Rising Against Fate

December 28, 3067

'Damn! This was all a setup, and I walked right into it.'

Jozef was finally able to escape the hooded man who was following him by slipping into a dark alley. There, he was hiding behind the stairs while trying to catch a breath.

'But who could be behind all this?'

There were several names that came to his mind. As a member of the Ito clan, he had several internal and external enemies, but he couldn't think of anyone who would take things this far.

'When did it all start? Was it after I got out of the brothel? No, it was even before that.'

He tried connecting the dots by linking the series of events that led him to this situation.

'Could it be? That man that I saw in the bar yesterday. Was he also a part of all this too?'

'No, I am probably just thinking too much. That's impossible.'

He looked at his hands that were trembling. Despite the thought, he couldn't shake off the doubt.

Yesterday evening, when he was drinking in the bar, an old man was boasting about the new brothel that just opened up in the red-light district.

Jozef didn't converse with the man himself, but as someone who was once addicted to prostitution, he couldn't help but feel an urge to visit the place.

Back then, he suppressed his urge. Even though prostitution was legal, it was still something despised by society. He could no longer afford to risk his position in the clan for something like that.

But as they say, 'bad habits are hard to break', this evening when he was passing by the nearby street, he couldn't help but make a stop there.

'No, that damn bitch was a part of this too.'

It was only now that he realized the girl he was with intentionally misplaced his MM, and because of that, he forgot it inside. He only found out that it was missing after he got out, but before he could go back in, the hooded man started chasing him.

That also explained why his watch wasn't working. While he was immersed in immense p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, she was busy tampering with his watch.

"My oh my. A man with a wife and four children in a place like this. How shameful."

'That voice.'

"Yasumi, is that you? What are you doing here?"

"Why yes. You were awfully late today so I came looking for you, father."

He slowly walked out and looked towards the direction of the voice. He understood that there was no point in hiding any longer.

There she was standing in a tiny metal string, dressed in a blue butterfly kimono. If the full moon behind her wasn't making the string shine, anyone would have thought she was floating.

'Witch!'

Her smile that everyone used to call pleasing was creepy to him. Her long black hair that everyone used to call pretty was filthy to him. Her speech that everyone thought elegant was repulsive to him. Her etiquette that everyone used to call refined was vile to him. Despite the fact that she was his own daughter, he hated her existence. The only reason he was tolerating her was because she was why his position in the clan was still strong.

"My, that look on your face. You hate me so much, don't you?"

"Is this all your doing?"

The wide smile on her face was already telling him the answer, but he wanted to hear that in words.

"Oh, no. How could I do something like that to my father?"

"Witch, don't lie. Why did you do all this?"

"Well, why else. Because you needed a little punishment, father."

"What do you mea-"

Before he could even realize what happened, blood gushed out of his right shoulder as his arm fell on the ground.

"AAAAAA"

The anger he was feeling just a moment ago disappeared, instead, he was scared.

His potency to use magic was average for someone from a clan, so without MM, his mana absorbing ability was limited. But he quickly collected the little mana that he could muster in his left hand and used it to stop bleeding.

The pain he felt was immense, but as someone who once fought in the war and survived, he was still able to stand.

"Are you doing this all for your mother?"

Yasumi's face became darker as the smile on her face disappeared when he mentioned her mother.

"You know that she was a whore, right? She only gave you birth to claim my fortune. She never cared about you; she only wanted my money. So, why are you doing all this? I was the one who brought you to the clan. I gave you everything you needed, and now this is how you pay me back?"

"I chose nothing. I chose nothing, you bastard. You destroyed everything for us. You ruined our lives. Now, pay!"

The look that she had on her face changed into the look of disgust as she chopped off his left arm and right leg using her metal strings. For a genius string manipulator born only once every few generations, this was a piece of cake.

They were at the part of the town where no one was there to hear his scream.

It was a perfectly planned murder. Everything from the location to the way his virtual driver was configured was planned. He only realized that when it was too late, but his virtual driver didn't bring him through this route because his usual route had heavy traffic. It was because it was set as a preferred route, and only someone from his family could do it. Though his plan to visit the brothel was something that he himself came up with on the way, the way his car was set to slow down there influenced him to visit the place.

But as he was dying, those thoughts slowly disappeared from his mind, and what's left was regrets.

"I didn't. do it. it was the, mai-"

Before he could complete that sentence, he closed his eyes forever.

She slowly came down to where Jozef's body was lying by stepping on the strings that she had arranged like stairs. Even though it was just strings, her elegance made it look like she was climbing down a normal staircase.

She was able to exact her revenge, but her heart was still filled with grief. Tears started falling off her eyes as she started remembering her past.

"Yes, she was a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e who only kept her baby for your money. But she told me that after I was born, she couldn't help but love me. I was her princess after all. She regretted doing that every minute until I was old enough to understand and tell her, 'It's okay mom, I am happy with you'. We were happy. Even though she was despised by society, she wanted me to be someone respectful. She wanted me to live a normal life, and be happy. She was the best mom I could ask for. I know that you were pressured to kill her by the main family. But you had a choice. You chose them over my mother."

She turned around and started walking. Her black hair that was shining in the moonlight made her mesmerizing beauty even more bewitching. She was a stainless beauty of the red-light district as pure as the lotus that grows in muddy water.

'I guess it's time to fulfill my end of the deal now.'