Chapter 212: The Weeping Serpent (Part 2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 212: The Weeping Serpent (Part 2)
The blade pierced her heart.
A look of dazed confusion lingered on Shali’s face. She looked down, watching her heart being impaled by the man she loved. She coughed up blood, tears of sorrow streaming down her cheeks.
"Muen... why... me... did I do something wrong?"
"No, Shali. You didn't do anything wrong."
Muen studied her, sighing softly. His gaze swept over her pitifully beautiful face again and again. With his free hand, he gently stroked her pale, blood-stained cheek.
"If there was a mistake, it’s simply the fact that you don’t actually exist."
"Don't... exist?"
Shali still couldn't grasp his words. What do you mean, I don't exist? I... am me, aren't I?
But at that moment, Muen’s hand reached for the black-rimmed glasses that sat ill-matched on her slender, delicate face. He... took them off.
In an instant, the atmosphere shifted violently.
The candlelight flickered manically. The warmth vanished, replaced in a heartbeat by a chill as cold as spectral fire.
The gourmet feast on the table was no longer fragrant or appetizing. It revealed its true, hellish form: mounds of something resembling monster viscera lay upon the plates, hideous mandibles twitching, several malicious eyeballs rolling restlessly.
The romantic restaurant transformed into a macabre ghost realm in the blink of an eye.
Muen ignored the surroundings, his eyes fixed solely on Shali’s face.
That beautiful face was still the same; removing a pair of glasses hadn't physically altered her features. Yet, with the glasses gone, her temperament was worlds apart from what it had been moments ago.
Her innocence and cuteness vanished entirely. Though her face remained unadorned by makeup, it now exuded an incomparably seductive aura.
It was a brand of sexiness that reached into the very marrow of one's bones—a look Muen had only ever seen on one person.
"Long time no see, Miss Banshee."
Meeting an old acquaintance, Muen naturally offered a warm greeting. To emphasize it, he gave the short blade in his hand a forceful twist.
"You don't look so well. Haven't been sleeping lately?"
"...Muen Campbell."
Now, those once-affectionate eyes turned cold. She stared fixedly at Muen, asking in bewilderment:
"When... did you find out?"
"When? Probably back at the Academy, when a certain loli teacher told me that the Moon possesses the power to plant terrifying suggestions in people. Since the Moon has that power, it’s hardly surprising that its believers would have it too. Once I followed that line of thought, many things that seemed strange before started to make sense. For example—"
Muen pulled out a slip of paper, which bore an address the Banshee knew well.
"The first time you invited me, my head was completely filled with my date with Senior. I’m not some walking stallion; why would I have accepted an address from you at a time like that? Even if you forced it on me, looking back, I could have thought of a dozen ways to refuse, couldn't I? Not to mention, we just happened to 'accidentally' choose your shop during our date later. That’s a bit too much of a coincidence. No matter how bad my memory is, there’s no way I wouldn't have remembered your address at a time like that."
"Just because of that?"
The Banshee coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.
"Not just that. What first raised my suspicions was Shali. Wasn't her affection for me a bit too sudden? So sudden it felt like it was being influenced by something."
"You are the son of a Duke. Even if a girl was just after your power, wouldn't it be normal for her to throw herself at you?"
"It would be normal," Muen sighed. "But Shali’s feelings were far too sincere, weren't they? So sincere... that I couldn't see a hint of falsehood. That level of love—how could it be generated after just a few meetings? This isn't some smutty novel where you're in bed by chapter three and ripping out hearts by chapter five."
"I see." A flash of realization crossed the Banshee’s eyes. "So, I overplayed my hand."
"Well, you’re a ruthless one, aren't you? You even placed a suggestion on yourself just to sneak into the Academy and fool everyone." Muen looked at her mockingly. "If you had just been acting, I might have actually been fooled. Who knew you’d actually create a persona that truly fell in love with me? I’m well aware of Muen Campbell’s reputation; for you to throw yourself at me so suddenly, how could I not be on guard? Not to mention, when you met me later in your true form, you acted like an old friend. To be honest, I only know a handful of girls at the Academy. Through simple deduction, it was obvious you were the problem."
"So you’ve been guarding against my suggestions this whole time?" The Banshee gave a strained smile. "You truly are nothing like the rumors, Muen Campbell."
Her face grew increasingly pale, and her aura weakened. She looked to be at death's door.
"Likewise. How could I ever lower my guard against a venomous snake like you?"
"Cough, cough... I wanted to watch you die in despair, but I didn't expect to give you the chance for a sneak attack instead. How unsightly."
"Then please, hurry up and die. How about it?"
Muen had twisted the short blade nearly a full turn. A massive amount of Holy Light flooded into her, creating a foul, burnt stench. By now, the Banshee’s heart had likely been shredded beyond recognition by the blade and the light.
An injury like this would have killed even that Beast Tamer ten times over.
Yet, a bizarre smile suddenly curled on the Banshee’s lips.
"Perhaps... you should have cut my..."
Before she could finish, a cold flash of light streaked through the air.
The smile on the Banshee’s face froze. Before the rest of her words could leave her mouth, her vision began to spin.
A fine head tumbled to the ground, her eyes still reflecting confusion and resentment.
Muen gripped another pure white short blade in his other hand, flicking the blood off it. He spoke expressionlessly:
"I was already prepared for that."
With a casual shove, he pushed away the headless corpse whose heart had been completely pulverized. He stepped over the Banshee’s head and continued forward.
At that moment, perhaps because the false surroundings had lost their source of power, everything suddenly changed.
The cramped restaurant vanished, reverting once more to the grim streets of the Lower District. Rain poured down, and that cold aura in the distance was drawing closer and closer.
Muen’s heart rate gradually quickened. Based on intuition, he had a feeling that he was very, very close to Senior.
Now that the Banshee was dead, all that remained was—
"Honestly, is it so hard to let someone finish their sentence?"
A sinister wind blew past, suddenly knocking Muen’s top hat far away. But Muen had no time to worry about his hat. His pupils shrank, and his racing heart nearly skipped a beat.
He stopped in his tracks, his hands tightening around Elizabeth so hard that the veins on the backs of his hands bulged.
That voice...
How was it possible?
Her head had been cut off, her heart pulverized. What creature in this world could survive such fatal wounds?
"Giggle, giggle..."
But that seductive, charming laughter remained crystal clear.
Muen turned around expressionlessly. He watched as the Banshee reattached her head to her neck as if nothing had happened, even giving it a playful twist.
"What a pity, Muen Campbell. If you hadn't been in such a rush and had listened to me, you would have known that what I was going to say was...
You should have cut my brain, not my neck.
The words sound similar, but the meaning is entirely different. Because—"
The Banshee pointed to her head with a flirtatious smile, then without hesitation, she tore open her own clothing.
Muen didn't get the chance to admire the breathtaking, mouth-watering view. In the next moment, the Banshee casually tore open her own stomach, just as she had her clothes.
Flesh split apart, ribs were exposed, revealing... a hollow interior.
Forget a heart—there wasn't a single internal organ inside her abdomen!
The Banshee giggled and said:
"Because, aside from the brain I still need for thinking, everything else... has been sacrificed to the Great Moon."