Chapter 149: The Two Pink-Haired Women (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 149: The Two Pink-Haired Women (2)
Christina.
She was once Mars’s lover, but in the end, she chose another man over him.
For her to suddenly appear was one thing, but for her to drop to her knees and start begging left Mars utterly bewildered.
“Christina, first, calm down. Can you let go of my leg?”
Mars gently tried to pry Christina off his leg, but the more he tried, the tighter she clung to him.
“Mars… I’m sorry… I was wrong…”
“Christina…”
Just as he was feeling cornered, Mars sensed a murderous intent and drew his sword without hesitation. Swoosh. A sharp gust of wind that had been aimed at Christina was sliced in two.
Mars’s eyes grew cold.
That last strike.
If he hadn’t blocked it, Christina would surely be dead.
“Who is it?”
Who would try to kill Christina…
Mars’s eyebrows trembled as he traced the flow of the wind back to its source. He was even more shaken than when Christina had appeared. He couldn’t help it. Reflected in his eyes was his dear childhood friend.
“Isabelle…? What are you doing here—”
“Who is that woman?”
“Huh…?”
“I asked who that woman is. Why are you protecting her?”
“…Is that what’s important right now?”
“I asked who she is! Why do you keep changing the subject? Who is she? What is she to you?”
Isabelle gave Mars no time to process the situation. What was he supposed to say? As he hesitated, Christina spoke first.
“I’m Mars’s lover!”
“Lover…?”
Isabelle’s heart sank.
Had her worst fears finally come true?
Parting lips that felt as heavy as lead, she asked, “Is what she’s saying true?”
Feeling the atmosphere turn even colder than before, Mars slowly shook his head.
“We used to be, but not anymore.”
“So you’re saying she’s your ex-girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“Mars…”
Christina looked hurt by his blunt reply, but she couldn’t deny it. It was true that they had broken up.
Seeing Christina’s reaction, Isabelle realized he was telling the truth and let out a sigh of relief.
But only for a moment.
An unpleasant feeling soon began to bubble up inside her.
They weren’t together now, but they had been lovers.
And as lovers, they must have been intimate.
From holding hands to kissing, and perhaps even further.
It meant he had done things with this girl he’d only just met that he had never done with her, someone he had spent half his life with.
A sense of disappointment and betrayal toward Mars, and a surge of anger and murderous intent toward Christina, rose within her, but she forced it all down.
Isabelle sighed and spoke with a look of resignation.
“I’ll forgive you.”
“…Huh?”
“I’m partly to blame for how things turned out. I can forgive you for cheating on me once.”
Both Mars and Christina were speechless, for entirely different reasons.
Christina turned to Mars.
“You were already with someone when you dated me?”
“That’s not it. Isabelle is just a childhood friend…”
“Just a childhood friend? Mars, what are you talking about? We promised to get married when we grew up.”
“No, that was a promise we made when we were kids…”
“So you didn’t mean it? Was I the only one who was serious?”
Isabelle’s voice was filled with deep disappointment.
A cold sweat began to trickle down Mars’s back.
“I meant it. I was serious back then.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
Isabelle beamed.
It was certainly a beautiful smile, yet Mars felt an unexplainable chill.
Just as his mind was about to go blank from the series of incomprehensible events, a hand of salvation reached out.
“That’s enough, both of you. Why are you so eager to tear apart a guy who just came back from a fight?”
It was Cloud.
The two women’s gazes snapped to him. Unlike how they looked at Mars, their eyes were filled with irritation, anger, and murderous intent. An ordinary person would have quietly turned back the way they came, but…
“What are you looking at, you bitches?”
Cloud was no ordinary person.
And for Mars, that was a true blessing.
*
“I see. So Shedia is with Cloud.”
“According to the report from Ed, the sole survivor, yes.”
Raymond, a high-ranking member of the Snake Venom Society and Kelidon’s confidant, said with a bow.
Kelidon tapped his fingers on the table.
“How is Gis?”
“Thanks to a steady supply of potions and precious medicinal herbs, his wounds are healing. However…”
As Raymond trailed off, Kelidon clicked his tongue, understanding the reason.
“It seems he’s still looking for Hailey.”
“…Yes, sir.”
From the moment he was brought to the Snake Venom Society’s headquarters, Gis had been relentlessly asking to see Hailey.
Naturally, Kelidon had not granted his request.
He intended to use Gis to solidify his own position within the society, and Hailey was his political rival.
“I have no idea how that bitch managed to brainwash him.”
Kelidon knew nothing of Gis’s trauma related to his mother.
Thus, he couldn’t comprehend his obsession with his adoptive mother, Hailey.
Instead of being grateful to the one who had helped him, Gis only sought Hailey. Kelidon was beginning to grow annoyed.
“Hailey must have heard that Gis has returned. Has she made any moves?”
“No, sir. She has been unusually quiet.”
“Is she so confident that she doesn’t need to act? Truly, a detestable bitch.”
In the past, the Blood King had favored Hailey above the other three True Ancestors. It didn’t matter what efforts Kelidon or the others made to catch his eye.
It was to the point that she was the only one who knew the location of the coffin where he slept.
Kelidon had never forgotten that feeling of misery, and he had no intention of experiencing it a second time.
Kelidon rose to his feet.
“Where is Gis?”
“He is in the basement.”
“Let’s go.”
Kelidon left the room first, with Raymond following close behind. They walked down a wide corridor, their feet silent on the red carpet. A short while after they left the room, Raymond spoke cautiously.
“May I ask why you wish to see Gis?”
“I heard that Gis’s power is inferior to the other Heroes’ because of some petty woman.”
“It is shameful, but yes, that is correct.”
“In that case, what if I were to grant him that missing power?”
“…This foolish servant fails to grasp his master’s intent.”
For Raymond, who clearly didn’t understand, Kelidon elaborated.
“Blood Magic. If I were to teach it to him, Gis would no longer be inferior to the other Heroes.”
“Blood Magic, you say? As you say, Lord Kelidon, if Gis could use Blood Magic, that would be true. But he is human. He cannot use it.”
Kelidon stopped in his tracks.
“Raymond. Does a Hero truly need to be human?”
Finally understanding his master’s intent, Raymond’s expression hardened.
“…Surely you don’t intend to share your blood with him?”
Kelidon gave a silent nod.
“You mustn’t. This is an act that will turn the entire continent against us.”
“Not if they don’t find out. Raymond, is my Blood Magic so conspicuous?”
“Well… it is not, but…”
Kelidon’s Blood Magic involved manipulating the blood within one’s own body to exponentially increase physical abilities. Unlike Hailey or the other True Ancestors who controlled blood externally, there was no specific evidence that could identify his power as Blood Magic.
“Besides, contrary to the common perception on the continent, Heroes are not that special. Raymond, you know the legend of the Heroes, do you not?”
“Are you referring to the legend of the four Heroes who stop the Demon King’s revival?”
Kelidon nodded.
“I have lived for a long, long time. I have seen many generations of Heroes. Some were stronger than me, others were not. But I can say with certainty that none were stronger than the Blood King. Of course not. It takes all four of them just to prevent the Demon King’s revival or to defeat him.”
And even then, it wasn’t just the four of them, but their companions and armies as well.
“I agree that Heroes are special humans. Among humans, there is likely no one with greater potential. But if you ask whether they are special when considering the entire continent… well, I, for one, cannot agree.”
“Why is that?”
“The Blood King himself said it. He was not stronger than the Demon King, but he was not weaker either.”
“…?!”
A look of shock spread across Raymond’s face. Seeing it, Kelidon let out a smirk.
“Yes, you must be curious. If he possessed such immense power, why do we live in hiding like this? Why are humans the masters of the continent? I wondered the same, so I asked the Blood King. But he never gave me a clear answer.”
He didn’t get a direct answer, but he realized something.
The blood-kin lived in hiding not because of their weaknesses or because of things like the Empire’s Platinum Knight Order.
“We, the blood-kin, live hidden from human eyes according to the Blood King’s will. The elves do not act on their ambitions, following the will of the World Tree, nor do the dragons, following the will of the Dragon King. It is only thanks to them that the inferior humans can be the masters of this continent.”
“Then why did the Blood King… and why did the World Tree and the Dragon King give such orders…?”
“I do not know. I can only surmise that some agreement was made between them. But the point I wish to make is this: Heroes are special, but only in the world of humans. And both humans and Heroes are receiving the ‘consideration’ of the blood-kin and other races. Raymond, they are not special at all.”
Raymond’s eyebrow twitched.
He felt as if he had just heard something that shattered his worldview, something far beyond his station.
“Why have you told me all this?”
“For no particular reason. I simply felt like telling you.”
Kelidon smirked again.
He resumed walking.
“The Empire’s Hero… her name was Frillite, was it not?”
“That is correct.”
“That Hero is quite capable. I would even say she is the finest among all the Heroes I have ever seen.”
“This is the first time I have ever heard you acknowledge a human, Lord Kelidon.”
“That is how impressive she is. And with a Hero like that around, it wouldn’t matter if one of the others disappeared, would it?”
“Pardon?”
Kelidon spoke to the bewildered Raymond.
“Prepare. As soon as Gis has recovered and finished his training, we will retrieve Shedia and kill Cloud.”
“I will do it myself.”