGH. Alright, it's decided. I'm going to beat the shit out of these guys.' That was going around Leila's mind.

Rounding her stiff shoulders, Leila looked towards the ethereal beauty of the moon and grinned.

Who needs wings to fly?

Without any hesitation, she jumped off from the balcony of her and shattered the glass window effortlessly with a kick.

"What the-?!"

Leila rolled to the ground and landed in a crouching position on the floor filled with glass shards.

There was a gimmick in the dress that she wore. Beneath the outer layer of the skirt, there were two thigh-high slits where she could easily draw her khopesh swords when it's showtime.

Then slowly, Leila stood up and unsheathe her swords.

Playing with the weapons in each hand, Leila channeled her inner Harley Quinn and flashed the stupefied people in the room with a mischievous grin.

"Run piggies, run!"

And the room erupted into chaotic music of blood and screams.