Chapter 229 : Chapter 229
Chapter 229 : Wreckage (2)
An arm popping out of the black sphere roughly grabbed Raven by the scruff of his neck. Raven could not even budge against the terrifying physical strength.
'The Sword Demon was defeated……?!'
Of course, he already knew the fact that several of his brothers had lost their lives at the hands of Bihen Benkou. Their defeats were not entirely incomprehensible. There was something that could only be called destiny when looking back, whether it was heavenly luck or a mysterious flow of causality.
But this time, he could not accept it at all.
'How can a bastard trapped in the Sword Demon's mental world walk out alive on his own feet……?!'
Raven's pupils shook violently, losing their destination. Shock paralyzed his thoughts. His vision was gradually growing distant.
CRUMBLE—!
The black sphere flowed down like fine sand, then soon turned into smoke and scattered in all directions.
Bihen stood alone in the place where all traces had vanished without a trace.
He was still holding Raven by the scruff of his neck.
“Bihen!”
From Hugin and Kendrick who were right nearby, to Conwell, and even to Isaac's group, there was no one who did not have a connection with him. Everyone could not hide their respective shock, joy, and thrill.
SWISH—!
Bihen swiftly swung his other arm. The brutal sound of cutting wind rang out, and soon Raven's limbs dropped away one after another.
THUD—!
Bihen threw down Raven, whom he was holding, like discarding a piece of luggage. Having lost all his limbs, Raven collapsed helplessly like a scarecrow.
SQUELCH—!
That was not the end. Gripping the Heavenly Demon in a reverse hold, Bihen drove it straight down into Raven's abdomen as if driving a stake.
Raven coughed up a torrent of backflowing blood.
“Keup……!”
Bihen tightly tied up his long, cascading hair. His curled-up smirk was clearly revealed.
Terrified, Raven's eyes widened. He felt as if he were truly facing a fiend.
“H-H-How…….”
“I'll make you beg me to kill you.”
He had severed his limbs and even stabbed him with the Heavenly Demon. Only after taking measures to keep him from moving did a moment to catch his breath finally arise.
Bihen raised his head. His gaze, which calmly scanned the people surrounding him from a distance, soon stopped at one place.
HISS—!
It was Hugin. As the fiercely burning flames gradually died down, thick white smoke wrapping around his entire body rose heavily.
“Comrade Hugin!”
Kendrick and the mercenaries, who were freed from Raven's sorcery thanks to Bihen this time as well, rushed straight toward Hugin. However, they too were flustered and did not know what to do.
“M-Make a deal with me, Bihen Benkou!”
Raven struggled desperately. Turning away from Hugin, Bihen approached and looked down at the fallen Raven, keeping him between his feet.
A massive shadow enveloped Raven. Raven's lips trembled. It was a fear he had not tasted in a long time.
“A deal?”
“Y-Yes, right! The word 'deal' must bother you. Fine, I'll gladly become your slave.”
“…….”
“I'll bark if you tell me to bark, and I'll even bite Zisair if you tell me to bite!”
Bihen narrowed his eyes. At this, Raven even mimicked a dog barking as if trying to curry favor. Mixed with the sound of boiling bloody phlegm, it was pathetically desperate.
“What are you?”
“I belong to the Imperial Magic Corps—”
“No, not that. Why did Zisair suddenly pop up?”
The tongue he had been sticking out and wagging to mimic a dog stiffened and stopped. His rigid pupils moved stiffly.
“……Ah, t-that is—”
SQUELCH—!
Bihen twisted his wrist holding the hilt of the Heavenly Demon half a turn. The blade ruthlessly gouged Raven's abdomen, digging deeper.
“Kyaaaaak—!”
The dog barking quickly turned into a horrific scream. Bihen looked down dryly at Raven, who was writhing in pain.
“As expected, Zisair was also one of the Eight Demons. Just since when have you bastards been watching me? What about you? What's your alias?”
Raven's pupils shook violently. Setting aside the fact that Zisair's name had slipped out by mistake, he had not expected Bihen to see through his true identity as well.
'Don't tell me, that Sword Demon bastard?!'
It was then. Bihen applied pressure to his wrist as if pressing down. The blade slowly tore through the lower abdomen as it moved down.
Raven shouted spasmodically.
“Keu, heok! N-No! Please! Don't do that!”
The tip of the blade gradually drew closer to that private area. Raven, who had been mimicking a dog perfectly just a moment ago, convulsed and screamed while trembling like aspen leaves.
Bihen snorted as if it were ridiculous.
'He was the Lust Demon.'
The Lust Demon was a fiend that had spread its infamous name throughout the human world while indulging in carnal desires. No matter how much it tried to deceive by wearing a human mask, when faced with such an extreme moment, it could not hide its instinct to fear castration more than death.
“D-Do you think you can face Zisair without my help?!”
Raven cried out in an urgent voice.
“Your help?”
“Yes! As you can see, I've realized acutely that I'm no match for you! I swear upon my very existence that I'll never appear before your eyes again!”
Bihen made no reply. The longer the silence stretched, the more Raven's pupils trembled.
“Even excluding me, there are still three more left! Aren't you curious where those bastards are?”
“…….”
“I-I'll cooperate! I'm telling you I'll find all three of the remaining ones!”
Soon, Bihen shifted his gaze. He scanned the area once more.
‘…….’
Ashes littered everywhere, and dead trees that were completely burnt and bare stood in rows. Although it seemed like he was glancing at the scenery on the surface, Bihen was thoroughly probing the presences beyond it. It was to find any arrangements by Zisair that might be hidden behind this filthy farce.
'There are no other bastards.'
Only after confirming there were no ambushes or variables nearby did Bihen finally open his mouth. His gaze was still directed into the distance.
“How are you going to find the remaining three for me?”
“W-Well, that is—”
Bihen brought his face close to Raven and whispered softly.
“There's no need to search for Zisair, and one of the remaining two is sealed by the Saintess of Solari—”
“……!”
“And you won't even be able to find the Ghost Demon as you please, so by what means?”
Raven's complexion turned deathly pale.
'W-What on earth is this guy……?!'
Bihen slowly pulled his face away. A wicked smile formed on his lips.
Just then, someone caught his eye.
Step, step.
Isaac was approaching this way. His gait was precarious, as if he might collapse at any moment. He was half out of his mind, as if he could not believe this reality at all.
“No, it's not, no, it's not…….”
Isaac muttered to himself. He did not care about Hugin, whom he had been frantically searching for. His devastated gaze was fixed solely on Raven.
THUD—!
Isaac fell to his knees. As soon as he reached beside Raven, even his remaining energy seemed to have completely vanished. It was a wonder he had managed to walk all the way here.
“……Raven.”
“O-Oh! Isaac! Haha, s-sorry! I'm in quite a state, aren't I? I managed to block the Mercenary King somehow, but once the Sword Fiend joined in, there was absolutely no way.”
“…….”
“I clearly told you, didn't I? The person we must be most careful of in this war is Bihen Benkou. Look, right now this guy looks ready to target even the Duke of Conwell, whom he once served as his lord. What a dreadful Sword Fiend!”
By this point, Bihen was simply dumbfounded. He almost wanted to watch and see how far this bastard would spout nonsense.
Behind him, Adeline and the key figures of Conwell approached. It was quite an imposing sight. It was as if they were mocking the attempt to drive a wedge by claiming Bihen was targeting the Duke of Conwell.
“Wait, don't tell me this guy is……”
It was Bolero, who had followed Isaac. Beside him, Roxy also covered her agape mouth in surprise.
“Isn't he that guy from last time?! That intruder who broke into the Pretoria mansion!”
Raven's expression slowly turned serious. He leisurely scanned the people surrounding him and looking down at him, one by one.
From Bihen, who had gifted him a humiliating sight, to Isaac, who faced the truth, to Adeline, who looked absurdly arrogant, and even to Hugin, whose focus had now grown blurred.
Raven, who had been taking in their gazes amidst a strange silence, soon shrugged his shoulders and began to laugh.
“Kihikihi……! This is really amusing.”
The finely trembling laughter gradually turned into a mad roar of laughter. His gaze, soaked in madness, directed toward Isaac.
“Isaac? Why is your expression like that? Was your resolve to turn your back on your family and find freedom only to this extent?”
“……!”
“I guess you thought Windermere would disappear in a peaceful way after winning the war? Hmm? Did you really believe that?”
Eventually, Isaac broke down. He buried his forehead in the ground thickly covered with ashes. His shoulders, weighed down by despair, trembled.
“Ah, my bride.”
At that moment, Raven's mocking gaze slid over to Roxy, who was holding the curled-up Isaac.
Following his gaze, astonishment instantly filled Bihen's eyes.
'Bride?'
Of course, it could have been a simple mockery by the Lust Demon, but Bihen felt a sense of incongruity.
Roxy's Severed Meridians symptoms, which were somewhat alleviated like Isaac's, the Lust Demon, and the child conceived in her womb…….
“Will you pass it on instead? To your foolish older brother.”
In Bihen's mind, the torn pieces were instantly completed into a single cruel picture.
“The truth of that night when you and I were together—”
SPLAT—!
The words could not be finished.
Bihen pushed the Heavenly Demon, which was stabbed into Raven's lower abdomen, straight up to the top of his head.
Raven's face, glistening with madness, was split into two halves in an instant.
---
A small hill on the outskirts of Windermere.
Climbing up a gentle slope among moderately thick trees, there is a cozy cabin that seems like a part of the forest.
It was a villa cherished by Isaac Windermere, the Third Son of the Windermere Family.
“…….”
Isaac stood alone outside the cabin, blankly staring at the setting sun burning into the edge of the horizon. The entire sky was stained with a deep wine color.
“So you were here, Isaac?”
Just hearing the voice made it feel as if a sweet scent lingered at the tip of his nose.
Isaac turned his head. Raven was standing in that spot.
“Is something wrong?”
“…….”
Isaac wetted his dry lips with his tongue. His determination not to speak of it in vain crumbled far too easily.
“Will she…… be okay?”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“……Roxy.”
Understanding a beat late, Raven let out a light exclamation. His head, tilted askew, returned to its proper position.
“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Out of nowhere.”
Isaac's brow furrowed slightly. The words kept spinning around in his mouth.
Just then, girls' giggling laughter burst out from the cabin behind Raven.
Raven chuckled.
“It's really strange. How can even my mood improve just by hearing their laughter?”
“……Raven, look—”
Raven placed his index finger on his own lips. Cut off mid-sentence, Isaac's eyelashes trembled faintly.
Raven slowly opened his mouth.
“Christine doesn't remember anything either. She just thinks she woke up after a good night's sleep for the first time in a while. What on earth is the problem?”
“…….”
“Isaac, did you forget? What matters to us is the result. They won't even remember anyway. They'll just rejoice in the fact that the pain tightening around them vanished when they opened their eyes. Let's not suffer over something that didn't even happen. You and I are the only ones who carry the truth.”
Raven pressed his lips tightly together as if feigning disappointment. Stepping a foot closer, he adjusted Isaac's disheveled collar and whispered in a low voice.
“Yes, I know. I understand. It's far too vulgar for the noble young master of Windermere to accept. But look at how the women of your family who received treatment from me, along with Christine, are doing right now. Only your old-fashioned family members deny it, but everyone has regained their vitality like a miracle. Can you really say such words even after seeing the smiles of your sisters who returned from the brink of death?”
Isaac's pupils shook. Raven did not miss the opening.
“Only by directly injecting my pure mana can the twisted meridians be corrected. Does this act look like nothing but a base affair to you? This is salvation, Isaac. A perfect salvation where not even shame remains.”
From inside the cabin, clear laughter leaked out once again.
It was Roxy and Masa.
This villa was their sole refuge. Evading the dread of the terrible genetic disease and the fierce surveillance of the family, it was only here that the two enjoyed a dreamlike escape.
The taboo of loving someone of the same gender, which would never be permitted under the strict laws of the Windermere Family. Isaac, their older brother, silently kept that secret.
Because he knew that pain better than anyone else…….
Isaac desperately wanted to protect his younger sister's happiness.
“I'll take the guilt.”
Raven smiled gently. It was the smile of a saint bestowing final mercy.
“You just have to wait outside the door, and then hug your younger sister who wakes up like a miracle tomorrow morning knowing nothing. That's the only love you can give as an older brother, isn't it?”
In time, Raven turned around.
“It's a love like never before, Isaac.”