Reborn as an Yandere : Yandere X Yandere

Luck–Unluck (End)

"Help?" Alaxmi repeats, she couldn't help but laugh a little. "Are you sure you don't want to end up being broke and paralyzed, living the rest of your life like a cripple?" she replied. There was no malice in her voice, only a weary certainty, as if she were stating a simple fact of nature.

Valor's smile didn't falter a bit. "Certainly not. Besides, I kind of have a general idea of how your unluck works. Just giving this food to you won't bring much bad luck to me. Maybe I'll get some minor injury on my way back home," he answered, his tone casual, as if discussing the weather.

Alaxmi was left a little stunned by his answer. She hadn't thought much about what hell he wanted, as long as she receives food and clean water, that was good enough. The gnawing hunger in her stomach overrode any other concerns.

"What help do you want?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Nothing much. I have a few competitors in the village, you see. Just sleep outside of their shops at night. I'll make sure to wake you up early," he replied, as if he were asking her to water a plant.

"That's it?" she exclaimed in both confusion and surprise. The simplicity of the request was baffling.

"Yep. Follow me. And also make sure to maintain some distance," he said, his unnatural smile never wavering. 

He led Alaxmi to his competitor's shop. Although while on their way, he got some cuts by plant thorns and fell twice. 

But his goal was accomplished. Alaxmi sat the whole night outside of the shop, while in the early morning, he made sure to wake her up so that others couldn't see her. .

Soon enough, his plan worked. The shop's luck ran out. Customers started avoiding it for some reason, feeling an unexplainable aversion. Then a nearby tree fell on it, cracking the ceiling and walls with a sickening crunch of wood and tile.

While the shop owner and some neighbors were trying to remove the tree, a heavy rain came, soaking the entire shop from inside out. The water rose, destroying goods, turning their hard work to mud and ruin.

Valor only watched it from a distance with the same unnatural smile. His satisfaction was palpable, a predator watching his prey fall.

Of course, there was one more person overseeing the situation and him both—Esdeath. 

The ethereal voice came inside her mind once again.

"Valor was one of the smartest men I had met at that time. He knew how to use me to the fullest," the voice said.

Scenes changed like pictures, showing one thing after another, as how he used Alaxmi to eliminate his rivals. After some time, he started bringing bad luck upon anyone who he didn't like or offended him. His list of enemies grew shorter with each passing week.

Still, making use of her was growing more and more deadly. Her power of misfortune was growing stronger by each day. Sometimes even Valor fell into some tricky situation or sometimes lost his composure for no reason. The same went for the whole village as well. They were feeling mentally strained each day, feeling frustrated, anxious, or angry for no reason. The village's collective mood soured like milk left in the sun.

And because of the continuous disasters, everyone's suspicion had already started to rise toward Alaxmi. The changes were definitely happening because of her. Despite no help from the village, she was still alive and looking well-fed.

There had to be some secret behind it. So one day, a group of villagers was formed. They didn't sleep, waiting to catch Alaxmi red-handed. Their determination was fueled by fear and anger.

For two days, they were awake the whole night but no use. But on the third night, they finally saw Alaxmi leaving her usual spot at the ficus tree and entering inside the village. 

She had been doing Valor's work for some time now, so she no longer needed him to guide her every time. Another reason was that anywhere being near her was growing more dangerous each day. 

Today, her target was the new village chief. Valor had given up on just being the wealthiest merchant in the village. He wanted to be chief instead. With the new chief gone, him as an ex-royal guard and current one of the influential men in the village would surely have a good chance.

But of course, Alaxmi was exposed.

Just as she dropped the dusty bedsheet on the ground to sleep on it, the whole group of villagers rushed at her. Their faces were twisted with rage, their eyes burning with accusation.

"You witch of misfortune... We finally caught you red-handed," one shouted, his voice raw with fury.

"Don't give her an easy death. Burn this witch," another screamed, spittle flying from his mouth as he pointed a shaking finger at the terrified girl.

Alaxmi's eyes widened, she didn't even try to say anything, immediately turning around to run. But where should she run?

Behind her was the large house of the chief with its gates closed, while in front of her were angry villagers, ready to burn her alive. She was trapped, a cornered animal with nowhere to go.

"Let me pull her hair and slap her a few times. I have suffered enough because of her," one of the villagers said. His voice dripped with venom, each word laced with years of resentment.

He was a bit chubby man, wearing orange clothes that strained against his bulk. He held a fire torch in one hand, its flames casting dancing shadows on his face, while an iron axe rested in his other hand.

"Count me in as well. I'm feeling so angry for no reason," a slender man beside him said, stepping forward. His eyes were wild, his movements jerky with agitation.

"Don't kill her yet. There must be someone else who's helping her. She can't do it all alone. We'll have to interrogate her as well," one of the villagers said from behind, his voice a low growl of reason amidst the madness.

The chubby man smiled sinisterly, "Let's go then," he said, looking at the other slender man. The expression on his face was predatory, hungry for violence.

Alaxmi could only tremble in fear. She had never fought anyone in her life. Her body shook uncontrollably, tears welling in her eyes but refusing to fall.

But just as the chubby man pulled his hand back to land a grave wound on her and swung the axe, something strange happened.

As he did, the axe turned very light for some reason. The weight shifted unexpectedly, throwing off his balance.

And as he swung, the axe never reached Alaxmi, because the iron part of the axe had flown off, only leaving the wooden stick in his hand. The metal head detached mid-swing, sailing through the air with deadly precision.

The lethal part of the axe swung in air—and then it fell down.

Directly crushing itself inside its wielder's skull. There was a sickening crunch as bone gave way to iron.

"Ahhhh!" he shouted immediately, a gurgle of pain and surprise. The sound was cut short as his eyes rolled back in his head.

Out of pain, the fire torch in his hand was thrown away. By coincidence, it fell on the other slender man beside him, burning him alive. Flames engulfed him instantly, his screams piercing the night as he flailed wildly, trying to beat out the fire that consumed him.

It all happened so fast that no one could properly react to it. The sudden violence left everyone frozen in shock, their minds struggling to process the scene before them.

"It's quite entertaining to watch it," Esdeath says to herself, watching the chaos unfold like a series of coincidences was quite amusing indeed. 

"Semith! Joe!" everyone shouted their names, shock turning to grief and then to rage.

The whole group of villagers fell into a frenzy for a second. Alaxmi quickly used this as an opportunity to run away. Her feet carried her before her mind could catch up, survival instinct overriding paralyzing fear.

"Don't let her get away! Find and kill her," someone shouted, breaking the spell of shock.

At once, the ground split into multiple groups running around the village to find her. The hunt began with renewed fury.

Many villagers woke up because of the noise and got to know about the situation. Most of them decided to take their side as well. 

Each of them held some kind of weapon and ran to find her. Torches, pitchforks, knives, anything that could be used as a weapon was grabbed in haste.

The village was big but not big enough to hide from more than half of the population. 

Soon enough, dozens of people entered the tunnel underneath the village. 

"She is most likely hiding somewhere here. We'll have to kill her at all costs. Who knows what kind of misfortune will fall upon us if we fail," one of the villagers said, his voice echoing in the confined space.

Others nodded in agreement, their determination hardened by fear.

But at the same time, a person's feet accidentally crushed the toe of another person.

"You! Watch where you are going!" the injured one hissed, pain sharpening his anger.

"Shhh! Don't make any noise," another one said, his nerves stretched thin.

"You are the one making noise!" someone from the back added in an angry voice, frustration boiling over.

"Don't tell me what to do!" the same man replied and clenched his fist. The tension was palpable, a spark waiting to ignite.

BAM!

He directly punched the other one without care, breaking his nose. Blood sprayed, mixing with the dirt on the tunnel floor.

In just a few seconds, a fight breaks out for no reason at all. The violence was sudden, inexplicable.

At first, some of them were trying to salvage the situation, but it seemed like their senses were fading away, replaced by ego and anger. Rational thought deserted them, replaced by primal emotion.

In just no time, instead of fists, they started swinging their weapons. The fight escalated from a brawl to a battle.

Bloodshed broke out. The walls were painted red, blood soaked the ground like a water leakage had broken out. The tunnel became a slaughterhouse, the sounds of screams and metal cutting flesh echoing through the darkness.

Only when everyone killed each other in a frenzy, Alaxmi finally came out with widened eyes. She had watched from the shadows, horrified and helpless.

"Did it happen because of me?" she said to herself, falling on her knees. The weight of what had happened crushed her, heavier than any physical blow.

Although she did what Valor told her to do, she never wanted to kill anyone, At least not like this. She was feeling the same guilt she had felt when her foster father died.

Tap!.. Tap!... Tap!...

The sound of footsteps came as someone else came out, but Alaxmi was feeling too angry at herself to stand up and run away. 

The figure finally showed itself. It was none other than Valor with the same creepy smile on his face. His expression was unchanged by the carnage around him, as if the blood-soaked tunnel were merely an inconvenience.

Alaxmi chuckled lightly, the sound hollow and bitter. "Did you finally come to kill me and bury the evidence for your doings?" she asks, her voice dripping with self-loathing.

Valor didn't reply. He closed the distance, his feet soaked with blood on the ground, and then knelt in front of her. 

"You're wrong. I'm not here to kill you—no, more precisely I can't kill you, nor anyone. Your misfortune affects everyone except you. It's like a shield that doesn't discriminate between friend and foe. Your sister might have some chance," he said, his voice calm and analytical, as if discussing a mathematical problem rather than a curse.

"So why did you come?" she asked, looking up at him with weary eyes.

Valor was silent for a second and then said, "Let's run away and start a cult."

The way he said it felt kind of comical. Alaxmi couldn't help but chuckle, not because it was funny, but because it was so ridiculous that it was funny. 

"Cult? Who's gonna worship me?" she said, the question laced with disbelief.

But Valor's reply wasn't shown. The time fast-forwarded again, like multiple pictures showing progress. Images flickered past, too quick to fully grasp but clear enough to understand.

And then the ethereal voice spoke again, "At that time, I thought why would someone worship misfortune? But I was blind to the cruelty of the world. People liked more to see someone's downfall than their own rise. It didn't take long before my followers actually caught up with my sister's as well."

At the same time, multiple scenes were showing up, how her cult grew bigger and bigger. Followers gathering, rituals performed, offerings made—all in her name, the Child of Misfortune.

But despite it, her condition didn't improve much. Despite being the goddess they worshipped, she only lived inside a separate wooden mansion and never left. The cage was gilded, but a cage nonetheless.

Foods were provided to her outside without making contact. Whenever she had words with someone, they covered their face with masks, not daring to look at her.

She was like a beautiful bird in a cage, admired from afar but never touched, never truly seen.

Esdeath was waiting for the scene where she would ascend to godhood, but that scene never came. The story she expected to unfold took a different path.

The world around her seemed to falter again, turning into a white void and then—blank! It all ended! The memories dissolved like sugar in water, leaving only the taste behind.

The next second she blinked, she found herself standing at the same spot, looking at her own palm.