Chapter 154

After confirming that he had lost consciousness, Ariadeline opened her mouth.

A beautiful song flowed out. A song that illuminated the darkness and healed wounds.

Thanks to that song, the penetrating wound on Luciano’s abdomen slowly began to heal.

“He’s fainted.”

The healing was complete. However, since he had fainted from blood loss, it would take some time for him to regain consciousness.

As Ariadeline spoke, Carlothian glanced at her once. And then…

Clang, bang!

In an instant, he forcefully pushed the sword-wielding emperor against the wall with his own sword.

“There will be no more interruptions.”

Carlothian grinned, baring his teeth.

As if questioning when he had been pushed, he swung his sword, pressing the Emperor against the wall.

Ariadeline watched the scene with cold, unfeeling eyes. One by one, wounds were appearing on the Emperor’s body.

In fact, she and Carlothian had made a promise before entering.

“The Crown Prince will be a nuisance.”

That was what she said when they thought they had to kill the Emperor. Carlothian nodded in agreement.

“I do need his help, but actually, what I need is his sword.”

Ariadeline rolled her eyes. However, even if they said they would handle it themselves and just ask for the sword, there was a high chance he wouldn’t listen.

“I think we need to bring him in, but instead…”

Carlothian continued her sentence.

‘We should find an opportunity to knock him out.’

‘I don’t think it’s necessary to kill the Crown Prince.’

She smiled brightly at Carlothian, and he returned a fleeting smile as he looked at Ariadeline, who was grinning.

Thus, they entered the dome with Luciano, keeping their little secret.

‘I was planning to wait for a good moment to knock him out, but since he’s acting like this, I’ll have less to worry about.’

Crack!

The emperor’s arm was severed.

Snap!

The other arm, too.

Crack, snap.

And then both legs.

Ariadeline watched as Carlothian gleamed with a sinister light in his eyes while cutting off the Emperor’s limbs.

He looked like a man possessed by evil.

You, you…!

The Emperor, with his limbs severed, squirmed on the floor like a bug. Ariadeline laughed gleefully at the sight.

Carlothian grabbed him by the nape and dragged him to the chair where the Emperor had been sitting. Whether it was because he had made a pact with a demon or simply because his life was tenacious, the Emperor continued to move, dripping black blood from his decayed limbs.

His body was entirely black, but the whites of his eyes were still white. Now, the veins were bursting, turning red.

“Ugh.”

Ariadeline stood up and walked briskly to Carlothian’s side. Leaning against his arm, she looked down at the Emperor lying there like an insect and spoke.

“How are you going to kill him?”

“More brutally than you.”

“Haha, I wonder if healing would even work on someone consumed by a demon.”

She looked at Carlothian’s face. The hatred in his expression was so intense that his face seemed almost black.

Ariadeline crossed her arms, and Carlothian gripped his sword in reverse.

Creak, crack.

The bizarre screams of a man and woman mixed together pierced her ears.

Legs severed below the calves. Blades digging into the thighs. That black body writhed like an insect having its legs torn off by a child’s hand.

Crack, crunch.

As the flesh of the thigh was split in half, black blood gushed out. Ariadeline quietly looked down at the scene.

In fact, even when she tried to recall those memories, they were hard to grasp. It might have been one of the defense mechanisms of her mind.

It was too painful and frightening. If those memories were clear, she probably wouldn’t be able to move properly now. Perhaps she would have remained locked in a room, screaming as if eternally vomiting blood.

The phrase ‘forgetfulness is one of mankind’s blessings’ came to mind. It could be true; it could be false.

Ariadeline glanced at Carlothian. He was gritting his teeth, and his face looked more demonic than anyone else’s.

‘Maybe he remembers it more vividly than I do.’

While she had died being tortured there, he had spent days and nights with the corpse. He would know better than she did where and how it had been cut and injured.

Snap! Crack.

Another scream that scratched at her ears. Even after selling his body to a demon, he still felt pain.

Now Carlothian split open his abdomen. The insides that should have been inside fell out, splattering the floor. Black blood gushed from the Emperor’s crimson mouth.

Carlothian glared at him with bloodshot eyes, as if hoping he would live just a little longer.

“Will it heal?”

“Well, I guess I’ll give it a try.”

Ariadeline began to sing slowly. Her throat felt sore and painful, but she thought it best not to mention this to Carlothian.

Swoosh.

Suddenly, the Emperor began to writhe in agony. Ariadeline narrowed her eyes.

‘He’s in pain, but it seems to be healing?’

It was strange. What connection could there be between gods and demons?

‘God and demon are two. But they are one’.

The god clearly referred to the demon as his other half.

Although the organs that had burst forth from his abdomen and the severed limbs did not regenerate, it was evident that the areas bleeding black blood were starting to clot.

The gaping wound on the Emperor’s abdomen began to close, and the decaying black body gasped for breath. Regardless of how he looked, Carlothian seemed satisfied that he was still alive.

Now, like that.

Repeat.

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

The Emperor screamed and twisted his entire body. There was no change in the faces of Ariadeline and Carlothian.

They didn’t blink, as if they were determined to vividly remember his suffering.

Even as black blood splattered and stained their clothes, they remained unfazed.

‘Ah, it looks just black, but it’s blood.’

The smell of blood was strong. What had the Emperor gained by allying with a demon? Or had he simply been consumed? He might feel a bit wronged.

‘Well, I don’t really care about that sense of injustice.’

Thud.

As the Emperor writhed, his arm fell off, and at some point, his breathing abruptly stopped. The body that had stubbornly breathed even while possessed by a demon finally lay still.

“…Are your insides okay?”

“It’s bearable.”

For Ariadeline, watching someone being tortured was not refreshing. Yet, she took in everything with her eyes.

He was the one who made me this way. He was the one who turned her into this. He was the one who made her experience things she never needed to know in her lifetime.

Veins stood out in Ariadeline’s eyes. Black blood splattered onto her eyes. Black blood flowed like tears.

“I hope Luciano doesn’t open his eyes until it’s over.”

Carlothian gazed blankly at the Emperor’s corpse. Perhaps everything inside him hadn’t fully dissipated yet. Ariadeline thought so.

“If we purify the corpse, the dome will probably break.”

For now, that was the only conclusion she could reach. Ariadeline approached the corpse and extended her arm toward Carlothian.

It was a signal for him to wound her arm. Carlothian furrowed his brows once and then wiped his sword. It seemed he didn’t want to cut her arm with a blade stained with black blood.

Ariadeline bent down for a moment to look at the corpse. The flesh had been stripped away, leaving a form that barely resembled a human… Well, to describe it further would only make her nauseous.

But then.

The moment she looked closely at it, something struck her ear.

Finally, the time has come.

The head of the Emperor, thought to be dead, suddenly lifted, and she faced the dark hollow where his eyes should have been.

The moment you come into my hands.

Ariadeline opened her eyes wide. Oh, no way.

From that blackened and wretched body, darkness suddenly poured out. And it targeted Ariadeline.

Thud!

Carlothian’s hand pushed against Ariadeline’s shoulder. It was a judgment faster than anyone else’s.

Crash!

Ariadeline fell, and the darkness quickly engulfed Carlothian. She stared at him for a moment, unable to grasp the situation.

The blackness was seeping into Carlothian.

“Ugh…”

He opened his mouth.

“AAAH-!”

A scream erupted. The moment Ariadeline saw that, she felt as if her heart might stop.

“Carl, Carlo, thian…!”

She instantly got up and rushed towards him. But Carlothian covered his face with one hand and stepped back.

“Don’t, don’t come near…!”

He spoke as if chewing the words. Ariadeline stood there, dumbfounded, with her eyes wide open.

So that’s why the demon was so calm.

‘It was all waiting for this moment.’

Regret always comes too late.