Realizing the truth, he feared that Evien might have seen him struggling, trapped in the nightmare. It was a vulnerable side he never wanted anyone to witness—especially not Evien.
“…Damn it.”
He wiped his face as if washing his face.
‘Let Evien go.’
A voice echoed inside Basileon’s mind.
“…I don’t want to.”
‘It’s just a pointless obsession. The dead will not return.’
“….”
A piercing memory and a profound sense of melancholy washed over him. He closed his eyes for a moment and sank into the whirlpool of his past.
* * *
This happened before Basileon Ravenwood became the cursed killer. People died. The Ravenwood Duke’s retainers, the Duke himself, and even the Duchess—all perished screaming. A calamity had befallen the Ravenwood family, who had committed wicked deeds under the hand of the evil god.
Considering the countless people sacrificed by the family, the losses were, in comparison, relatively minor. Around the time the members of the family were dying off, Basileon had become extremely sensitive. Amid this grim period, Evien, who was about to marry Basileon Ravenwood—the head of the family—visited the Ravenwood estate.
“Where is Evien Montrose?”
To Basileon, she was nothing special. She was merely a fiancée arranged for mutual benefit between high-ranking noble families—nothing more, nothing less.
“She’s in the drawing room.”
“Surely you didn’t leave her alone?”
“I’ve assigned several maids to her, so there should be no problem.”
“Damn it.”
With everyone else dead, his previously indifferent fiancée finally caught his attention. She was not of the Ravenwood family, but the innocent daughter of Count Montrose.
He could no longer stand by and watch innocent people suffer because of his family. Having lost those close to him, his heart had long been in tatters. He believed it was only right that he, as the head of the family, should bear the full weight of their sins.
Kiiiek—.
“Lord…”
“Where is Evien Montrose?”
Basileon hurriedly opened the drawing room door and stepped inside, but only a few maids were there—Evien was nowhere to be seen.
“That’s….”
“Tell me immediately—where is she!”
“I-I’m sorry. While I was bringing the dessert as she wished, she… she disappeared somewhere…”
Basileon was consumed by rage, losing all sense of reason. Where she was eventually found—after searching every corner of the Ravenwood estate—was the basement. A mysterious blaze had erupted, engulfing the underground area. The basement, which housed the armory, prison cells, and a vast hidden chamber, also stored the heirlooms passed down through the Ravenwood family for generations.
“Lady Montrose! Are you there? Please, answer me…”
The raging flames had already swept through the hidden chamber once. As the remaining treasures were burning away, he spotted Evien lying on the floor. She was wearing the Ravenwood family heirloom—a crimson tiara.
“No. Please….”
Basileon leapt into the hidden chamber to save Evien, but she was already gone. The great catastrophe that had struck the Ravenwood family drove everyone connected to the household, one by one, toward death. Even Evien, Basileon’s intended bride.
The incarnation of the evil god, worshiped for generations by the heads of the Ravenwood family, vanished after Basileon Ravenwood became the head of the house. Now, only Basileon remains to bear the full weight of the curse alone. Cursed, he has continued to live a life of relentless suffering, committing murder after murder to this day.
He believed that no deed would ever be enough to atone for his family’s sins. Yet enduring this life, endlessly repeated under the weight of the curse, was unbearably exhausting. If he had committed any sin, it was only that he had been born as the heir of the Ravenwood family. And so, he gradually lost his humanity, slipping deeper into madness….
“Basileon!”
“…Evien Montrose?”
“Kill together! Kill together, human!”
Evien. She had returned as an evil spirit, speaking in the mischievous tone of a playful child. Basileon, on the verge of madness from his mental torment, felt as if he had been saved. Although she, too, had become a cursed spirit, it didn’t matter. Evien was the only thing that clung to the remnants of Basileon’s sanity, keeping him just enough from losing himself completely.
Her childish tone and playful behavior stirred a sense of nostalgia for the days when he had lived as an ordinary human, not as a killer. And so, he endured. The only reason Basileon could bear the endlessly repeating torment of his cursed existence was because of the evil spirit.
“….”
Evien Montrose was dead.
“I know.”
Protecting her who had become an evil spirit alleviated some of his guilt over bearing the karma of his family. He took Flamberge as usual. And he always wore black clothes and a black cloak. Black was the color that concealed blood without a trace. Before leaving the room, Basileon cast a brief glance at the dagger carelessly discarded on the floor.
‘That platinum blonde….’
The young man with platinum hair—he had always been just another human he’d seen, but after witnessing Evien grin widely when he possessed that human, Basileon’s dislike for him deepened. Basileon intensely disliked the idea of his usual weapon, the sword Flamberge, being stained with that young man’s blood.
That was why, last time, he had left Flamberge behind and used a dagger he rarely wielded. But now, having returned to the beginning, the dagger’s blade was clean, free from the blood of the previous encounter. Still, Basileon was in a foul mood. He let out a quiet sigh and slipped the dagger into his cloak.
Click—
Basileon opened the door and stepped out. He went back to hunting humans like he always did.
* * *
Night fell. The survivors who had been active in the Ravenwood duchy during the day would automatically collapse into unconsciousness once night came. And when they woke, they would find themselves trapped in the Ravenwood estate once again. That was the rule of survival mode. By day, they had to sleep or engage in activities to stay alive; by night, they had to survive against the Duke.
‘It’s going to be another difficult time.’
During the day, there was no need to protect anyone, so as long as they could endure the boredom, things were manageable. But night was different. Night was no less than a thriller movie. Playing survival mode while possessed by an evil spirit—perhaps the chances of clearing the game weren’t even one percent.
A sigh escaped automatically, and I floated through the air, limp and listless.
Clatter—clatter—.
Then, from somewhere, a familiar sound reached my ears. Judging by the noise of armor, could it be the ghostly knights again? But the sight I saw when I turned around was rather strange.
“Who…?”
He was a knight clad in iron armor, but not the ghostly knights I was used to seeing. He seemed… alive. Somehow, he awkwardly ignored me as he passed by.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
While I watched in a daze, the man who had been walking slowly suddenly broke into a run.
‘…Could it be… Mary Crow?’
The only person who could have put on that armor is Mary Crow. A master of outlandish disguises—she’s the only one capable of pulling something like that.
[Map]
! Basileon Ravenwood: 〈3rd Floor〉 Hallway
! Mary Crow: 〈3rd Floor〉 Stairs leading downward
The person closest to Basileon at the moment was Mary.
‘It’s time for me to step in!’
I followed Mary without letting her notice. She reached the second-floor hallway and was running toward the opposite side.
‘Imitating the ghostly knights is fine. After all, in the game, Mary’s disguise skill let her hide among the ghostly knights and fool Basileon. But still….’
Mary was moving in a way that seemed uncomfortable to anyone.
‘It’s too much. She’d be better off just running without that thing.’
She’s not a soldier heading into battle, and in this escape game, armor is just cumbersome! There were ghostly knights nearby, so she couldn’t exactly hide among them. I charged forward to startle Mary.
“Kwaang!”
“Kyaaa!”
Clank—!
[Mary Crow]
◇ Speed ☆☆☆★★
◇ Agility ☆☆★★★
◇ Mental Strength ☆☆★★
◇ Stamina ☆☆☆☆★
Perhaps because of the heavy armor, Mary collapsed helplessly.
“Hey. Just take that off.”
“What, what, what, what do you want me to take off?”
Mary opened her mouth and made a shocked expression.
◇ Fear level: 34%
◇ Fear level: 41%
◇ Fear level: 48%
‘Anyway. If I do something, this guy’s fear level rises like crazy.’
“Stupid blue hair. What are you thinking? Surely it’s not something weird, right? Hahaha. I’m talking about the armor—the armor!”
After saying that, I felt something strange and looked at the map.
[Map]
! Basileon Ravenwood: 〈3rd Floor〉 Descending Stairs
Basileon is coming this way.
‘Ugh… why does he follow me wherever I go!’
I quickly gestured to Mary, signaling her to follow me.
“No, just run! The Duke is coming!”
However,
“Why should I listen to you?”
◇ Fear level: 49%
Mary looked at me suspiciously.
“You are the most dangerous evil spirit after the duke. I heard from Lilith.”
◇ Fear level: 50%
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