"Ugh, I can''t see. I''m all bloody," I whined while using my left hand and blood to slick my bangs to the back.


    "A-Are you serious?" She took a step back, surprised at my unexpected response.


    "Hm? Ah~ Right, right. Dead serious. Don''t you think people who beg for their life are too much of a cliché?" I glanced at the edges of my blade, inspecting its durability. "I''m here to give you a reality check." I smiled derisively. "There are those that want to fucking die~"


    "You say that but you don''t look like you''ll go down without a fight." She sighed.


    "Well, I believe I still have a chance at winning," I declared confidently.


    "That arrogance... Heh, it reminds me of him, but..." She smiled, reminiscing about someone dear before returning to her cold demeanor. "He managed to refute my statement. Are you capable of that?"


    Without backing down on her declaration to kill me, she threw a barrage of heavy, ruthless attacks at me. Thanks to my curse, all of it only grazed me.


    As I expected. My curse activated when she attacked with the intent to kill me, thanks to my provocation. Previously, she was attacking me under the premise of interrogation, so it wasn''t anything life-threatening. But now! With my curse, I was getting stronger the closer I was to death!


    Honestly, I wasn''t sure that she would take the bait. It was a gamble. Underestimate her and die, or successfully fool her and win. I didn''t mind either of the results, so the outcome was 100% in my favor. I would ''win'' either way.


    I didn''t know her for long, so I had little to go by. The fact that she didn''t properly investigate the case, and question me—one of the suspects in the complaints. Furthermore, it was usually the one who strictly abided by the rules and protected the people who were the most empathic of them all.


    That required a load of emotions. Frequently stimulating your emotions resulted in an unstable mentality. An unstable mentality would break your mental fortitude. Simply put, I deduced that she was physically strong but psychologically weak.


    And mentally fucking someone up is my forte~


    Even with that strong appearance, it was nothing but a facade. That''s why she was easily provoked, and now she was just attacking me recklessly, making her moves more predictable than before.


    Overwhelming strength is nothing if it doesn''t hit its target.


    If I was cursed, then as far as I was aware, there were two conditions to activate it: Be in a life-threatening situation, and in a position where my survival could be brushed off as a mere coincidence. I achieved the first condition by provoking her to kill me. The second was met by killing the sharpness and rhythm of her attacks, which I achieved by insulting and taunting her. She then relied on her irrationality and rage.


    Thus, the longer the battle dragged on, the sloppier her attacks became, and the stronger I was.


    Taking a deeper look at things, not only did she have to face my taunts and the mockery display of missing attacks at an amateur, but she was also in conflict with herself. To begin with, she initially attacked me because I was accused of trespassing, but that claim was cleared when it became known that I was acquainted with Maria.


    That''s right. Her irrationality desired to kill me, whereas her rationality had no ground to execute me whatsoever. Considering all of these factors, her current state of mind was...broken.


    I only intended on throwing her off a little until Maria arrived, but to break down this badly at simple psychological attacks. She really was... stupid. At this rate, I was going to win.


    How utterly disappointing. I didn''t even need to manipulate my emotions to increase my love for Maria to enhance my King''s Eye.


    Due to her fluctuating rationality, she didn''t activate her Omen of the Fallen. I didn''t know what that ability did, but I knew that all of the abilities the aliens had were bad news. To begin with, without their abilities, they only had their superhuman strength going for them.


    No abilities. Simple superhuman strength. Irrational and predictable attacks. Jotting it down, she was weaker than that high-grade alien.


    After a minute or two passed, I concluded that it was time for me to end it. I spent the past few minutes dodging her attacks while I strengthened myself and her power deteriorated.


    "Okay, that''s enough. I don''t mind getting cut up and bloody, but I don''t want to land up in a coma again." I evaded her vertical slash and countered with a horizontal slash to her neck. "Die, stupid bitch." I returned her cold tone and derogatory remarks.


    Just before my blade touched her neck, I saw her lips muttering something. She was activating her ability.


    Not bad. It took her a mere few minutes to improve her mental fortitude. That''s more like it, Knight Commander!


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    But before we could establish whether my blade would cut her first or if her ability would stop my attack, Maria fiercely punched my cheek. My curse didn''t react nor was I prepared for the attack, so I easily lost balance, sending me flying across the plain field.


    "Hey! What was that for, Maria?! I thought we were on a team!" I quickly got up and scolded, but she didn''t seem very pleased.


    "I heard you from a mile away!" She glared at me, but her tears spoke a different story. "Don''t say such sad stuff!"


    "H-huh? What are you talking about?" I approached her.


    Coincidentally, guards in the area came.


    "Hey! What are you guys doing he- H-huh, Knight Commander Alpha." They saluted at her presence.


    Huh? They are ignoring Maria?


    "I''ve seen enough. I''ll leave him to you, Maria." Alpha sighed while sheathing her katana. She then walked away with the guards to explain the situation.


    Surprisingly, Alpha regained her composure quickly. Maybe it was because of her responsibility as the ''Knight Commander of Division One'' that prevented her from showing any weakness to them. Well, back to Maria...


    "Don''t act like you don''t know..." She said through gritted teeth.


    Er...Is this the part where I apologize even if I don''t know what I did wrong?


    "That look... you don''t even have a clue what I''m talking about..." She only grew more agitated at my puzzled expression. "YOU ACT ALL SMART AND SHIT BUT YOU''RE SO FUCKING OBLIVIOUS AND NEGLIGENT WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR OWN FUCKING LIFE!" Her tears continued to stream down her face. She looked towards the ground, not willing to look me in the eye.


    My life? Don''t tell me she heard all of that death talk...


    "C-calm down, Maria. I was just bluffing."


    Good grief. What do I say or do in this situation?


    Still holding her head down, she approached me and then gripped tightly on my clothes before burying her face in them.


    "I didn''t want to bring this up because it might be insensitive of me, but..." Finally, she looked up at me. Even though her face was a mess at that moment, her words of concern for me were beautiful and genuine. "I feel a lot of hatred and sadness in your heart. Please... tell me what''s aching your heart."


    Ah, I see. I think I have my answer.


    "...Those damn humans. Selfishness, greediness, betrayal, intoxicating competitiveness..." This time, I was the one averting my gaze. The more I spoke, the more I realized that I was projecting her as those shitty humans, even though she was an alien.


    All of my claims were under the experience I had with humans. But, what about aliens? Even if they looked alike... maybe it was time to draw a line. Y''know, start afresh. Even if I didn''t want to, with this King''s Eye of mine—which responded to Maria''s passion towards me—I practically had no say in this.


    The sensation transitioning from soothing warmth to scorching pain was the result of me rejecting and denying any relation I had with her. I didn''t know much about the eye, but as far as I''ve witnessed, it revolved around my relationship and/or love for Maria. So, as long as I had this eye, I couldn''t do anything but accept it.


    I wanted a sign—a chance—to die, but instead...I was given a chance to feel alive again. Seriously, good grief.


    My innocent days of the past replayed in my head, reminding me why I lost faith in the first place. At that thought and conflict in my mind, I trembled. But, like always, she was perceptive. She grabbed my hand and placed it against her chest which was a layer above her heart.


    "Can you feel my heartbeat? It''s beating fast. It wouldn''t beat this fast naturally for anyone else," she reassured.


    Her gentle, slim fingers grasped mine. It was intertwining with mine like a memento of something dear to me. The impression of never wanting to let go. This feeling... it''s comforting—feeling bound by you.


    "M-Maria..."


    I mocked and doubted her when she blurted something so absurd like falling in love at first sight, but...


    "My father once told me that there are two implications of a lie: One, you don''t trust that person. Two, you think they''re too stupid to discern the truth. When you said all of those nice things and asked me out, I knew you were lying just to cheer me up. You lied because you doubted my love—no, you still do. That''s why..." She grabbed the collar of my top, pulling my face closer to hers. "I''m going to make sure you fall for me." She grinned.


    Without my mood being sullen by the presence of humans, it was fluctuating between good and evil. While most of the aliens I''ve interacted with thus far resonated with my evil side, she alone brought out my good side. It was beyond my control, so I wanted to focus on stabilizing my mood before taking our relationship seriously. Should I continue being a defensive, cold-hearted bastard or lose myself in ecstasy?


    Like her, I had a tough exterior—mine locking my heart—which meant my heart was fragile. I thought I was the only one who started this relationship inside her shell, but it seems that with this King''s Eye, she was in mine as well.


    Weak to her advances, I increased the distance between us.


    "W-What do you l-like about me a-anyway?" I asked, flustered.


    "I don''t know," she answered bluntly with a smile.


    "Huuuuuuhhhh?!" My jaw dropped.


    "Even before I gave you that eye—when I met you—you warmed up my eyes with passion. You see, the King''s Eye doesn''t just respond to any type of love, but only to that with your soul mate. You could say that it saw the red string of fate connecting us, so it informed me."


    What a bullshit excuse. Well, we were too deep in this to get out. I guess I''ll just play along with this forced romance. Damn eye! What are you, a cupid?!


    "While we''re on this topic. How does this eye exactly work?" If I''m forced to deal with these feelings and this eye, I might as well make use of them.


    "Hm? It''s not that complicated. It gives you power proportional to your feelings for me and your desire to protect me~ oh and..." After a brief pause, she continued, "Never mind~ It might be more of a curse for you than a blessing."


    "Huh?! Oi, tell me."


    "Nope~I''ve dealt with your selfishness all of this time, so let me be selfish just this once~"


    "Fine, whatev–eugghhh!" The moment I let my guard down, my adrenaline vanished and I was hit with the pain I postponed. "Before we do anything else, can I first see a doctor?" I dropped to my knees.


    "Ah, right! Sorry!" She rushed over to me.


    Just when Maria was about to help me up, Alpha returned with a few knights.


    "I talked with His Majesty. He would like to meet you before you depart from this faction. Come with me, brat!" She ordered.


    "W-wait, master! Right now, He ca-"


    "Bandages should suffice," she said coldly, tossing a first-aid kit our way. "Hurry!"


    This bitch...


    After applying first-aid on me, I was patched up enough to walk. I got up and followed Alpha.


    "Cain!" Maria called out to me.


    "Hm?" I turned around to face her.


    "I just remembered that Dr. Stein wanted to meet you. So, meet me at the nearest wormhole building when you''re done. Unfortunately, we won''t have time to go to that place I mentioned before, but we can have our date in the Medicio Faction." She forced a smile.


    I gestured an okay before I followed Alpha once more.


    Good grief, leaving Maria behind again. I bet my mood is going to drop...