A Sly Trick

"Haha, hahaha."

It sounded like she found the whole thing utterly ridiculous yet strangely entertaining. Aria laughed as she reached out. Grab— For a split second I thought she was about to rip my mask off and nearly jumped out of my skin, but her hand closed around my throat instead. Then she began to squeeze. Tight—

"Urk!"

An overwhelming pressure crushed my windpipe, completely at odds with her slender arm. I thrashed, desperate to break free, but it only made things worse. The more I struggled, the harder she pressed.

While choking the life out of me, Aria’s eyes sparkled with pure delight. In a gentle, almost sweet voice she asked, “How fascinating. Aren’t you afraid of death?”

Of course I’m afraid.

I’d already died once, so I understood the value of life better than anyone. Wasn’t that exactly why I was struggling so hard to prevent the coming apocalypse? But I couldn’t say anything honest here. The moment I begged, “Please, spare me,” she would kill ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me without hesitation. Her kind despised ordinary reactions.

I looked straight at her and forced the corners of my mouth into a smirk.

“From the start… ugh… you never planned to listen anyway. What do you even want from me? If you’re going to kill me, then just do it already.”

I had to keep provoking her. Madwomen required their own twisted logic—pride, bravado, arrogance, whatever. They needed something to obsess over, something worth throwing their lives away like scraps of paper. I figured this level of defiance counted as impressive insanity. Besides, I was currently the only person who could help her, so she wasn’t actually going to kill me.

But I had badly underestimated Aria’s madness.

“It’s getting more and more interesting?”

Instead of loosening, her grip tightened even further. Crack—

Fuck.

“Kehk… urk!”

“Hehe. It was a rather impressive display of madness, but still a little disappointing. I suppose it can’t compare to him?”

My vision began to blur. Was this how I died?

“We met as kindred in a different sense. Still… well, it can’t be helped.”

I really don’t want to die this pathetically.

Consciousness sank toward the darkness.

Now that my resistance had completely vanished, Aria let out a soft laugh as she watched me. To anyone else it would look like I had stopped breathing—dead or unconscious—but…

He’s not dead yet.

There was no fooling Aria, who knew the human body inside and out. His stubborn refusal to give up hope until the very end was honestly amusing. She decided to play along just a little longer.

He resembled the person she was searching for, at least in appearance. And above all…

What kind of face will he make when all hope disappears?

She wanted to gift him despair. So, to heighten the coming agony, Aria ever so slightly eased the pressure in her hand.

Right then—

Ptooey.

“····!”

My eyes snapped open and I spat straight into the corner of her eye. Sticky blood clung to her lashes. The sudden shock made her grip vanish completely, releasing me.

The instant I was free I kicked off the ground and sprinted. In that brief window I had bitten my tongue with the last of my strength, drawing blood, then spat it into her face to blind her. It was a bold, quick-witted move—but my opponent was simply too strong.

“How amusing.”

Aria didn’t even bother wiping the blood away. She immediately dashed toward the exit. Her speed far exceeded any normal human’s and easily outstripped mine. She cut off my path to the exit, eager to tear off my mask. I was literally a rat trapped in a cage. What kind of expression would I make now?

While she entertained herself with those pleasant thoughts and wiped the blood from her eye, she froze at the unexpected sight before her.

“Huff… huff…”

I was gasping for air, yet I refused to let go of what I held. I hadn’t run for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the exit at all. Instead I’d gone straight for the dagger the assassin she’d killed had dropped.

Gripping the Dagger of Distortion, I looked at her and smiled.

“Well? What do you think of my little trick, Saintess?”

The pleasant expression she had worn until that moment twisted in an instant.

Phew. I really almost died back there.

It had been a gamble in every sense of the word, but it worked. Sure, my mouth was now a shredded mess, but that was far better than dying immediately. In terms of raw power I was no match for Aria. How could I possibly fight someone whose physical abilities had long since left humanity behind?

Running away would have been pointless too. Even if I ran, she would catch me in seconds. If I’d had decent stamina it might have been different, but with my brain already starving for oxygen, sprinting blindly wouldn’t have taken me far.

To survive, I needed a weapon that could actually threaten her. The Dagger of Distortion—which applied a debuff from the slightest graze—was the perfect tool for the situation. Of course it only worked if I could actually cut her, but compared to the helpless beating I’d been taking moments earlier, it was a massive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠step forward.

And then I decided to provoke her even more.

“…Saintess? Why the long face?”

The deliberate use of the title made her stare at me with ice-cold eyes. Then she removed her mask.

Beneath it was a beauty so radiant it almost hurt to look at. Before her corruption, she had been called the Saintess of Benevolence for her purity. Her flawless skin, delicate features, and vivid eyes truly looked as if a god had personally carved them. Yet that same face instantly crumpled into something demonic. With one hand she crushed the mask to pieces.

Crunch—

Fuck. How is that even the same person?

“Just how did you know…?”

Killing intent stabbed into me like needles. The woman who had treated everything like a game until now was truly, genuinely furious.

I knew she was the Saintess because I’d read the original story, but I couldn’t say that. So I gave the most plausible excuse I could invent.

“…It’s pretty well-known that the Saintess of the Solennea Church has pure white hair.”

“No. That alone isn’t enough to figure it out.”

Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

Logically, no sane person would connect a psychotic woman who desecrated corpses to the Saintess just because of hair color. But—

“I took a wild guess and it hit the mark. Turns out my guessing skills aren’t half bad.”

Reason and logic were unnecessary when dealing with a madwoman. If I was going to play the part of a lunatic, I had to commit.

“Nonsense. Who exactly are you?”

Facing her fierce glare, I raised my hands theatrically.

“I’m just a guy who came to the ball for fun and ended up getting threatened by a crazy murderer. That’s all.”

“…It looks like I’ll have to rip that mouth of yours open.”

She looked ready to charge at any second. I kept my mouth shut and raised the dagger.

Just one graze. That’s all I need.

I waited for her to rush me. At that exact moment, voices echoed from near the exit.

The guards who had been stationed outside were finally entering the ballroom.

Sensing their presence, Aria let out a hollow laugh.

“Heh. You really are lucky.”

Killing every single guard would be child’s play for her, but if this many people died the trail would inevitably lead back to her. She still needed to maintain her position as Saintess for now, so she decided to withdraw.

I didn’t find him, but it can’t be helped. We’ll meet eventually anyway…

It would have been better if she could have dyed him in her own color first. Suppressing that dark desire, Aria smashed straight through one of the ballroom walls with a single strike.

I stared blankly at the destruction. She turned back and gave me a playful wave.

“Until next time, then. Young Master Fox?”

Even though I had learned her true identity, she didn’t seem worried at all. She knew better than anyone the reputation she had carefully built in the present. No matter how much I talked, no one would believe me. And even if someone did, the Church would step in and silence them.