Chapter 82
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Branded
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“Who am I, you ask…”
But quietly.
His gaze upon her was heavy.
Heavy enough to make her blood run cold just by meeting it.
As Parsha gritted her teeth against the overwhelming pressure that made even the Vault Keeper, with her unimaginable power, seem insignificant.
Dion smiled faintly.
“How amusing. Isn't it you, Parsha, who knows me best in this world?”
“Don't be absurd.”
“Why? Because I've grown too strong?”
To be clear.
That was the truth.
As the one who had raised Dion since he was a newborn, she knew just how incompetent he was.
That was why, even after he first Awakened.
Even when he won the duel against Gerald, a guard of the Vlad family, she hadn't held any particular expectations for him.
He had shown surprising skill for someone newly Awakened, but that was all.
The walls of Unlight were not so low that a talent for struggling against a 1-Star Awakened One would suffice.
…Yes.
That was how it was, until then.
But then he passed the Bridal Contest and gained a territory.
He defeated the high-level Awakened One, Silan, captured a boss in a Labyrinth where a dungeon break had occurred, and made the Treant Lord his vassal.
As the days went by.
His growth accelerated at a frightening pace.
It had reached a point where even she found it difficult to gauge her chances of winning against him.
And the four supernatural abilities he had displayed in his fight with the Vault Keeper were enough to completely shatter her perceptions.
As a fellow multi-ability user, Parsha couldn't fail to understand.
It wasn't because he was lucky.
Or because his strategy was brilliant.
Or because he had been hiding his abilities.
It was something that couldn't be achieved for such trivial reasons; it required a single, absolute factor.
—Talent.
A genius that could not be defined by Classes and Traits alone, something one could only describe as innate.
Still, until that point.
She had merely acknowledged it.
An Unlight was an Unlight, after all.
That Dion, too, was of the bloodline of the great demonic family, a lineage that inspired awe in not only high-level Awakened Ones but other nobles as well.
But…
“This isn't a matter of power or talent.”
“Then what is it?”
“The problem is that you are not the Young Master I know.”
Parsha gritted her teeth.
Abilities can change.
But personality does not.
Until now, she had thought he had simply gained confidence from Awakening, or that he was influenced by his Class…
But the side of Dion she had just witnessed.
And the chilling sensation she still felt, told her—not as his exclusive maid, but as his wet nurse—
that this wicked boy was not the Dion she knew.
Incompetent and pathetic.
An idiot and a fool.
Cowardly and timid.
Docile and weak.
That buffoon, who was practically the epitome of trash, could not possibly exude such an intimidating aura.
Above all, he could never have worn such a smile.
There was just one problem.
“Does that matter?”
“…”
“It was you who taught me that survival is justice, and the means do not matter.”
With a slight smile.
Too light to be a jeer.
Too bright to be a cynical sneer.
The boy continued, a wisp of a smile on his lips.
“If anything, the one who's changed isn't me, but you, Parsha.”
“…What do you mean?”
“If you want to be a traitor, stab me in the back. If you want to be a loyal servant, take a blade for your master.”
“…”
“Stop walking such a fine line.”
Neither an affirmation.
Nor a denial.
And so, looking at the maid who fell silent at a question sharper than any yes or no, the boy smiled faintly.
If she had truly wanted to betray him, she should have sold all his information long ago and come to kill him.
Conversely, if she wanted to offer her loyalty, she should have revealed her betrayal and proven her devotion twofold, threefold.
Yet she had dithered.
Unlike her usual cold-headed self.
Unable to commit to betrayal.
Unable to prove her loyalty.
With blood-red eyes, he gazed at his exclusive maid who had fought alongside him in this ambiguous state.
Dion let out a small laugh.
“Well, I understand. You became my exclusive maid to protect your clan… no, to protect Arsha, even if it meant sacrificing yourself.”
“…!”
“That’s why I said it. I don't resent you for betraying me.”
On a face that was always expressionless.
Now, having lost all expression.
Dion chuckled at the sight of the frozen dark elf maid.
The reason Parsha had steadfastly held her position as his exclusive maid despite the harsh environment, and why she had betrayed him at the risk of death.
—He knew it was all to save her clan, even if it meant she would die with him.
And just the same, he knew she could no longer betray him, precisely because of her clan.
Above all…
“Besides, if you hadn't sold my information in the first place, I would have starved to death long ago.”
Far from living a life of abundance.
He worried about his daily meals.
Struggling not to freeze to death.
Those days of struggle.
The reason he had survived to adulthood through it all was thanks to the efforts of this dark elf maid.
Thanks to the mana stones and food she had obtained in exchange for selling his information.
And because he had 'experienced' how not only he, but the entire dark elf clan would have been annihilated had she refused that deal.
Dion did not blame her.
For Parsha.
And her clan.
His failure to protect them was ultimately his own fault.
“But Parsha, know this one thing.”
“I am no longer the child you could discard at will. I am your master.”
“Therefore…”
With a faint smile on his face.
But with humorless eyes.
He looked at the exclusive maid who had raised and protected him his entire life.
The boy spoke in a frigid voice.
“—Know your place.”
Dion recalled.
The day he accepted the Treant Lord as his vassal.
The day he returned after meeting the Lord of Nakrang.
Arsha’s unusually sorrowful appearance that day…
…and the bitter, sad saltiness he had tasted when he kissed the corner of her eye.
That alone was enough to guess what had happened that day.
It was something Parsha could do, and indeed had to do, as his exclusive maid.
But…
“I choose my own bride.”
“…”
“How dare a mere maid like you run your mouth to my woman.”
He could understand Parsha betraying him.
But he was the master who made decisions and gave orders, and she was merely a maid who followed and served.
No matter if it was his mother, he could not forgive anyone treating 'what was his' so carelessly.
He declared coldly, as her master.
Dion continued.
“Normally, I'd have to punish you severely, but I'll give you a special chance, Parsha.”
“…What kind of chance might that be?”
“A chance to be forgiven by me.”
At that moment.
The corner of Parsha's lips, which had remained expressionless even in the face of defeat and death, twisted.
No matter how great his talent.
In the end, that was all it was.
In this Odobaekryeong, where only the law of the jungle prevailed, mercy was a symbol of foolishness, and forgiveness was a mockery that only bred more traitors.
As if mocking the boy who had yet to shed his soft nature.
“Are you saying you'll generously forgive a traitor who doesn't even know her place and keep her in your service?”
“Because it won't be easy to find another maid as competent as you.”
“Even a fool of a master should know that one who betrays once can betray again.”
“Hasn't it already been proven that's impossible?”
“…What do you mean.”
“It means you failed to take even one of the three chances I gave you.”
In that instant.
Parsha's perpetually expressionless face hardened even further.
Not because she couldn't understand Dion's words, but because something came to her mind unbidden.
It was…
“When you passed information to brother Ren.”
“When Mister Alcan appeared.”
“When I pointed out you were a traitor.”
So naturally.
Or perhaps, as a matter of course.
The chances given to her.
To Parsha, who bit her lip as she finally realized what she could have done with those chances.
Dion spoke with an even deeper smile.
“—I gave you three whole chances to kill me, didn't I?”
With a shudder.
Parsha’s long eyelashes trembled.
That sense of unease.
She had felt it from the start.
The Vault Keeper, who possessed power comparable to a transcendent Awakened One even when weakened.
Was it really possible for a quadruple Awakened One to dominate her so one-sidedly?
And if it was possible, why hadn't he subdued her sooner?
Parsha spat out the answer to those many questions, which she had only just realized.
“…Did you orchestrate all this just to test me? When you could have passed a pathetic test like this long ago?”
“It served multiple purposes, but yes, that was the main goal.”
“…”
With Arsha.
And the dark elf clan in the picture.
Parsha could never betray him.
Looking at the boy who had caused this uproar just to make Parsha realize that fact for herself, even though he already knew.
She raised an eyebrow.
He could have lost his life if he had truly been betrayed, so why did he make such a foolish choice?
She couldn't understand.
But Dion's next words made her pupils constrict.
“Arsha asked me. To look after her daughter.”
“…”
Still an expressionless face.
But a tightly clenched fist.
Perhaps because of their long-standing bond.
The boy, who could read the dark elf maid's emotions from that gesture alone, spoke with a faint smile.
But his blood-red eyes held not a trace of mirth as he spoke.
“So, Parsha, don't forget from now on.”
“…”
“—You were mine from the moment I was born, and the right to choose has always been my prerogative as your master.”
Her life.
Her existence.
Even her death.
Everything about her belonged to him.
So, discarding Parsha was his choice to make.
She didn't even have the freedom to choose her own death, so she should just shut up and be used as he commanded.
The boy’s utterly beautiful smile as he nonchalantly stated this as if it were the most obvious fact.
And above all, those eyes that looked at her as if she were a mere tool. After meeting that gaze with an expressionless face.
The dark elf maid finally spoke.
“Since you offer a chance, I shall accept it.”
“Ahaha, that's just like you, Parsha.”
As if he had expected nothing less.
Dion, who had been nodding with a bright smile, suddenly continued.
And then…
“By the way, Parsha.”
*Slap!!!*
As if it would snap.
Her head whipped violently to the side.
He grabbed the hair of the dark elf, whose cheek was now stained red, and pulled.
Forcing Parsha to look up at him, he brought his own face right up to hers.
Dion smiled faintly.
“I told you, know your place.”
“…”
“A dog that bares its fangs at its own master doesn't get to answer with words when it's shown mercy, does it?”
“…”
“If you're a dog, you should beg for forgiveness like one.”
With a flick.
Dion released his hand.
Then, he sat down on the back of the still-kneeling Vault Keeper.
He kicked off his dusty boots.
To her, sprawled on the floor like trash, he commanded in an utterly cheerful voice.
“—Lick.”
“…”
What did that mean?
Parsha did not ask.
The light but serious voice.
The cold gaze on the nape of her neck.
Above all, the bare foot thrust before her, whiter and smoother than a young girl's, told her what he wanted, and what she had to do.
The very act of offering his sweat-soaked bare foot instead of a dirt-caked boot was, in itself, an act of supreme mercy.
And so, after a brief silence, she finally moved.
Without ever raising her head.
She crawled on her hands and knees.
Dragging her tattered body.
Like a dog, she approached the boy until she was right before him, and slowly lowered her head.
And so…
*Lick.*
The one she had raised since he was a baby but never served, the one who was so weak and timid she had even felt contempt for him.
But now, only a few months after his terrifying talent had blossomed.
Like a drawn blade.
He was chillingly ruthless.
Like a beast tearing at a traitor.
He was cruelly meticulous about hierarchy.
Like a drop of blood on a cursed jewel.
Possessing a demonic nature so wicked it was bewitchingly fascinating.
He had become worthy of the direct line of the great demonic family Unlight, the pinnacle of all demons in the Demonic Realm, feared even by the other Baekdaesega.
Bowing her head to her master, who was now finally worthy of being served even at the cost of her life, she offered the purity of her fine lips and tongue.
On the smooth skin stretching from the back of her hand to her forearm, she received a brand in the shape of a wolf.
She swore to become her master's dog.
『Achievement: Knight Order Defeated.』
『Achievement: Disposable Pawns.』
『Achievement: Calamity Subjugation (1/12).』
『Achievement: A Start for Salvation.』
『Achievement: Punishment for Betrayal.』
『Achievement: Forced Loyalty.』
『Acquired Succession Prerogative 【Dominator (EX)】 as a reward for a Special Achievement.』
『Special effect of 【Blood Fiend Star】 activated.』
『3-Star Class 【Demon Knight】 Plundered』
『2-Star Class 【Tattooist】 Plundered』
『2-Star Class 【Artisan】 Plundered』
『1-Star Class 【Clown】 Plundered』
『1-Star Class 【Snake Catcher】 Plundered』
『Unique Trait 【Black Heart (R)】 Plundered.』
『Racial Trait 【Canine Scent (N)】 Plundered.』
『Racial Trait 【Cunning (N)】 Plundered.』
『【Black Mage】☆☆☆ Lv10』
『【Ghost Tracer】☆☆☆ Lv5→ Lv7』
『【Sand Mage】☆☆☆ Lv4→ Lv6』
『【Archaeologist】☆☆☆ Lv3→ Lv5』
『【Necromancer】☆☆☆ Lv1→ Lv4』