Chapter 1

“Aria, my angel,” the emperor said earnestly.

“Come and save me.”

Salvation.

The emperor seeks salvation from the monster.

‘How absurd.’

It was so funny that she could no longer laugh.

Aria stared at him as he stretched out his hand towards her cage, but she didn’t move.

“Please sing!”

“……..”

“Aria! If you don’t sing, I’ll make sure you’ll never be able to walk again,” he fumed, threatening her into submission.

His strength was quickly ebbing, his madness near. After tons of threats and persuasion that lead to nowhere, he finally resorted to begging.

He was completely insane.

“Please sing for us. Siren. I beg for your mercy.”

“Please, Siren…,” the dancers pleaded.

Until just a few months ago, these were the people who wouldn’t hesitate to bring her misery. They laughed at her and whispered behind her back.

The musicians and conductors who played the song for the Siren. Even the knights who guarded the emperor.

They called her a monster.

But here they are now, begging on their knees, waiting for Aria to open her mouth.

Aria caught her breath as something lunged painfully up her neck.

“…cough!” she spewed.

It was blood.

The pain throbbed in her chest and the blood slumped all over her body

She looked at her hands which was now coated in blood, the red fluid loosening her grip.

With teary eyes, she clutched her chest.

‘Ah.’

‘So this is how I die.’

Aria smiled.

‘At long last.’

She can finally have her eternal rest.

Her tightly closed lips opened and she finally sang.

“Come to me, sweet death.”

As Aria began to sing, the whole audience became silent. Nobody could take their eyes off her.

She’s been abusing her voice so it became rough and tired over time. Nonetheless, everyone was still mesmerized at her singing. Her voice rolled over the hills in sorrowful waves. It was raspy and quiet yet so powerful as it was brought out in a fit of pain.

“Come and guide me into peace.”

The song, which started calmly, wrapped around them like a warm ray of sunshine.

They echoed amongst the masonry and up to the rafters, then comforted and stroked them tenderly as if it were the voice of an angel.

“Oh, my lord….” Someone said as they shed tears with a serene smile.

The melody purred to the soul, piercing through and touched their hearts from within.

“I am tired of this world…,” Aria continued singing.

This song she sang was a hymn about seeing heaven through death.

However, due to Aria’s dark tone, it became a completely different song.

It turned into a song to call upon the devil.

“Come, the blessings!”

The irresistibly sweet sound that reverberated in the silence instantly clutched their hearts.

Aria’s songs were like poison, slowly devouring their entire being from within.

“Come!”

The murky voice grabbed their ankles and dragged them straight into the swamp.

Into the swamp of the abyss,

Into the swamp of death,

Into the swamp of hell.

The sound spread violently as Aria continued to sing at the top of her lungs.

“I am waiting for you!” she shouted.

She begged to God who had abandoned her.

She begged to God but ended up getting hurt, cursed, and left alone again.

Eventually, she lost hope in God.

“Come and close my eyes.”

If there’s no God, then she sincerely prays that the devil will take her instead.

“Gasp, gahk!”

Suddenly, the emperor let out a strangled scream as he felt overwhelming pain. He couldn’t breathe, it was as if someone was strangling his neck, squeezing the life out of him.

A second later, he lost strength in his feet and he fell to the ground. The impact of the fall shuddered all the way through his body, which only made the pain ten times worse.

“Blessed sabbath, come!” Aria sang as she let the last note of the song curl slowly from her lips.

The song was over. The ritual was finally finished.

“Gasp, cough….!” The emperor choked as he gasped for air.

His hands were shaking and his whole body was soaked with cold sweat.

Puzzled, the fallen emperor slowly got back to his feet.

“Wha-what on earth is going on?!”

When the emperor looked around, he realized that most of the audience had fainted. Turns out, it wasn’t just him that had to endure that unbearable pain.

Some of the knights that regained consciousness drew out their swords, but their aim was negligent and their feet staggered.

The emperor was appalled. If he had a sword in his hand, he would have carelessly ended his own life because he couldn’t withstand the pain.

“Thi-this…..”

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