episode_0156

I tore off the inside of the fallen men’s armor, their tattered clothes, and cleaned their swords and arms.

Aside from the flowing blood, the yellowish, sticky body fluids of the maggots were honestly very unpleasant.

It feels like I stepped on a cockroach with my bare feet and it exploded.

By the way, it’s a brain-eating insect monster… It must have been Isabella’s doing.

Among the witch’s subordinates, there were strangely many bug monsters.

Did you even notice that these guys were dead?

Well, even if it isn’t now, once Claire disappears, they will immediately realize that I intervened.

In the first place, these bug knights were the ones Claire borrowed to stop me.

A little bit like that… Although there were some questionable points.

I look down at the three dead bugs.

Three masters.

To be exact, we should call them the three who were ‘masters’… Anyway, although it was tricky, it was not at all a strong enemy that could not be defeated.

Other than some scratches and cuts on my armor, I wasn’t seriously injured.

On the contrary, I would say it was helpful.

Thanks to this, my swordsmanship skills have improved significantly.

I felt like I knew perfectly now.

How should I swing to cut cleanly without wasting my strength, and how should I break through the solid defense?

I understood everything, from the techniques of twisting the blade to deceive the enemy, to the control of stride length and breathing.

As I fought relying on my overwhelming physical ability and keen instincts, my skills were honestly somewhat lacking compared to other masters.

But that is now a thing of the past. The swordsmanship, which absorbed the skills of the three masters, has achieved growth close to evolution.

To the point where I wonder if I should at least say thank you to the empty heads rolling around on the floor.

Did Isabella really think that these three alone could defeat me?

Just by looking at my achievements, which you may have heard about, it is clear to me that three masters are not enough. Why?

Maybe he was overly complacent, or maybe he didn’t intend to kill me from the beginning.

Even if they had tried to keep me alive because it was valuable, they would have just put in more effort and captured me alive.

… I don’t know.

Well, there is no way that I, an ordinary person, could understand something like a witch’s way of thinking.

Whatever she’s planning… I just have to do what I have to do properly.

I put the Durandal, whose light had subsided, into its sheath, and put the blackened frost blade into the case.

The battle was almost over. All that was left was the ending.

A field of reeds burning brightly with corpses scattered everywhere.

I don’t know how far it will spread if I leave it like this… Ophelia will take care of it.

The dagger that had been set on fire and thrown away seemed no longer useful because the blade had melted and become bent.

I threw away the piece of iron that had become trash without any hesitation and headed towards Ophelia.

The battle was already over there too.

Claire must have been struggling while I was finishing the bug knights, and Ophelia’s clothes were torn and burned.

The exposed left hand was also scorched by burns.

In other words, it means that he only suffered that much damage.

All of Claire’s subordinates were turned into fertilizer, and Claire was lying down helpless, as if she had used up all her strength.

Claire, who had been subdued, was glaring at Ophelia with half-blurred eyes, with blood and tears streaming down her face.

“K… Ugh… ! Ofil, Leah… !”

“Are we done here, sister? Now, it’s time to get punished. Look at this, it hurts pretty?”

Ophelia showed her burn-stained left hand and, laughing with joy, stomped on her sister’s left wrist and broke it.

Scrub the wrist bone with the heel of your shoe and carve it into pieces very slowly and painstakingly.

Claire screamed.

Ophelia burst into laughter. As if he was so happy that he didn’t know what to do.

The resentment built up against my sister… It seems like there were quite a few.

It doesn’t matter. Because she is a cheap woman to be treated like that.

I brushed off the ashes and dust that had accumulated on my shoulders and approached her.

—-

Claire’s condition, seen up close, was miserable.

The dress she was wearing was torn to shreds, exposing her bare skin covered in scars, and her sides were almost crushed by burns.

Both ankles were cut as deeply as by a blade and blood was flowing out, and the right wrist was rotated about three times.

The face was even more terrible.

All of the veins were bursting out, the red-stained eyes were spitting out tears like a broken faucet, and black, dead blood was flowing out from the nose and mouth.

Inside the weakly opened mouth, the molars that had broken into pieces due to clenching so hard were floating on the blood pooling in the throat.

It was a miserable sight.

Although I didn’t feel any sympathy.

“My side is finished… What are you going to do with this woman? To be honest, I think it’s safer to kill him. Even if I leave it alone, it looks like it won’t be long before I die.”

Even though it is like this now, it means that she was defeated helplessly because she was attacked by poison and ambush. If she had been in perfect condition, Ophelia would have had to endure significant injuries.

If you let it live for no reason and then run away, it will be a problem for a long time.

“Kill me? Me, my sister? Ah, I did say that in the beginning… . I’m sorry, but that was a lie. I will save my sister.”

Ophelia answered, wiping the corners of her mouth.

Did you wipe the blood or spit? The eyes filled with excitement gave me chills.

In the original, she cut off Claire’s head without hesitation and clung to Damien, but why?

Was it because he had virtually no contact with Damian?

“It must be dangerous. Because I won’t help you next time.”

“There is no problem. No matter what you do, there’s no way you can escape my hands once you’re caught, right? Isn’t that right, Claire? Are you still conscious?”

Ophelia answered lightly as if it was no big deal, moved her foot away from Claire’s wrist and smiled as she looked down at her older sister.

—-

Instead of answering, Claire coughed violently.

The blood that had accumulated in her neck spurted out, turning her face red.

“Keheuk, cold! … Why does it always happen like this… ?”

A low voice full of resentment and resentment laments its fate.

The voice was small and thin, as if it would cut off at any moment.

“Why… Do you always have to win and I have to lose? Power, family… Family too.”

The dilated pupils were no longer looking at Ophelia.

A gaze wandering in empty space. Even the words he spoke were incoherent.

“Answer me, Ophelia. Why is it only you, so easily… I take everything.”

Feelings of inferiority, grief, despair.

Claire’s inner self was filled with tattered scars, as she had lost even the strength to hate.

She cried, revealing her wounds.

“To defeat you, I gave up my body, my conscience, and my pride, and gave everything I had to the monster, but you still stood in front of me… .”

Dying body, broken soul. Ugly memories.

Thinking back on the miserable life she had endured, Claire sobbed silently.

… It was none of my business.

She’s talking like a tragic heroine who has lost everything… As someone who clearly knows the evil deeds that Claire has done, I couldn’t find any reason to sympathize with her.

There were far more things she had taken from others than what she had lost in the first place.

How is this person acting as a victim?

The real victims are the women sacrificed to Isabella by your conspiracy.

“That’s right, because you’re weak. Because it’s weak, you have to throw it away, and because it’s weak, you still lose. Don’t worry though, you won’t have to suffer from that anymore.”

A cold mockery.

Ophelia also seemed to have no intention of sympathizing with Claire’s lament.

Ophelia, who was looking down at Claire with a sneer, took out a vial from her pocket.

A disturbing-looking purple liquid was flowing.

“I will take care of the Sigmillus family. You don’t have to worry about anything anymore, just know the topic and relax.”

“… Do not be ridiculous… !”

Claire’s eyes came back into focus, perhaps because her sister’s taunts had revived her fading anger.

She raised her left arm, wondering where she got that strength, even though she didn’t have a single shred of energy left.

“You’re working hard. Now I have no magic power. And then you really die?”

“If I can’t have it… I’d rather give it to you… !”

Even with her hands shaking, Claire managed to snap her fingers together.

It was amazing tenacity. The bones and nerves in his wrist must have been shredded and mixed up, but he could move his fingers in that state.

And, nothing happened.

“What on earth were you trying to do, sister?”

Ophelia asked as if she were dumbfounded.

However, Claire smiled as if she was satisfied.

“Well, you’ll find out when you go back to the mansion… . Please go and check it out… . Ophelia.”

Claire, who had been laughing weakly, fell limp.

Although there was still a lifeline attached, anyone could see that he was close to death.

“… Something is a little ominous, but is this okay?”

Ophelia had no answer to my question.