Demonic Dragon: Harem System-Chapter 828: Forgiveness.

Strax remained motionless for a few seconds after Scathach finished speaking. The silence that settled was neither light nor reflective; it was heavy, dense, as if every word she had uttered still hung in the air between them. His eyes were fixed on her, analyzing every detail of her posture as she knelt before him. Her position wasn’t theatrical, not a rehearsed gesture of submission. It was simply the only place where her body seemed to have the strength to remain at that moment.

He tilted his head slightly to the side, his gaze cold and distant, as if mentally reorganizing each fragment of the story he had just heard. The system. The gods. The collapse of natural laws. The creation of that artificial structure to prevent the world from completely crumbling. All of that now formed a clearer logical line within his mind.

"So that’s it." His voice came out calm, without apparent emotion. There was no shock, no indignation, not even real surprise. It was the kind of tone someone used when finally fitting the last piece of a puzzle they’d suspected existed.

Scathach’s shoulders moved almost imperceptibly when he spoke. She had expected another reaction. Any reaction. Anger, confusion, questions. Something that would show that this really meant something to him.

But Strax just kept looking at her with that same impenetrable expression.

He took a slow step across the room, his boots echoing softly on the stone floor as he ran a hand over his chin in a thoughtful gesture. His eyes were no longer focused directly on her, but rather on the space ahead, as if he were looking at something much further away than that room.

"Now I understand better."

Scathach raised her head slightly at that, a small spark of hope rising deep in her chest.

Perhaps... perhaps he had understood.

Perhaps now he could see that it had all been bigger than her. That the system, the manipulation, the control... none of it had really been her choice.

But Strax continued speaking with the same almost clinical calm.

"I was wondering exactly how the system ended up in my hands." He stopped walking and crossed his arms slowly. "But now it makes sense."

His gaze returned to her, direct, analytical. "If it was originally created by this Voralith as a pastime... then it wasn’t by chance that it ended up with me. She only sent it to me because she met you." He let out a small sigh, as if he were merely confirming something he had long suspected.

"And it also explains Hades."

Scathach’s fingers tightened against the fabric of her own clothing.

Strax continued.

"When he hacked into the system to talk to me... I found it strange how easily he managed to interfere with something that should be completely isolated."

He tilted his head slightly.

"But if the system was born in the realm of the gods, then it’s obvious that he could manipulate it to some extent."

For a moment, his expression almost seemed thoughtful. "That explains a lot."

The hope within Scathach died in that instant.

Her face went pale.

She had told him all this believing that perhaps, just perhaps, he would understand a little better the choices she had made. That he would realize that she too had been a piece within something much larger.

But Strax didn’t seem to be thinking about that.

For him, it was simply information.

New data being fitted into a logical structure.

Nothing more.

He looked at her again, his eyes turning cold once more.

"It’s great information." His words were direct, almost neutral. "And it really helps to understand how it all began."

"And it really helps to understand how it all began."

Then there was a short pause.

Small... but enough to make the weight of the next sentence impossible to ignore.

"But that doesn’t change what you did."

The air seemed to disappear from Scathach’s lungs.

She already knew that answer was possible. In fact, a part of her always knew. But to hear it so simply, so directly, without any hesitation... hurt more than anything else he could have said.

Her shoulders slumped slightly.

All the tension that had kept her body upright until that moment vanished at once, as if something inside her had finally broken.

She didn’t try to argue.

She didn’t try to defend herself.

There was no more energy for that.

Scathach slowly lowered her head.

Her hair fell forward, hiding part of her face as she took a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts.

When she spoke again, her voice was lower than before.

"I know." Those two words carried an acceptance too heavy for someone who had lived as much as she had.

Strax said nothing.

He just watched.

Scathach kept her gaze fixed on the floor for a few seconds before finally lifting her face again. Her eyes were different now. There was no longer that desperate effort to justify herself. There was no hope.

Just weariness.

A deep weariness, accumulated over years of manipulation, loss of control, and decisions that now seemed irreversible.

"Then... do it."

Strax frowned slightly.

"What?"

She inhaled slowly, as if those words demanded more strength than anything she had said before.

"Kill me."

The silence that followed was absolute.

Scathach continued speaking, but her voice lacked desperation. It was strangely calm.

"I can’t take it anymore."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"I just want to go back."

Strax didn’t move.

"Go back where?"

She opened her eyes again. "The spiritual world."

Her expression was blank now.

"The cycle of souls... anything."

Her fingers slowly closed on her own knee as she spoke.

"I just want to stop."

She swallowed hard before continuing.

"After the control ended... after I finally regained my own mind..."

Her voice faltered for the first time.

"I started remembering everything."

Memories she would never have chosen to keep.

Actions that seemed to belong to someone else.

Decisions she never imagined she would be capable of making.

And now, with her mind completely free... those memories wouldn’t disappear.

They stayed there.

Heavy.

Inescapable.

"I did things..." She didn’t finish the sentence.

She didn’t need to.

Strax knew.

Scathach lowered her gaze again. "And now..." Her voice grew even lower.

"The only person I wanted to protect..." She let out a small, trembling sigh. "The only person I truly love..." Her eyes returned to him.

"They hate me." The word came out almost as a whisper. There was no anger there. Only acceptance. "The only person I love hates me..." She straightened her back slightly, as if trying to recover at least a fragment of the dignity that still remained.

"You have every right." Her voice became firm again. "I won’t resist."

She closed her eyes again and tilted her head slightly, instinctively, almost ritually, exposing her neck.

"Please." The last word came out so low that it was almost lost in the silence of the room. "I just want to die."

The silence that followed her request stretched long enough for each second to begin to weigh like stone in the room. Strax didn’t answer immediately. He remained standing exactly where he was, watching her as she kept her eyes closed and her neck exposed, waiting for the blow that would end it all.

The air felt colder now.

Heavier.

Scathach maintained her motionless posture, even though her body trembled slightly. It wasn’t fear of death. It was exhaustion. It was the end of something she could no longer sustain within herself.

Strax let out a long, slow sigh.

The sound broke the silence of the room almost abruptly.

Scathach heard it, but didn’t open her eyes. To her, it seemed like just the last moment before the execution. Perhaps he was gathering energy. Perhaps he was preparing some quick, clean magic.

She didn’t know.

And she didn’t want to know.

Then the energy surged.

She felt it.

A familiar pressure in the air, a sudden shift in the density of the mana around them. It was unmistakable. The system reacted, the magic responded to his command, and for an instant space itself seemed to vibrate.

That was it.

It was the end.

Scathach’s body instinctively braced itself for the impact that never came.

Instead, something invisible enveloped her body.

A gentle force.

But firm.

Her knees left the ground.

She opened her eyes immediately, surprised, as she felt her own body being lifted from the ground as if invisible hands were carefully holding her. Strax’s magic lifted her without any abruptness, guiding her slowly until she was standing again.

Her feet touched the ground.

Right in front of him.

Scathach blinked a few times, confused, still trying to understand what was happening. Her heart began to beat faster, not from fear of death, but from the complete shattering of her expectations.

Strax was now right in front of her.

Too close.

He watched her in silence.

Not with anger.

Not with contempt.

But with a deeply analytical gaze.

His eyes slowly scanned every detail of her, as if assessing something far beyond the surface.

And what he saw... was not beautiful.

Scathach’s body was in a deplorable state.

The posture that once carried pride now seemed fragile. Her shoulders were tense, the weight of everything that had happened slightly curving her silhouette. There were marks of exhaustion everywhere.

Her eyes were red.

Her skin was pale.

Her fingers trembled slightly, as if her whole body were trying to maintain some kind of minimal control.

She looked... broken.

Not like a defeated warrior.

But like someone who had fought against herself for too long.

Strax continued watching.

Without saying anything.

Scathach didn’t know what to do. Part of her still hoped he would simply end it. Another part was completely lost, unable to interpret his silence.

She tried to hold back the tears that threatened to rise again.

Her lips trembled slightly as she looked away, unable to maintain eye contact with him for long.

Silence settled between them again.

And then, without any warning...

Strax moved.

He took a single step forward.

Scathach barely had time to react before feeling his arms close around her.

Her body froze completely.

The hug was firm.

But careful.

There was no violence in it.

There was no oppressive force.

It was simply... a hug.

The kind of gesture she hadn’t expected to receive at that moment.

Scathach’s eyes widened in shock, her body rigid as she tried to process what was happening.

She didn’t react immediately.

Her brain simply... froze.

Strax’s voice came low, close to her ear.

"It’s okay."

The words were simple.

Calm.

But they carried a weight that hit Scathach harder than any blow could have.

Something inside her broke in that instant.

It wasn’t a violent break.

It was silent.

Like a dam that finally gives way after holding water for too long.

Her body began to tremble.

First slightly.

Then, uncontrollably.

The sound came out before she could stop it.

A sob.

Low.

Desperate.

Scathach gripped the fabric of his clothes tightly, as if it were the only thing preventing her from completely collapsing. Her fingers closed against him as the sob finally escaped uncontrollably.

Tears began to fall immediately.

One after another.

She tried to speak.

But the voice wouldn’t come out at first.

Another sob escaped.

Then another.

And then she finally managed to force the words out.

"I... I’m so sorry..."

Her voice was broken.

Almost unrecognizable.

"Sorry..."

Her shoulders trembled violently now as the crying intensified. All the weight she had held inside was finally coming out at once.

"I didn’t mean to..."

She tightened her grip on his clothes, as if afraid he would disappear.

"I didn’t mean to hurt you..."

The words came out broken by sobs.

"I... I tried..."

More tears streamed down her face as she buried her face against his chest, completely unable to maintain any semblance of control.

"I tried to resist..."

The crying was now unrestrained.

Without any restraint.

"I couldn’t..."

Her voice completely failed.

"I’m sorry..."

She repeated the word several times, almost like a broken prayer, while her whole body trembled in his arms.

All the pride.

All the poise.

All the strength she had always shown.

None of that existed anymore at that moment.

Only someone destroyed by their own guilt remained.

And finally... unable to carry it alone.