Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Desperate Counterattack
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“Why isn’t it there? It could be!”
“Rachel would infuse part of her power into food she’s about to eat?”
Crow widened his eyes as he asked. His eyes, which already looked frightening with so much white even when still, now appeared even more grotesque.
Rachel shot back at him.
“It could be! Even food you’re about to eat—you dress it up to make it look appetizing! A devil just does it in a different way, but it’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
“Heh, is that so? Then it’d raise the value as a sacrifice?”
Her words weren’t getting through. Rachel had Deyner in her sights, but the black mass was gathering again, reforming into a conical shape. The target was obviously her.
‘If I turn my back, I die.’
She knew it without anyone having to tell her. Rachel glared at the black current of air.
The moment it shot toward her, she planned to dodge and shove Crow’s body aside.
‘Even a black sorcerer tumbling down the stairs would take some damage.’
At that instant, the black cone hurtled toward Rachel.
‘Now!’
Rachel threw herself into a body check against Crow. The cone grazed her ankle.
“Ugh!”
Ignoring the pain, she charged straight at the black sorcerer. Crow’s eyes flew wide at the unexpected counterattack.
Deyner swiftly bit down on the black sorcerer’s hand and wrenched free of his arm.
But Deyner’s body swayed unsteadily. In that split second, Rachel reached out and shoved Deyner back up the stairs.
Then Crow and Rachel’s bodies plummeted down the stairs.
“Sis!”
In Rachel’s field of vision, she saw Deyner reaching out a small hand from the end of the stairs.
‘He still worries about family after all.’
That was what she thought even as she fell.
‘Next time, maybe I’ll pay him some mind?’
It was only the second floor, but the ceilings were high, making the staircase nearly five meters tall. Crow, who hit the bottom first, had his body twist into a grotesque shape.
“Kekeke... now that I’ve... touched it... it’s certain... you...”
And yet, he was laughing.
“Crazy... bastard.”
Rachel wasn’t unharmed either. The black sorcerer’s body had acted as a cushion, but the impact was still massive. Broken bones had pierced her organs.
If she didn’t do something fast, she’d die. She knew it from having died so many times before.
“Sis, Sis!”
Deyner came rushing down the stairs. But Rachel’s gaze was fixed more on Crow than on her brother.
He should have taken the worse hit, yet his body creaked like a wooden puppet’s.
Perhaps he could steal someone else’s life force with his black magic.
‘If I’m going to die anyway!’
She would take that Crow bastard down with her. He’d killed her this time, and Henri in the fifteenth round. She couldn’t rest easy without getting revenge at least once.
“De... yner.”
“Yeah, Sis. I’m right here.”
Deyner grabbed Rachel’s hand, his voice thick with tears. Rachel endured the pain bit by bit and spoke.
“With the axe... cleave his head.”
“Sis?”
Rachel barely managed to extend her finger, pointing at the decorative axe hanging on the wall. A blunt blade slamming down would hurt plenty.
“Kill him. That’s my dying wish.”
“Got it.”
Deyner approached the wall, spurred by Rachel’s resolute tone. But the axe was hung too high. To grab it, Deyner stretched on tiptoe.
In the meantime, Crow moved his hand, trying to reach Rachel’s body.
“Hehehe, you’re mine!”
She didn’t know why, but he was obsessed with her.
‘Does touching me heal his wounds?’
Even on the brink of death, Rachel had no intention of serving as his recovery tool.
But there was nothing she could do. Keeping her heavy eyelids from closing was the extent of it.
Deyner was still hopping to catch hold of the axe.
A sharp black nail grazed the back of her hand.
“Hehe, just a little more.”
Dodging his madly gleaming eyes, she shifted her gaze toward Deyner. She saw the black rabbit. The rabbit hopped atop the axe, and the handle fell into Deyner’s grasp.
“Sis, I got it!”
Deyner shouted, axe in hand. Spotting Crow reaching for his sister, he rushed over.
“Don’t touch Sis with those filthy hands!”
Rachel closed her eyes.
The sound she’d once heard of a fishmonger hacking apart fish on a massive wooden cutting board drilled into her ears.
Exactly twice. A lukewarm liquid soaked the floor and spread all the way to her.
[Danger Level: 63%]
The danger level had dropped by 7%. It was a system window, so she could see it even with her eyes shut.
“Sis, I kept my promise. So don’t die. Even if you ignore me, I won’t complain anymore.”
Sobbing reached her ears. But the sound grew ever more distant.
***
-You have died. Returning to checkpoint.
[Danger Level: 72%]
[Talent Retention System is active. Abilities are inherited.]
[Stamina: 1]
The eighteenth round began. Rachel drew in a deep breath first. Before dying, her bones had pierced her organs, leaving her unable to breathe properly.
Then she saw Evelyn and let out a sigh of relief.
“Rachel, what’s the matter?”
Instead of answering the question, Rachel ran her hand over her own face.
“Mother...”
“Yes, what’s wrong? Tell me.”
“Please don’t act rashly.”
“Huh?”
A look of puzzlement crossed Evelyn’s face.
Rachel hadn’t realized Evelyn was so hot-tempered. She’d only told her that the baron was targeting her—never imagined she’d go straight for stabbing him.
The Talent Retention System’s inheritance of abilities was now confirmed beyond doubt. Rachel resolved that this round, she really would do nothing but train.
She set down her fork, said she felt unwell, and headed up to her room.
Then she began doing push-ups. She could now manage ten—the previous round’s maximum.
It had only been a week, and she was doing them on her knees, so it was a low number. But she hadn’t been able to do even that at first. It was progress nonetheless.
“Stamina 1 was definitely inherited.”
Rachel confirmed the Talent Retention System and flung herself onto the bed. Lying there, she shook her legs and sorted through the information gained in the seventeenth round.
When the baron dies, it sends a signal to Crow. Meaning she had to deal with him before the baron. And taking him out sharply reduced the danger level.
Eliminating Crow wasn’t optional—it was essential.
“I’ll tough out two years of training, figure out the cause of Mother’s death, then move right away.”
Her thoughts didn’t end there. Deyner seemed to need his big sister’s attention. Rachel soon recalled their surroundings and understood why.
She and Deyner lived their lives inside the mansion, never meeting any friends their age.
This society in general didn’t treat children as people. They were seen as labor or parental property.
In that regard, Rachel and Deyner’s situation was better than most children’s.
Even so, the lack of interaction with peers meant the siblings’ emotional development suffered.
With no friends, Deyner had a slight tendency to cling to his sister, who was in a similar age group.
The only way to fix it was for Rachel to give him some attention. Or make him some friends.
“The grace...”
Crow had said Rachel received grace. The priestess Peace claimed it was because the demon king was after her, but on this point, the black sorcerer knew better. The priestess could be wrong.
‘Because I’m a witch?’
When Rachel first possessed this body, the system window had explained that she was inheriting the Thirteenth Month Witch Rachel.
If the grace was connected to that, it wouldn’t be strange.
“For now, I’ll keep an eye on it. But what’s with the rabbit?”
The black rabbit had appeared again. Last time, it showed her the way; this time, it brought down the axe. It didn’t seem like an enemy, but not knowing what it was frustrated her.
Deyner and Crow couldn’t see the rabbit either.
“Just like before.”
Henri and Enoch hadn’t seen the black rabbit either. She didn’t know why, but this helpful black rabbit seemed visible only to her.
She’d only just learned that it could exert physical force, though.
And before heading to the capital, Henri had come to see Rachel. Just like in the previous round, she maintained a warm atmosphere and told him to visit home often.
The moment Henri agreed, the danger level dropped to 70%.
Rachel realized that if Henri didn’t come to the mansion frequently, something dangerous would happen.
‘I don’t know what it is, but I’ll keep doing this from now on.’
Afterward, Henri and the priestess Peace departed. Just like in the previous round, Rachel went to her mother and said she wanted to learn swordsmanship.
Things had progressed without much difference from the seventeenth round up to this point.
Evelyn headed up to the second floor, while Rachel stayed on the first and looked at the axe hanging on the wall.
Taller than Deyner, Rachel could reach it, but...
“Ugh, why is this so heavy?”
The moment she gripped the handle and pulled it from the wall, its weight made her arm drop.
Thud.
Had she not toppled backward, the axe would have come down on her head—she’d nearly died.
Rachel sat on the floor, staring at the axe now embedded in the planks.
‘How did Deyner lift this with one hand?’
Was she just that weak, or was Deyner that strong? Rachel fell deep into thought.
Just then, she spotted Deyner peering down at her from the second-floor railing.
“Sis, what’re you doing?”
“Deyner, come here for a sec.”
“Don’t wanna.”
He said he didn’t want to, yet he was coming down the stairs—so contrary. Rachel chuckled to herself but said nothing.
Deyner quickly descended and stood in front of her.
“Why’d you call me?”
“It fell. Wanna try lifting it?”
“Jeez, you can’t even lift this, Sis?”
With that, Deyner picked up the axe.
Despite his smaller frame, Deyner lifted it with ease.
‘Am I the weak one? My stamina’s up by 1 now, you know?’
“See? That it?”
Deyner handed the axe to a passing servant and asked them to hang it back up. The servant took it from Deyner and gave him a startled look.
‘It’s heavy, all right. The servant staggered for a second. Reaction shot, reaction shot!’
“Wow! Lifting that so easily—you’re amazing!”
A servant standing nearby nodded vigorously in agreement.
“To lift something this heavy—truly impressive.”
Deyner squirmed bashfully at the praise. As the saying goes, even a whale dances for praise—the boy’s lips split into a huge grin.
“It’s no big deal.”
Now that she knew about Deyner’s talent, Rachel couldn’t let this gem slip away.
Left to his own devices, his natural aggro would stir up trouble. So she’d make sure he could handle it!
“Deyner, your sis has something to talk about.”
“What, what?”
Even though it was nothing special, he showed interest.
“It’s a secret, so I’ll tell you in your room.”
Rachel headed to the second-floor room with Deyner. The moment they arrived, the boy urged her to spill the secret.
“Normally, the adults said not to tell you since you’re still little...”
She strung him along, and Deyner’s brow furrowed right away. Rachel sat him down in a chair and continued.
“You’d feel frustrated not knowing, so I’ll tell you. The priest’s been coming lately, right? Truth is, it’s because a black sorcerer is targeting our family.”
She whispered it like a grand secret, and Deyner’s eyes went wide as he clapped a hand over his mouth.
“Then what do we do?”
“So that’s why the priest came. They found the cursed object and all that.”
“Then we’re safe now?”
“No. What good is finding the object if we haven’t caught the black sorcerer yet? That’s why Enoch—that silver-haired priest—is staying at our house. Until the black sorcerer’s caught.”
Deyner placed a hand over his heart and breathed a sigh of relief at his sister’s words.
The future was one thing, but right now, in his childish innocence, he was kind of cute. Enough to make her ashamed of ignoring him all this time.
“But the mansion’s huge, and there’s only one priest. What if the black sorcerer shows up when Enoch isn’t around?”
“That’d be dangerous.”
“Exactly. So here’s the thing.”
Rachel held up her palm, pointing to the side opposite Deyner as she whispered low. As if she were about to share the most crucial secret of all.