<Episode 100>

“Guh…!”

Abellard was channeling divine power into Elkais, who clutched his bleeding throat while sending out a slash of sword energy.

Boom!

“Ah, how unfortunate.”

Euros muttered as he stepped back into place.

His damaged body regenerated as he wiped away the black blood trickling from his wounds, slowly gazing at the three of them.

Eveline noticed that he had been stalling for time and that his regeneration was strangely slower than before. She spoke.

“Your life isn’t infinite.”

“If my life became finite, would you be worried about me?”

Euros joked, but Eveline didn’t respond.

Seeing this, he forced a smile.

“Why did you dislike that life, Lady Wilden? Wasn’t your hatred of imprinting because it made you unable to trust your own emotions?”

“I did hate it. But not anymore. I don’t doubt my feelings now.”

And she truly didn’t. She was no longer afraid that her feelings for Elkais might be false. She no longer looked down on those who lived as slaves to their imprints.

Now, she understood them. She no longer regretted her imprint.

“Then, how about we make a wager?”

“I’m not interested in a wager where you have the advantage.”

“Let’s make it fair.”

“Eve, are you really considering this?”

Elkais silently stared at Eveline.

Whatever she chose, he would follow.

For Elkais, who had spent his life on battlefields, life and death were separated by the thinnest margin.

But the one thing he feared was surviving while Eveline died. That was his only concern.

If Eveline lived and he died, he wasn’t afraid. That was why he had ensured that Abellard remained—just in case.

“You just overcame my illusion, Lady Wilden. If the other two also succeed, I will tell you my weakness.”

“Stake your divinity on it.”

“I will.”

Euros then tried to cast his power on Elkais.

“What is he doing?”

“Huh?”

But Elkais was unaffected.

“Hahaha.”

Euros, flustered, tried again—

But nothing happened.

“You don’t fall under my spell.”

“……”

“This must be the happiest future for you.”

At Euros’ words, Elkais found himself agreeing.

Compared to his tedious life in the Croppers Empire, every moment here was far more precious.

In the empire, he was a Duke, a war minister undefeated in battle. His territory flourished, wealth grew, and his name was honored.

But he had never felt happiness.

His life had been a monotonous duty he bore simply because he was born into House de Robein.

And he had despised love dictated by physiology.

Now, he had fully accepted it, and he had never been happier.

More than anything, he had imprinted only after truly falling in love with Eveline—so even the imprint itself felt precious.

He had never doubted his emotions. Even when he lost his memories, even when she had entered another’s body—he had fallen in love with her far too easily.

Without Eveline, he would never feel happiness anywhere else.

A future where Eveline didn’t exist could never be a happy one for him.

That was why Euros’ illusion didn’t work on him.

“You’re just like Remeros—so rigid and stuck in your idealistic delusion. It’s disgusting.”

“……”

“Then, shall we see how the Young Duke fares?”

Euros’ hand now reached toward Abellard.

* * *

“Brother?”

At the sound of Eveline’s voice, Abellard suddenly opened his eyes.

He was in the Wilden Ducal Estate.

“Why do you look like that again?”

Eveline’s attire was strange. His own clothes were, too.

“Eve, why are you wearing something buttoned all the way up to your neck? You always hated clothes like that.”

“Haha. You’re always like this…”

Eveline chuckled and undid the button at her throat. And beneath it—

“…Ah.”

There was a single bite mark. Not two.

“This is because of the mark you left on me.”

Then, he noticed that Eveline wore the same matching ring as him.

“F*ck… This is a dream.”

Abellard broke into heartbreaking sobs as he woke from the illusion.

* * *

“I’ll kill you, you bastard.”

Abellard was furious.

He was enraged that he had been forced to witness such a cruel illusion—one where Eveline had willingly married him. But more than that, he was furious at himself for instantly recognizing it as false, for realizing that if not for the imprint, he would have never even had a chance to be with her.

“This is all quite unexpected.”

Euros chuckled, but at that moment, they began to see his weakness.

However, they already knew—physical weaknesses meant little to Euros.

Boom!

The moment Euros morphed his arm to strike at Abellard—

Bang!

Eveline’s bullet blew his head off, and with a sharp slicing sound, Elkais severed his limbs.

“What the hell?”

Abellard fired three arrows in rapid succession, striking Euros in the torso.

They had aimed for every vital point, but Euros, who had momentarily crumbled to ashes, merely reformed back into his human form.

At that moment, Eveline realized something.

“Let’s do the same thing again.”

“Got it.”

“Yeah.”

As soon as she gave the command, Elkais sliced off Euros’ limbs again.

Eveline then shot him repeatedly in the head, and Abellard followed up by pinning his torso to the ground with an arrow.

“Eveline!”

Eveline rushed to the place where Euros’ body was trying to merge again. She reached out and grabbed the very core where his body was reassembling.

“Eveline!”

It pulsed like a beating heart—his very essence.

She instinctively understood that it couldn’t be destroyed with mere weapons. She had to destroy it herself. The power of the god of destruction, slumbering within her, made her realize this.

“Ive!”

Eveline poured her divine energy into it.

The moment Euros lost his divine essence, his body stiffened under her power.

And then—

“I won’t be the only one sealed away, Eveline Wilden.”

His form swelled as if about to explode.

Eveline tried to pull her hand away—but it was too late.

“Eveline.”

“Elkais!”

She became even more terrified when Elkais shielded her with his body.

“Move!”

“I can’t.”

“Elkais!”

If Eveline died, then Elkais had to die too.

He held her close, ensuring she wouldn’t be harmed.

“No! Eve!”

Abellard shouted in panic and tried to run toward them.

Boom!

A massive explosion erupted, sending out a violent shockwave.

“Agh!”

Abellard was blown away by the force.

The surrounding area was engulfed in dust and acrid smoke, making it impossible to see.

“Ugh…”

Abellard struggled to get up and look around, but his eyes stung, and nothing was visible.

“Eveline!”

He called out her name desperately, but there was no response.

Fear and panic clawed at him as he wiped his tears roughly, forcing his body to move toward where she had been.

His body was still recovering, and the smoke was suffocating, making it difficult to breathe.

Meanwhile, Eveline was suspended in the air, being strangled.

Her feet no longer touched the ground.

Her gun had fallen from her grasp, and she was clutching tightly onto the hand that was choking her—Euros’ hand.

“Ugh…!”

“You still have that look in your eyes, even now.”

Even through the black smoke, she could see Euros clearly.

His golden eyes seemed almost amused.

“You are truly a strange woman.”

“Let… go…!”

Eveline struggled, but the grip on her throat remained firm.

It hurt to breathe, but she sensed his strength waver for a brief moment, and she tightened her grip on his arm.

“Eveline Wilden.”

“Guh…!”

Eveline glared at him fiercely, but her vision was slowly fading into darkness.

“It feels like such a waste to kill you.”

She kept her grip on his arm, but her own strength was draining.

If she died here, would she be sealed like a god? Or would she simply perish as a human?

Either possibility terrified her.

Because if she died—she would never see Elkais again.

She had never feared death before.

When she was a police officer, dying in the line of duty had been her dream.

Even when she became Eveline Wilden, she had only despaired at her weakness, at her inability to do anything.

She hadn’t been afraid of death back then, either.

But now—she was terrified.

I love you, Eveline.

Elkais’ face flashed in her mind, the way he had confessed to her.

“If a person like you had inherited the power of a god from the beginning, I wouldn’t have been so hungry.”

“Ugh…”

“Did you know? The more creations yearn for the destruction of order, the easier it is for me to awaken.”

Euros let out a bitter laugh and finally released her.

“Ugh, hah…!”

She collapsed onto the ground, clutching her throat, glaring up at him.

“I don’t want to consume your death.”

And in that moment—

Whoosh!

Elkais swung his sword, severing Euros’ head.

Then, without hesitation, he grabbed Euros’ core and poured Remeros’ power into it.

By placing Euros’ core under the dominion of order, he ensured that Euros could never regenerate again.

 

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