Comfort and Redemption

<".... This is really interesting">

The echo of Echidna's voice resonated in the void of Mireya's mind, who lay in the hospital bed, asleep and unconscious. Wrapped in plaster and completely immobile, the young man was recovering peacefully, oblivious to the astonishing and never-before-seen transformation that one of his straw dolls was experiencing.

<"It was worth being cautious">

The snake goddess said, smiling cheerfully, as she witnessed the scene with an unsettling clarity, as if she were physically present. Her vigilance was no accident, but the direct result of the frustration she had felt from the previous case of Goldie, who had suffered a unique mutation thanks to the assimilation of divine energy, the cause of which remained a mystery.

That event made her determined not to be taken by surprise again, leading her to create a surveillance system to observe the straw dolls in case of an event similar to Goldie's unique situation. Thanks to that, she had been able to observe every event that led to this new and singular situation. With an almost ecstatic fascination, the goddess marveled at the series of coincidences that culminated in an unexpected result.

A "human," whose skin had been stripped to turn her into a suit except for her head, lay hanging like a macabre exhibit. The woman had sold herself to the man for money at a hotel, but he had taken advantage of the situation to inject her with a "skin medicine" that Mireya had told him about long ago. Then, the man had taken her along with her bag, unaware that inside it, the small, lost straw doll had accidentally fallen asleep.

Upon waking up, without understanding the gravity of her situation, she had naively slipped inside the incomplete skin suit.

What followed was a chain reaction. The union of the straw doll, a living curse, with the incomplete skin suit, caused a "demonization" effect by Cursed Energy. At that moment, both existences began to merge irreversibly, giving birth to a new and unique being.

Faced with this unprecedented event, Echidna could not contain her astonishment. Ecstatic about such an event, she continued to observe the situation with an imperturbable serenity, while the outside world remained silent and Mireya continued to sleep peacefully.

("Help!!")

("Please!")

"I apologize for the intrusion!"

However, Echidna's serenity was abruptly interrupted by the arrival of an altered Goldie, who had teleported to the place. She was accompanied by Silver and one of Mireya's "concubines," the human named Rima.

Rima, after a "night of passion" that served as a catalyst, had awakened a psychic ability known as wave travel, allowing her to teleport to anywhere she could see or remember. Now, a valuable source of transportation, she was learning to control her power with the help of Susie, another psychic and "concubine" with a different, similarly awakened ability.

As soon as they materialized, the three of them went to Echidna.

("Friend, lost!")

The usually shy Goldie anxiously exclaimed, with Silver nodding beside her.

"Echidna, do you know where the lost straw doll is?"

Even the usually lethargic and silent Rima asked, with a palpable urgency and restlessness in her voice.

<"I've located her. She is in a state of confusion after experiencing a metamorphosis.">

Echidna responded calmly, her voice resonating in the minds of the three.

"...meta...mor...phosis...?"

("Is she okay?!")

("!!")

<"I will grant you the information about her state and location.">

"?!"

("?!")

("?!")

Immediately after, a wave of information was transferred to their minds, a detailed mental map that showed them the exact location along with the context of what had happened.

"Thank you, Echidna!"

("Thank you!!")

("THANK YOU!!")

Rima, Silver, and Goldie exclaimed with gratitude, expressing their thanks, now somewhat more at ease knowing the situation.

"We have to go get her!"

After saying this and receiving nods from both Silver and Goldie, Rima prepared to activate her ability.

<"Stop. First, you must take Lysandra with you. She will be necessary.">

But just at that moment, a new mental resonance stopped them in their tracks.

Upon hearing that order, the three replaced their urgency with a new determination, knowing that if Lysandra was necessary, it could only mean one thing...

"...How... bad... is... it...?"

Rima anxiously asked, knowing the implications of what this could mean.

<"To the level where many humans will cease to exist.">

"?!"

("?!")

("?!")

... The search for Lysandra had become a priority.

Meanwhile, the consciousness of the new existence, born from the fusion of two souls, resonated in the sinister room.

"mommy~"

A prolonged and pitiful lament escaped from its mouth, an echo of the childlike voice that resonated with a strange maturity.

"mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, MOOOOOOOMMY~!!"

It whispered again and again, the word twisting between the confusion and pain that flooded its being.

Inside, a whirlwind of intermingled memories dragged it into madness. On one side, a life marked by misfortune manifested in fragments of memory. It felt the abandonment of its father, a void that left it at the mercy of its mother, who abused it and forced it to chase unattainable expectations it never asked for. These were the memories of Kylien, a human whose only destiny was the despair that led her to her current state.

And at the same time, the anguish of that life was momentarily soothed by another current of memories, full of warmth and peace. It felt caressed, comforted, and safe, wrapped in the love of a family that made it feel special. These were the sweet memories of the straw doll.

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

However, that peace shattered. A terrifying image imposed itself: the most detested existence in the entire life of the straw doll. The trucks. The simple memory of them unleashed a wave of irrational fury, intensifying her state of frenzy.

"WE FAILED, WE FAILED, WE FAILED, WE FAILED, WE FAILED, WE FAILED, WE FAILED, WE FAILED, WE FAILED!!"

But the madness reached its peak with a final image, the most painful of all. It saw its "mom," Mireya, wounded and unconscious, lying on the floor of a kingdom in flames. While the screams of innocents resonated around it, an enraged mob attacked it with laments, shouting the nickname it so hated: "straw demon."

"AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHHAAHHAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!"

In that instant, the confusion vanished. The new existence, now on the verge of madness, plunged completely into a frenzy of pure agony and despair.

And then, the climax of the madness erupted. From the new existence, a shrill and maniacal laugh began to resonate. It was not a laugh of joy, but a symphony of despair and pain, the lament of a lost child mixed with the resentment of a ruined life. Its lips curled into a grimace of agony as the sound was released, an echo of what it once was and what it had become.

As the laughter spread, an invisible wave, a Cursed Energy pulse, passively emanated from its being. An Echo of Resentment that expanded in all directions, covering an initial radius of fifty meters. It was not a physical attack, but a plague of torment that adhered to the consciousness of every living being in its path. And as the laughter became more hysterical, the radius grew, without stopping.

"Aaaargh!! What is this?!"

In the same building, a security guard, a man who in the past had enjoyed tormenting the weak, collapsed to the floor. An unimaginable pain invaded him. He felt as if the ribs he had once broken on a homeless man were snapping inside his own chest, and the burn from the cigarette he put out on a child's hand manifested as a burning agony in his own. Tears streamed from his eyes, not from physical pain, but from the terror of facing the reflection of his own cruelty.

"Stop, stop it, no, no, no, no, no! NNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!"

On the floor above, a nurse, who often treated patients with impatience and made them feel insignificant, clutched her head. A constant buzz, like a sharp needle, pierced her skull. She felt the pain of the shame she had inflicted, as if every sharp word she had ever uttered materialized into a stabbing pain. The anguish of her victims resonated in her own mind.

"NNNNNNYYYYYYAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Even a cat sleeping peacefully on the rooftop, thirty meters away, woke up with a meow of pain. The creature felt the torment of the mouse it had hunted and tortured, a reverberation of its own cruel nature. The Echo of Resentment made no distinctions; it was an indiscriminate judgment based on the karma of each soul.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!"

The laughter intensified, a melody of madness that became the siren song of suffering. With each cackle, the wave of pain expanded, leaving a trail of living beings writhing on the ground, forced to experience the torment they had caused. The climax of the madness was not an explosion of power, but the slow and terrifying diffusion of a perfect punishment, an echo that returned and consumed all who had caused pain.

... But it was not only those who had caused pain that suffered.

"Ugh... my stomach!"

The Echo of Resentment made no distinctions; it was an indiscriminate judgment based on the karma of each soul. Even for ordinary people, the curse reached them. A young man who had stolen a candy from a store as a child felt a sudden and sharp pang of guilt in his stomach.

"It hurts!"

A woman who had lied to avoid a meeting felt a tightness in her chest, as if the truth she hid were trying to escape. Their pains were minor, fleeting, but intense enough to make them relive the weight of their sins, no matter how insignificant they were.

"meow~"

However, as the laugh of madness spread and the Echo of Resentment punished every living being in the area, a figure remained motionless, observing the scene with a mix of melancholy and pain.

"nya~"

It was a cat with immaculate white fur, with a gaze as calm as a pond and a brilliant jewel embedded in its forehead. With a mournful meow that was lost in the cacophony of suffering, the cat lamented for every soul that writhed.

That cat was Lysandra. Rima had left her there, following Echidna's telepathic orders. In her past life, in another world, Lysandra had been a saint, but her naivete had led to tragedy. A "monster" had kidnapped her, stealing her body to commit all kinds of atrocities. From the front row of helplessness, Lysandra could only watch, forced to witness her own body become the source of incessant torment for others, unable to do anything to stop it.

"meow~!"

But this time, it would not be the same.

In the midst of the screams and laments, the cat slowly rose to its four paws. Its gaze, now filled with a new determination, fixed on the expanding wave of pain. With slow and decisive steps, it began to walk towards the center of the echo, toward the source of that new despair. This time, it told itself, history would not repeat itself. It would no longer be a passive observer, but a wall that would stand against the suffering.

The cat, now a being of unbreakable determination, prepared to activate its ability. The Mantle of Absolution was more than a simple power; it was a magical spell that Lysandra had created and cultivated in her new life. A desperate attempt to redeem, if only a little, the terrible mistake of her past: the naivete that cost her her body and brought so much pain to others in her original world.

"meow~♪!"

For this reason, she had created a magical spell, a technique she called Mantle of Absolution. This spell was more than a simple power; it was a manifestation of her yearning for purification. Her evolution from a common cat to a sacred beast was no accident, but the result of her constancy. Since reincarnating in this world, she had been nourishing herself with the divine energy that Mireya, her "owner," unconsciously emitted. This pure and powerful energy had imbued her, transforming her into the blessed being she was now, capable of using the power to purify and heal.

The Mantle of Absolution expanded from Lysandra like a serene and silent breeze. With each slow and tranquil step the cat took, the wave of pain and suffering from the Echo of Resentment dissolved. It was as if a heavenly balm spread through the room, erasing the chaos and agony that the curse had unleashed. The screams were silenced, the torment vanished, and one by one, all the witnesses, both those writhing in agony and those feeling a slight pang of guilt, fell into a deep and unconscious sleep.

Lysandra continued to advance, one step at a time, until she stopped in front of the new being who was laughing manically, while tears of blood ran down its face.

"mommy, mommy, mommy~"

The being continued to call for its "mother," a lament of despair that resonated with the fury of its madness. Lysandra looked at it with infinite compassion, and with a gentle bow of her head, cast a soft spell.

A calming magic manifested as a sweet and delicate aroma. It was not a strange scent, but a familiar one, which perfectly imitated whatever brought peace to the recipient. In the chaotic mind of the new being, in the midst of the whirlwind of memories from Kylien and the straw doll, an image formed with absolute clarity: Mireya. Its "mommy," smiling with his usual calm laugh, while tenderly rubbing its head.

"A-ah... Mo...mmy..."

In that instant, the madness stopped. The tears of blood ceased, the maniacal laughter faded, and its face adopted an expression of ineffable calm. At that moment, before falling into a deep sleep, its lips whispered a last word, a thread of sound barely audible:

"mommy..."

With that word, it fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.

"meow~"

Before the being could touch the ground, Lysandra grew, her white cat body expanding to a majestic size. She caught it gently and placed it on her back. With the same tranquility with which she had walked, Lysandra left the room, returning to the hospital where her "mommy" was.

"nya~"

The two beings advanced in a slow and peaceful stroll, leaving behind the chaos and the silence of the unconscious witnesses, like an echo of redemption in the night.