Chapter 83
“Father, my foot.”
Clicking his tongue, Herais, who was sick of hearing that word “father,” sneered.
“If that’s what you want so badly, then I’ll grant it. Be happy. The ‘father’ you so longed for will personally cut off your head.”
What Herais wanted to see was primal fear, the terror of death.
But instead—
“O Father! At last, You have answered our call!”
—his eyes shone with fanatical delight. What filled them was not fear but obsession, neatly wrapped up as faith.
His sticky, pitch-black eyes gleamed with twisted desire.
“I knew this day would come! Father, now is the time to create a new world! We must slaughter the filthy unbelievers and heretics and open a new age just like 500 years ago! I—I have prepared everything! So please, together with us, let us usher in this new era!”
This man had clearly lost his mind.
His mana core was shattered, his body broken to the point he could barely move, and still he dreamed this hollow dream.
Even knowing it was Herais who ruined him, he was overjoyed—practically trembling with excitement. It was bizarre.
At the same time, a wicked urge rose in me: to trample on that faith.
“Do you know the truth?”
The cult leader’s glistening eyes turned to me.
“The father you’ve yearned for so desperately… is bound to me.”
“…What…?”
I lifted my left hand, making sure the ring finger was clearly visible.
The cult leader’s eyes bulged as though they might fall out.
“…The Ruby?”
“So, you know about it.”
Of course. If he knew Herais was sealed away, he’d know about the Ruby too.
“The ring… the ring was the Ruby…”
But it seemed he never imagined the Ruby would take the form of a ring.
“Then that means—”
“That’s right. I am Herais’s master. The one you call Father.”
I tugged on Herais’s arm, and he obediently leaned into me, playfully affectionate as if to show off.
“Isn’t that right, Heren?”
“Of course. My only master is you.”
Wrapping an arm around my waist, he buried his face in the curve of my neck and whispered low.
“If you want, I’ll give you the whole world.”
Herais chose his words carefully, each one calculated to make the cult leader choke with rage.
“And did you also know—he’s not a demon at all, but just a ‘human,’ a genius sorcerer?”
“Human…?”
I watched the cult leader’s shocked face and kept tossing bombs.
“The real demon is this one here. All this time you were chasing the wrong person. How pitiful.”
“Ahem!”
Ban shot up proudly, puffing out his tiny chest.
“Well? Human, aren’t you honored to behold me, the great Ban?”
The sight of Ban, small and cutesy, made the cult leader’s eyes quiver like a storm.
He opened and closed his mouth wordlessly for a long while, then finally shouted in denial.
“This… this pathetic little thing—how could it possibly be a demon! This is nonsense!”
“What?! How dare you belittle me?!”
Tsk. If only he hadn’t said “pathetic little thing,” he might’ve lived longer.
Ban’s jaw unhinged like he was about to devour him, and I shook my head.
“Argh! M-my hand…!”
“You still can’t feel my greatness?!”
The cult leader shook his head violently, refusing reality.
“No! Impossible! Father could never be the servant of an unbeliever! That puppet isn’t Father! And that wretched doll can’t be a demon! This is all some fabricated illusion!”
“Think what you like.”
Herais looked down at the spectacle coldly, then spoke.
“The only question is—what kind of death suits you best?”
The cult leader’s face turned pale as he staggered back.
“Would you prefer to die by the hand of the ‘Father’ you longed for so much?”
“A-ah…”
“Or be devoured by the cute little doll housing a demon?”
With a benevolent smile, Herais approached him—
—the very image of the god the cult leader so desperately sought.
“Choose. I’ll grant whichever you want.”
That was the end.
“Is it over… ouch!”
I quickly clamped a hand over Ban’s mouth.
“Ban, don’t say that. It’s a dangerous phrase—it can resurrect even the dead.”
“There’s no such spell.”
Herais tilted his head as he withdrew his hand.
“There is. Maybe it’s superstition, but it comes true almost 99% of the time.”
I’d seen far too many people jinx themselves with those words.
Even though the cult leader had stopped breathing, you never knew.
I frowned at the skeleton that remained.
“They said you could kill someone with illusions alone…”
That hadn’t been a lie.
A surge of magma had swallowed him whole.
That lava—it had to be real.
I will not die like this… Paradise… If I can just reach Paradise…
What were those strange words the cult leader spoke before dying?
I glanced sideways at Herais.
I’d better never cross him.
I’d grown too used to the peace lately and forgotten—this man had destroyed the First Empire. His reputation wasn’t for nothing. There was no such thing as mercy in him.
“Shishi.”
Even the way he called my name now felt subtly different.
“There’s no longer anything standing in the way of our love.”
…No, never mind. Same nonsense as always.
I shook my head at his delusions.
“That was never a thing.”
“You once said we were lovers. Am I already discarded?”
“That’s still going on?”
“Of course. We’re destined to be together forever.”
He softly took my hand, caressing my ring finger.
His eyes curved gently as he whispered:
“Isn’t that right?”
Herais smiled enchantingly, his voice like honey. But really—was this the place? In front of the smoldering remains of a skeleton?
“Tch. The mood was perfect, too.”
Perfect? Where?!
I let out a dry laugh as Herais’s expression crumbled in an instant.
Boom!
A tremendous noise shook the building violently.
“What the—ugh!”
I lost my balance, but strong arms caught me around the waist.
“Let’s get out. It’s about to collapse.”
“What?”
Collapse? Out of nowhere?
In his arms, I stared at the warped, twisting space in horror.
“See! I told you never to say that phrase!”
“It’s just the warped space collapsing. Stop believing in weird superstitions.”
Herais shook his head at me, muttering about how ridiculous it was for a mage to believe in omens, and snapped his fingers.
Snap. My vision shifted.
No longer cold marble floors—my feet landed on soft ground.
Crash!!
Behind us, the building collapsed with a thunderous roar.
The dark clouds cleared, revealing a bright blue sky.
The fog that had blanketed the forest was gone, along with its oppressive dampness.
The dark magic was dispelled, just as planned.
But I stared blankly at the ruins, uneasy.
“…They all made it out, right?”
There was no way Father and Noah failed to escape. Even if buried, they were strong enough to smash through the debris.
But the others…
“Rina, Ethan, Lucas…”
“Shishi. Look.”
Herais pointed. Relief washed over me as I saw everyone gathered outside, safe.
I ran toward them, waving.
“Father! Brother!”
“Siena!”
Father and Noah, who had been anxiously watching the wreckage, rushed over and fussed over me, checking every inch.
They spun me around, squished my face, wouldn’t let me breathe.
“Are you hurt? Nothing broken?”
“Do you know how scared I was when you fell through that hole?!”
Feeling my face might get crushed at this rate, I quickly pulled away.
“I’m fine. Look—perfectly unharmed. I even pulled off the shield this time.”
I made a proud V-sign, and Noah patted my head, praising me.
Father beamed, bragging that his daughter was a genius.
“Lady! Thank heavens you’re safe!”
When I finally saw Lucas’s face, I froze in surprise.
What’s with him?
His eyes were swollen and raw, streaming endless tears.
Sniffling, he choked out:
“If you had been hurt, my lady, I…”
Noticing him glance nervously at Noah and Father, I instantly understood.
“…Father, Brother.”
At my chilling tone, the two of them suddenly found the horizon very interesting.
“You bullied him again, didn’t you?”
“No, no. We just asked him for directions.”
Noah’s shameless reply earned him a sharp pinch to the side.
Lucas’s face said it all.
Who could believe that excuse when he was crying like that?
They’d clearly tormented him!
