I told the woman to get me good ointment and a small glass vial. The woman, who seemed a bit puzzled, brought me the items I’d requested before long.
“Come here, close your eyes, and sit down.”
The woman, who had been watching cautiously, obediently knelt before me and closed her eyes. I transferred the droplets of blood on her lips into the glass vial. I put the glass vial with a few droplets collected into my sleeve.
“Done, now let’s apply medicine. You can open your eyes.”
The woman, who had been keeping her eyes tightly closed the whole time, slowly opened them. Narikeh, that son of a bitch—just how much had he beaten her all this time? Not only her body but her face was a complete mess everywhere. At my appearance letting out a sigh, the woman flinched. I applied ointment to the woman’s lips, which had quickly become terrified again, and spoke.
“Looking closely, you really resemble Narikeh-nim a lot.”
“…”
“Siblings, or something like that?”
The woman’s eyes, who had been receiving treatment quietly, widened. Green eyes and green hair, even the slightly upturned corners of her eyes. With a face resembling Narikeh like twins but being so dispirited, it felt strangely incongruous.
‘Actually, I know who this girl is.’
Her name was Narsheh. She was an existence like Narikeh’s twin younger sister, born together with him. Originally, she possessed the same Guardian’s authority as Narikeh, but she was also an unfortunate character who had all her authority stolen by Narikeh, who couldn’t acknowledge it, and suffered violence her entire life. Narsheh, who had been trembling, spoke quietly.
“R-resemble? That’s preposterous. Compared to Narikeh-nim, I’m… nothing.”
Worry settled on Narsheh’s face as she averted her gaze. She should be angry at having all her power stolen by Narikeh, but she seemed already resigned after being abused for a long time. Certainly, in her current state, Narsheh appeared to have no power whatsoever, but not to me, who knew the original work.
‘Because Narikeh’s only weakness is precisely Narsheh.’
That’s right. Narikeh seemed like a monster with no weaknesses, but even such a monster had exactly one fatal weakness—that was the blood of his alter ego, Narsheh.
In the original work, Kiss, who infiltrated the ant nest to save Erina, approached Narsheh to obtain information and learned that she was a person who suffered terrible abuse.
[Narsheh, if things continue like this, more women will be used like consumables under the pretext of being queen ants and die.]
Narsheh, who had been pondering Kiss’s advice that if they just watched Narikeh’s rampage like this, other women would be abused or die just like her, eventually revealed Narikeh’s weakness.
[Narikeh-nim’s weakness is my blood. We’re fundamentally beings born to curse each other, so the moment even a single drop of each other’s blood enters our body, it acts as a fatal poison.]
Narsheh, who revealed the weakness to Kiss, immediately stabbed her own stomach with a dagger. She wanted to prevent the sacrifice of other sisters, but at the same time, she was also afraid of being caught betraying Narikeh. That’s why I also had to obtain blood as quietly and secretly as possible.
‘They say even a few drops are fatal to Narikeh, so this much should be enough.’
In a way, she was a character who strangely had similarities to Ash from the original work. The fact that she was timid, dependent, and lived getting beaten, that is. I tilted my head while handing over the ointment.
“Here, I’ll give you this, so keep applying it steadily from now on so you don’t scar.”
“Th-thank you.”
Narsheh, who received the ointment with a flushed face, bowed her head. I smiled toward Narsheh and shrugged my shoulders.
“Thankful? I’m more thankful.”
“Yes?”
“Nothing. You can go.”
Narsheh, who had been making a puzzled expression, soon left the room. Only after confirming that Narsheh’s footsteps had moved away did I take out the glass vial I’d hidden in my sleeve. There was one reason I prepared this.
‘Kiss definitely won’t be able to come here right away. He’ll be conscious of Erina, and he’ll be busy sorting out the scene. So at least until Kiss comes here, I have to buy time.’
Waiting quietly for a rescue team didn’t suit my temperament, and I couldn’t do that forever anyway. Since my relationship with Deus had grown distant, I had to collect Summoning Seals alone from now on.
I let out a sigh while tightly gripping the glass vial. The plan is really good, but how the hell am I supposed to feed him this? I bit my lower lip while lost in deep thought.
‘Do I have no choice but to test it?’
Narikeh returned an hour later. Narikeh, who approached while looking at me sitting obediently in my wedding clothes with satisfaction, lifted up the cloth covering my face.
“Other females are busy crying and making a fuss when dressed in these clothes. The more I look at you, the more I like you.”
“Narikeh-nim. Please come a little closer.”
“What?”
“I have something I want to say secretly.”
I whispered in a small voice and gestured for him to come closer. Narikeh, who had been frowning with one eyebrow, unusually approached obediently. The moment the distance with Narikeh narrowed, I slightly raised my body and kissed him. And as soon as our lips touched, I slowly counted in my mind.
‘1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds…’
Unlike my expectation that he’d push me away immediately, only after 5 more seconds passed did Narikeh grab my hair and pull me away. However, he was looking at me with eyes deeper in wariness than before.
“What are you doing?”
An ordinary person would freeze at Narikeh’s murderous gaze, but having already passed through several life-threatening moments thanks to Deus, I could find composure even in this situation. I looked at Narikeh with a deliberately surprised expression before avoiding his gaze. Then, just as I had before, I spoke with tears welling up.
“I-I had doubts about whether Narikeh-nim truly likes me, so I accidentally… If you didn’t like me, you wouldn’t let me kiss you.”
My heart beat rapidly at Narikeh’s gaze silently staring at me intently. It was because of the thought that perhaps he’d caught on that I was testing him. Just as silence was flowing, Narikeh opened his mouth.
“Hmm, you’re quite troublesome. Well, females are much more fun when they have troublesome aspects.”
“…”
“I quite like you. You don’t have breasts, but your face is quite to my taste, you’re obedient, and you look innocent. Is that answer enough?”
The moment I confirmed Narikeh’s face, which had already withdrawn its wariness, I smiled faintly. It was the innocent face of a predator who didn’t even think he could become prey. I let out a big breath as if relieved, then tightly clasped Narikeh’s hand. Then I answered in a voice that sounded pleased.
“Yes. That’s answer enough.”
* * *
In the forest where torrential rain was falling, white cloths were placed over corpses laid out in succession. Kiss, who had been looking down at the corpses with an expression devoid of any emotion, swept his blood-soaked hair back.
‘Looks like going home early is out of the question today too.’
The situation was more or less sorted out, but the number of injured and dead was more than expected. What was especially serious was the condition of the injured who were poisoned by an unusual power called ‘Dark Magic.’
“Kill me… Just kill me…”
An injured person with half their face melted away sobbed while clutching Kiss’s arm. Dark Magic was a kind of toxic energy emitted by specific spaces or magical beasts, and it was a terrifying power that, if poisoned beyond a certain amount, would transform the body, paralyze the mind, and ultimately lead to death.
Kiss, who had been expressionlessly looking down at the injured person writhing in agony, extended his hand. When he placed his hand on the distorted face, a halo of bright light gathered.
But that was it. The already transformed face wasn’t healed. Kiss frowned. He’d felt it in the Void too, but he couldn’t shake the thought that it was truly an annoying power.
“Kilius-nim.”
Kiss, who had hesitated at the familiar voice, turned his head. Rowena, who seemed to have rushed here, dismounted from her horse and took off her robe. Rowena was generally erudite, but she particularly excelled in nursing studies.
Just before leaving for abroad for research, she’d probably heard about the situation here and rushed back. Rowena, who had been examining the injured, let out a sigh with a serious expression.
“I heard the situation was serious, but… I didn’t know it would be this bad.”
“Healing magic doesn’t work either.”
“Dark Magic is still a power under research. There’s no particular cure. Fortunately, it seems to detoxify after a certain amount of time passes… but that’s only if the patient can endure it.”
It was a hopeless story. A fatal poison that didn’t respond to healing magic and had no antidote. The Guardians would continue to increase in the future, and the Dark Magic they released would definitely have adverse effects on imperial citizens.
Kiss, who had been quietly watching a young lady sobbing while embracing her deceased fiancé, opened his mouth.
“Since there’s no particular solution, the Empire will turn to ashes like this.”
Kiss smiled quietly inside. It meant the destruction Deus had so desired wasn’t far off. Rowena, who had been pondering something, bit her lower lip as if troubled. Kiss, who had read her expression as if hesitating to say something, spoke in a calm voice.
“It’s fine. Please speak comfortably.”
“…The reason I went abroad wasn’t simply because I was requested to be an advisory committee member. The Empire is a conservative nation, and they easily erase histories that don’t maintain their nobility.”
“…”
“I hated moving away from the truth for political reasons. So I’ve been secretly researching the history of the Elion Empire recorded in foreign countries until now.”
Rowena, who had been continuing calmly, looked around. And only after confirming there was no one nearby did she slowly continue.
“Have you ever heard the story that in ancient times, there was a human clan who could purify Dark Magic?”
