Chapter 50

Chapter 50

The symptoms were slightly different from the last time she lost control, but Ran Winterbell believed that she was still consumed by madness.

It had to be because of that guy’s flute sound coming from the hill.

But this time, the energy she gave off felt much more restrained. The bloodlust rising from Arkina's entire body. When she smiled, her blood-covered lips appeared even redder.

“Are you surprised? You think I'm going berserk again because of madness, right? Ran. Our poor Ran. That’s not it. This is something I chose.”

“……”

“I hated my sister.”

That statement was genuine. Arkina had hated her older sister, Irunka, since she was a child. Because she was immensely jealous of her.

Irunka was a genius. She possessed greater talent than any warrior in the clan and was also beautiful. When she was taught martial arts, she absorbed everything like a sponge, and she even developed her own unique martial arts techniques.

Everyone in the village admired her, and since she herself was aware of how outstanding she was, she acted without hesitation. Arkina envied that about her.

People swarmed around her like moths to a shining sun, and she always received everyone's attention. Meanwhile, Arkina was always left behind.

She trained so hard every day that her entire body would bruise, but no one recognized her efforts. Even so, she never stopped trying. She was jealous, yes—but she still acknowledged how amazing her sister was, and she wanted to become just as great.

At least, up until then, she had held affection for her sister. But the moment she saw the man she liked from the clan kissing her sister—

Arkina’s heart shattered into pieces.

Envy and jealousy.

Hatred.

Even though they shared the same blood, she came to hate her sister. She despised the sister who had taken everything. She hated her sister’s talent, her beauty, her bold personality. She hated everything about her.

She hated her so much, she couldn’t endure it. Deep down, thoughts like, ‘But she’s still my sister,’ ‘We share the same blood,’ ‘We’re family,’ would sometimes arise—but over time, the hatred consumed even those thoughts.

So when her sister said she was leaving the village, Arkina couldn’t hold back her laughter.

At last, my time has come.

At last, I’ve become the main character.

But even after her sister disappeared, things didn’t go the way Arkina had expected. The attention people had given her sister had been because she was her. That attention never shifted to Arkina.

Instead, everyone missed her even more.

It even seemed like people were more obsessed with her than before.

Their father was the same. He had always coddled her sister ever since they were young, and after her sister left the village, he drank every day and drowned in sorrow.

I’m his daughter too.

I’m his child too.

Yet he never paid any attention to me.

How long is he going to keep looking for her?

Am I unnecessary?

Even though I worked harder.

Why is everyone looking for you and not me?

“Yeah, that’s right. I was jealous because she was too perfect. Even though we were sisters, I couldn’t stand how amazing she was, and even though I knew how ugly that made me…… I still couldn’t stop. No, I didn’t even want to stop.”

As she recalled the past, Arkina lifted her head and looked up at the sky.

“When I heard that my sister had died, to be honest, I was happy. I thought, ‘Finally, that bitch is gone from this world. She’s finally disappeared.’ I was so sick of her all that time…… that’s what I thought.”

Ran Winterbell’s face stiffened. He looked deeply shocked.

“…Are you saying you were happy when you heard your mother had died?”

Arkina smiled brightly. The corners of her lips curved upward, and with the blood smeared around her mouth, it looked as if her smile had been torn even wider.

“Yeah. Why? Is that wrong? Sister or not, I was so happy that Irunka died. I was sick of being born as Irunka’s little sister. I had to live my whole life in that woman’s shadow, and I just couldn’t stand it.”

“It’s because of the madness, right? That’s why you’re saying things like this, right?”

When she heard Ran’s words, she burst into insane laughter.

“Hahahahahaha!!!! Wahahahahaha!!!!”

“…Aunt.”

“How cute. So cute. You want me to be lying, don’t you? You want all of this to just be because of my madness. But what can I do? Everything I’ve said is the truth.”

The words she spat out were not the ravings of madness.

They were all true.

She was happy that Irunka died. She was so happy that she couldn’t stop smiling for days. One would think she should have felt disgusted with herself for being happy about the death of her own blood, but she no longer felt that way.

She knew it.

She knew that she had gone insane.

She had gone completely mad at some point.

Was this also a kind of madness?

No, she was simply insane.

There was no excuse. From the moment she hated her own blood, from the moment she envied her sister, she had already gone mad.

That was why she had done something like this.

“Do you know why the village ended up like this?”

“……”

“It’s because of me.”

“…What?”

“I called him. That flute-playing bastard. I called him here.”

“What are you talking about……?”

“Rudeus Grant. Also known as the Pied Piper. A red-wanted criminal who causes all kinds of disasters with the sound of his flute infused with magic. If you add up the number of people he’s killed, it’s over a thousand. His own strength is impressive, sure, but that flute of his is the real ultimate artifact.”

“……”

“Just like I thought, it works great at stimulating madness. If people lose the ability to recognize even their own family, friends, and neighbors from just a sound like that, then what exactly are they using that cultivation method for? Don’t you think?”

Ran Winterbell stared at her with a cold expression. The pity and sympathy that had once been in his eyes had long since vanished.

“So you’re saying everything that happened here was caused by you. No, by you alone?”

“That’s right.”

“Why are you doing this? Even if I understand about Mother, what did the people here do to deserve this? What about Grandfather? Was killing your family and the entire clan really what you wanted so badly?”

Arkina, who had been staring at Ran Winterbell with blood-red eyes, stuck out her tongue and slowly licked around her lips.

“Yeah. Killing them all is my final goal. Want to know why? Even after Irunka disappeared, they still wouldn’t look at me. I can never escape her shadow. So if I can’t have it, I’ll just kill everything and end it. Hahahaha! Do I seem crazy to you now?”

“……”

“It’s really ironic. Why did you have to come at a time like this? Do you know how much I thought about it while looking at you? About what I was planning… You followed me around calling me Aunt, not knowing anything, and it was so amusing. But in the end, you really are that woman’s blood.”

“……”

“The moment you arrived, you stole everyone’s attention again. Hahahaha. Watching that made me think a lot. Even dead, that woman’s blood keeps making me miserable. You probably came here looking for a way to cure the madness, but unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.”

Ran Winterbell’s face stiffened. A burning pain flared up from the engraving carved into his upper body.

‘What is this? This pain… Don’t tell me she tampered with the engraving? My heart is pounding.’

Watching him, Arkina spoke in a seductive voice.

“Are you finally starting to understand, my beloved nephew? You didn’t think I would carve the engraving properly, did you? It’s true that you need it to learn the cultivation method, but I added something special to it.”

“……What did you do?”

“Hahahaha! Yes, that look. It reminds me of my sister. It even reminds me of that frightening man who took her away.”

Ran Winterbell dropped to his knees and let out a scream of agony.

“Kuaaaargh!!!”

“Looks like it’s started. I carved the blood of a Dead Dragon into the engraving. Once the spell is activated, you won’t be able to use your cultivation method anymore. Your mind will gradually fill with madness, and if you try to force the technique, your heart will eventually burst and you’ll die.”

“Kuaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!”

“Either way, you’ll die in the end. You’ll just be following your mother, right? Hahaha. I’m sorry. I had no choice. Nephew. The time I spent with you was enjoyable for me too, but… when I keep looking at you, I’m reminded of Irunka. I can’t bring myself to let someone who looks so much like her live. So please understand. You will, won’t you?”

Ran Winterbell clutched his head and screamed. Just as she had said, the curse activated, and unbearable pain surged through his entire body as the same voice echoed endlessly in his mind. The madness had gone berserk.

“It hurts, doesn’t it? Just endure it a little longer. Then it’ll all be over. After I deal with you, my nephew… I’ll send Father off with my own hands too. He’s still strong even at his age, but well……”

At that moment—

Arkina’s face twisted in confusion.

“…What?”

The reason was simple. Ran Winterbell, who had been writhing on the ground in agony, gradually calmed down. Then an enormous amount of mana erupted from his entire body.

“What’s going on? The curse should have activated properly…! Then why is he moving around just fine? And that overwhelming amount of mana—what the hell is that?!”

Arkina was shaken.

Her curse had been perfect. Once the engraving had been carved, the probability of Ran Winterbell surviving should have been close to zero.

And yet, there he was, staring at her with a perfectly calm expression.

No—he was emitting power on a completely different level from before.

“…Haa. Damn it. This is exactly why I don’t trust humans. It’s been a while since my head cleared up like this. Yeah. I know. I was naive. Still, I think I just wanted to confirm it. Something good happened to me recently, after all.”

Ran Winterbell muttered to himself.

He drew the sword at his waist and looked at his aunt with cold, sharp eyes.

“…Aunt. What kind of magic did you use on me?”

The reason Ran Winterbell was fine—no, even stronger than before—

Was because of Behemoth.

The Gluttonous Beast, Behemoth, had devoured the curse engraved into his body. As a result, the engraving did not weaken him—instead, it became a catalyst that completed his cultivation technique.

Of course, in the process, his heart nearly burst and his mind was nearly consumed by madness, but he activated Makina and protected his consciousness.

A thick, dense blood aura rose from Ran Winterbell’s entire body. The Perfect Blood Heavenly Divine Art had been fully activated.

“Aunt.”

“…….”

“Which do you prefer? Your arms? Your legs? Or your head?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah. Now that I think about it, there’s no need to choose. Since anyway……”

The moment those words left his mouth, Ran Winterbell’s figure vanished.

“…I’ll be cutting everything off.”