Destroy Verdi (Citrinas POV)

Harvin's next words were pure gibberish as Verdi looked at him and spoke back in the same gibberish. Unfazed, Harvin spoke once more, his words this time flowing eloquently like flowing water as Verdi too responded in the same tongue. Harvin began speaking in a series of clicks and grunts, met again with a similar response. Then his next words felt like sulphur and fire, only for Verdi to return the same fiery words. This went back and forth as Fenri and Citrinas just watched them, puzzled at the exchange before Harvin looked to the pair.

"Have either of you been able to follow the conversation?" He asked as Citrinas shook her head as Verdi scoffed at her.

"It was a pretty straightforward conversation." Verdi said while glaring at Citrinas before focusing back on Harvin. "I'm telling you, I'm not a former hero. I was just summoned here and altered before waking up on a mountain. My memory wasn't impacted." He said as Citrinas realized just what had happened.

"Master Verdi. Are you aware you, in the span of a minute, spoke Elvish, Amazonian, the Devil's tongues, Northern tongues, and a variety of other languages?" Harvin asked, causing Verdi to blink and frown. No normal person have linguistic knowledge of such massive area. Even Citrinas wasn't that gifted in linguistics. The fact that he could communicate with the elves he first met was always odd to her, but she never confronted him on it. The fact that he spoke human tongues fluently was equally strange, but knowing this many languages was abnormal.

"I told you, Ariel gave me the ability to read. Probably gave me the ability to speak every language too." Verdi answers, his answer oddly illogical. He was eccentric and usually did strange things with odd bands of logic, but there was always logic behind it. Just saying an angel gave him the power to comprehend was insane. Citrinas could see sweat drip down his neck as he spoke, his answer unable to convince even himself at how odd his skills were.

"Lady Tomoko is a true hero. She had to learn our tongue. Lady Fenri as well. You learned it as well." Harvin said as Verdi shook his head.

"It's the magic of an angel. Don't ask me how it works." He said as Harvin pressed the offensive. Citrinas could see that there was equal parts conviction and pain as he spoke. He genuinely didn't want to do this, but they needed to have Verdi acknowledge he was living in an illusion.

"If there was such a convenient magic, why do all heroes not use it? In fact, transferring knowledge would make learning magic a trivial task to learn. Why are the gods hindering themselves from using such a vital tool?" He asked as Verdi was taken aback, Harvin kicking him in a soft point. He'd been diligently learning magic from Citrinas and had a robust understanding of just how hard it was to learn. If the gods could just transfer that info into his head, then why wouldn't they do that with all other subjects?

"I'm not a god. I don't know how they work." His usual haughty and arrogant tone was gone, his voice a hair quieter while he contemplated Harvin's statement. It was logical from a pragmatic standpoint, and he knew it. Why would the gods hold back from using such a valuable tool? Rather than continue on this circular argument, Harvin changed his approach.

"You also state your current appearance is that of Ariel. Shall we go to the temple and look at the statue? Among the angels, Ariel is quite different in appearance from you." Harvin said as Verdi visibly began trembling, self doubt taking root in his mind as he shifted in his seat. Citrinas' theology wasn't up to date, but if Verdi looked like an angel, she'd know. "Furthermore, you say your humanity skill has restricted you to this form."

"Yeah, why?" Verdi asked, inadvertently giving Harvin more ammo to use. Skills couldn't be restricted by anyone after earning them. Even Maran herself couldn't compel him to take a form he didn't like.

"Most hybrids can shapeshift back to their original human forms with a severe decrease in combat ability in exchange for a mostly human appearance to blend in. Humanity is different. It allows the user to revise their appearance to however they wish so long as it's human." Harvin said, landing yet another verbal blow. Humanity was a skill, and like any other skill someone can learn to control it. Citrinas had chalked off his shape-shifting as a monster ability she didn't know about. "You don't have the Humanity skill. You never did. You knew about the humanity skill and knew innately you could shapeshift to a human form. You hallucinated this divine angel Ariel telling you that you were trapped in this form, when in reality this was just your own mind trying to explain your limited capabilities."

"I'm just bad at using Humanity." Verdi countered as he began sweating more. He was tapping his foot against the table, unable to stay still as Mathias clenched his fist. He could order Harvin to stop, he could leave Verdi alone, but now it seemed he couldn't after seeing just how bad his delusions were.

"Harvin, stop. It's fine." Citrinas said, not wanting to stress Verdi out anymore. He wasn't hurting anyone, and they had physical proof he was never going to attack Tomoko or the rest of the party. It was better to just leave him be. Harvin did nothing of the sort, continuing his verbal ****.

"You were injured to the point that **** was around the corner. If your body was severely injured under Humanity, the effect would dispel." Harvin continued as Verdi swallowed. He didn't have an answer. "If you died, that would be it. No illusion would dispel because that is your true form. This is your body." He said as Verdi perked up, getting a particularly smart idea.

"I didn't die." Verdi says quickly, content to have a counter for once. "If I died, humanity would have dispelled. We can prove it. Citrinas, send all of us into domain and burn me alive. Preferably quickly so I don't suffer too much." He said as Citrinas bit her tongue, realizing the extent of his mental instability. He was genuinely going to kill himself to prove his delusions were real.

"N-no. I'm not going to do that." Citrinas said as Verdi glared at her.

"It's just a human meat suit. It hurts to have it torn apart, but if it dies I'll just revert to my monster form." He said as Citrinas shook her head. She couldn't say anything else, merely looking to Harvin to finish what he started. As painful as it was watching him suffer like this, she held her tongue knowing this was the right thing to do. She realized it now as Harvin changed topics.

"These oaths you swore. They aren't Maran's oaths. In fact, she expects nothing from her worshippers." Harvin says, his words coinciding word for word with Elmeria's explanation from day one. Maran expected nothing from her worshippers, and gave her blessings freely. The fact that Verdi visibly flinched was proof he also remembered her statement.

"What's your point?" He asked while grabbing the tea kettle on the table and pouring himself a cup, taking a sip to buy time to think.

"Have you thought those oaths and this Ariel you speak of wasn't a divine angel, but a fragment of your old personality trying to remind you of your past? A voice in the darkness steering you back to sanity?" Harvin asked as Verdi emptied his cup, out of time to think of an answer.

"This is pure speculation. You have no proof." He said, now actively denying the truth in front of him. His mind was fractured. The day he "met the dark gods" was just his mind trying to gather what remained and stuff it into a cognizant being.

"Then let's talk about status effect shall we? How did the dark gods sew a thread into your monster core without being present?" Harvin asked as Citrinas swallowed, remembering the day in the carriage he told her how he got status effect. She assumed he was joking at the time or unwilling to admit to a horrific crime he'd committed. She never confronted him on it because she had no right to judge him on past crimes considering how many people she had killed in her life. If anything, knowing he was an unrepentant monster that committed unknown crimes helped keep him at arm's length. Now it seemed he wasn't lying to her that day, and she knew just why it was impossible for Verdi to have earned status effect from his actions.

"How should I know?" Verdi asked with a shrug. "God's magic isn't something I can explain." He said, relying yet again on the unknown to explain his contradictory story. Sadly, Harvin was attacking him from a different angle

"You say the movement of troops gave you that monster power. That it dispersed our elites and allowed the demon king to claim territory." Harvin said, stating word for word what Verdi had heard the dark gods tell him in his head. There was undisputable proof that he was wrong. That this was a delusion, and everyone in the room knew it.

"And? Is there something wrong? Moving that many men to a remote region to the north would leave other territories weakened." Verdi said, oddly analytical about the event. Had he stated this 7 years ago, he'd have been correct. Things changed since then.

"The war ended 6 years ago. We are having peace talks with Rael and actively work to aid in her administration to quell the civil war she is engulfed in. We never lost territory to the demons." Harvin said, his words causing more pain in Verdi's eyes. He believed the war was still going on more than half a decade after it ended. If the dark gods who he supposedly served were even slightly competent, they'd know that as well. "Of course, if you had zero context to the greater world, this was a logical statement. Only someone who still thought the war was raging on, had robust knowledge of our forces, and the tactical acuity to deduce we would lose significant portions of territory reallocating troops would think that. A mindset of a hero who fought in the war and died." Harvin said as Verdi clutched his head. His eyes were now filled with worry as his world crumbled around him. Despite that, there was still some will to fight in his eyes, his persistence unbreakable.

"I have status effect. Explain how I got that." He said, no longer capable of defending himself and placing the onus of proof on Harvin.

"You had status effect from the start and your mind released its restrictions assuming it fulfilled a requirement. After all, a thread of hair from a dark god is one ingredient in hybridization." Harvin explained, flawlessly crushing his meager argument as Verdi clutched his head tighter.

"I'm... I'm not crazy. I'm-I'm just-I woke up from an 8 day coma. Give me a second to think." He said as Harvin flinched. Rather than break his resolve, his psychological attacks seemed to steel Verdi's resolve, his incredible mental fortitude against trauma serving only to stifle any hope of healing his broken mind. If they wanted to help him, they had to shatter his reality.

"Then alchemy. You've mixed potions. How exactly do you know their formulations?" Harvin asked, his words stinging like nettles. Verdi had no idea how to do normal human alchemy, but he somehow intuitively knew the names of herbs they used and formulations of potions when he ate them. Processing them in his body to potions was a monster ability since erosarkics could instinctively produce a wide variety of toxins in their bodies, but that didn't explain why he knew the formulations. Rather than having the knowledge of a true alchemist, he had the knowledge of an adventurer who submitted the herbs to be processed.

"I... The names of the herbs are a part of Ariel's Blessing." He said, clenching a fist as Harvin scoffed at the answer.

"Did Ariel's blessing also give you knowledge of all trades? You know the names of plants and the ratios to mix them innately. Tell me, why didn't this knowledge apply to magic as well?" Harvin asked as Fenri stood up from her seat. He just ignored her, continuing to twist the metaphorical knife in Verdi. "You know too much and too little at the same time. The only logical answer is that you've learned these skills and forgot you ever acquired them. You are a former hero who-"

"Stop. Just stop." Fenri said, unable to handle watching Harvin psychologically break him any further. She looked to Verdi and grabbed his arm. "Come on. Let's go." She said as he calmed down for a brief second. Harvin just continued to speak as Citrinas balled her skirt up in her hands. This was for the best. He needed to accept reality or else he'd get himself killed at this rate. It was then Harvin threw his most brutal verbal blow yet.

"What did you look like before coming here?" Verdi suddenly stopped walking away, the simple sentence causing him to freeze in place. He admitted he was summoned here, he said his current appearance wasn't his own. Such a question would be easy for him to answer. Instead, he just stayed silent, shaking quietly at the statement. Harvin merely continued speaking, not raising his voice in the slightest, his tone akin to someone having an evening chat.

"Apologies. That was a tough question. What did your parents look like?" He asked, yet again hitting Verdi in a soft spot. "Your friends, how many did you have? What hobbies did you do? Favorite food? Did you have pets? A lover? How old were you when you came here?" Fenri pulled Verdi forward, the horrified look in her eyes more than enough to depict just how distraught he was at the simple questions. Despite pulling on him, he stayed completely motionless, rooted to the ground as he croaked out a few words.

"I... I had... I was..." He didn't have an answer, he was just standing there trying to think. Harvin just kept asking him questions of his life. Basic things anyone could answer. Despite how mundane the questions were, Verdi's breathing became more and more frantic as his legs grew shaky. As he fell back, a chair appeared behind him as Harvin stood in front of him, continuing the onslaught of questions.

"What was the name of your country? Did you have favorite music? Favorite song? What did you like to drink?" By now Verdi's hyperventilating had become a full blown panic attack as reality slowly dawned on him. There were many things he could dismiss away as magic if his world lacked it. He couldn't just dismiss forgetting his own family or his personal life.

"Stop, you made your point. I think he gets it now." Citrinas said, not wanting this show to continue any longer. Even he couldn't deny that something was wrong with him if he was having trouble remembering such basic things. Such thoughts perished as she saw Verdi reject the attacks, his nigh unbreakable will only prolonging his psychological ****.

"No, give-give me a minute. I-I know this. It's-I know. I was... I..." Verdi piped up between gasps of air. He sounded choked as though he were on the verge of tears, but he still persistently clung to his delusions. Mathias looked at the table, unable to watch while Harvin looked ashamed with himself for doing this. It did little to slow his offensive.

"Master Verdi, I cannot fault you for trying to cling to the the belief that you are fine, but you must accept the facts." Harvin said softly, hoping to avoid outright destroying what little remained of his mind to save it. "Your body was the target of an improper hybridization. Your abilities are sealed away by your own psyche, your memories are fractured, and your body has been irreversibly altered. You need to accept it, or I fear your mental state may decline further." He said as Verdi shook his head, refusing to accept reality.

"I'm... I still... There's nothing wrong. I'm just tired." He lied. His body was part erosarkic. He didn't sleep. He didn't feel fatigue. He was at his last stand. Citrinas glanced over to see Verdi had released Fenri and buried his face in his hands, gripping it tightly in the vain hope it would help him regain his lost memories. He gasped for air to calm himself, yet it seemed to only stress him out more. Harvin gave Citrinas an apologetic look as he spoke, readying his final attack.

"... Lady Citrinas, I assume his name is one gifted to him, considering his Verdure monster family." His voice was soft as Citrinas tensed up. This was too far. She stood up and grabbed Verdi's other arm while Fenri tried to **** him from his seat. Despite both Fenri and her pulling on him with all their strength, he was immobile, likely the result of Harvin's tricks. Fenri gave up on trying to move him and grabbed Harvin's shirt.

"You bastard, give him a day! He just woke up!" Fenri said while shaking the butler. He did nothing, treating her as a mild distraction more than anything else.

"A day, week, a year, how long must we watch him cling to a false reality and ****?" Harvin asked, the room falling as Verdi continued to hyperventilate next to him, unable to hear their conversationin the slightest. "You heard him. He asked Lady Citrinas to kill him to prove he was sane. Do you believe it is safe to leave him in such a **** state?" He continued, causing Fenri to clench her teeth. She knew better than anyone how far he'd go to do something.

She clicked her tongue and walked away as Citrinas looked down at Verdi, his breathing now frantic as sweat dripped from his body in thick droplets. It looked as though he were a man facing the guillotine. He knew what was going to happen next, and he knew if Harvin said his next question out loud, he'd have nothing to counter with. No delusion could hide the next question. It was proof his mind had been fractured and just how badly he'd been broken by the process.

"Harvin, stop. Don't do this." She said, thinking back to the day she first met Verdi on the mountain. The names for appraisal skills were filled based on the target's perception of themselves. Verdi didn't have any skills that let him alter his status screen. What she saw that day was how he perceived himself. While she tried to drag the now half broken alchemist away, Harvin landed the killing blow.

"What was your name before coming here?" She was right next to him as she saw Verdi's mind break. His panicked breathing stopped. He seemed to calm down for a second, the simple question ripping away the last of his madness.

He was a former hero used as a test subject for an experimental dual hybridization process, revived against his will as a monster, and discarded on a mountain to die. Cheap, defective artifacts of the lowest divines were used in his creation while the weakest monster cores were implanted in him. He was trapped in a body that was flawed, his mind had fractured from the trauma of the procedure, whatever abilities he had gained were sealed away by his own psyche, and his memories of anything he knew or loved were lost. He truly had nothing, and now he was cognizant of it. Rather than looking victorious, Harvin looked guilty and ashamed of himself at attaining his goal.

"... I'm sorry. It needed to be done." Harvin said, gently grasping the alchemist's shoulder. He didn't respond. He just stared blankly at the ground.

"I'll give you some time alone to think." Mathias said as he and Harvin left the room for him to process. Soon, it was just Citrinas and the nameless hero in the room as he sat there, staring at the ground. She wanted to say something to reassure him, to let him know it would be fine, but she couldn't say anything when she saw how empty his eyes were. She was never good with words. Reassuring him was something Tomoko could do, but she wasn't charismatic, clever, or particularly cheerful. She just stood next to him in silence.

She wasn't sure how long she just stood there with him, but she knew she wasn't helping him in the slightest just standing there. Eventually, she decided to follow the others and let him have some precious time alone to think, following the lead of others better than her. She had nothing she could say to help him, and she knew it. She was just a mage who knew how to do math. As she prepared to leave, she felt a hand grasp her wrist.

It wasn't a particularly strong grip. In fact, it was weak to the point that she could easily shake him off. Despite that, she couldn't move. After a minute, he spoke to her. His voice was weak, frail to the point that it was barely above a whisper. It was a request. A request of the simplest variety. A request she owed him. In spite of how soft his voice was, every word seemed to resound in the room as he spoke to her.

"Don't leave me."