Chapter 125: Breaking the Spirit - 12
Chapter 125: Breaking the Spirit - 12
The moment Jiha's blade touched Asira's throat, Kamain's mouth fell open.
Mayan, still bound as the hostage, flinched hard and blinked rapidly.
Even Asira looked genuinely startled.
Only Jiha's expression held a soft smile.
"Now then. What do we do?"
"Y-you lunatic. What do you think you're doing? Put that away!"
Flustered, Kamain stumbled over his own words.
"You first. Put yours away, then we'll talk."
"......"
Kamain started to pull the blade back from Mayan's throat, then froze.
If he abandoned this hostage play now, he was truly dead.
Even Asira couldn't cover for him after he'd gone this far.
Kamain forced a strained smile.
"Stop bluffing......"
A trickle of blood ran.
Jiha pressed the blade into Asira's neck, and her skin split, a stream of blood trickling free.
Seeing the pale blue blood, Jiha feigned surprise.
"Demons bleed blue, huh?"
"......"
Asira shut her eyes and said nothing.
As Jiha's blade bit into Asira's throat, Kamain shouted desperately.
"Stop it! You crazy bastard! Do you have any idea what you're doing right now?!"
"No, I don't. Do I need to know?"
Jiha's oily reply made Kamain's eyes waver with panic.
"If you hurt Asira, you won't walk away from this either!"
"I'll just pin it on you."
"......"
Kamain looked utterly dumbfounded.
He'd prepared himself for everything and launched a hostage scheme, only to end up the one being threatened.
As Kamain shot him a wary look, Jiha hid his true thoughts behind a sneer.
Kamain wants Asira.
A normal hostage-taker would demand money and an escape route.
But Kamain wanted Asira.
As a Unique, her authority could likely erase every one of his crimes and make them vanish, but that wasn't the only reason.
Kamain personally desired Asira.
"Ah, Asira......"
Even when Kamain called out to her with such longing, Asira kept her mouth shut.
She'd realized what Jiha had been trying to confirm before they entered. She obeyed in silence.
"N-no. That's not it. This whole thing...... you're in on it together, aren't you?"
Kamain's voice cracked as he shouted.
Taking a Unique hostage was so far beyond common sense he couldn't process it.
Jiha slowly shook his head, then, keeping his blade at Asira's throat, circled around to stand behind her.
With his free hand, he wrapped his arm around Asira's slender waist and laughed coldly.
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
Jiha grabbed Asira's breast through her clothes.
The full breast overflowed his hand even as he gripped it, the flesh deforming seductively.
"Nngh......"
Asira, who had kept her eyes closed and stayed silent, flinched and trembled at the sudden touch.
Jiha paid no mind. He kneaded the breast over the skintight leotard, squeezing and releasing, over and over.
As the soft flesh spilled between Jiha's fingers, Kamain stared blankly, mouth agape, blinking stupidly.
Mayan looked frozen where she stood.
"You think Asira's cooperating with me? You think a woman like your master would endure this kind of humiliation?"
Of course, Asira really was enduring it.
She trusted Jiha, had declared she would follow him completely, and was actually doing it.
But right now, Kamain was in no state to make that kind of cold judgment.
A blade was at the throat of the woman he desired, and another man was groping and toying with her right before his eyes—how many men could keep their composure watching that?
"You...... you son of a bitch......"
A strange, keening sound escaped Kamain, something between a scream and a sob.
He had to admit Jiha had seized full control.
"Stop it! Stop!!"
At Kamain's pleading cry, Jiha tilted his head, still gripping her breast.
"Why should I? The feel is incredible."
"Nn......"
A moan slipped from Asira as Jiha's hand held her, and she struggled to suppress the ticklish sensation.
"Don't you want to hear more good sounds?"
"......"
Quietly, Jiha prodded at the memories Kamain must have kept buried.
Back then, it was Yura and Jiha who had been tangled together—but did Kamain have the presence of mind to tell the difference?
Jiha slid his hand down and began to unzip the leotard. Kamain screamed hard enough to shake the room.
"I said stop!! You son of a bitch!!"
Clang.
Shrieking, Kamain hurled his dagger away.
He'd abandoned the hostage play. His eyes, twisted with rage, glared at Jiha and the woman in Jiha's arms.
"Mayan. Can you untie the ropes yourself?"
"......Impossible."
She must have been drugged. Mayan rarely sounded this weak.
She could normally endure a bleeding neck without complaint.
Jiha gave Kamain an order.
"Untie all of Mayan's ropes."
"......"
Kamain cast a complicated look toward Asira, then dropped his head.
Jiha read disgust in that look, and understood.
He's reached the point where he'd rather deny and reject a woman he can't possess.
Kamain clenched his teeth and untied every one of Mayan's ropes.
Through it all, Jiha never lowered his guard. He kept the blade pressed against Asira's throat, holding her from behind.
Mayan staggered to her feet on her own.
When she shot Kamain a venomous glare, Jiha gave the order.
"Don't waste time. Go get treated. Tell everyone not to come in."
"......Will you be all right?"
"If I died here, shouldn't you be happy about it?"
Jiha's voice dripped with sarcasm, but Mayan's exhausted face still showed hesitation.
"Understood. I will follow your orders. Please be careful."
"Oh, you worried about me?"
"......"
Mayan didn't answer the way she usually did, and walked out.
Now only three people remained in the room. Kamain's voice was weary.
"There. It's done. Now let Asira go, quickly......"
"What are you talking about."
Jiha pressed the blade even harder into Asira's throat.
Kamain stared in disbelief.
"Wh- what are you doing?"
"......"
Even Asira, the one at knifepoint, turned to look back at Jiha in shock.
She'd thought the situation would end once Mayan was rescued, and that was why she'd endured it all.
But with a blade against her throat, even a Unique had no options.
"My situation is just getting started."
Jiha's voice was cold.
"Kill yourself."
"......What?"
"Jiha, what on earth do you......"
When Asira tried to speak, Jiha pressed the blade into her neck.
The chill of the metal made her flinch reflexively, but she still raised her voice.
"I said I'd follow you, but this is different!"
"I'm talking to him. And don't make me angry."
"......"
At that calm tone, both Kamain and Asira—master and subordinate—froze.
They realized Jiha really might do it. The blade at Asira's throat was not a simple threat.
With the situation firmly in hand, Jiha spoke.
"Kamain, your future is already over. There's nothing good waiting for you alive. If you live and stand trial, all you'll do is stain Asira's honor and drag her down. Your death is the most natural thing in the world."
"......"
Every crime Kamain had committed was a serious problem.
Taking Mayan—Enril's closest confidant—hostage and barricading himself carried enormous political weight.
From Enril's side, there was no choice but to demand the harshest punishment.
"Taking a Super Rare hostage also means you challenged a Unique's authority. A conflict between Asira and Enril escalates straight to the Legends they serve."
"......"
"It becomes a pretext for the Snow Queen and the Fox to fight."
The Queen was the Legend Enril served. The Fox meant Cheonho, the Legend Yura and Asira served.
"I can't let Blue Seal tear itself apart in a civil war over one nobody like you."
Jiha said it without meaning a word of it. In truth, he wanted exactly that.
But this was the correct argument—the words meant for Asira to hear.
Kamain gritted his teeth.
"......Don't make me laugh. So you want me to kill myself? I can just kill you right here and bury it all!"
"Mayan's already outside. She'll report this to Enril. You can't bury it."
"Then I just have to persuade the dark elf!"
At Kamain's outburst, Jiha sighed.
"Are you starting to realize the bullshit coming out of your mouth? You know the world doesn't work that smoothly. You're finished. Completely."
"......"
At Jiha's matter-of-fact declaration, Kamain stood frozen, mouth hanging open.
"You've splattered shit everywhere like a madman. You think everyone else will just hold their noses and live with the stench? Killing you solves the problem. Hell, even if you stayed alive, do you have any guarantee you won't pull this again?"
Jiha's voice was frigid.
"Let's say you repent and become a whole new person—not that I'd believe it for a second. Would Asira then drop the matter? Could she bury every past crime, every bit of what happened here, and just live with her mouth shut?"
"......"
"You two don't fit together. To end this cleanly, either both of you die, or one of you dies."
At Jiha's conclusion, Kamain clenched his jaw.
Jiha was right.
Even if he somehow survived this room, Asira would lead him to trial. Execution was all but guaranteed.
He'd tried to prevent that by taking Mayan hostage to bend Asira's heart, but Jiha's interference had made him the one being threatened instead.
"Only one of you can live. What'll it be?"
Kamain's eyes moved from Jiha to Asira.
Jiha smiled faintly, opened his mouth wide, and sank his fangs into Asira's throat.
"Ahng......"
Asira, who had been staring straight ahead, suddenly jolted and trembled as Jiha bit down.
At that strange moan, Kamain's eyes went wide with shock.
Jiha withdrew the blade. He drank Asira's blood freely, and with both hands now free, he kneaded her breasts like dough.
Squish. Squish.
A man's hands mauled the firm breasts of the demon knight without restraint.
With every movement of his fingers, the white leotard deformed, and the side of her breast spilled out between his knuckles.
"Ugh, nngh."
Every time Jiha's fingers moved, a deep, aching jolt went through her chest. Asira, her neck bitten, trembled and lifted her chin toward the ceiling, moaning sweetly.
Asira couldn't resist right now, and she couldn't use her healing arts.
It was the perfect condition for Bloodsucking to claim a Special Ability.
Jiha had engineered this entire situation with that goal in mind.
"Ah, ah......"
Asira, cradled in Jiha's arms, eyes shut, gasping for breath.
Kamain's face said he couldn't believe it even seeing it with his own eyes.
What he'd craved had already become another man's possession. The knowledge that he'd never have it—it shattered something inside him.
At Kamain's reaction, Jiha laughed.
Kamain had no presence of mind left to think anything was strange about watching Jiha drink her blood.
"Nn, ngh......"
He could only stare resentfully at Asira as a rosy blush bloomed across her face and faint moans escaped her lips.
In his head, Jiha and Asira had already become bound together.
When desire can't be possessed, the mind learns to deny it.
"......Kill the bitch."
At Kamain's hoarse voice, Asira's eyes flew open wide even as Jiha drank from her.
The subordinate she'd trusted so deeply—even after she'd learned his loyalty was clearly a mask, she'd never fully abandoned him—was telling someone to kill her.
Kamain turned his gaze away from Asira and spoke sharply.
"You're right. Common. This is the only way I survive. My head's cleared up."
"......Ka, Kamain. Ah, ah......"
Asira called his name in disbelief, then a moan thick with pleasure escaped her.
Reflexively, she clapped a hand over her own mouth as if she couldn't believe she'd made that sound. Kamain glared at her with venom.
"Don't say my name! I've hated you from the start. Hated you so much I was going insane!"
"......"
"Because I was born from a father whose face I'd never even seen, soldiers raped my mother until she died. Right when I was about to die too...... you appeared and saved me."
Kamain's voice rose into a scream.
"When I was young, I really thought...... I thought you were one of those noble knights from the stories. A beautiful holy knight cutting down villains and dispensing justice! You were so dazzling...... so beautiful I couldn't stop myself from loving you."
Kamain glared at Asira through tear-brimmed eyes.
"Until I found out you were in league with the same bastards."
"......"
"The ones who murdered my mother and tried to kill me—they were Cheonho's men. And you were serving Cheonho too. Even after I learned the truth, I couldn't believe it. Then why the hell did you save me?"
Asira had no words.
"Do you know how my heart collapsed when you proudly told me Cheonho had guaranteed my life? When I asked you why you did it, do you remember what you said?"
"That's......"
"Because every life is precious...... What a masterpiece. Why don't you try saying that to my dead mother?"
Kamain's voice quavered as the emotion poured out.
"I was so pathetically grateful that my enemy let me live! Did you think I cried from being moved? I was losing my mind!!"
"......"
Asira couldn't say a word.
She was only trying hard to suppress the moans of pleasure rising while Jiha drank her blood. But Kamain noticed the woman's trembling, and it fueled his fury.
The affection he'd never been able to reach was gone. Only hatred remained.
"That I ever believed in you, ever admired you even for a moment—it proves I was a madman!"
"......"
"Once I hit rock bottom, I asked you why. With my skill, I could've risen through the ranks just by staying put. I could've had a real relationship. So why did I go around committing such atrocious crimes?"
Tears streaming, Kamain glared at Asira.
"Because your hypocrisy drove me insane! It suffocated me! I wanted to repay the world for what happened to my mother! I wanted to kill you and that damned Cheonho! I swore I'd get the power to do it, no matter what!"
"......"
Silent tears ran down Asira's face.
Kamain roared.
"Don't cry! You don't even have the right to cry! Die and apologize to my mother!"
"......"
Asira quietly closed her eyes and shook her head.
The relationship was completely, irreparably broken. Jiha, his Bloodsucking nearly finished, pulled his lips away and smiled with satisfaction.
Asira gasped for breath, her voice a frayed whisper.
"Haa, haa. I'm sorry. I......"
"Don't apologize! It's already too late!"
Kamain shouted, then turned his demands on Jiha.
"Now hurry up and finish it! Kill that woman!"
"Is the melodrama over?"
At Jiha's calm mockery, Kamain's face stiffened.
"Funny how you're trying to quietly gloss over what I said. I told you to kill yourself. So why are you still standing there?"
"I don't care what happens to that woman anymore! Just kill her!"
"No, I admire the courage it took to shyly confess feelings you've kept hidden all this time, but......"
Jiha grinned.
"You haven't given me a reason to kill Asira and keep you alive."
"......"
Kamain's face turned rigid.
Jiha fully intended to kill him.
"You bastard......"
Kamain clenched his fists and rose. Jiha shoved Asira away.
The emotional shock and her overheated body left her unable to steady herself. She stumbled and collapsed to the floor.
As she trembled, panting for breath, Jiha threw a sharp warning at her.
"Don't interfere. You don't have the right to join this fight."
She couldn't use Mana anyway. She wouldn't be able to do anything.
Jiha and Kamain, two men, stared each other down.
Kamain, with nothing left to lose, bellowed wildly.
"I'll kill you!"
"For the first and last time, I agree with you."
Jiha's smile vanished. He advanced.
Time to finish this.