Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: We'll Meet Again Someday
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"We'll meet again someday."
"Mom...?"
No answer. Not even a twitch.
It wasn't like she was sleeping. There was no life in her eyes.
A horrific gash marred her abdomen.
The trace of something sharp—a blade—piercing straight through her stomach.
"A lie...."
Tears plopped from Esira's eyes.
"It's a lie. Mom, wake up. Come on? Don't play around. It's not funny at all...."
The child staggered toward her mother.
A black abyss surged from the floor, forming a wall that blocked her path.
"Get out of my way! Move! Uwaaaaaah—!"
Her wails shook the cave.
Sorrow twisted in an instant into pitch-black hatred.
"I'll kill you...."
Esira snapped her head up. Her tear-streaked face contorted like a demon's.
"Who did this? Which bastard! Show yourself! Right now! I'll rip you to shreds! How dare you touch my mom...!"
As Esira screamed, Marigold struggled to cling to her reason.
Her mind was a tangled mess, refusing to think straight.
What the hell happened here?
Asrania was strong. She wasn't the type to fall so pointlessly to something like an abyss.
And the wound was strange.
A dagger-like weapon. Stabbed from point-blank range.
No signs of defense at all.
It meant she'd taken the blow completely defenseless.
"Damn it, who the hell..."
She'd wished misfortune on the woman, but not a death like this—like a stray dog.
Marigold bit her lip until blood welled up.
Revulsion brought bile rising in her throat.
The Commander stood frozen, too, like a man whose soul had fled.
Her, dying so pathetically.
It didn't feel real.
Because he'd never even imagined her going out like this.
On his knees, he stared vacantly at the pool of red blood.
"...I'm sorry."
It was right then.
"So sad. What a tearjerker."
The voice from the darkness froze everyone solid.
It was Esira's voice.
"Wh-what...?"
Where Esira whipped her head, another Esira stood.
A child holding a bloodied dagger, smiling innocently.
"Thanks, Esira."
The fake Esira grinned and licked the blood from the blade.
"Thanks to you, Mom let her guard down. Made it real easy to finish her off."
"Ah...."
Understanding dawned, and Marigold squeezed her eyes shut.
Slitting her mother's throat while wearing the face of her most beloved child.
The abyss's cruelest deception.
The Commander went rigid, as if his soul had been sucked out.
Life flickered back into Esira's eyes, roiling with red madness.
"I'll kill you!"
With the snap of her sanity breaking, Esira charged.
Her one burning thought: tear the fake apart and avenge her mother.
Esira's sword slashed for the fake's throat.
Thud.
The fake Esira caught the incoming blade barehanded with her bloody grip.
Like snatching a flying toy—so effortless.
"What...?"
Esira's eyes bulged. She shoved with all her might, but the blade wouldn't budge, like it was lodged in stone.
"You're too weak, Esira."
The fake beamed and squeezed her fist.
Crunch, grind.
The Blackjack-exclusive sword bent like stretched candy.
"This won't even scratch, let alone get revenge."
The overtaxed blade snapped in two and clattered to the floor.
The red madness in Esira's eyes didn't dim—it blazed fiercer.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Esira hurled the broken hilt aside and lunged barehanded.
Claws raking, teeth gnashing—she'd kill it somehow.
That was when.
Swish.
Dozens of golden threads poured from behind, wrapping Esira's limbs and torso tight, yanking her back by force.
"Ugh! Let go! Let me go!"
"Snap out of it! Are you insane?!"
It was Marigold.
Marigold's hands trembled as she gripped the threads.
"Rush in now and you'll just die like a dog! Didn't you see that monster's power? Even Sister Asrania fell to it. What do you think you're gonna do empty-handed?!"
"I don't care! I'll kill it! That bastard! That demon bitch who... to Mom...!"
Esira thrashed and screamed. The threads dug into her flesh, blood dripping in globs, but she paid it no mind.
"Let go! I'll tear it apart! Kill it!"
"If you die too, then your mom's sacrifice was for nothing!"
Marigold bellowed, veins throbbing in her neck.
"She gave her life to save you, and you're gonna throw yours away playing right into its hands? Is that your idea of revenge?!"
As the two tangled like a ball of yarn, screaming their lungs out.
The fake Esira, interest lost, approached Asrania's fallen form.
"Just returning her to normal. No need to fret."
"No...!"
"We'll be together with Mom."
"What!?"
Not content with killing her mom, now it wanted the body too.
"Don't touch her! Keep your filthy hands off!"
"Shut up."
Black tentacles erupted from the fake's feet. They coiled around Asrania's body, trying to drag her into the sticky darkness.
"Where are you taking her!"
Marigold ground her teeth.
She loosened some of the golden threads binding Esira and hurled them straight at the abyss.
Dozens of razor-sharp golden strands.
The fake didn't even turn.
She just swatted lazily, like shooing a fly.
Another abyss burst forth. The golden threads crumbled to powder without landing a hit.
"N-no way...."
It was on another level entirely.
"No, don't go! Mom! Mommmm!"
Bound by threads, Esira stretched out her hand.
She wanted to grab her.
Didn't want to let go.
Please, please.
Despite her desperate wish, Asrania sank deeper into the abyss.
Like bidding an eternal farewell.
Right then.
"...Esira."
A voice so frail it might flicker out like a candle in the wind—but it rang clear in Esira's ears.
"...Mom?"
Esira held her breath.
She wasn't dead.
Hope sparked.
Just bring her back now.
It was right before the jet-black liquid could cover her mouth.
"...At least you survive, my dear."
Her final words.
"Just...."
The rest never came.
Gurgle.
The abyss showed no mercy.
It engulfed her body completely.
Asrania was gone.
"Ah, aaah... Mom! It's a lie! Wake up! Nooooooo!!"
Esira clawed at her chest in hyperventilating sobs, breath catching in her throat.
"Ah, so noisy. My ears are ringing."
The fake cocked her head, then clapped as if remembering a forgotten promise.
"Oh, right. You said earlier? You wanted to burst the heart."
The fake's gaze shifted far off, to Sage's heart—the cave's core.
Thump, thump.
The heart contracted in terror.
The abyss pierced it instantly. Blood sprayed everywhere, necrosis spreading in seconds as it poured out.
"Alright, time to head out."
The fake Esira burst into giggles.
The cave shuddered wildly in response to her laughter.
Rumble!
Spiderweb cracks raced across the ceiling, huge boulders raining down.
"It's collapsing!"
The Commander roared, veins bulging.
Stay here, and they'd all be wiped out.
"Marigold! Grab Esira and run—now! Don't look back!"
"B-but...!"
"Go!"
Marigold seized Esira's arm. Esira screamed and flailed.
"No! Let go! We have to take Mom! Mom has to come too!"
"Please, snap out of it! You'll die!"
"I don't care! I wanna die too! Die with Mom! Let go, Sister!"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
As Marigold wrestled the hysterical Esira under control, the Commander spotted a familiar shape.
Asrania's greatsword, buried in the ashes.
Couldn't save the body, but at least that.
Her memento, at least.
Leave it behind... and I'd regret it forever.
Couldn't let even her relic get buried here.
The Commander dodged falling debris and flung himself into the rubble like a madman.
Heaving ragged breaths, he seized the greatsword and heaved.
"Urgh...!"
A groan ripped from his dantian.
His arms felt like they'd tear off—weight beyond imagination.
How the hell had she swung this one-handed?
Damn it, Asrania. What the hell were you...
Too heavy to even take a step alone. The moment he thought it impossible.
Swish! Taut threads coiled around the greatsword.
"I'll help carry it. Hurry—let's go!"
Marigold's threads shared the load.
The Commander clenched his jaw until his teeth ground.
"Yeah, let's go! Run—no looking back! Esira!"
"Mom...."
"Snap out of it! The living have to keep living!"
The tremors grew so violent they drowned even the Commander's shouts.
"Commander, is there a way out that side?"
"No idea! But full speed away—whatever it takes!"
Hesitate here, and they'd be buried alive.
That was when.
In the chaos, a ghostly voice whispered past his ear.
"We'll meet again someday."
The fake Esira.
She was part of the cave, too.
She faded like an illusion amid the collapse.
"Bye, everyone."
"...!"
The Commander flinched to a halt.
Above the fake Esira's head, a massive falling rock hurtled down at blinding speed.
A huge boulder.
No time to dodge. It crushed her flat.
The Commander's eyes shook.
"Damn it, what the..."
"Don't you dare look away! Wanna die?!"
Marigold's yell snapped him back. He sprinted desperately.
Light appeared.
"Stop now and we're done for! Run!"
The three threw every ounce of strength toward the light.
They burst through the choking dust into the forest, greeted by blinding sunlight.
"Huff... huff..."
Only when their lungs burned to the limit did they finally stop.
Ruuuumble—
An entire massive mountain sank into the earth.
Accompanied by a towering dust cloud.
The long nightmare reached its end.
The incident was over.
Two Exims never returned from that place.