Episode 148

“Hilde…”

“No, wait. Don’t kill her just yet. We should at least hear her final words.”

Hildebrandt wiped the blood from his hands and stepped toward Yvonne. She stared directly into his face—bloodstained and disheveled. He looked utterly exhausted. There were streaks across the dried blood on his cheeks—traces where tears had fallen.

“Kill me.”

“Beg me to let you live.”

“I won’t.”

“Beg for your life.”

Hildebrandt gripped her neck with his bloodied hand—but he couldn’t bring himself to apply any pressure.

“Platinum hair, huh.”

Yvonne looked at the corpses he’d dragged with him. The capital had become a wasteland. Everything was covered in a gray hue, like a thick mist had settled over it.

“That one’s fake anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“An illusion.”

Hildebrandt snapped his fingers at the woman’s corpse. A click echoed—but the corpse didn’t disappear.

“Oh. Guess she was real.”

He laughed, as if joking, mocking the body he’d dragged along. Yvonne didn’t feel fear anymore. She was just tired—sick of it all.

“Disgusting taste, Your Majesty.”

“Use my nickname.”

“You’re in no position to make demands.”

“There’s nothing I ask of you that’s unreasonable.”

“Hah.”

Yvonne laughed bitterly at his shameless words. Hildebrandt, strangely, liked even that smile. It was better than the lifeless look she’d had lately.

He hated that she could hurt him like this—but it made him feel alive, and he was crying. Cold tears slid down his cheeks, mixing with the rain now falling from the sky.

Ssshhh.

“I love you, Yvonne.”

Yvonne didn’t respond. Hildebrandt loosened his grip on her neck.

“It’s true.”

He reached out again, but she didn’t take his hand. The rain poured harder.

“You really think I’d believe your sincerity?”

“Yeah. You love me.”

Hildebrandt didn’t even try to hypnotize himself anymore. He was tired. No matter how many platinum-haired women he killed in the capital, no matter how many of his uncle’s legacies he destroyed—it never helped.

And worst of all, Yvonne’s eyes were no longer the same. He knew what it meant. He couldn’t lie to himself anymore.

Her cold eyes. Her cold voice. She would never treat him kindly again.

“I’d rather die than love you.”

“Because of Yurian Leonhardt?”

“Yes.”

She answered flatly. Even though he already knew, it made Hildebrandt’s heart stir.

“Why do you keep looking at someone else when you say you love me?”

“Because I don’t love you.”

Yvonne was no longer afraid of the emperor.

If she was going to die, then so be it.

“Yurian…”

“I killed that bastard.”

Hildebrandt said it with a smile—but Yvonne didn’t believe him. He looked far too unharmed to have fought Yurian.

And the blood on him clearly wasn’t Yurian’s. There wasn’t a single scratch on his body. The rain had washed away every trace.

Soaked in rain, Hildebrandt looked pitiful—like a man weeping.

He reached for her hand with trembling fingers.

“Let go.”

At her command, Hildebrandt gripped her hand even tighter—and opened his mouth to order Francis.

“Let go, you bastard.”

Hildebrandt turned at the voice behind him.

There stood Yurian.

“That’s more like it.”

Hildebrandt grinned, satisfied, and barked to Francis at his back:

“Francis. If I don’t cancel the order in five minutes, kill Yvonne. Even if you don’t see it happen.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Francis answered under hypnosis.

Yurian drew his sword and advanced toward Hildebrandt.

“Come at me.”

Hildebrandt pointed at Yurian with his finger, aiming to turn him to dust.

“…Ah.”

In that instant, Hildebrandt realized he couldn’t make it rain and reduce someone to dust at the same time. He hesitated, trying to stop the rain—when Yurian’s sword grazed just in front of his chest.

Hildebrandt flinched and stepped back.

As the rain stopped completely, he reached toward Yurian again. Normally, just catching someone in his gaze would activate his ability. But Yurian was a high-tier ability-user—like him, one who had undergone second awakening. Hypnosis wouldn’t work. Physically, he was so fast it was hard to even track him with the naked eye.

Even if Hildebrandt did catch a glimpse, if it was just an afterimage, he couldn’t turn it to dust.

“When did you get so fast?”

“I’ve always been.”

Yurian moved so fast, Hildebrandt couldn’t clearly see him. The sunlight caught in Yurian’s red eyes, making them blaze—streaks of crimson flashing through the air like lightning, disorienting Hildebrandt.

“So annoying.”

Crash!

Hildebrandt dodged a strike just beside him and summoned a sword. Yurian was too fast—it was pointless to try dusting him. And Hildebrandt wanted to show her—Yvonne—what he could do.

Clang! Clang!

Hildebrandt aimed for Yurian’s chest—but Yurian struck down with terrifying strength.

Shing! Smash!

The emperor’s blade snapped under the blow. Yurian seized the opening and went for Hildebrandt’s throat.

Boom!

Just in time, Hildebrandt summoned a blade above Yurian. But Yurian didn’t fall for the same trick twice. He dodged and closed the distance—one of the falling swords turned to dust just behind him.

“Die already!”

“I told you—hypnosis doesn’t work on me.”

Yurian spun around and aimed for Hildebrandt’s vital point. The emperor stepped back and raised an arm to shield his heart—long slashes opened across his elbow and arm.

He grimaced in pain as his sleeve tore and blood spilled.

“Let your guard down, did you, Duke?”

“Urgh…!”

“Yurian!”

A dagger lodged in Yurian’s chest—but his body, protected by mana, stopped it from going deep. The blade failed to pierce his sternum, only sinking slightly before snapping in two.

“Vanish, you— Agh!!”

Just as Hildebrandt tried to reduce Yurian to dust, Yurian struck him hard in the temple with his fist.

“You let your guard down, Your Majesty.”

Hildebrandt stumbled backward. In that moment, Yurian adjusted his grip on his sword and aimed to drive it into him—but Hildebrandt summoned a long blade and thrust it at Yurian’s chest. Yurian dodged, slicing Hildebrandt’s shoulder instead.

“Why are you holding back?”

“Hah… Me? Don’t flatter yourself.”

Something was off with Hildebrandt’s movements. Yurian knew the emperor’s swordsmanship well. Hildebrandt never stopped training his body, even without being a physical-type ability user. He was stronger than Francis, whose skill already rivaled Yurian’s.

“Step down, Your Majesty.”

“Utter nonsense.”

Hildebrandt raised his hand as Yurian lifted his sword to strike his neck.

“Vanish.”

He used his power, aiming to turn Yurian to dust.

“Damn it.”

Yurian raised his sword into Hildebrandt’s line of sight. At once, his blade disintegrated into dust, blown away by the wind.

Quickly, Yurian kicked one of Hildebrandt’s discarded swords into the air and caught it mid-flight. He swung again.

“It’s useless.”

That blade, too, crumbled into dust.

“Ugh…!”

But that was what Yurian had wanted. The sword had been bait. Hildebrandt, too enraged to think clearly, focused on destroying it—allowing Yurian to drive a fist directly into his face.

“Ghhk…!”

The blow was brutal. Blood welled up in Hildebrandt’s lungs, and he coughed it out violently. Blood gushed from his nose, and his lips split open as fresh blood poured down his chin.

“…Fractured rib.”

“Would’ve been better if it pierced your heart.”

“Utter nonsense.”

Just as Yurian prepared to strike again, Hildebrandt summoned another blade—and plunged it into Yurian’s clavicle. The sword shot straight through, piercing his shoulder deeply.

“Urgh…!”

“Die.”

Hildebrandt prepared to use his ability again—but Yurian gripped his face with one hand.

“Let go.”

“You think I will?”

Even as Hildebrandt clutched his arm, Yurian broke the blade lodged in his shoulder, tossed the broken hilt aside, and reached for him again.

“No last words?”

“I wish you had died instead.”

“What a pitiful final wish, Your Majesty.”

Yurian raised his hand to deliver the final blow.

“Kyaaah!”

But the one whose heart was pierced—was not Hildebrandt.

It was Yvonne, stabbed by Francis.

Her body, covered in wounds—large and small—slumped forward. Though none of the injuries had been as fatal as the one to her heart, they painted a clear picture: she had resisted with everything she had.

“Yvonne!”

Her body, pierced through the heart, began to fall limp in Yurian’s arms.