Chapter 60 : Identity (4)

Blue hair fluttered in the air.

-Thud.

Kairen’s head, severed from her neck, fell to the ground. Her wide-open eyes stared lifelessly as her head rolled onto the floor.

I silently raised my sword and inspected its blade, looking at her unmoving eyes.

The blade was spotless. The sword retained its pristine condition, gleaming as it reflected the light, just as it had when it was first drawn.

There wasn’t a single stain on it—not even a speck of dust.

It was hard to believe I had just used it to cut off someone’s head.

I stiffened my expression.

There was no blood splatter from the cut. The blade, which should have been stained with blood, remained clean. No blood flowed from the severed surface.

And most importantly, there was no sensation of cutting through anything.

This could only mean one thing.

She was still alive.

Realizing this, I quickly scanned my surroundings. And then, at that moment…

Kairen’s body, now headless, began to emit smoke as it crumbled and disintegrated into a handful of ash scattered into the air.

I silently watched the scene unfold.

Shortly after, smoke began to gather behind the spot where her body had collapsed, forming a human silhouette. From within it, a woman emerged.

It was Kairen.

“An illusion…?”

Illusion magic—one of the spells commonly used by succubi and other dream-dwelling creatures. Being a race that manipulates dreams, they were particularly adept at such tricks.

For this reason, I wasn’t too surprised by the current situation.

Since she was a succubus, I had somewhat anticipated this would happen.

“Damn it… Damn it… Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

Her legs gave out, and she collapsed, breathing heavily. Her gasps were so loud they felt as if they were right next to my ears.

Her chest rose and fell with every heaving breath she took.

And, embarrassingly,

I found myself momentarily captivated by the sight.

Ah, this is not the time for that.

I slapped my cheeks lightly to regain my composure.

As I steadied myself, she yelled out.

“Why? Why? Why? Why won’t it work?!”

“Why? Because the gap between you and me is simply incomparable,” I said, shrugging and taking a step toward her.

One step. Then another.

I moved closer to her.

“Don’t come closer!”

She managed to stand up, albeit shakily, and took a step back.

So, I quickened my pace.

“Flames!”

“[Dispel.]”

Once again, the flames she summoned at her fingertips dissipated at my single word. Kairen clenched her teeth in frustration.

“Damn it! [Oh night, grant dreams to the foolish!]”

She began chanting again.

As her incantation ended, a sharp pain pricked my head.

It felt like the throbbing heat of a fever. I instinctively held my head with one hand to soothe the ache.

The pain wasn’t overwhelming—more of an annoyance, like a bad headache from a severe cold.

‘This is mental magic, isn’t it?’

With one hand on my head, I thought to myself.

The throbbing sensation in my head was a familiar phenomenon I experienced whenever I was subjected to mental magic.

For some unknown reason, spells like hypnosis, brainwashing, and sleep-inducing magic don’t work on me.

Instead, whenever I’m targeted by mental magic, I get this kind of headache. And once the headache sets in, the effects of the magic used on me disappear.

Because of this, I can ignore any mental magic Kairen might try to use.

“[Obey my command!]”

Her incantation triggered another wave of headache. The pulsing pain made me want to take a break, but I endured it as I approached her.

Finally, standing before Kairen again, I said,

“Hey, let me tell you something.”

I drew my sword and smirked.

“Even Lilia couldn’t control me.”

Then I swung my sword.

“Kugh!”

Fortunately, the same thing as before didn’t happen. This time, Kairen barely managed to evade the tip of my blade.

Not only that, but she immediately countered by throwing a punch with her right fist—a solid counterattack aimed to deliver a critical blow if it landed.

The only problem was, she was unarmed.

I deflected her punch slightly to the side and kicked her in the stomach. As she clutched her abdomen, I grabbed her by the head.

-Bam!

I slammed her head onto the ground.

But I didn’t stop there.

After successfully pinning her to the floor, I naturally transitioned to straddling her waist.

Her arms flailed, trying to push me off her waist.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

I quickly pressed her arms down with my knees, pinning them firmly beneath me.

Her struggles to free her arms were futile. Held down by my weight, they merely trembled, unable to escape.

“Get off…! I said get off me!”

Kairen twisted her entire body, trying to break free from my hold.

If she kept struggling like this, things would get annoying.

I crossed my two swords over her neck, just close enough not to touch her skin, and drove them into the ground.

This was to ensure she couldn’t move.

With the blades at her throat, her resistance weakened at last.

As her movements stilled and her defiance faded, I leaned in closer, locking eyes with her.

Our faces were now so close that I could feel her breath.

Her ragged breathing brushed against my lips.

Her expression, filled with resentment, was clear in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and glared at me defiantly.

After completing all these steps, I spoke.

“Now, let’s have a little chat, shall we? I won’t ask much. Just answer me one thing. Why are you here?”

“I have nothing to say to you!”

This insolent woman.

“Is that so? Haha… I see. Trying to be nice doesn’t seem to work on you. Fine, I’ll grant your wish.”

I pulled one of the swords from the ground.

“Let me remind you of something from the past.”

Then, with no obstacles left, I reached for her pale, exposed neck and said,

“Speak.”

I began to strangle her.

“Kuhuk!”

“Talk.”

“Urgh!”

As time passed, I applied more pressure to my grip.

At first, she didn’t react much.

But as the seconds ticked by, her response became increasingly pronounced.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She writhed in pain, her hands flailing. The strength behind her struggling arms became the strongest I’d felt yet.

With her desperate attempts, I decided to see what she could do. I lifted my knees and released her arms.

The moment I freed her arms, they immediately flew to my neck, aiming to strangle me in return—probably to do to me what I was doing to her.

However, I tilted my head slightly to avoid her grip.

Failing to grab my neck, she switched tactics and began swatting at various parts of my body.

Her punches didn’t hurt. 

Perhaps it was because she was losing strength, though judging by her expression, she seemed to be using every ounce of it.

I continued to endure her blows as I tightened my grip on her neck.

“Hrk…!”

At last, it seemed she had reached her limit. She grabbed desperately at everything she could, clutching my arms, my chest—why was she grabbing my chest, this crazy woman?

Finally, with trembling hands, she clawed at my back with all her remaining strength.

I felt the trembling of her fingers against my back.

Her actions, one by one, carried a sense of desperation.

Normally, I would have stopped by now.

Her defiant gaze still hadn’t faded.

I tightened my grip.

As I did, her legs flailed, struggling to escape. Her resistance grew more intense, and I used all my strength to hold her down.

Drool began to drip from her open mouth. She let out choking sounds as she gasped for air.

I could feel the trembling in her throat as she desperately tried to widen her airway to breathe.

Annoyed by her defiance, I pressed harder with my thumb on the center of her neck.

I looked at her.

Remarkably, even in this situation, Kairen’s eyes remained fixed on me.

Although tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, her gaze was as unwavering as ever.

But perhaps even that had reached its limit.

“Huff… huff… ugh!”

Her eyes started to roll upward, little by little.

And then.

“Cough! Cough!”

I released my grip.

“Haah… haah…”

As I let go, she gasped for air, her chest rising and falling erratically.

Perhaps due to the air rushing back into her lungs all at once, she began coughing violently.

Noisily.

“Enough.”

I pushed my index and middle fingers into her mouth.

Her mouth was warm—though, of course, that was to be expected.

“Mmmpf…!”

I curled and extended my fingers, stirring the inside of her mouth. Startled by the sudden intrusion, she glared at me with wide eyes.

That look wouldn’t change anything, though.

I kept stirring until her trembling subsided a little, then pulled my fingers out.

As I did, a thin string of saliva stretched between her lips and my fingertips.

I wiped my fingers on her chest, where she was still coughing, and spoke.

“Now, do you feel like talking?”

There was no reply. She remained silent, her lips tightly sealed.

I sighed at her continued defiance.

“Are you not going to answer?”

I asked again, but there was no response.

What an insolent woman.

I glanced at her neck. My earlier actions had left clear marks of my hand.

The red marks stretched around her neck like a collar.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Kairen now resembled a pet wearing a bright red collar.

It suited her infamous moniker perfectly.

Of course, it wasn’t her master who had placed this collar on her.

I licked my lips.

Her defiant attitude was causing me quite a headache.

With the fortress under attack, I needed to understand Lilia’s intentions and find a safe place, but she was obstructing me.

If she kept this up, things could take a turn for the worse.

But it didn’t matter.

If she remained defiant, I would simply punish her until she was submissive.

“I guess I’ll have to make that collar even more vivid,” I thought.

Just as I reached for her neck again,

“Heh… heheh…”

She suddenly began laughing.

“Hahahaha!”

It was a loud, amused laugh, as if she had seen something incredibly funny.

Her behavior left me unsettled. I couldn’t understand it.

It was strange. The person before me didn’t look like someone who had been on the brink of death just moments ago.

Who would believe that this woman, now smiling gleefully, was the same one who had almost been strangled?

I seriously wondered.

“Did I choke her too hard?”

I recalled hearing that cutting off oxygen to the brain could lead to mental impairment.

“That would be troublesome.”

To confirm, I asked her,

“What’s so funny?”

“Khuk… hehehehe.”

“I said, what’s so funny?”

Raising my voice, I demanded an answer.

She stopped laughing. Slowly, the corners of her lips curled into a grin.

“Look behind you, idiot!”

She shouted with a sneer.

“What are you—”

I started to question her nonsensical remark,

but my words were drowned out by Reina’s scream from behind me.

“Reina?!”

I whipped around, panic overtaking me.

And I was horrified.

In the brief moment I had taken my eyes off her,

Reina was now in danger.

Not far away, a massive serpent made of flames loomed before her, its jaws wide open in a menacing display.

“When did this happen?”

It had only been a moment—a fleeting second of distraction. I was sure I had dispelled all of Kairen’s magic earlier. So when?

I gritted my teeth so hard it felt like they might crack.

“You dare!”

This time, I gripped her neck with all my strength, intending to strangle the insolent woman laughing in the midst of this chaos.

But.

Reina!

Right now, even killing her felt like a waste of time.

So.

“Damn it!”

I let go of Kairen’s neck and leapt to my feet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kairen clutching her neck and slowly standing up, but I couldn’t afford to care.

Instead, I shouted.

“[Family]!”

And I began running toward Reina.