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I couldn’t breathe.

Every synapse in my body was screaming.

My heart felt like it was about to burst, and my legs wouldn’t move as I wanted them to.

If I used “Patience,” I’d probably be fine.

But I couldn’t use it recklessly.

The moment I reached the limit of “Patience,” it would mean my death.

A chill swept over me.

Blanshe was approaching.

“I’m a bit surprised, Tristan. Did you learn some self-defense magic?”

I didn’t step back.

My “Pride” wouldn’t allow it.

“How can you exert such power with a body that doesn’t produce a single drop of magic?”

“…It’s just a desperate struggle.”

“A desperate struggle, you say.”

“Yes.”

I still want to live.

I don’t know how I must have looked to her at that moment.

Blanshe’s approaching footsteps stopped.

She bowed her head and muttered.

“I… if you had ordered me to die back then, I would have gladly done so.”

“…Is that so.”

Blanshe would’ve done that, of course.

She wouldn’t have doubted it.

Tristan’s orders.

Even if it meant ordering her own death.

“Did you say I didn’t need to forgive you?”

Blanshe trusted Tristan.

From the moment they first met, to the moment she was shot and fell into the sea.

Maybe even until now, this very moment.

Blanshe raised her head.

She looked at me with an expression I couldn’t tell was crying or laughing.

“I agree. You’re not someone worth forgiving.”

With those final words, Blanshe lunged at me.

Her fingertips glinted ominously.

They aimed precisely for the back of my neck.

*Clang!*

The sharp sound of metal scraping against metal echoed.

What blocked her long nails was my revolver.

I didn’t miss the opportunity and released all the magic power I had gathered in one go.

Compared to the magic power of sages like Myohail or Wendy, who inherited the blood of heroes, the magic I had gathered was like a speck of dust.

But it was enough to make her upper body stagger.

Her sharp nails were deflected.

Blanshe’s eyes widened.

“?!”

But Blanshe was still a legendary assassin.

From her disrupted stance, she immediately reached out toward me.

But by then, my revolver was already aimed at her abdomen.

At a distance even her reflexes couldn’t avoid.

The revolver fired repeatedly.

The magnum bullets mercilessly tore into Blanshe’s abdomen.

A normal person would’ve died instantly from internal rupture.

Even Blanshe, with her near-superhuman body, would take damage from a close-range magnum shot.

Blanshe stepped back, and the distance between us widened.

I imagined her face contorted in terrible pain.

Unfortunately, that expectation was completely wrong.

“This… doesn’t hurt at all!”

She was crying.

And with a speed invisible to the naked eye, she threw something at me.

*Thud.*

The sound of something piercing through skin.

The sound didn’t come through my ears but through my body.

Something hot overflowed from my mouth.

I quickly covered it with my hand.

It wasn’t my wrath, pride, greed, or jealousy.

‘Ah… damn it.’

My palm was stained dark red.

Looking down, Blanshe’s nail was embedded in my abdomen.

It stabbed me like a sharp ice dagger.

A chill spread through my insides.

Just as that terrible pain was about to overwhelm me, I clenched my teeth.

[You are using “Patience”!]

I focused all my energy.

I felt my ragged breathing slowly calm down.

But the fatal wound remained.

Even “Patience” couldn’t completely block this pain.

I pulled the nail out of my abdomen in one swift motion.

“…!”

The pain was so terrible that no words came out.

A little blood trickled from the wound.

It wasn’t because the wound was shallow.

The cold had frozen it, temporarily stopping the bleeding.

If I left it as it was, the nail imbued with the magic of a spirit beast would’ve frozen my insides.

And that would’ve been irreversible.

Death.

The word flashed through my mind.

And as if reading that thought, a low voice spoke.

“Tristan, there’s only one way for you to live.”

I looked up to see Blanshe staring at me.

The tears that had wet her cheeks had already dried.

“Ask me to spare you, Tristan. Order me to spare you.”

It wasn’t a plea for my life.

Blanshe isn’t the type to spare someone just because they beg.

She doesn’t hold personal feelings for her targets.

The only thing that moves her is orders.

“Then… I’ll spare your life.”

Blanshe, the cold and ruthless assassin.

She was showing me her last act of mercy.

I remembered the scenarios where Blanshe killed me.

In none of them did she say this.

The blade of her revenge always condemned Tristan.

So, there was only one reason left.

Blanshe had changed.

Maybe it was the influence of Bella Izakhel, who took her in.

Good names tend to have a positive influence on those around them.

Later, Blanshe would be reformed by Bella.

She would gradually show more human traits and use her abilities selflessly for the world.

But that’s much later.

At this point, Blanshe is a cold character who doesn’t show emotions.

A character who dreams of revenge against Tristan by Bella’s side.

But the Blanshe before me now was different.

Though not completely, she was faintly showing emotions.

Like a mask had been peeled off.

And I think I knew the reason why.

“Blanshe.”

Blanshe looked at me.

Her blue eyes were trembling.

She was shaken.

A crack had formed in her hatred.

If I ordered her to spare me now, she probably wouldn’t kill me.

That’s the kind of character Blanshe was.

But I couldn’t do that.

“I’ve already given you an order.”

It’s too early for her to forgive Tristan.

I had no choice but to say this.

“Don’t forgive me.”

“……”

Blanshe closed her eyes.

She stood there, earnestly digesting my words.

“Understood…”

When her eyes opened again, there was no hesitation left.

Blanshe declared to me.

“I will make you die painfully.”

I was prepared.

Having drawn out her hatred, it wouldn’t end easily.

No, I didn’t plan for it to end easily either.

I would resist desperately.

Against this damn fate.

Just as I was about to gather the surrounding magic power…

“That’s enough.”

“…?!”

Where did he come from?

A man stood on the rooftop railing.

With the sun behind him, his face was hard to see.

Blanshe, on high alert, asked.

“…Who are you?”

“I have no name to give to a beast.”

“?!”

Ignoring the frozen Blanshe, the man approached me.

“Count Ruelberta.”

Only then could I see the man’s face clearly.

“You’ll have to come with me now.”

He had a neat pompadour hairstyle that left an impression.

To someone who didn’t know him, he might seem like a noble of high status.

“……”

The question of who he was didn’t come out.

No, there was no need to ask.

Because this man was also a character I knew.

But why he appeared at this timing was a mystery.

Blanshe, who knew nothing, grabbed the man’s shoulder and said.

“Don’t interfere and leave. This isn’t a matter for outsiders.”

A chill emanated from her hand.

But the man showed no sign of being startled.

“Outsider? You seem to be mistaken. You’re the outsider. First-class murderer, alias ‘Frost Beast.’”

“…?!”

Blanshe’s eyes widened.

“Are you the one who’s been chasing me?”

“Wrong. That’s not my job. Beast.”

“…You! From earlier—!”

It was an insulting remark to Blanshe.

But the man, with an expressionless face, only said what he needed to say.

As if that was his only mission.

“From now on, I’ll secure the Count’s safety. If you try to harm the Count, you’ll have to defeat me first. Beast.”

“…!”

Unable to hold back any longer, Blanshe bared her fangs.

The cold surged toward the man, reacting to her anger.

“Are you saying you’ll exclude me now?”

“Yes. If you get in the way, I’ll exclude you.”

“Ha… Do you think I’ll just stand by?”

“Are you saying you’ll interfere? Understood.”

*Click.*

Marco Peiriguris, Captain of the Imperial Guard, tilted his neck left and right.

“Go ahead and try. Beast.”

 

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