The Traitor's End

Vincent was nothing if not thorough in his betrayal. Even Ariel, who watched from the sidelines, could not help but admire the way he carved away at his victim piece by piece while somehow keeping him alive. Having spent so many years on the battlefield, he knew exactly how far a man could be pushed before death claimed him. Thanks to the magic cast upon the prisoner, the man felt every slice of skin and every gouge of his eyeballs, yet he could offer no resistance. Even with a gag in his mouth, the only signs of his torment were the drool spilling from his lips and the agonized groans that leaked through.

Ariel kindly applied healing magic to prolong the man's death, even after nine of his fingers had already been severed. “Khh… It has already been fifteen years…!” Thanks to her efforts, Vincent succeeded in cutting off all ten of his fingers, both ears, and three of his toes. The only reason he had spared the eyes was out of concern that the man might die too soon; it had nothing to do with any pangs of conscience. If Vincent had ever felt such a thing, he would never have been able to continue this horrific act in the first place.

“You will keep your promise, won’t you?”

Vincent turned to Ariel, who had been observing the scene from outside the iron bars, and flashed a bitter smile as he reconfirmed her earlier statement. She answered with a smile so bright it was almost blinding.

“Of course. Do I look like someone who would go back on her word?”

“Excellent. Most excellent.”

After all, he had already bought himself fifteen more years of life. Considering Vincent’s age, that was more than enough time to see him through to the end of his days. Still, just to be safe, he decided to secure another five years by beginning to slice off the rest of the man’s toes. If that still wasn’t enough, the final target would be those bloodshot eyes that looked ready to burst at any moment.

“By the way, don’t you feel any guilt at all?”

“Is there anything in this world more important than my own life? You are still young, my lady, so I suppose you have yet to learn how the world truly works.”

Now that he had gained some mental composure, Vincent even began to provoke Ariel. But she offered no reply. She simply watched the gruesome spectacle with a wide, delighted smile spread across her face.

“Grrrrgh…!”

“It’s impressive that you haven’t passed out yet.”

Only two toes remained on the man. Despite having endured the agony of having his flesh carved away while fully conscious, he continued to scream in pain. Vincent found himself genuinely impressed. It would have been far easier on the man if he had simply lost consciousness. Perhaps Ariel had done something to prevent that, precisely to torment Vincent with guilt, but that was none of his concern. He had taken countless lives before. If he simply thought of this as an interrogation to extract information, it was hardly anything special. He was almost curious what kind of mind could come up with such a simple condition.

This should be enough.

Having severed all the man’s fingers and toes and taken both ears, Vincent lightly brushed his hands together ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as he looked down at the chunks of flesh and pools of blood on the floor. He was already well into his sixties. Even if he lived another twenty years at most, this was more than enough time until his natural death. There was no longer any reason to dirty his hands further.

“Are you finished, Vincent?”

“Heh heh, yes. This should give me plenty of time.”

Ariel opened the iron bars and slowly approached as he rose with a cold smile. The man now lay on his side on the floor, emitting sounds that could have been screams or sobs. The sight of his fingers and toes severed in slightly different shapes made it painfully obvious that a human hand had done this, amplifying the horror.

“Now, shouldn’t you keep your promise, my lady?”

“Of course I will. But before that… aren’t you curious?”

“About what?”

Vincent looked puzzled when Ariel suddenly turned the question back on him. He had no interest in exchanging words. He simply wanted her to release him from this freezing iron cage as soon as possible. However, he decided to play along, fearing that upsetting her now might cost him the time he had just earned.

“Haven’t you ever found it strange? Why I would offer such generous terms?”

“That is…”

Of course he had. He had simply convinced himself that she must have underestimated him. Seeing him hesitate and swallow his words, Ariel let out a small chuckle and leaned forward slightly. Her hand reached toward the man who lay trembling on the cold stone floor. A yellowish stain had spread across his trousers; he had wet himself.

“Does this face really not ring any bells?”

“I may be old, but I am not so senile that I cannot recognize an acquaintance.”

“Really? Then this might be different.”

Ariel grabbed the man’s hair, lifted his head, and personally removed his gag. She then snapped her fingers lightly. Vincent glanced around, wondering if she had cast some spell, but nothing seemed to change.

“What in the world…?”

As Vincent turned his head back toward the man whose face Ariel was forcibly holding up, his eyes gradually widened. The face was hideous, covered in various fluids leaking from his eyes, nose, and mouth, but it was not unrecognizable. The eyes were slightly slanted, the nose blunt, and the jawline rather sharp. His hair was a light brown that reminded Vincent of his own younger days. Realizing the man’s identity, Vincent could only repeat a low, strangled groan. “Uh… uh…”

“Well? Does it come back to you now?”

“You… you filthy whore…!”

Bang!

Vincent lunged at Ariel with her bright smile still directed at him, only to collapse as if he had slammed into something. As expected, Ariel had anticipated this and had already erected an invisible magical wall. Her foresight proved flawless.

“Idan…! How can you be…!”

At last, the man’s name escaped Vincent’s lips. How could he not know? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The man before him was his own beloved son, whom he had raised like a precious jewel.

“I figured your magic resistance would still be strong despite your age. So I cast a cognitive impairment spell directly on your son instead.”

A cognitive impairment spell cast directly on a person was essentially a form of hallucination. Those with strong mental fortitude or high magic resistance often resisted it, making it risky. That was why Ariel had come up with the reverse idea: instead of targeting Vincent, she would cast the spell on his son, making him perceive others as different people rather than altering appearances directly. The result, as could be seen, was a resounding success. It had driven Vincent to personally sever his own son’s fingers, toes, and even his hearing.

“How does it feel, Vincent Rolan?”

Thud.

“Ugh… haa… Idan……”

No matter how many schemes he had plotted to take another’s life, learning that he had personally carved apart his own family’s flesh was more than he could bear. Vincent slumped to the floor, endlessly muttering his son’s name. But Idan, unable to endure the pain any longer, had already lost consciousness. Having lost his ears as well, there was no way for him to hear his father’s desperate voice. As Vincent slammed his head against the floor, tears and snot streaming down his face while pounding the ground until his fists bled, Ariel wore a satisfied smile.

This is it.

This was the exact expression she had vowed to force upon those who dared to plot against her precious ones. She had built her entire plan step by step with this moment in mind. Now that the fruit of her labor had finally ripened, the sense of catharsis was indescribable. Even better, there was still more despair left to gift this man.

“Crying and wailing already? It’s only just begun.”

“You… you committed such a heinous act…! And you still say it’s not enough!?”

“Heinous?”

Ariel shrugged, her eyes showing she genuinely could not understand what nonsense this old man was spouting. The word “heinous” was reserved for actions that caused guilt or when one had committed a sin. No one would call tearing apart a dog that had bitten its master “heinous.” That was exactly how Ariel viewed what she had done.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t steel yourself at all when you reached for Edgar?”

“Nonsense…! Have you never considered how insane you are for losing your mind over such worthless blood… Khk!”

Crack.

His words were cut short. Ariel had seized him by the throat and squeezed with enough force to snap his neck. She had even used body reinforcement magic, making her current strength far beyond imagination.

“This piece of trash… dares to speak his name?”

She wanted nothing more than to crush his neck right then and there, but her revenge was not yet complete. His sins towered higher than mountains and ran deeper than the sea; a mere death would be far too light a price. Besides, Ariel had no intention of dirtying her own hands. The mere thought of these hands, which would embrace Edgar again starting tomorrow, being stained with such filthy blood filled her with revulsion.

“Khuk…! Cough! Cough!”

Ariel irritably released his throat and hurled him to the floor, then walked to the corner and picked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up a crystal orb. It looked oddly pristine and out of place in this desolate iron cage. As she slowly approached him again holding the orb, Vincent, gripped by terror, instinctively began to crawl backward. He had neither the leisure nor the desire to guess what the object was. His mind was still consumed by the shock of having carved apart his own son’s flesh with his own hands.

As if to explain it personally for his sake, Ariel set the crystal orb, wrapped in cloth, down in front of him. Then she snapped her fingers again. A faint light leaked from the orb, and a scene unfolded before Vincent’s eyes.

“M-Mari…! Even my wife…!”

Though the image was somewhat blurry, it was not enough to prevent him from recognizing a face he had seen for decades. The scene contained within the crystal orb showed his entire family in the same wretched state as his son, who lay collapsed before him. What in the world had happened? Had they extended their evil reach not only to Idan but to the rest of his household as well? Vincent’s mind could not keep up.

“I forgot to mention it earlier. As you can see, I made sure your wife and daughter received the exact same torture you performed on your son.”

Ariel offered a brief apology with a perfectly calm expression, as if she had simply forgotten to mention dinner plans. Even with such devastating news, no scream or sob escaped Vincent’s lips. Or rather, he could not produce any. When a human being’s mental shock exceeded its limit, no words could emerge. Instead, now that the situation had reached its extreme, Vincent was finally able to judge the situation with cold clarity. There was no point in clinging to life now. What he needed to protect was not the life of a mere ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mayfly like himself, but the lives of his children who still had paths left to walk.

“I beg you. Please, please, at least spare my wife and children…!”

Even if all his fingers and toes were severed and both ears lost, there could be no fate more miserable than death. If they could somehow survive, the power of the Rolan family might be able to restore their lost bodies. That was why Vincent pleaded desperately. Please, at least leave the family intact.

But Ariel tilted her head in confusion and neatly corrected his mistaken assumption.

“You don’t actually think these people are still alive, do you?”

“W-what…?”

“With this much blood loss, how could they possibly be alive? It seems you don’t remember, but your son only survived because I applied healing magic to him.”

The final hope of the old man, who had sworn to save his family at all costs, crumbled mercilessly before cold reality. Indeed. The healing magic Ariel had cast on Idan while he was being tortured by his own father had merely been the foundation to drive the other two to their deaths. If things ended ambiguously, there was a chance they might survive. Honestly, she had wanted to gouge out one or two eyes, but thanks to that, Idan had been able to witness the scene of his father torturing him with vivid clarity until the very end. Perhaps it was not such a bad outcome after all.

“In any case, congratulations. That’s a total of eighteen fingers and toes, twenty if we include the ears. I promise not to lay a hand on you for the next twenty years.”

“……”

Even as Ariel clapped her hands in mock celebration, Vincent could not utter a single word. What could he possibly say? If he had given up after just five years, or even three, his wife and daughter might have lived. Even in such an extreme situation, his continued attempts to buy himself a little more life had driven everything to ruin.

Without a word, he picked up the dagger that had fallen to the ground, bowed his head before Ariel, and politely offered it to her. She understood perfectly what that gesture meant.

“You’ve already achieved the result you wanted so badly. Why now?”

“…If you will not do it, I will do it with my own hands.”

“Hmm… I don’t quite like that.”

That would make it seem as though he had repented all his sins and accepted a death of atonement. For Ariel, that felt entirely too unsatisfying. A villain should die as a villain. There had to be an ending befitting that.

Ah.

Her eyes fell on Idan, who lay collapsed on the floor. With an expression that suggested she had just thought of something amusing, she leaned down, cast a healing spell on Idan to wake him, and tossed the dagger in front of him. With all his fingers and toes severed, Idan could only stare blankly back and forth between the dagger and his father.

“I’ll leave the decision to your son. Well then.”

Ariel closed the iron bars and walked out into the corridor with graceful steps. What would a son who had just witnessed his father sever his own hands, feet, and ears do? She felt the urge to turn around and watch out of curiosity, but at that moment, the faint scream of a powerless old man echoed behind her. Only then did Ariel smile with satisfaction and resume walking.

The end of a traitor was always to be pierced by the blade of the comrade or loved one they cherished most. It was a common trope found in many fictional tales, yet it remained the most royal of endings. She was quite satisfied that it had concluded in such a fitting manner.

She would have liked to witness Lux’s end as well, but she had handed that matter over to someone who had their own desires regarding it. The only thing left for her now was to enjoy everyday life with the one she loved, starting tomorrow. That was all.