Chapter 193: Pre and Post-processing – Part 1 (3)

“What?! Marianne was bitten by a vampire and turned into a thrall?!”

Nelia sprang to her feet and shouted.

“Where does that son of a bitch live?! Tell me now! I’ll go there this instant and snap his damn neck!”

‘How dare he touch someone’s descendant so recklessly?! That’s a declaration of war against me!’

“Calm yourself, Nelia.”

In contrast to the furious Nelia, who was shouting in outrage, Sion remained completely composed on the other side.

Sipping the tea in her hand, she spoke.

“I understand how you feel, but if you go now, it’ll only create unnecessary chaos. You’d have to explain how you heard about this all the way from Sanchina, a foreign land far from here.

Or… was it a mistake for me to come and tell you myself?”

“…”

Hearing Sion’s warning, Nelia gritted her teeth and sat back down.

Indeed, she couldn’t say she’d heard it “from the Hero.”

Publicly, Sion’s identity was that of a Hero, and therefore, she wasn’t supposed to be able to use teleportation.

Saying she found out another way wouldn’t work either. She lived in the Prison Tower, completely cut off from the outside world—there was no way she could’ve learned about this so easily.

In the end, even if Nelia knew the truth, she was in no position to act recklessly or vent her anger.

‘If I’d known things would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have returned right after the sports festival. I should’ve stayed a bit longer.’

“Sigh… Still, if the Demon King came all the way here, that means the culprit was properly taken care of, right?”

“Of course. I beat them to a pulp—left them half-crippled.”

“Who was it? Who’s the bastard?”

“Raizein.”

“Oh, that bastard…”

Nelia nodded as if she understood completely.

If the culprit was Raizein, it wasn’t surprising. That girl had always been polite to her father, Sien, but to everyone else, she was shockingly rude.

Even if she knew Marianne was her blood relative, she probably wouldn’t have cared and bit her anyway.

“That damn bitch. I let it slide when she acted all high and mighty as an adopted daughter, and this is how she repays me?

When I see her again, I’m going to kill her…”

Nelia muttered darkly. Sion watched her for a moment, then spoke.

“There’s no need to burn with vengeance like that. Even though she became a thrall, it’s not like her life is in immediate danger.

The only real issues are that she can’t go out during the day without risk and she has to consume fresh blood daily. That’s all.

If anything, she might actually prefer it. She always loved locking herself in her room anyway.”

“It’s still inconvenient all the same. The only real benefit is that she got physically stronger.

And Raizein… that bitch probably didn’t even care about any of that. What you’re saying is just hindsight.”

“That’s true.”

Sion took another sip of tea.

“Well, I’ve already carried out your revenge for you, so don’t worry too much. I handed her over to Mana with only his upper body intact.

After getting beaten that badly, I’m sure she learned something from it.”

“…Y-you gave her to Lady Mana…?”

At those words, the emotion in Nelia’s voice did a complete 180. From blazing rage to groveling fear.

Sion tilted her head in confusion.

“What’s with the sudden respectful tone? Did you get into a fight and get beaten up by her or something? There shouldn’t be that much of a power gap between you two.”

“N-no… That’s not it…”

Nelia, unusually hesitant, trailed off—then, in the next moment, her face twisted into a creepy grin.

“Is that so… So she’s been handed over to Lady Mana… Fufufu…
Then she’ll go through that from beginning to end? Serves her right… Ahahaha…”

“???”

Sion frowned.

‘That’? What’s that supposed to mean?

“What are you talking about? Are you saying Mana’s going to torture Raizein? Explain it clearly.”

“It’s not torture. But it’s something even worse. Something so terrible, even us division commanders could barely withstand it…”

“Worse than torture? What the hell is it?”

“Ugh, d-don’t ask! I don’t want to remember it anymore…!!!”

“?????”

Sion’s expression grew more and more baffled.

Ignoring her, Nelia curled into herself, pale with fear, hugging her own body.

“Demon King is lucky… She reincarnated straight into a human, so she didn’t have to experience that…
You have no idea how traumatized we’ve been by it…”

“What in the world is this ‘it’ you’re talking about? How can I sympathize if you don’t explain it?”

“J-Just go ask her yourself later……! I don’t think I could possibly answer that myself……
Just imagining that situation in my head is so painful I feel like I’m going to die…”

“Hah, unbelievable.”

Sion let out a short laugh, clearly incredulous.

What on earth had happened to make the always confident Nelia fall apart like this?

That girl, who usually lived drunk on her own greatness and never listened to a word anyone said.

And the one who had managed to train her was none other than Mana, famous for her gentle and composed demeanor.

‘I’ll have to go ask her later. About her secret.’

With that thought, Sion downed the rest of her tea.

When Raizein opened her eyes again, she found herself surrounded by a bright light.

But it wasn’t sunlight. The room she was in was completely sealed in stone, without so much as a single window. It must be some kind of basement.

Still, the light carried an unpleasant energy similar to sunlight—one that scorched her body and slowed her regeneration.

It wasn’t hard to guess what it was.

‘A sunrod. They’ve placed them all around me like a trap.’

Raizein looked around, analyzing her current predicament.

Everything below her waist was gone, likely not yet regenerated. Her remaining two arms were shackled with silver cuffs, and she was bound to a massive metal cross.

Sunlight, silver, and a cross. It was like a gift set of everything vampires hated.

Maybe that’s why—even the cuffs, which she would normally be able to snap without effort, now felt impossibly heavy.

At this rate, escape might be impossible.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

Just then, the only door in the room opened, and a red-haired elf mage stepped in. It was Mana.

“Truly, you’re no ordinary vampire. Even after all this, we can’t destroy you—only suppress your regeneration.”

“Spare me the mockery. If you’re going to kill me, then just do it already.”

Raizein snapped back with venom in her voice.

“Are you planning to torture me for information? You may as well give up. My fighting style has long since made me numb to the pain of being torn apart.”

“I too have a pride I would die to protect. I’d rather end my own life than bow to a lowly human like you.”

“……”

Mana silently stared back at Raizein, who glared at her with seething hatred, before slowly speaking.

“I’m not going to torture you. I’m not going to kill you either. At least Esther and Lier have decided not to use such methods.”

“….?”

Esther? Lier? Aren’t they part of that loathsome party that once harmed my father?
Why are you suddenly bringing up those names now?

While Raizein frowned in confusion, Mana took a small crystal sphere from her robes.

“Esther always said this: you can’t call it a ‘sin’ when demons harm humans. You shouldn’t judge it by the standards of ordinary humans.

Yes, if someone with a normal sense of morality and conscience chooses to ignore those principles, then it is certainly a sin.

But if someone is born without the capacity to even feel such concepts, then no matter how much evil they commit, it cannot be called a sin.

Just like how we don’t judge a tiger or a bear in the wild for harming a human by the standards of good and evil, the actions of demons must be judged the same way.

That’s what Esther insisted.”

Mana fitted the crystal sphere onto the end of a small rod, twisting it into place. With a click, the two parts joined into a wand-like shape.

“But of course, no one agreed with that view. The atrocities committed by demons who crossed over to Elpidion were far too great to dismiss with the excuse that they were born without a conscience.

In the end, Esther was denounced by the world for trying to defend humanity’s greatest enemy.”

“…What exactly are you trying to say?”

Raizein, now thoroughly irritated by the drawn-out speech, snapped.

If they weren’t going to torture her, fine. But what was with all this pointless rambling? It was like listening to some old fool drone on about things she didn’t care about.

“Cut the crap and get to the point. I couldn’t care less about your messy interpersonal drama.”

“………”

Mana said nothing, only continued to stare silently at Raizein. Her unique green eyes gazed deep into Raizein’s soul.

Just as Raizein opened her mouth to snap again at the silence—

“…To guide your kind, Esther created this. A tool to help you reflect on your past sins and truly repent.

I hope that, by the end of this journey, your thoughts will have changed.”

“…What? What are you—”

Mana placed the tip of the wand against Raizein’s forehead. Looking straight into her eyes, she quietly chanted a spell.

“Another Page.”

Raizein’s vision faded to black.