Cliff gripped the handle of his saber, his knuckles white with effort. His gaze briefly swept over the woman's lifeless body on the ground. Even the thought of retrieving her essence stone felt despicable.
"A Flaw... Variant," he murmured, as if trying to convince himself.
Yet, this didn't feel like victory. He had believed her words, her pain. For a moment, he had seen more than a monster in her. That doubt, that glimpse of humanity he thought he saw, now haunted him.
Cliff turned away from the body, his jaw clenched.
"If even those who want to change cannot escape their nature... then how should I see them? How should I see myself?"
