"The… Lord of Demons?" Orochimaru's voice warped slightly with excitement.
He stared intently at Karin, searching her face for any trace of fabrication.
There was none.
Only fervent devotion—almost fanatical in its intensity.
"Tell me in detail," he pressed softly. "What kind of being is this 'Lord of Demons'? How did it grant you power?"
Seeing his keen interest, Karin's opinion of the "creepy human trafficker" improved slightly.
She puffed out her chest, her expression glowing with the pride of someone favored by a higher being. Her tone carried a reverent cadence.
"The Lord of Demons… is a supreme existence! When I was at my most desperate—my most miserable—it heard my call!"
Her gaze grew distant, as if reliving the memory.
"Its voice appeared directly in my mind. It was powerful… and tempting. It said this world was filthy. And then it gave me strength."
She clenched her fist as if to demonstrate, her tone rising with zeal.
"To repay the Lord of Demons' blessing, I will cleanse this filthy world completely!"
Orochimaru filtered out the manic talk of "cleansing."
All his focus locked onto the title—and the method.
Another… god?
His mind raced.
Something like the being worshiped by Hidan—the so-called Jashin?
But he dismissed the idea almost instantly.
No. Impossible.
That so-called god was, at most, some warped manifestation of a rule or unknown energy entity. It granted immortality and curse techniques to its followers—but the scope was narrow. Crude.
What about this "Lord of Demons"?
It had transformed an ordinary girl into something possessing absolute physical dominance.
This wasn't incremental growth.
This was a fundamental, transcendent leap beyond established power systems.
Could it be… that true higher beings—entities worthy of the title "god"—actually existed in this world?
For a fleeting moment, Orochimaru felt his worldview tremble.
But what overwhelmed him was exhilaration.
If such beings existed—
What were they?
Where did they reside?
By what laws did they operate?
And could their power be studied… understood…
Even controlled?
Questions boiled in his mind like rising steam.
His gaze toward Karin grew hotter still.
"The Lord of Demons…" he murmured, licking his lips. In his eyes burned the fusion of scientific hunger and naked ambition.
"How fascinating."
"So your Lord granted you power… just to cleanse the world?" he asked.
If that were true, then this entity was far from benevolent.
But Karin shook her head decisively.
"Of course not."
Her fervor did not diminish.
"What happens to this world doesn't matter to the Lord of Demons," she said matter-of-factly.
Orochimaru's pupils narrowed slightly.
"Then why…?"
Karin's face instantly filled with an unsettling mix of adoration and icy killing intent.
"Because the Lord of Demons said this world is filthy!"
Her voice rose, as though she could still hear that whisper in her mind—tinged with both disdain and temptation.
"So!" she declared, clenching her fist tightly. "If the Lord of Demons doesn't like it, I'll cleanse it!"
Her logic was simple—disturbingly so.
The Lord dislikes this world → I will change it → The Lord will be pleased.
She didn't care whether the Lord truly needed such action.
She didn't question the consequences.
For her, pleasing that voice had become the highest purpose of her existence.
How many lives it would cost. How much destruction it would bring.
None of it mattered.
Orochimaru watched her pure yet twisted conviction and fell briefly silent.
He had expected some grand apocalyptic scheme from this "Lord of Demons."
Instead, it seemed entirely possible that the being had merely uttered a casual remark—or even spoken in boredom—
And in doing so, birthed a fanatic determined to purge the entire world.
A destructive impulse born from warped gratitude was far more unpredictable than any calculated conspiracy.
"Is that so…" Orochimaru murmured.
Yet his lips curved upward in renewed interest.
The source of her power.
This "Lord."
Its behavior appeared whimsical—capricious beyond reason.
"Very well," he said with a raspy chuckle. "Then let us begin your 'cleansing journey.' I'll help you find… more efficient methods."
He made no attempt to correct her logic.
Instead, he chose to guide her destructive zeal toward avenues that aligned with his own curiosity.
One sought to destroy the world to please a god.
The other sought to understand a god—even if it meant accelerating destruction.
Watching Karin glow with excitement at the thought of "cleansing the world" for her Lord—eyes shining, cheeks flushed—
Even Orochimaru, seasoned and cold-hearted as he was, found himself momentarily speechless.
Children were simple.
Usually easy to manipulate.
But a child whose mind followed its own warped logic—and whose devotion could be converted into catastrophic force—
That was troublesome.
And this wasn't merely a disturbed child.
This was a fanatic with absolute conviction in an unseen deity.
A deranged child capable of turning faith into devastation.
A problematic combination.
Fortunately, one of Orochimaru's greatest strengths was his tolerance.
Or more accurately—
His greed for the abnormal and the unknown.
As long as the subject was valuable—
Even if it were a walking calamity—
He would gladly bring it into his own lair.
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