episode_0281

Chapter 281 – Red Truth

‘Thank goodness.’

I barely stopped it before Sara died.

With a sense of relief, I unleashed the accompanying fury on Verdan.

“Verdan Roosevelt. Are you a possessed person?”

“Ha! Why ask when you already know? Yes, I am the culprit behind the disappearance cases. Not all of them, of course.”

“Not all of them?”

“Right. Some madman piggybacked and committed abductions. Well, that’s none of my business anyway.”

Verdan grinned, looking at me.

The emotions of anger, mockery, and amusement in his eyes sent shivers down my spine.

“What brings our great Ruan Friuli-nim here? Surely you haven’t come for that slut?”

“Watch your mouth. Sara isn’t like that.”

“Puhahahat! What, you don’t like it when someone else calls your whore a whore? Then you should have hidden her properly. Why expose her and cause a fuss!”

Whoosh!

Verdan surged forward with an irritated shout.

His speed clearly exceeded what I could follow.

I didn’t know why, but in terms of pure physical specs, he was superior to Cain.

Crash!

When I blocked his thrusting punch, an immense shock slammed into my entire body.

In just one hit, my arm fractured.

I quickly activated my Incarnation, regenerated my arm, and took a combat stance.

“Hehehehe! Were you surprised? Well, I’m surprised too. I didn’t know I could get this strong. So far, no matter how many abilities I’ve stolen from other women, it was never like this. She’s definitely a named character, even if she’s a supporting one. Don’t you think?”

“…You stole abilities? Is that your unique ability?”

“Yes. I can steal everything from a person with whom I share affection. Stats, unique abilities, and even skills, all of it.”

That means he currently possesses all of Sara’s abilities in addition to his original ones.

The only fortunate thing is that he doesn’t seem to be able to use the abilities of multiple women simultaneously.

Even so, the disadvantage remains.

‘My magic is on par with his. Everything else far surpasses mine.’

The only thing I have an advantage in is regeneration.

However, since I have to protect Sara while fighting, I don’t know how long I can last.

All I can do is hope that others join before my strength runs out.

So I must buy time.

“But it’s really strange, isn’t it? I only pulled off a marriage scam once, even on Earth.”

I posed a question to Verdan, who harbored doubts about his own abilities.

“I have a question. If it was simply to steal abilities, why did you sacrifice yourself in the labyrinth barrier? According to the information, you could have easily ended up with Sara in the future anyway, right? Wasn’t that too big of a risk?”

“What? You brazen bastard. You dared to screw that woman right in front of me after I fell, and you have the nerve to ask that? If I hadn’t done this, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance. You son of a bitch. Huh? Isn’t that right?”

“……”

It seems he retained some consciousness back then.

And it wasn’t when Sara was staunchly refusing, but precisely when she was intoxicated by pheromones and completely succumbed.

So in the end, is all this my fault for committing rape under the pretense of doing it for Sara?

‘That’s not it.’

Even if I hadn’t done such a thing, Verdan would have eventually betrayed Sara.

“And why are you acting like this with someone who knows the risks? Of course, I made all the preparations. So, is that the end of your questions? Are you ready to die?”

“Wait, just one more…”

“Don’t try to buy time! You son of a bitch! Die with that slut!!”

Crash!

Verdan leaped high, then spun and brought his heel down.

Both my arms were so strained that the bones cracked.

With a crunching sound, bones tougher than steel shattered, and pain spread.

Usually, such an attack isn’t used often due to its large motion, but I couldn’t evade it because of Sara, so I had no choice but to block it.

Verdan retracted his foot, then spun sideways and delivered a roundhouse kick.

Wham!

My shoulder twisted.

The Flame of Purity quickly healed the wounds, but mental fatigue accumulated.

Landing on the ground, Verdan grinned and provoked.

“Your devotion is really something, huh? Was that slut’s p*ssy that amazing?”

“……”

“Hey, I’ll make you an offer. If you just withdraw here, I’ll let you live. Huh? You have other girls, don’t you? Aren’t you sad? If you die, those girls will scatter and go taste other men’s d*cks, won’t they?”

“Shut up.”

Such pathetic instigation.

The trust built between me and everyone else won’t be shaken by something like this.

More than anything, even if I really died and left a will telling them to find other men, I had a feeling they’d probably live as spinsters their entire lives.

There’s probably no doubt about it.

It would be a blessing if they didn’t commit suicide, saying they’d die with me.

Of course, a guy who deceives and kills women for his own benefit wouldn’t know such a thing.

“Puhahahat! Did I hit a nerve? Well, women who would be with a rapist like you, that says it all. After I kill you, maybe I should try to seduce those women?”

I wanted to smash that grinning face with a chop.

His attitude, treating everyone as loose women, believing he was good enough for them, made me nauseous.

I couldn’t hold back and retorted.

“Impossible. Your tiny d*ck won’t satisfy them.”

“What?”

“You’ve seen it, haven’t you? I’m quite amazing. You’ll only be disappointed and kicked out.”

“You bastard!!”

A man’s d*ck size is a serious issue!

Perhaps an inferiority complex towards me was implicitly present, as Verdan reacted violently.

Verdan’s offensive continued.

Perhaps due to the provocation, he moved solely to kill me, instead of using Sara as he had been.

Thanks to that, my range of movement became a little freer, but the number of accumulated blows increased, so the fight was still unfavorable.

Gradually, my regeneration couldn’t keep up with the rate at which wounds appeared.

“Do more! Do more, you bastard!”

Maybe Verdan has a small d*ck.

Even though he had beaten me to a pulp, he still couldn’t calm down.

The tough fight continued.

Crackle!

“Ugh!”

In the end, with all my ribs shattered, I groaned and was pushed back.

Coincidentally, it was right in front of Sara.

When I turned my head, Sara, whose eyes met mine, twisted her face hard and opened her mouth as if she couldn’t understand.

“Why? Why are you doing all that?”

“……”

“You ruined my life, so why are you trying to save me now?! Just let me die!!”

Having lost even her will to live due to Verdan’s betrayal, she wished to be ignored.

However, that was too difficult for me.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I will save you no matter what.”

“Why? Is it because my body is precious, as Professor Verdan-nim said? Is that why?”

“That’s not it. I…”

I cut off my words there.

Going any further would be disrespectful to my other lovers, and to Sara as well.

But for Sara, that seemed to be enough.

“You love me? Do you do that to someone you love? Huh? Make some sense!”

“It might not be love. But I won’t give up on you. I will save you no matter what.”

“You idiot…”

The conversation ended there.

I wanted to talk more, but Verdan didn’t allow us the time.

I had to endure the relentless barrage of attacks.

*

“You pesky fly-like bastard! Stop running and just die quietly!”

Bang! Boom! Crash!

Under Verdan’s brutal attacks, Ruan was thrown around, becoming covered in wounds.

It was an overwhelming situation.

Ruan wasn’t just taking hits, but his flame couldn’t penetrate the combination of earth magic and aura, which had a reputation for defense.

More precisely, counterattacks were flying in and destroying his body before he could even penetrate.

Sara bit her lip tightly.

‘Fool, idiot.’

She knew Ruan’s characteristic well. Though she hadn’t personally confirmed it, she had often seen him grow stronger whenever he declared a rape.

The moments he committed rape were always only when his life was in danger.

Yes. Just like now.

He could probably subdue someone like Verdan very easily if he just decided to commit rape.

The problem was that she was the only woman here.

In other words, to defeat Verdan, he would have to rape her.

This was why Ruan did not declare rape, even as he was continuously wounded and facing the risk of losing his life.

Ruan’s thoughts were clear.

He probably didn’t want to inflict more pain on her, who had already been betrayed by Verdan.

Knowing that, Sara agonized, and also hated herself.

Because her options had sharply tilted in one direction.

To hate him so much, yet be swayed by something like this, she truly was nothing more than a slut, just as Professor Verdan-nim said.

Sara made up her mind and shouted.

“Ruan! Rape me!”

Ruan paused for a moment.

Bang!

And in that interval, Verdan’s rushing fist struck his abdomen.

Ruan was pushed back in front of her.

“Gasp! Cough! What… are you saying?”

Blood gushed from his open mouth.

Sara clenched her fist, realizing he was severely injured because of her, and spoke again.

“I told you to rape me. Then you can win, right? Or not?”

“……”

“So rape me! I… don’t want to die either.”

Because of someone, she wanted to live.

When she subtly hinted, Ruan, whose eyes met hers, gave an unexpected answer.

“No.”

“Why?! I’ve given my permission. Don’t feel any useless guilt! Act like the rapist you are!”

“No. This isn’t just a problem between us. I promised not to commit rape as much as possible now.”

“You’ll die doing that!”

He’s stubbornly insisting on something useless to the very end.

I don’t know who he promised, but it’s probably either Deborah or Alisa.

I acknowledge his love for them, but if he dies, it’s all for nothing. They would also rather him have a relationship with her and live, than die upholding his fidelity.

However, Ruan’s thoughts remained unchanged.

“I won’t die. Don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worrying about you! I just… developed a little regret for life.”

“Then, will you help me?”

“What?”

“Professor-nim, tell me directly. How Verdan Roosevelt will attack. Then we can win.”

“That…”

Sara looked at Verdan.

His movements were perfectly identical to hers. Lacking any combat sense, he relied entirely on her techniques.

He probably couldn’t even think of applying them differently.

So if she just told him his next move, it might be possible to win.

“But I can’t keep up with Professor Verdan-nim’s movements. He’s too fast.”

“I’ll hold him off as much as possible. Let’s combine our strength and defeat him.”

“……”

Would it really be possible?

Sara was doubtful, but decided to trust Ruan one more time.

“Alright. I’ll try.”

“That’s a good thought. Then…”

“Chatter, chatter, so noisy!!”

Crash!

Before Ruan could finish his words, Verdan’s fist, having run out of patience, surged forward.

Ruan’s body, having blocked the attack, jolted violently.

But even amidst that, he stood his ground, unmoving, and endured.

So she could see as clearly as possible.

Sara exerted all her concentration and began to observe Verdan’s movements.