Chapter 219

Some streets of the capital were on fire. It was difficult for fires to break out simultaneously in the capital’s streets, which were usually equipped with firefighting facilities. Unless someone had the ability to instantly spread flames, that is.

Monsters and creatures created by someone were rampaging through the capital’s streets. The high walls of the capital and those who guarded them would never allow such creatures to breach. Unless someone intentionally brought those monsters and creatures into the capital in an instant.

The elite forces of the Black Round Table and some surviving lower-ranking officers began to wreak havoc inside the capital. They too faced the same walls as the monsters, but thanks to someone’s ability, they could bypass those walls.

Thief Squar, who had summoned them, stood atop the bell tower, looking down at the capital in chaos. Ricardo, Melissa, Zick, Melchior, Glacia, Airi, Lorcha, and Camelian Peony were stepping up to handle the situation, but… the real challenge wasn’t the fire, the monsters, or the Black Round Table’s forces—it was the humans who couldn’t regain their composure amidst the chaos.

Those trying to commit crimes in the chaos, those crying for help because their families were trapped in the fire, those screaming in terror as the flames engulfed them. Each noise they made created a massive pandemonium, and no amount of power could quell it.

“Hahaha… They’re like cockroaches. Cockroaches crawling out when there’s a fire.”

From the bell tower where her comrades were having lunch, she laughed while watching the people writhing in pain. She never liked the capital’s citizens to begin with. They treated her, who begged, as worse than beasts, or even as something filthy, preventing their own children from approaching her, and some even reached out with lecherous hands.

At least she could understand the nobles. She thought nobles were different from her—no matter how much wealth she gained, she could never be of the same class due to her birth.

But she couldn’t stand the commoners who looked down on her.

“If parents burn to death, yesterday’s happy child becomes me. If a house burns down, yesterday’s happy family becomes me. If wealth burns, yesterday’s wealthy person becomes me… Yet, despite being at that level, they look down on others like cockroaches.”

She laughed, but the sight disgusted her. When fire, monsters, and armed men descended, everyone became equal. She couldn’t understand why they discriminated against others. It was as if they were showing the ugliness of those who discriminated against her for being a succubus’s child or for being poor.

“Zick, no, Leader… and Heavenly Demon, no, Cheonmyeong… You’d probably say we should save even those kinds of people, that we must save them. I kind of admire that, honestly. People tend to admire what they can’t have. That’s why I can’t understand you. Do those trash really have value?”

She remembered the day she exploited the Heavenly Demon’s opening and pierced his chest. Even with his heart ripped out, he had enough strength to counterattack. But he used that strength for conversation instead.

“[Werner, that child… how much he trusts you…]”

“[It’s not too late even now. If you join us, I’ll return your heart to its original state. You’re strong, you’re my friend. If you become my partner now, if you follow us, you can live. No matter how much others are precious, once you’re dead, it’s over. If answering is too hard, just nod. Or if even that’s too hard, just blink…]”

“[…….Squar.]”

“[Yes.]”

“[To kill others just to save myself, could there be anything more disgraceful? And also…]”

After that, he uttered his last words and collapsed. Squar tried to cover the hand that had stabbed him and flee, but she had to act calm in front of Werner. After Werner left, she stared blankly at the hand that had killed her centuries-long companion, saying nothing.

“Such foolish people. I’m different from you. I’m the most important to myself. My feelings are the most important. If I can protect what I hold dear, I can kill everyone else. If I can kill those who threaten what I hold dear, I can do anything.”

Her pink hair shimmered beautifully under the moonlight. It was the cursed blood her mother had left behind, but the succubus’s blood granted her an eternal beauty that lasted until death.

The woman, once called the most beautiful in the world, jumped from the bell tower to stain her beautiful face with blood. For an ordinary person, it would have been a height where they’d become an unrecognizable lump of flesh, but thanks to the skills she learned from Thief Raven, she landed as lightly as a feather.

“Ah, it reminds me of the old days. Back then, I got into big fights trying to pull off flashy thefts more than once or twice.”

Having been active as a thief in various places, she had fought comrades who were mercenaries at the time. She had fought the Heavenly Demon, Ricardo, Camelian Peony, and Zick. She had won against two, tied with one, and narrowly lost to Zick.

As she stepped on the blood-stained block where Zick’s holy sword had pierced her, a lower-ranking officer of the Black Round Table rushed to her.

“Lord Modred, where have you been? Right now, the hero Zick and his allies are counterattacking centered around the capital square…”

“Yep~ Yep~ Handle it yourself.”

“This isn’t the time for that! Especially since the strange creature summoned by that blue-haired sorcerer is devouring our soldiers…”

“I have important business to attend to. Why don’t you go fight instead? Come on, cheer up~.”

“Lord Modred!”

“Seriously, so noisy.”

She drew a card from the deck she was shuffling and slashed the annoying chatterbox. The card that pierced his heart didn’t have a single drop of blood on it.

“What the hell is this…”

“I’m quite merciful, but isn’t it strange to hope for survival after committing two of my most hated acts? If you hadn’t ignored my words and persistently clung to me, I might have just laughed it off. Or if you hadn’t done the one thing I truly hate, I might have just moved you somewhere else.”

She stepped over the corpse of the Black Round Table’s lower-ranking officer and headed to her destination.

Along the way, there were annoying nuisances, but they all met absurd ends, slashed by her cards.

The place she arrived at was a massive cathedral. The priests and their associates had long been evacuated by the knights. Of course, there were those with deep faith who couldn’t abandon the cathedral, but their faith couldn’t protect them from being knocked out by a chop to the neck.

The heavy cathedral door, which couldn’t be opened by one person alone, began to creak open. It wasn’t due to Squar’s physical strength but rather her skill in manipulating the movement, mass, and position of objects.

As she entered, the cathedral’s candles began to light up one by one. The many people who would have lit those candles had long left, but a single human spell was more efficient and precise than all those people.

“A new spell, Werner?”

“Created by someone you wouldn’t know, powered by someone you do know, and used by someone you know well.”

She named it [Flame Ignition Spell] on the spot, combining it with fire attribute magic.

“You predicted I’d come here. How did you know?”

“Of course, I could predict it. How many treasures are hidden here? You said you’d steal the country, but attacking the imperial palace directly wouldn’t suit your style, so the only remaining first candidate is here.”

“Huh, you could switch from being a sorcerer to a fortune teller. Not that it matters now.”

“Sorry, but I have too much debt to change my signboard. So, help me pay off my debt.”

“Of course, I’ll help my younger sibling pay off their debt. How can I help?”

“Well… it’s nothing much…”

[ᛗᚨᚷᛁᚲ ᛟᚠ ᚷᛟᛞ-ᚲᛁᛚᛚᛁᛜ ᛚᚨᚾᚲᛖ (Magic of God-Killing Lance).]

“Just die.”

In an instant, a spray of blood erupted, and Squar noticed her left arm had vanished without a trace.

Seeing that, Squar could genuinely smile. The moment she had been most anticipating had finally arrived.

“So, Werner… no, Werner Altan, we share the same surname. Shall we… properly start a sibling fight?”

A man and woman sharing the same surname clashed, each with their own different goals.