CHAPTER 50……
“Kh–! Khh–ugh…!”
Envy froze in place, sword still in hand.
The moment the black thorns pierced into his body, he couldn’t even twitch a finger.
Cretes sighed, approached him, and took the sword from his hand.
“All I can do… is ‘save’ you.”
Then he walked over to Asilia and helped her to her feet.
Through her dazed, shocked vision, Cretes came into view.
She stared quietly at the sword now placed in her hand.
“Didn’t you say you’d go and take revenge?”
“…”
“Kill the man who slaughtered everyone in the Principality of Clomeus, then come to Moria. I’m still waiting, you know.”
At Cretes’ words, Asilia let out a hollow breath.
“Me… cough! Kill me? If you kill me—kill me—cough, cough! then what? Do you think you’ll have anywhere to go back to?”
Envy lashed out desperately.
Stop now, he said—if she did, he’d at least grant her a place to stay within Revila.
“A place… to return to.”
Murmuring, Asilia gripped the sword tightly. Perhaps thanks to Cretes, the spell binding her had been broken—she could now move freely.
“When making a deal, you said to offer the other side something they need.”
“…”
“Unfortunately for you, I already have somewhere to return to.”
A place she had had since long ago.
She had simply forgotten it, blinded by revenge, sinking deeper into despair.
So, if she cut off this man’s head, everything would be over.
As she raised the sword high, Envy shouted:
“Do you think killing this body will be the end?!”
“…”
“I won’t die. I won’t fall! Lord Tachion, the god-slayer, will not die so easily!”
Unable to move his body, Envy still sneered at Asilia and Cretes.
“Killed… a god?”
Cretes’ voice dropped low.
At the same time, his short hair grew long, and his crimson eyes turned golden.
He had shed Isaiah’s guise.
“You… you…! Ha, hahaha! So that’s how it is. Asilia Heathclear—when I told you to go to Moria and kill the god of death, you really brought him back!”
Envy burst into laughter, arrogant even at death’s door.
He began chanting in an unknown tongue. Then, staggering, he tried to pull out the thorn lodged in his chest.
“Gods can’t meddle too deeply in human affairs, can they? Hmm? Even stabbing me like this… must be excruciating for you.”
“For a human, you know quite a lot of old information.”
“Haha! Of course. Do you think a god-slayer wouldn’t know this much?”
He chuckled.
A god-slayer.
As far as Cretes knew, there was only one such human in the entire world.
“Damon.”
The moment Cretes said the name, Envy bared his teeth in a grin.
“We’ll meet again.”
“…”
“And next time, I’ll kill you and become a god myself.”
Envy widened his eyes and began chanting again in that strange tongue, gripping the thorn in his chest.
Cretes looked back at Asilia—and in that instant, without hesitation, she struck off Envy’s head.
“Haha, hahaha!”
Though the head rolled, Envy laughed still.
When his laughter echoed so loudly it seemed it might shake the room apart, Asilia drove her sword into his mouth.
“You said gods can’t intervene much in human affairs, right?”
“Hahaha! Hahahaha!”
“But burning the soul of the one who caused my friend’s death… that much should be fine.”
Cretes raised his hand high. Envy’s mocking laughter suddenly stopped.
“Even the god of judgment might give me a pass for that.”
“…What?”
“He was quite fond of Ares, you see.”
With a snap of his fingers, Envy let out a scream.
The sound went on without end—until something shattered nearby, and it ceased.
Crack! Crackle!
Smash!
Bursts and crashes erupted from all around.
They could no longer stay inside; stepping outside, they saw the curtains behind collapse entirely.
“His body’s already gone. Even if he tries to possess another, he won’t have enough strength to manage it.”
“Then… is it over?”
“No. We have to destroy his soul.”
Cretes scanned the surroundings, as if searching for Envy.
“His room.”
“…?”
“He’s in his room. If he’s preparing to enter another body, the vessel he’s in will probably be floating in the air. That’s what we have to destroy.”
At his words, Asilia remembered the blue stone she had seen in that room.
Could that be the container holding Envy Tachion’s soul?
“I’ll go.”
“The path won’t be easy.”
She smiled at Cretes’ warning.
It was a smile one could only wear when they truly trusted the other person.
“I’m not alone anymore, am I?”
Cretes’ eyes widened. He opened his mouth to reply—but before he could, a deep voice rumbled from above them.
“Go, my daughter.”
Startled, Asilia turned to see the massive figure rising slowly from the golden throne.
She tensed, but Cretes placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You’re fully awake, then?”
Zande nodded slowly.
“Looks like you’ve smashed all the mana stones in the basement. Thanks to that, I’ve come to my senses. Tachion never really cared about an old man like me anyway.”
Letting out a hearty chuckle, Zande picked up the huge axe beside the throne.
“What are you…?”
When she looked at him in confusion, Zande came to sit before her.
Meeting her gaze, he reached out and pulled her into an embrace.
“I’m sorry… for being such a powerless emperor.”
“…”
“By the time I realized it, it was already too late. I saw the principality falling apart before my eyes, and yet… I couldn’t do a thing.”
But then Zande learned that Asilia was still alive.
And so he proclaimed—
That girl looks so much like my dead daughter. That she was his daughter returned to him.
Envy, of course, denied it. Said she was a noblewoman of the principality with no relation to him.
“Still, I insisted you were my daughter. I thought… maybe then he’d grant you a little—just a little—leniency.”
Thankfully, Zande’s ploy worked.
Perhaps to preserve the dignity of the imperial throne, Envy granted one request for every three times Zande begged.
“Then… Your Majesty—you mean you too were deceived by him?”
Zande couldn’t nod right away.
In truth, all of this had begun because of his own greed.
Yes, he’d been deceived—but he couldn’t say he was blameless.
“Go, Asilia.”
“…”
“With Envy Tachion gone, all the knights’ brainwashing has been shaken. He’ll be targeting you… and the emperor of Moria.”
Zande lifted his gaze toward the hall’s exit. The sound of armored men running grew closer.
“If you go alone, you’ll die.”
Cretes frowned. From the sound of it, the knights chasing Adrian were also approaching—the footfalls were too many to count.
“If I die, then I pay for my sins. In fact, I’d be getting off easy.”
Zande let out a booming laugh, then exhaled heavily.
“My sins are great.”
These were human sins.
And human sins had to be paid for under human law.
When Cretes showed he was still willing to help, Zande sat down before the two of them.
Grasping Cretes’ hand, he spoke.
“You’ve already interfered enough in human affairs, haven’t you?”
“…”
“Don’t you need strength to take Asilia back to Moria?”
Asilia’s fingertips trembled slightly. But Zande took her hand and placed it in Cretes’, making them clasp hands together.
“I wanted to see your wedding.”
A trace of regret crossed his face.
The warmth in his gaze was filled with genuine fatherly love for her.
“Be happy.”
“…”
“Though we share no blood… and though I ruined everything for you… to me, you were my daughter.”
At his smile, Asilia reached out with empty hands to hold him.
She couldn’t speak at first. Zande rose to his feet slowly.
“My loyalty…”
At the emotion in her voice, Zande paused mid-step.
Asilia raised her head and met his eyes directly.
“My loyalty was given only to you.”
“…”
“Father.”
Her voice was choked, but steady.
Zande reached out and stroked her cheek.
“Don’t you resent me? Don’t you… hate me?”
She rubbed her cheek against his large hand.
“I have never hated you.”
