I only remembered the moment my body tore through the barrier. In an instant, my view changed, and a chill ran through my entire body. It wasn’t until I felt the wet trail of blood under my feet that I realized,
“…Redian!”
Redian was in sight. I ran towards him as he lay crumpled on the ground, his knees buckled.
“Redian? Redian!”
“Ah…”
Redian’s consciousness seemed to fade even as I called out to him right beside him, completely unaware of my presence.
This can’t be. It was the first time I saw him in such pain. Even when he bled throughout the night, trapped in the basement’s restraint, Redian never made a groan…
“Redian!”
“Keuuung!”
Turning my gaze, I saw the black mass growing larger.
“Augh.”
At the same time, seeing Redian groaning, clutching his burning mask…
I’ll kill them all. I barely managed to hold back my rationality from snapping.
“Redian, Redian? It’s me.”
Vishnusin’s body was swelling, filling the room, but it would take time for its form to be fully realized. In the meantime, I tried to check Redian’s face urgently,
“Let go…!” Redian, not recognizing me at all, violently shook off my hand.
“Redian!”
“…Ha.”
I forcibly wrapped my hands around Redian’s cheeks, forcing him to look at me. We had to make eye contact. He needed to feel that I was right beside him.
“Rere, snap out of it!”
“Mas… Master?”
Finally, Redian seemed to recognize me as he gasped for breath.
“You need to take off the mask.”
The filthy, blood-soaked mask had to be torn off.
“I can’t, Master.” Redian’s voice trembled as he held on to me. “You told me to keep the mask on until the end.”
“…You.”
“Because you said it’s to protect me…”
Ah, so that’s why he hadn’t thrown away the mask. It felt suffocating yet pitiful to see him in such pain, remembering my words to such an extent…
I need to get myself together. I clenched my jaw tight. That’s right. Right now, thousands are watching this scene through a single hologram. If Redian’s pained face was exposed here…
“Just stay like this for a bit, Redian.”
It would be embarrassing for him, not me.
“…Master!”
Tearing off the cumbersome skirt, it transformed into a long drape. I covered Redian’s head with that drape.
“But…”
“It’s okay.”
Instantly, his view darkened.
“No one can see you but me.”
I gently removed his blood-soaked mask, soothing him. Redian’s hands, overlapping mine, trembled finely.
“So, it’s okay.”
As soon as the ribbon holding the mask loosened, his face became fully visible.
“…Oh gosh.”
His blood-soaked face was ghastly pale. Looking at his bloody eyes, I bit my lip once again.
“Master.” When Redian noticed me, tried to grab my wrist, “Don’t be angry. I’m—”
“Those b*stards.”
There was no way my ears could hear anything.
“I will kill them all.”
It’s because my last bit of rationality snapped.
“Master!”
“Just stay like this for a moment. You can’t leave here, Redian.”
“…Master!”
Without giving Redian a chance to hold me, I slipped out from under the cloak.
“Kwangggg!”
Such sounds they make. This is real. Vishnusin had grown so large that I had to tilt my head back to see it fully. Hundreds of eyes split and multiplied into thousands.
Bang, bang, bang!
“Keuuung!”
I picked up Redian’s Astra from the ground and pulled the trigger right away. I aimed precisely at the core, but Vishnusin only staggered, soon regaining its posture.
Thump! Thump! The black mass of blood soaked the floor, trying to swallow my ankles.
Bang, bang! Firing the trigger repeatedly was futile. The bullets only made it flinch momentarily; I couldn’t stop it from advancing towards me.
So… It was like that. Something was definitely wrong. Despite aiming precisely at the control device, it was gaining more strength. Thus, firing all the bullets was pointless.
“Master!” I felt Redian’s effort to call out to me as he gathered his strength.
The thickly fallen blood emitted a foul smell. Thump, thump! Once again, that filthy thing writhed threateningly closer.
“Kwaaaaak!”
And then, as it burst forth in a final struggle,
“They like this.”
I lifted the dagger hidden inside my sleeve. As the dagger clinked, feeling heavier…
“I will kill them.”
I pushed off the wall and leaped forward.
* * *
“My God, what should we do!”
“Why is the control device acting like this!”
The magicians in the control room and the screams of horror among the audience filled the air.
Nobody could move, witnessing the sight of a person drenched in blood. Eventually, Ash, having seen him clutching his face and collapsing, suppressed his laughter. Hurry and rip off that mask.
It would feel like burning in hell, falling into a fire. He had no choice but to reveal his hideous face by tearing off the mask with his own hands. But.
That b*stard.
Despite trembling, he did not take off the mask.
What’s hidden behind that mask?
The terrible pain would penetrate the skin, burning the bones, yet he stubbornly resisted.
“…Huh.”
It was when blood dripped onto his silver hair on the ground.
What is that? Ash’s gaze was drawn to the hand clutching his face, specifically to the silver ring-stained red. Strangely, that was all that captured Ash’s attention. It was then,
“Oh my, God!”
“I-isn’t that Princess Felicite?”
“It’s, it’s the Lady of Felicite!” A cry of astonishment burst from the shocked audience.
“…Princess Felicite?” Ash finally saw it. Footsteps are imprinted on the blood-rich floor within the hologram.
How did she get in? It was definitely Siani. Siani was holding his face with both her hands, unbothered by the filthy body stained with the monster’s blood… And the moment the woman tore her skirt, the image of the two blurred out as if they were cut out from the hologram.
“What’s happening?”
“How did the princess enter the barrier?”
Among thousands, no one could believe the sight of the woman in the hologram. The magicians’ chatter in the control room, the murmuring among the audience, the howling of Vishnusin filling the screen – all of it engulfed the surroundings but was futile.
Ash’s eyes were solely on. “Ha, this is madness…” Only following the knight hidden in Siani’s embrace.
Why on earth, why!
“Immediately lower the control device in all circles!”
“But the control device isn’t responding at all, Minister!”
“What are you talking about!”
The voice of the Minister of Magic, who had run over, was also heard as the control room turned chaotic.
“Look, there! P-princess!!”
Siani.
Someone reappeared in the hologram, now darkened. Siani had stepped out from under the cloak. She stood before Vishnusin, which had grown large enough to swallow everything.
“W-what do we do!”
“My God!”
People looked at the hologram with faces pale as death. Ash was no different.
Is she intending to confront it? How? She’s going to kill the monster with her bare hands to protect that b*stard?
“Siani!” Ash slammed the table and stood up. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t the outcome he had orchestrated.
“Minister, what are you doing!”
“Grand Prince Benio.”
“Rip through that barrier yourself if you have to!”
At that moment, Ash lost his composure,
“Oh, oh! Minister, look over there!”
“What, my God!”
Urgent cries drew the Minister and Ash’s eyes back to the hologram. From Siani’s hand, a bluish dagger emerged with a clink.
“…No.”
Her body soared high above Vishnusin’s head.
“Gaaaaah!”
“Huh.”
As the dagger slashed through, splitting the monster’s body in two at once,
“Waaaaaaah!”
An overwhelming cheer erupted. A cheer as loud as none ever heard before filled with joy and triumph.
“Long live the Felicite family!”
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
“…Haha.”
It was a perfect victory. Everyone in the audience stood, stretched their hands to the sky, hugged, and jumped from their seats. Some burst into tears, others clapped. But amidst them,
Ah, really…
Ash saw it. The silver ring on the hand holding the sword handle. The silver ring is identical to the knight’s.
Thank you for the update! I can’t wait to see what happens when Ash confronts Sianna about her and Redian’s “friendship” rings 😂
I’m so happy I waited for the chapters to pile up. It’s so satisfying to binge read 17 chapters especially after a frustrating day❤ Thank you for the updates!