Alice

Upon her throne in the Sanguine Lair, with blood straining the hem of her dress, Alice looked down at those who knelt before her and asked with a slight smile "What is love?" To this question, the young Alice would have answered: Love is the protection and sense of worth bestowed by her father. Alice was the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman and a lowly dancer but with a powerful affinity to dark magic. Her mother always told her that their beautiful lifestyle was proof that they were loved. Her father would often take young Alice to see the family's sacred treasure, the Crown of Antalus, telling her the tales of the family's past glory and how she would help restore their greatness. Alice understood from an early age that being loved meant her role was to be the family's knife in the shadow. Using her gift for dark magic, Alice moved through the southern battlefields, manipulating hearts and minds to eliminate obstacles for the Antalus Family. Her half-brothers' contempt for her illegitimate status was mere static in the symphony of love. Alice held her head high and ignored their petty grievances with arrogant pride. She had always loved her father and the family despite everything. Even when she was captured and tortured by the Monastery of Light during their final mission, Alice gritted her teeth and revealed none of the family's dark secrets. But does love truly exist? While imprisoned, a mysterious figure revealed a shocking truth to Alice: her whole life, she had been nothing but a pawn. Alice sneered in response, dismissing it as just another one of the Enemy's ploys. The figure shook their head, handed a mysterious orb to Alice, and unlocked her door cell. Covered in wounds, Alice made her way home only to overhear a conversation between her father and the elders. Her failure and capture had been a calculated deal between the Antalus family and the Monastery of Light, in a bid to restore the family's former glory. And love? Alice looked at her father and only saw only cold eyes. Love never existed - from the beginning, there had only been her worth, desires, and lies. Her birth was permitted because of her talent; her freedom granted because she had use to the family. Love was a sweet poison that family showed its true nature. The Family had long prepared magic to suppress Alice. They watched coldly as she was pinned to the ground, struggling like a wounded animal; they had already arranged for her to be taken back by the Monastery of Light. But at the peak of her despair, the orb in Alice's possession began to glow. She knew that mysterious figure might be another player in the Antalus Family trying to use her, but what did it matter? Alice laughed as despair and hatred consumed her body. The power of the Abyss transformed her blood completely - crimson wings burst from her flesh as demonic energy engulfed the entire family. Alice crouched down and whispered the truth into her dying father's ear: Even if they handed her to the Monastery of Light, the Antalus Family would never receive what was promised. In the eyes of those above, her father was a pawn himself. The Antalus Family's dream of reclaiming their former glory, like Alice's desperate yearning for love, was nothing but a deluded fantasy. Her father drew his last breath amid Alice's bloodcurdling laughter. Using the cruelest methods, Alice transformed her contemptuous relatives into Blood Demon thralls, forever bound by her will. She took the Crown of Antalus and wore it mockingly on her leg as decoration - Shattering the family's hypocritical delusions and the so-called honor of the nobility. She was reborn from the ashes of a dead love. The Queen of Blood had arrived. Now, the queen asks: "What is love?" Love is a price, love is desire, love is lies… Love is but an ornament beneath authority, a bloodstain upon the crown, an echo when the chess player makes their move. Having witnessed so much "love", she instinctively mastered the game of power and desire. Upon her throne, Alice extends an empty hand, yet within her grasp lie the desire of countless souls. With this power she left Moniyan Empire, leading the Blood Demons to the Abyss, where they claimed their domain. But this is not enough - the Queen hears the voice in her heart, the whispers of the human part of her: this is not enough. She has had her fill of deception and manipulation. Rather than remain a pawn for others to control, she would become the player who controls all. She is the Queen of the Blood Demons, the Mistress of Sanguine Lair, the wrath of the Abyss, and the one who will turn her claws against the Moniyan Empire and ascend to the pinnacle of power. Love and hatred are long dead; only power and desire can forge eternity.