Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Siblings (2)
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Suuuuu—
White breath leaked from Ariel's mouth.
She didn't act right away.
Seeing that as an opening, the bandits bellowed.
"What are you waiting for! Kill her!"
They must have realized we were nobles since we were traveling with an entourage.
Even that realization had fled their minds as they screamed.
Terror had gripped them.
Any human would know. It was something you could sense instinctively.
The white girl before them wasn't human.
If they took their eyes off her for even a second, she would steal their lives.
They believed that with every fiber of their being, and as the bandits moved to swing their swords at Ariel—
Slaaaash—
A sickening sound rang out, like slicing through a whole watermelon with a kitchen knife.
The noise lasted only an instant.
And in that same instant, every last bandit collapsed to the ground.
"Gaaahhh!"
Only then did the spilled blood spray out in torrents.
A red world, like firing off several small fountains of blood all at once.
There was no need to explain what Ariel had done.
She had just severed every bandit's ankle.
And they hadn't even seen her draw her sword.
"Guh, guhhh…."
"It hurts! It hurts!"
"M-My ankle… Why is my ankle…!"
An unreasonable strike.
It lay beyond the realm of common sense.
That was why the bandits still wore expressions of utter confusion.
Why had they collapsed to the ground?
Why had they lost their ankles?
Why was their blood pouring out?
Then, abruptly, their gazes fell on the girl before them.
"…."
Emotionless.
What stood there was a killer devoid of any feeling.
Ariel wiggled her fingers, her face like she was looking at bugs.
No, more like she was staring at dust in the air.
Slaaaash!
"Aaaahhh!"
Screams and blood harmonized.
No new wounds marred the bandits' bodies.
But the reason for their agony was clear.
Ariel had thinly sliced the cross-sections of their severed ankles.
The pain of raw flesh being carved from their own legs.
Like an apple being peeled with a knife.
…But that wasn't the end.
If she had stopped at just that, Ariel wouldn't be called a calamity.
Slaaaash.
Slaaaash, slaaaash.
Slaaashslaaashslaaashslaaash—
Like a sculptor meticulously chiseling stone.
With precise, delicate strokes, she sliced layer after layer from their legs.
Thin strips of flesh peeled away like jerky.
"Ah. Uh, agh…."
The bandits, who had been screaming nonstop at first, soon lost consciousness.
No, it was more like they had willfully abandoned their sense of self.
No one in their right mind would want to endure such horrific pain.
And even as they fell unconscious.
Even as shock from the immense pain or blood loss from excessive bleeding claimed them.
Ariel didn't stop carving up the corpses.
She kept slicing until she had layered cuts from their ankles all the way to the tops of their heads.
Only then did she stop.
Haaaa—
White breath leaked from Ariel's mouth once more.
The air reeked of blood.
The once serene and fresh mountain path was nowhere to be seen.
A world dyed red.
In the midst of it all, I steadily caught my breath.
"…."
Ariel didn't look at me.
No, it wasn't that she wouldn't.
She couldn't.
Right now, she was being devoured by her own darkness.
The inhuman qualities slumbering within my little sister's heart.
They had awakened to an extreme degree and swallowed her self-awareness whole.
The Ariel before me now was a calamity.
A complete inhuman state.
Left unchecked, she could wipe out all of humanity.
…She might not even recognize me.
The moment she registered my presence, she might kill me like the bandits without knowing who I was.
But that didn't matter.
As her big brother.
I couldn't abandon my little sister.
"Ariel."
She couldn't hear me.
I didn't exist in her world.
"Ariel!"
She reacted to my shout.
Her bleached eyes still showed no trace of humanity.
She clearly hadn't recognized me yet.
"Ariel. It's okay. I'm alive."
As I spoke, I nearly stumbled forward.
My human body was instinctively paralyzed by fear.
I overcame that hesitation through sheer willpower and stepped ahead.
Because I was her big brother.
Because I had to take responsibility for my little sister.
Suuuuu—
White breath leaked from Ariel's mouth.
The momentum that had softened after massacring the bandits was growing sharp again.
Had she marked me as an enemy?
I could see her pale hand slowly moving toward her sword hilt.
"Ariel. I'm sorry."
I kept calling out to her without giving up.
When a little sister strays from the path, it's the big brother's duty to guide her back.
I couldn't face myself if I stopped first.
"It was my failing that made you worry. But it's okay now. You can rest. So let's go back. Okay?"
"…."
Ariel gripped the hilt but didn't move.
She could lop off my head right now if she drew it.
That was why I believed her consciousness was returning.
There was still time to bring her back.
My little sister wouldn't become a calamity.
"Ariel."
I had closed the distance to right in front of her before I knew it.
A breathless standoff without a word.
Her gaze was fixed on me, but her bleached pupils held no recognition.
Still, she didn't draw her sword.
That was enough.
"I'm sorry."
I didn't know what would happen if I touched her now.
Her wariness might turn to aggression and pierce me.
Even accounting for that, I reached out and embraced Ariel.
"…!"
As if she'd anticipated my movement.
Ariel's hand gripped the hilt and yanked the sword free.
And just as it thrust toward me—
Squeeze.
Ariel's small body nestled into my arms.
"…."
The sword tip that had been aimed at me trembled.
It vibrated several times before clattering to the ground.
Only then did I relax.
She's come back to her senses.
Time passed in silence.
A moment or an eternity, I couldn't tell.
Then Ariel spoke.
"…I thought you were dead."
I took that as a confession.
No, closer to an apology.
Like a little sister confessing every detail of her wrongdoing before begging forgiveness from her big brother.
Her spindly arms wrapped tightly around my back.
Gently, as if afraid I'd shatter.
Like handling delicate sugar craft.
"I was so scared you'd trip and fall because of me. Because I wasn't there, because I left your side. …Because I failed to protect you, I was terrified you'd die."
"Yeah."
"Because I touched your soul. Because you might die from that. If that happened… I'd be so scared. I wouldn't have the strength to go on living."
"Yeah. I get it. I understand everything."
I gently cupped her chin and lifted it.
Tears trailed down her cheeks.
It was the first time I'd seen it.
My little sister crying.
I'd never seen her looking gloomy or making a sad face.
But this—tears streaming down her face like this—was utterly unprecedented.
Ariel's teardrops slid from the corners of her eyes to her chin.
Pitiful in one way. Sad in another.
And yet, ridiculously.
I found this Ariel so unbearably lovable that I couldn't stand it.
"Big brother… I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for? These things happen."
"No. It's my fault. If I hadn't tried to help you. If I'd just listened to you, this wouldn't have happened."
There was a hint of guilt in her words.
Before coming to Aonia, I'd told Ariel something.
To always obey her big brother.
That I wouldn't bring her otherwise.
…Had I just said that for my own gain?
Did I fail to notice how heavily, how sincerely she'd taken that promise?
So I stroked Ariel's hair.
Even more tenderly than before.
"I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have made such a harsh promise to my little sister. And I'm glad you chose to help me on your own terms. Don't ever downplay that."
"…Yeah."
A sniffle as she wiped her nose.
Ariel's eyes were red-rimmed.
It was truly the first time. My little sister, who'd never shown a scrap of emotion, sobbing like this.
And because it was so cute, I hugged her again.
Ariel mumbled from within my embrace.
"…Am I okay like this? I killed people. Killed them without a second thought. Is it okay for me to still be alive?"
"Of course. You deserve to live."
They were scum who deserved death anyway.
Not exactly paragons of virtue.
If the roles were reversed, I would have swung my sword for my sister too.
Even so, if someone blamed Ariel.
Called her a calamity.
Said she'd been rotten from the start.
That she shouldn't be allowed to live.
If anyone said that.
"It doesn't matter what anyone else says. Even if the whole world denies you, your big brother will affirm you."
I'll cut them down myself.
I'll shield her from every attack aimed her way.
That's what a big brother does.
That's what I have to do.
"Yeah… Thank you."
Ariel rubbed her head against me.
I couldn't see it, but it felt like she was smiling.
Just as I thought the crisis had passed and relaxed—
"Big brother… I'm sleepy."
Ariel murmured dreamily.
Like a drowsy child mumbling in her sleep.
"Yeah?"
"…."
No response.
Ariel had fallen asleep right after saying she was tired; her eyes stayed shut.
Something seemed off about her condition.
This wasn't like my Ariel at all.
She was a heavy sleeper, sure, but she'd never conked out like someone with narcolepsy.
And above all—she looked weak.
Weaker than when she'd been rampaging earlier.
Weaker even than the everyday Ariel I usually saw.
Just like any ordinary little girl, frail and unassuming.
"Let's head back for now."
Yeah, whatever it is, climb on your big brother's back first, you little rascal.