Rebirth From Ordinary Person To The Strongest

As I was swallowed into the girl who resembled Aya-chan, I found myself seeing through her eyes.

No, that's not quite accurate. I wasn't becoming her. Instead, I was witnessing the past from her perspective.

This wasn't the kind of mental world I'd typically see through "Resonance." No, this was an unchangeable, cold, and bitter past.

It was as if I'd resonated deeply with her because this girl was part of the deepest, innermost part of the Yuki-onna inside Aya-chan.

But the mechanism didn't matter. I was simply drawn into the girl's past, as though I were invited.

In that village, not marked on any map, winter never ended, even in the summer. The seasons ceased to change, and the land was covered in a bitter, endless frost. The people there were suffering, unable to farm, unable to gather enough food to survive. A young exorcist, sent from the capital, said someone had to become a sacrifice.

A young exorcist, sent from the capital, said that someone had to become a sacrifice, a living offering to the "Lord of Winter" to end the eternal cold. It had to be a child filled with magic, someone who still carried the vibrant life force that the "Lord" could feed on.

That's why the girl, the one who looked just like Aya-chan, was chosen.

They barely had enough to eat. Her younger brother had died from malnutrition, and yet they continued to survive by eating tree roots.

There were fewer than ten children in the village, and of those, only three, including her, were healthy. But the other two were boys, so they couldn't be offered as sacrifices.

The future of the village hung in the balance, so the girl accepted her fate.

She accepted that if her sacrifice would save the village, she would willingly become the saint.

And so, the young exorcist led her to the "Lord of Winter" to end the eternal cold.

That... was how it all began.

The exorcist lived a long life, but as his death approached, he sought a way to avoid it.

The girl became one of his experiments.

A child constantly exposed to "ma" (evil magic) would eventually become a "ma" itself. This process was called "nari," and the young exorcist saw eternity in this transformation.

He used his own monsters to seal off the village, which wasn't marked on any map, trapping it in an endless winter. He used the girl's innate goodness to turn her into a monster by forcing her into contact with a "yuki-onna" he had once subdued.

And so, the girl became a monster.

She was turned into a being that needed to consume magic to survive. But that wasn't enough for the exorcist. He forced her to consume other "ma" to further increase her magical power.

High-ranking monsters can live for hundreds of years. The exorcist intended to make her into such a creature, eventually reaching that peak himself.

Thus, the girl ate.

I could feel it through our Resonance, the taste of what she consumed.

It was like eating rotten fish, left out for days—foul, and squirming like the maggots popping under her teeth.

And yet, the girl ate.

She had no choice. If she didn't eat, she would die. If she didn't eat, she would be killed.

So, she ate. And ate. And ate, slowly increasing her magic power.

Years passed, and with them, the girl's resentment grew. Her hatred was aimed at no one but the exorcist who had turned her into such a creature.

The exorcist had conducted similar experiments elsewhere. He had abducted other children, turned them into monsters, and forced them to consume "ma."

When the girl asked why he could so casually commit such abominable acts, the exorcist replied without a trace of remorse.

'There is no way a child's life could be considered equal to that of someone who can wield magic.'

Ah, I see. That was how it was.

And so, the girl ran away. She escaped during one particularly cold winter.

She couldn't return to her village, not in her monstrous state, and she had nowhere else to go.

So, she ran. She ran, feeding on evil "ma" to survive.

Though she knew it would be safer and more efficient to kidnap and consume human children, her humanity prevented her from doing so. Even in her monstrous form, she couldn't bring herself to eat a human child.

She kept running, and running, and eventually, she was found by exorcists. They attacked her, wounding her with their spells.

The girl cried out.

She shouted that she had done nothing wrong. That she had been captured and turned into a monster by an exorcist. That she had only eaten "ma" and never harmed a human.

But the exorcists simply responded coldly.

'No questions. No mercy.'

Ah, such is the arrogance of the exorcists.

They trample on human life without a second thought. They divide those who can use magic from those who cannot, refusing to listen and forcing their own sense of justice upon others. Enjoy exclusive adventures from m-v l'e|m,p-y r

And so, the girl killed her first human.

News of the exorcist-slaying spread to the capital, and once again, the young exorcist came for her. He captured her, fed her live insects, and said,

'Of all the children I experimented on, you are the only one who survived. Therefore, I entrust this insect to you. In the next world, let it bloom into a butterfly.'

And then, she was sealed.

Sealed for hundreds of years in a dark, cold prison, cursing the young exorcist and hating all exorcists. Her curse fueled her magic power, raising her rank without the need for sustenance.

She vowed to kill every exorcist.

That single thought kept her going for centuries.

Her mind twisted and warped, but her hatred for the exorcists remained steadfast.

When the time finally came, and her seal was broken, she planned to kill every last one of them.

"Finally... I'm free from the seal."

Yet, instead of a cold exorcist, the first person she saw upon her release was a gentle girl who had freed her out of kindness.

'Why... did you break my seal?'

"Because it's wrong. You didn't do anything bad."

One person. Just one. A six-year-old girl, sneaking out in the dead of night, had released the Yuki-onna from her shrine prison. The hatred that had festered for centuries was dissolved by the warmth of that small girl's kindness.

"I'll get in trouble if my dad finds out... So you need to run away, okay?"

'Tell me your name.'

"My name is Aya. Shimozuki Aya."

And so, she decided to protect her.

She would protect that one girl, no matter what. Even with the power of a fallen "ma," she would guard Aya.

She resolved to protect only that girl, regardless of the cost.

But even after death, the young exorcist had left one last curse behind.

The black insect he had forced her to swallow.

It was a symbol of immortality.

In the West, it would be known as a symbol of alchemy, and in Japan, it was referred to as "刻術," a type of magic that manipulates the mind. It doesn't work on pure monsters, but if the subject had once been human, it was different.

That insect had nested inside Aya-chan, growing fat on her magic and spreading "ma" throughout her heart. It twisted the mind of the Yuki-onna, compelling her to kill any exorcist who came to save Aya.

I witnessed all of this.

"Ugh!"

I gasped as I blinked, cold air flooding my lungs.

In front of me stood the girl I had been resonating with moments ago.

The sky was overcast, and it was still night. The snow that had been gently falling around the girl had turned into a raging blizzard.

Before I knew it, I had returned to the winter village.

"So that's... what happened."

I now understood everything about the girl's tragic past. The deepest, darkest part of her story.

The Yuki-onna had been waiting for this moment all along.

Even as her mind was twisted by the insect, the Yuki-onna had frozen her own magic to protect Aya-chan from the insect's influence. Even though her hatred for exorcists had been magnified, her sole mission to protect Aya-chan had remained intact.

She had been waiting.

Deep within her heart, waiting for someone to come and save Aya.

"Itsuki, save Aya...!"

The girl's body began to turn pure white. Her black eyes transformed into a deep blue.

Even still, the Yuki-onna entrusted me with her final wish.

She wanted me to protect Aya.

"...Don't worry. Leave the rest to me."

Understanding everything, I turned around.

And there, I saw the young exorcist—the one responsible for turning the girl into a monster.

He had likely dodged my "Heaven's Edge." His clothes were covered in snow, and he was glaring at me.

But his appearance hadn't changed.

He looked just like the exorcist from the girl's memories.

So, to let the Yuki-onna know, I raised my voice and declared,

"I'll exorcise him!"