Chapter 564: Jealousy is My Power (64)
Chapter 564: Jealousy is My Power (64)
As always, the girl was perched on my bed.
It was as if she were asserting that this spot was her rightful due.
It was an absurd notion. Though we spent several nights together like this, we were destined to never walk the same path.
The rising morning star of humanity and humanity’s sworn enemy, who had claimed countless lives.
A confrontation between the two was all but inevitable. Though we were born bound by the ties of siblings, fate had ultimately driven us apart, and there was no one left to blame.
I could only resent a world that had entangled us in such a tragic connection.
That was certainly part of the reason I maintained a cold demeanor toward her. It was a complex emotion that couldn't be explained by mere resentment or hatred.
Regardless of my inner turmoil, the voice that left my throat was nothing short of frigid.
"Haven't you left yet?"
"I told you, Brother. I’ll never leave you... as long as you don't leave me."
"That will happen soon enough."
Even as I said that, I didn't go out of my way to kick her out.
It just so happened that I had things to discuss with her. Soon, my hands naturally began to unbutton my shirt.
It was my usual routine, performed as if the girl weren't even there. After all, the first thing one does upon returning to their quarters is change clothes.
However, even in the midst of that, my sword and axe never left my side.
One way or another, the fact remained that the person before me was one of the Seven Deadly Sins of the Dark Cult.
The girl was not one to miss such a detail. 'Greed' soon puffed out her cheeks with a deliberate, exaggerated pout. She looked deeply hurt.
"Are you really going to keep acting like that? It’s disappointing. We were destined to be one from the moment we were born—"
"Why did you attack?"
It was a question with the object omitted.
That short retort silenced her. The golden eyes directed at me were so clear and pure that it was difficult to read the depths within them.
Was it wonder, or perhaps admiration?
As I pulled off my shirt and threw on more comfortable clothes, I had to ask the girl, who still wore that inscrutable look, once more.
"The Vampire. There were some difficulties, but we had two Masters on our side... There was no need for you to take the drastic measure of collapsing the barrier. We would have eliminated the Vampire just fine without that."
"Hmm, are you so sure it was my doing?"
"Because no other possibility exists."
It was a perfectly rational suspicion.
That day, the Vampire's location had been shrouded in mystery. No one, myself included, expected such an encounter to be waiting for us.
Furthermore, the place where the Vampire waited was surrounded by a spatial distortion barrier. The chances of someone unrelated to the incident stumbling upon it by accident were slim to none.
That left only one likely suspect.
The woman who had been boasting for some time that she knew the Vampire's whereabouts.
She was also the only one with sufficient motive to collapse the Vampire's barrier from the outside and attempt to slaughter everyone inside.
Despite my accusation, the girl’s expression remained perfectly composed. No, she even twisted the corners of her mouth upward as if she found it amusing.
With a chilling smile, her golden pupils shimmered. The dim lighting of the room served as a willing canvas for her presence.
"......And if it was?"
"What do you want me to say? I don't see the need to waste words on a traitor."
Then, silence.
My gaze and the girl's met squarely in mid-air. Though I hadn't actively channeled my mana, the taut tension whispered to me.
If there were even the slightest spark.
It wouldn't be strange if I drew my sword and fought her to the death right then and there. She had talked about joining forces to my face, while behind my back, she was aiming for the mutual destruction of the Vampire and myself.
It was a blatant breach of contract.
Just as my hand began to slide toward my waist.
"Pfft, ahahaha! St-stop... Alright, I get it! I was wrong! You're right, I did it."
The girl burst into laughter, wiping away a tiny tear that had formed at the corner of her eye.
To me, it was an absurd reaction.
My voice grew even sharper as I aimed it at her.
"......What's so funny?"
"It's just... too funny. Hehe, so you did trust me, then?"
"I was trying to tell you that even the bare minimum of trust has been shattered."
"Pffft, really? I don't think so... Ah, you're so handsome. How can your angry face be this handsome? My brother really is the best......"
Our conversation was running on parallel tracks.
No matter how much I scowled, the girl only stared at me with a dreamy gaze. Occasionally, she would lightly bite her lip as if she were struggling to contain herself.
My patience, which was already frayed, was reaching its limit.
Only when my hand gripped the hilt of my sword did the girl finally begin to answer my questions.
"First of all, I didn't break the contract. I'm a merchant. There's no way I'd break a contract. Brother, are you a dummy?"
"But you targeted my life—!"
"How could I ever kill you?"
Springing up from the bed, the girl asked me with a face colored by genuine confusion.
Her light, airy steps as she approached were alluring. In those golden pupils that looked at me as if they truly didn't understand, a myriad of emotions were swirling.
Affection, hatred, greed, obsession, and lust.
The intense heat of it was enough to make my face flush. Overwhelmed for a moment by the sheer density of her emotions, I failed to swing my sword until she was right in front of me.
With her hands behind her back and her upper body leaning forward slightly.
The girl gave a thin smile, as if satisfied by the fact that my hand hadn't moved.
"Tell me, Brother. How could I kill you? You're the other half of my life, the final piece that will complete my stolen existence. Do you ever think about cutting your own body in half?"
The fierce, swirling mass of desire in her left no room for doubt.
Anyone would have felt it. Not just me—anyone who met that vivid gaze would have come to the same conclusion.
The girl was sincere.
An obsession bordering on madness clung to my body like something viscous.
Finding myself at a loss for words, I remained silent for a long time. After several seconds of our breaths mingling.
The only question I could finally squeeze out was a predictable rebuttal.
"......Then why?"
"It wasn't you. I was targeting the other two."
Of course, as if she had expected that much, the girl continued her explanation without a hitch.
There was a hint of strange satisfaction in the way she straightened her back and raised her index finger. The smug smile hanging on her lips was proof enough.
"The Masters are the greatest enemies of our Dark Cult. But to be able to eliminate two of them at once, along with that eyesore, Jealousy? It’s the best, isn't it?"
"I could have died in the process."
"Don't worry so much. I had a way to save you."
With that, the girl plopped back down onto the bed.
Her weight sent a ripple through the down comforter. Without averting my hollow gaze, I slowly relaxed the grip of my hand on the sword hilt.
It was a signal that I would at least listen to what she had to say.
The girl seemed more than willing to comply with my silent demand.
"You've seen the 'Boundary' before, haven't you, Brother?"
"Yes, of course."
I wouldn't have reached High Expert otherwise.
At my answer, which carried that implication, the girl nodded with a boastful expression.
"Actually, not much is known about the 'Boundary.' People who can freely come and go across it are extremely rare. In the entire continent, maybe only Lord Delphirem is at that level?"
"I'm not interested in hearing you brag about your cult leader."
"Oh, honestly, you're so impatient... The important point is that the 'Boundary' is related to the laws of the world. Shall we call it a space outside the laws, existing behind the world we can perceive? That's why the more the laws of the world are fundamentally shaken, the greater the possibility of contacting the Boundary."
Before I could ask what that had to do with anything.
I suddenly recalled an explanation the Great Witch had once given.
This world operates through the interaction of the Five Elements.
And the Vampire's barrier was designed to deliberately collapse the balance of those Five Elements.
My deduction didn't have to go far. Before it could, the girl drove the point home.
"Exactly. The Vampire's barrier creates a temporary 'Boundary.' The space you were trapped in was the same. Otherwise, how could it be possible to fight a Master one-on-one?"
"What does that have to do with rescuing me—"
"It means that even if the barrier collapses, you would only become a stray within the Boundary. Most people would wander the Boundary forever until they eventually assimilate into the beyond... But I told you, didn't I? That there is a being who can freely enter and exit the Boundary."
I didn't need to ask who.
The girl had already said it.
Just moments ago, she had uttered a name I could never forget.
As I stiffened, the girl’s smile deepened. Her golden eyes, glowing in the darkness, were exceptionally bewitching.
"Delphirem is watching you."
The moment I heard that name, I remembered a dream from long ago.
One of the memories of the man I had first peered into.
'Delphirem is coming.'
The name I had heard that day was finally in motion.