Chapter 609: Jealousy is My Power (109)
Chapter 609: Jealousy is My Power (109)
Where... am I?
It had been a long time since she last dreamed. The Vampire thought this as she forced her muscles, stiff as lead, to move.
Smell, taste, touch.
Three of her five senses were shattered. Though blades of grass and dirt must have entered her mouth as she crawled along the ground, she felt nothing. There wasn't even the faint scent of earth reaching the tip of her nose.
Death.
The end that any mortal should rightly fear was drawing near. The woman realized there was no longer any hope for her body to survive.
And yet, why?
Why did she keep crawling across the earth? Reaching out her hand again and again, with a desperation that bordered on the unsightly.
Light spilled into her blurred vision.
Was it morning already? Suddenly, the woman realized her body was trembling uncontrollably.
The day was cold.
Her sense of touch was gone, but the crisp sound of the wind brushing past her ears heralded the arrival of autumn.
It was the season of abundance.
Come to think of it, that was how it used to be. When autumn arrived, she would go out into the territory to commend the people celebrating the harvest. With so many people gathered, there was no better opportunity to gauge the public sentiment.
It was also a good time to help the little girl, who insisted on being a loner, develop some social skills.
Back then, that child had always followed closely behind her.
That tiny slip of a girl had grown up before she knew it and was now looking down at her.
The woman couldn't help but let out a faint, airy laugh.
"…You've grown up well."
"Are those your final words?"
The tone was cold.
It was a temperament that strictly separated the personal from the professional. Truly, had she not grown up magnificently?
Another chuckle escaped the woman's lips.
"Final words? Yes, final words… I should leave some. To my lovely sister, the next head of our family…."
The woman's body was far from normal.
Though she had crawled so desperately, she had barely moved two paces. In fact, part of her lower body was already submerged in a dark gap in spacetime.
The remnants of a collapsed barrier.
This space, filled with nothingness, might very well become her grave.
Her unfocused blue eyes slowly drifted upward. There, the shadows of three people were cast.
The Great Witch, Ian, and an unknown little wizard.
Wheezing, the woman exhaled a ragged breath.
"Looking back after all these years…."
Memories she hadn't thought of in ages flashed through her mind.
The memory of dragging her sister to the market by the hand when the girl didn't want to go.
Yes, that happened.
"Foolishly, I had so many things to regret."
Then, the memory of her sister sulking after getting whipped cream from a birthday cake on her cheek.
Memories forgotten for hundreds of years pierced her mind. They were scenes she hadn't recalled even once.
She had simply thought that everything had been taken from her. That all she had left was despair.
"All I have left are sighs…."
And the memory of lifting her sister high in the air to celebrate when she created her first Heart's Ring.
Suddenly, the question the man had asked came to mind.
‘So, what?’
‘What have you reclaimed now?’
Only now did she understand.
Affection, respect, love.
Even the empty titles of ‘The Continent’s Greatest Genius,’ ‘Promising Mage,’ or ‘The Next Head of the Family Carrying the Hopes of the Vassals.’
She could never reclaim them. She was a monster who had nearly burned the continent, and had she not sacrificed the very vassals who were supposed to look up to her?
I see.
From the very beginning, the woman's desires had been hollow.
"…The only thing my hope contained was ‘jealousy.’"
She had wandered in search of love, yet she was the one who had abandoned it.
Dew formed in the blurred eyes of the woman who could not love herself. A hollow laugh escaped her.
"You won… Merien."
"It’s been that way for a long time. Ever since you offered our entire family as a sacrifice to the Dark Cult."
She had no desire to refute that cold declaration. The woman merely murmured feebly.
"You're right. From that day on, I had nothing left. Everything I wanted to take back from you… Heh, how ridiculous."
"I'm glad you realized it before you died. Atonement for the rest of your sins can be done in hell."
"But Merien."
Facing her end, the woman flashed a faint smile. It was a hauntingly beautiful smile.
Like a summer flower blooming one last time before the arrival of autumn.
"Because I have nothing left… there is something I simply cannot throw away. Just one thing…."
It was then.
"I'll take what's yours."
A final flame ignited in the woman's fading eyes. The blood flowing from her body surged upward, forming sharp spikes.
It happened in an instant.
The woman's retinas captured her final prey.
Ian Percus.
This man was dangerous.
Every plan had begun to go awry because of him. Delphirem and the Dark Cult might crumble because of this man.
So, he must die.
For the sake of the new world the Dark Cult would usher in!
Just as the Blood Spikes were about to pierce the throat of the dazed man—
Crunch.
A faint doubt flickered in the woman's eyes as her vision suddenly blurred. The Blood Spikes, which had been surging with terrifying momentum, stopped the moment the woman's final concentration shattered.
Her bewildered gaze turned behind her.
There, she saw blood spurting. No.
She saw pure white teeth tearing into her neck, and golden eyes burning with murderous intent and madness.
The Vampire could only grit her teeth.
"Greed…!"
"Didn't I tell you not to touch my brother…?"
Whispering as she tore the life out of her comrade with her teeth instead of her mangled limbs, the girl spoke.
"…You bitch."
That was the end.
Without even being able to scream, the woman fell with the girl into the bottomless remnants of the barrier.
It was the end of one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
"Haa, ugh, uuuuugh…!"
Ragged breaths leaked through her clenched teeth. It was a clearing of unknown location; dawn had arrived, but the grace of the sun, which should be fair to everyone, did not reach this place.
In the center of it, a girl lay prone.
Black hair tied in a single strand, pale skin, and amber eyes.
Her beauty, which would have been striking under normal circumstances, still shone even though she was covered in dirt. If there was one flaw, it was the bloodshot whites of her eyes.
Her jaw trembled from how hard she was clenching her teeth. Nevertheless, the girl struggled without giving up, even though it was a futile effort since her arms and legs were bound.
In front of her, a woman sat in a languid crouch.
"Does it hurt?"
It was a captivating voice.
A seductive tone that seemed gentle yet pierced straight to the core. It made the woman's true intentions even harder to discern.
Just what was this person?
She didn't care about a name. The fallen girl, Celine, only wanted to know the true identity of the woman sitting before her.
At first, her only impression was that the woman was excessively attractive. If she had to add anything, it was a gut feeling that this woman was dangerous.
But the more she looked, the stranger it felt.
It was like being in front of a phantom. A being that existed, yet did not.
One moment she wasn't there, and the next, she was right in front of her eyes.
She didn't even know the conditions. She only suspected that thinking of the woman's existence acted as a sort of trigger.
Of course, Celine's contemplation didn't last long.
Unfamiliar scenes forced their way into her retinas and eardrums. They were illusions that constantly gnawed away at Celine's mental strength.
Her beloved childhood friend holding the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom in his arms.
The most famous flower of the continent, a virgin favored by the Heavenly God.
Her childhood friend whispered words of love into that woman's ear. Words he had never once said to Celine.
"Haa, haa, haa…."
But how could she be jealous?
Her opponent was the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom. She was someone of a status so high that the daughter of a fallen lower noble couldn't even begin to compare.
Beauty, skill, status.
She couldn't catch up in anything. It was an innate limitation.
Decided at birth.
Other scenes flashed across her vision as well.
Her beloved childhood friend kissing a commoner girl behind Celine's back.
The fact that he was engaged to a woman famous for her bad personality, and even kept a mistress for secret physical relations.
‘Jealousy’ flared up. Yes, every time it was supposed to.
Images of Celine being useless in battle filled her mind.
‘For a front-liner, you're the first one to be broken through.’
Incompetent.
‘You're all talk and no help.’
Incompetent.
‘You even entered into a wrong contract and put me in danger.’
Beyond incompetent—she was pathetic.
Celine could no longer tell whose voice was whispering in her ear. As she drifted between countless hallucinations and auditory illusions, she lost the ability to distinguish truth from lies.
She could only try to block the voices by pressing her arms against her ears, even while her hands were tied.
It was a useless gesture.
Celine's arms couldn't even block out the sound of the woman whispering right in front of her.
"Why does it hurt?"
Unlike usual, it was a rather obvious question.
At least enough for Celine to snap and let her mouth run wild.
"You… people… are showing me… these illusions… on purpose…!"
"They might not be illusions."
"Don't… make me laugh…!"
Grinding her teeth, Celine squeezed out a desperate voice, her eyes bloodshot with effort.