“…Is a lifelong contract marriage really that important, with all these monsters around us?”
“Yes. It’s the most important thing. So, are we going through with the lifelong contract marriage now?”
I opened my mouth as I saw his eyes grow clearer at my words. Ri-Right. I guess it could be important. Gone was the uncertainty I’d seen in his gaze before. That alone was enough for me. I said loudly, as if singing in a chorus. “…Yes! Let’s change it to a lifelong contract!”
Duke Kalinos slowly got up and struck the centaur’s heart directly.
“Woooo—!” The crazed, thrashing horse collapsed to the ground with a shudder. It died instantly.
In the now-quiet cave, Duke Kalinos looked at me. “Giselle, do you remember what you once said to me?”
“Mmm, which part…?”
“You said life is shorter than we think, and you wanted to find happiness as often as possible. And that something I did could be someone else’s happiness.”
“Ah, and I also thanked you for helping me find happiness back then, Duke.”
“To be honest, I used to think that neither life nor death had any meaning. But then you said you’d live boldly, no matter what kind of life you had.”
Did I really say that? For some reason, realizing he had taken my words so seriously made me feel awkward, given the situation.
His trembling arms wrapped around my shoulders as he whispered low. “That was the first time in my life I felt like I’d encountered a real dilemma. But now, I think I know the answer.”
I saw a slow, growing light fill Duke Kalinos’s once-clouded eyes.
“I too… want to face life seriously, like you do.”
“…”
“And I thought, I want to be happy with you for a long time.” His voice was a little shaky.
Hearing how sincere he sounded, I let out a light laugh, as if to change the mood. “So, the answer you found, Duke, is… me?”
“Yes. My answer is… in the end, it’s you, Giselle.” As he finished speaking softly, he took my hand.
Thud, thud— With a strong tremor, icicles began to fall one by one from the cave ceiling, shattering on the ground. Somewhere in the distance, something crashed. A massive, faceless, giant-like monster with only a humanoid body was entering, intent on destroying the interior. Boom, boom! The closer the monster got, the louder the cave rumbled. If we managed to take down that giant monster, new monsters would probably come pouring in in a frenzy.
At that moment, Duke Kalinos readied his sword again. “I want to face life head-on, just like you, and give my all to living it fully.”
He struck without mercy at the legs of the monsters flying at us grandly and the bizarre creatures reeking of blood, driving his blade straight into their cores. Held securely in his arms, I watched his wild, dazzling sword dance. Countless monsters fell to the ground…
He’s awakened.
…It might not be the right time for such thoughts, but seeing the path his life had taken, it looked beautiful to me. I stared at him in a daze, and just then, after taking down more than half the monsters, Duke Kalinos pulled me even tighter into his embrace. In the darkness of the cave, he alone shone.
Holding my breath, I stared at Duke Kalinos. Even as he cut down monsters without end, his fierce gaze never left me.
“I’ll protect you… so you won’t be in danger.” He whispered to me, gripping his sword tighter. “Instead of being trapped by a formless past, for the future with you, Giselle. So, when we get out of here, we—”
It was obvious. The next words would surely be a confession of love. But that’s a death flag. So I raised my hand and pressed it to his lips, stopping him. “Tell me after we make it out alive, okay?”
Duke Kalinos’s sharp blade flashed brilliantly. “Now that we’ve dealt with all these monsters, shall we get out of here?”
Maybe it was because so many monsters had burst forth. Gungunggung— After a desperate battle, the cave was collapsing around us with a tremendous roar. Dodging the falling rocks that threatened to crush us, we ran as fast as we could. Fortunately, it was just as we got close to the cave’s entrance. Before we knew it, we could see the entrance, which had been completely blocked by monsters.
“We just need to get out now!”
It was just as we reached the entrance, where a shaft of light was shining through.
“…Did you really think I’d let you escape so easily?”
Duke Reshaniel, no… A grotesque monster covered head to toe in snake scales appeared.
* * *
Duke Reshaniel’s plan had been flawless. But what he’d witnessed through the monster’s eyes was anything but easy. Watching the two of them overcome adversity and hardship, as if they were the protagonists of this world, made him sick to his stomach. The ugly inferiority complex he’d tried so hard to suppress began to consume him again from within.
“Goddamn it…!”
Scales slowly began to sprout across the back of his hand. It was the price he paid for gaining power, a side effect called monsterization. Every time Duke Reshaniel saw Giselle and Duke Kalinos slay another monster, he writhed in agony, feeling as if his own flesh was being carved away, but he forced himself to stand tall. For a moment, a slick serpent’s body bulged from his side.
“Hehehe…”
If the monsters he’d summoned couldn’t finish the job, then he’d just have to kill them himself. As he approached the cave entrance, grotesque, snake-like tendrils shot out from his fingertips.
“Shut up!”
There was only one place Duke Reshaniel intended to strike with his killing blow. To Giselle.
Before anyone realized it, the tendrils began to wrap tightly around Giselle, binding her in place. But Duke Kalinos was just as fast. His sword began slicing through the tendrils encasing Giselle. As blood-like, viscous fluid oozed from the severed tentacles, Duke Reshaniel twisted in pain.
“Ugh, uurgh…!”
But it only lasted a moment. New, snake-like tendrils sprouted from his body. Panting heavily, Duke Reshaniel once again sent the tendrils to coil around Giselle, this time squeezing her throat.
“You crazy b*stard!” Giselle thrashed wildly, and Duke Reshaniel’s face twisted with ecstatic delight.
But at that very moment, Duke Kalinos gripped his sword with both hands. Before anyone realized it, he launched himself off the ground, soaring close to Duke Reshaniel. Once, twice, he stabbed rapidly near the scales, but not a single drop of blood spilled. Duke Reshaniel didn’t even spare Duke Kalinos a glance, tightening his grip around Giselle’s torso.
“Sa-Save…!” Giselle’s face turned purple as she writhed desperately, struggling for breath.
Just then, the sword that had been probing shallowly at the scales suddenly stopped. In that instant, Duke Reshaniel and Duke Kalinos locked eyes. Those crimson pupils radiated unmistakable hostility. Any trace of trauma from his older brother was gone. His eyes now burned with a single, unyielding resolve to kill Duke Reshaniel.
“Found it.” A chilling smile curled at the corner of Duke Kalinos’s lips. At last, his sword plunged into Duke Reshaniel’s side, right where the tendrils were sprouting.
“Uaaargh!”
Duke Kalinos had been probing the scales to find the core.
“Keugh!”
But at the last second, Duke Reshaniel twisted his body, causing the blade to miss the core by a hair. Barely clinging to life, he collapsed to the ground.
The moment the scales and tendrils covering Duke Reshaniel’s body vanished, Giselle dropped to the ground with a thud. At that instant, she sprang to her feet. Bruises mottled her body in several places, but she looked completely unfazed.
“Hey, you piece of trash. I almost forgot something.” Cracking her knuckles, she dragged Duke Reshaniel along the ground. Then she threw him outside the cave.
Duke Reshaniel writhed on the ground like a worm, then fixed his gaze on Giselle. “He, hehehe…” Murderous intent filled his eyes. “Taking you with me to the afterlife… wouldn’t be so bad.”
In that moment, a massive light flared from Duke Reshaniel’s fingertips. Like a final act of desperation, the beam shot straight for Giselle’s heart, as if to pierce it. But Giselle raised her hand.
“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
“What…!”
“We’re outside the cave now. In other words, I can use magic too.”
In an instant, the light dimmed, and the attack meant for Giselle stopped halfway between them. Before anyone realized it, a huge, pure-white mass of light shimmered in the air. Giselle summoned a glow at her fingertips and began to slowly push Duke Reshaniel’s light back toward him.
“W-What…”
At that moment, the light touched by her power began to drift slowly toward Duke Reshaniel.
“I studied reflection magic.”
No matter how powerful a reflection magic is, it normally couldn’t reflect the entirety of an attack. But Giselle, true to her title as the one who commands dragons and as someone destined to become a true archmage, managed to do it. She gazed at the orb of light floating in the center and let out a playful whistle.
In that instant, the massive sphere of divine power Duke Reshaniel had gathered for his final attack turned against him, transforming into a spike that pierced straight through his heart.
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