Ch.141Drunkard (5)

“······I just sobered up, that’s all.”

Selena was always drunk.

Whether it was alcohol.

Or longing.

Or sadness.

She staggered with sorrowful steps.

As if she would sink forever.

But.

Intoxication inevitably leads to sobriety.

Because reality exists outside the alcohol.

The drunkard was no different.

Nothing had changed.

She had simply sobered up.

From the intoxication and alcohol that had plagued her for so long.

From memories.

From her younger sister.

“I’ve been drunk for too long.”

The woman laments softly.

The official who had been looking down at her for a while clicks his tongue.

“Such pathetic hypocrisy.”

“······.”

“I’ll make sure you die in the most painful way possible.”

A magical oath.

If he simply overloaded the mark imprinted on her heart, killing Selena would be easier than crushing an insect.

But instead of killing her, the official hands her over to his subordinates.

A thick mockery hangs on his lips.

“A traitor shouldn’t be dispatched so easily.”

The official commands.

“Lock her in the underground. In a prison where not even light enters. I will personally strip the flesh from the traitor’s bones.”

Afterward.

Crimson robes move busily.

The woman is dragged away helplessly.

“······.”

Her retreating figure.

For a brief moment, it seemed as if a speck of black shadow clung to her slender back.

Soon it was a shade that scattered like a dream.

***

In an underground prison where not even a ray of sunlight entered.

Selena was bound in chains.

Three days had already passed in this blood-soaked scene.

Perhaps because she hadn’t had even a sip of water during that time?

“······.”

The woman had weakened to her limits.

Unfocused eyes, blood dried to a dark red, wounds festering on her thighs.

She looked like a flower that had been trampled recklessly.

However.

If asked whether she was broken, the answer was no.

The drunkard was merely waiting for an opportunity.

An opportunity to deliver one final blow to those bastards.

Creeeeak-

The iron bars open with a screech.

A man walks in afterward.

It was the official who had imprisoned Selena here.

After continuing her detention without any special measures for the past three days.

Today, it seemed he finally had something in mind.

“Have you been well?”

A perfunctory question.

In the man’s hands were various torture instruments—a hacksaw, pliers, knives, and more.

His promise to kill her painfully didn’t seem to be a joke after all.

Was he deliberately trying to intimidate her?

The official lays out the instruments one by one before her eyes.

Making it easy to anticipate what pain awaited.

“Then, I’ll make one final offer.”

Before starting everything.

The man makes a final proposal.

“I won’t worry about the lost data. Even burning down a branch… well, I’ll just consider them insignificant pawns.”

A tone as if bestowing mercy.

“The Master still needs your power.”

“Ha.”

“If you express your willingness to cooperate, the Master will embrace you again. It means mercy will be granted to you.”

“Bull…shit… It’s not mercy, but that you still have some use for me.”

“True. It’s not easy to plant a spy in the academy’s leadership.”

“Shameless bastards…”

“Choose carefully.”

The hacksaw the man pulls out gleams precariously.

As if ready to strip flesh and bone at any moment.

The official whispers.

“The Master’s resurrection is imminent. When that time comes, even your younger sister might receive mercy. Haven’t you been longing for your family all these years? Will you give that up now?”

Younger sister.

That word in particular pierces her lungs.

Unconsciously, Lianne comes to mind.

-Sister!

Even now, that voice remained vivid.

How could I ever forget you?

You were my star even in the darkest depths, the only meaning I ever loved in my life.

My love as your sister never changed for a single moment.

But.

“Go to hell.”

Lukewarm tears roll down her cheeks.

But her eyes remain wide open.

Because she had decided not to be bound anymore.

Selena Drunkard.

For her, family no longer referred only to her younger sister.

The mentor who had taken her in from rock bottom.

The fellow professors who bickered with her but stayed by her side.

Even the students who always greeted her with bright smiles.

‘Galimar Academy.’

All of that was her home, the woman’s family.

It was an affection she had realized belatedly.

And.

-Master.

A certain boy.

A child who had taken many of her firsts.

A disciple she was both grateful to and sorry for.

She wanted to feel no shame for that kindness, even at the end.

Even to such an adult.

-Well, because I’m the disciple of a good person.

-That must be proof as well.

-Proof that beneath your indifferent exterior lives a warm heart.

For the voice that called her a good person.

Selena stares directly at the man.

For the first time, life shines in her previously dull red eyes.

“Five years of being manipulated by you people is enough.”

“How unfortunate.”

Perhaps sensing that persuasion wouldn’t work?

The official clicks his tongue as if annoyed.

Finally, he extends the hacksaw.

As her end was being declared.

“Well… if that’s your decision, I’ll send you to meet your beloved sister.”

“I won’t meet her. Lianne will be in heaven.”

The woman smiles as if relieved.

Knowing the end that was coming.

“A bitch like me will probably fall to hell.”

“What a pity.”

“And you’ll all be joining me in that hell.”

“What?”

The official had let his guard down.

Selena didn’t miss her opportunity.

It was the trump card she had hidden until the very end.

“Ugh…!”

She infuses mana into the mark on her heart.

A device she had inscribed with her own magical power just before arriving here.

Whoosh-!

An overload occurs in her internal flow.

Energy circulating at high speed.

The primary [Oath] that existed and the secondary [Resistance] mark she had added.

The two collide violently, generating enormous power.

“You, don’t tell me…!”

The official’s eyes fill with panic.

It was an explosion caused by the synthesis of magical formulas.

A self-destructive or suicidal attack that creates an artificial collision by sacrificing all the mana dwelling in one’s life.

It contained enough magical power to easily blow away a mere branch office.

Selena sneers.

“Let’s go. To hell.”

In the slowly passing moment.

The woman closes her eyes.

Her body was hot. Soon it would be shattered into pieces… no, not even ashes would remain of her flesh.

Feeling the mana running wild, she smiles.

‘What if.’

A meaningless supposition.

Yet at the end, one can’t help but think about it.

In the contemplation that concludes a long life.

‘What if we had been different?’

At the end of her monologue was none other than the golden-haired boy.

The golden-haired boy who was always kind.

‘If I hadn’t been drowning in sorrow…’

What if.

If we had met in a relationship that wasn’t twisted, could student Judas and I have had a better relationship?

I resolved to be indifferent to death… but you alone remain as my lingering attachment.

Thank you, I’m sorry, I care for you—I never properly conveyed any of my feelings, and they swirl in my head like an unwritten letter.

How ridiculous.

‘Perhaps I… you.’

The monologue doesn’t reach its conclusion.

The end that had chased her to the edge of life. Just as she was exhaling her final breath.

Snap!

“That’s enough.”

A bursting sound like a finger snap rings out.

Then a voice is heard.

“Break.”

Crash-!

With the sound of shattering glass, pitch-black darkness envelops the drunkard.

Shadows seep between her skin.

Then.

The energy that was about to explode vanishes without a trace.

As if someone had told a lie.

“······?”

Selena expresses confusion.

She had anticipated death and prepared for the pain that would follow, but her limbs remained intact rather than being torn apart.

Even the mark that had been painfully squeezing her heart could no longer be felt.

It was strange.

From behind, she feels a comfortable warmth.

As if being embraced by someone familiar.

The woman opens her closed eyes.

What she sees is…

“Master.”

“Student Judas…?”

None other than the boy.

The boy who had been the subject of her just-muttered monologue, the recipient of her unspoken words.

Their gazes, meeting by chance, connect briefly yet enduringly.

“I came to save you.”

The snake whispers as if answering her question.

A kind smile, like always, now hangs on his lips.

“Didn’t I tell you? That I would take responsibility.”

Why was it?

A scene naturally replays in her mind.

Part of a conversation they had shared alone in the garden when they attended the banquet together.

For a moment, the instances overlap.

-Well, what do you think?

-If it’s true… will you take responsibility like some superstition?

-Gladly.

-If that’s what you wish.

Just like then.

The snake was embracing the drunkard.

As if he would never let go.

“I’ve come to keep my promise.”

His eyelids slightly raised.

The pupils beyond them were clearly shining.