Chapter 40 : Double-sided wire (2)

“I just can’t understand it. His Majesty… His Majesty surely…!”

As soon as the Emperor’s blade was sent into the Demon King’s castle, Celine continued to murmur obsessively to herself.

As if she were seeing hallucinations.

Even though she was supposed to provide support from a distance, her words never ceased.

“Yes. I’m doing the right thing. I’m representing His Majesty’s will!”

For decades, Celine had served as the Emperor’s aide.

She had always thought only of the Emperor.

She had wanted to age gracefully.

She didn’t want to hear people say that the Emperor’s closest confidant was an old, unsightly woman.

So she even resorted to using rejuvenation magic.

“The Emperor dislikes carrots… When he eats mousse meat, the tendons must always be removed.”

She remembered even the smallest details and took care of them.

Whenever urgent matters arose, she always took it upon herself to resolve them.

She had devoted herself to the Emperor with unwavering loyalty.

And yet—

“This filthy enemy of humanity…!”

The first time she heard about Irene, Celine’s mind completely broke.

The Emperor, who had always upheld humanity, who had always maintained an aloof and mysterious presence, who had never loved anyone, who had never shown interest in anyone—

She had convinced herself that the reason he never loved her was simply because he was the Emperor.

But if he had now found someone he cared for, then everything changed.

And to make matters worse, it wasn’t her—

but some lowly officer from the Demon King’s castle!

For decades, she had yearned for his love.

And yet, after all those years, he had so easily given it to someone else.

That was the trigger that shattered Celine’s composure.

That was what drove her mad.

Celine conjured another bow with magic.

Her hands trembled, but her aim was precise.

“Yes. Don’t worry. As long as I kill this one, everything will be fine.”

She had already come to a conclusion on her own.

Something was wrong with the Emperor.

Whether it was brainwashing, hypnosis, or gaslighting, his mind had been tampered with.

And, of course, the cause was Irene.

The Emperor of the Empire—

falling for some mere officer of the Demon King’s castle?

A crisis like this could not be ignored.

So there was nothing wrong with her acting on her own.

With that in mind, she didn’t hesitate to take action.

After all, there were only three people in the entire Empire who had the authority to wield the Emperor’s blades.

As soon as the opportunity arose, Celine gathered as many forces as she could and launched an assault on [Unnamed] in the Demon Realm.

And the moment she loosed an arrow and shattered the Demon King’s castle, she felt triumph surge within her.

Yes.

Irene couldn’t possibly be strong.

The only stories about her were things like defeating the number one rank of a mere civilian guild, or killing some insignificant Demon King.

Since Celine hadn’t yet heard about the Mirror Queen, she firmly believed she was right.

“Even the defensive magic is weak… There’s no way His Majesty could have fallen for someone like this.”

Celine fired another arrow.

A deafening explosion followed, and the Demon King’s castle trembled violently.

Parts of the outer walls crumbled away.

Watching the destruction, Celine twisted her lips into a distorted smile.

“I’m more thorough than anyone else.”

From the moment she attacked, the fact that the ‘Irene’ inside the castle was merely a puppet
meant that her entire plan had already gone wrong.

But Celine didn’t know that.

And so, she pressed forward into the Demon King’s castle.

“Uwaaah! It’s still collapsing!”

“We have to run. If we’re not careful, we’ll have to abandon the Demon Realm.”

“If we abandon it… will I even survive…?”

Luminil let out a worried sigh.

To the Demon King, the Demon Realm was both the cradle of his birth and the source of his life force.

As if to prove that, just stepping outside the Demon Realm caused the Demon King to lose 90% of his magic power.

For Luminil, who was already weak, it was practically a death sentence.

“But it’s already impossible to hide now.”

The Emperor’s blades.

Of course, since she possessed Irene’s knowledge, Irene’s younger sister knew who they were.

There were only twelve direct royal guards under the Emperor’s command.

And now, not just one, but three of them had invaded.

The traps had been neutralized in an instant.

The castle was under siege.

There was no point in hiding anymore.

No, if anything, it would only make things worse.

If the castle collapsed, Luminil would be buried alive.

Irene’s younger sister picked up Luminil like a princess and ran.

But the moment she turned the corner of the hallway, she suddenly froze in place.

Luminil, who had been caught up in countless incidents, instantly understood what was happening.

“There’s an Emperor’s blade up ahead… isn’t there?”

It was hopeless.

There was only one enemy, but even so, their chances of victory were nonexistent.

Irene’s puppet wasn’t weak.

In fact, against ordinary knights, it could easily tear them apart.

But the opponent before them wasn’t just an ‘ordinary knight.’

Luminil hesitated.

If she pressed the button now, Irene would surely come to the rescue.

No matter how strong the Emperor’s blade was, it couldn’t possibly withstand Irene.

And yet—

Luminil felt an inexplicable reluctance to press the button.

“Wouldn’t I just be a burden if I pressed it now…?”

She hesitated.

Looking back at everything that had happened so far, she was nothing but dead weight to Irene.

Because of her existence, Irene had to stay up all night on guard duty.

Whenever Irene left, she had to prepare for every possible disaster.

From Irene’s perspective, it would be better if she simply didn’t exist.

No—

It was an undeniable fact.

She only held Irene back.

A memory resurfaced—

Something Irene had once said.

“Did you know? When it comes to potential alone, Luminil is far more impressive than me.”

When had she said that?

Ah, that’s right. It must have been when I absorbed the first soul stone.

“Why? Are you just saying that to make me feel better?”

That’s what I had asked at the time.

And even now, I still think the same way.

But back then, Irene had been unusually serious.

As if she wasn’t just saying it to give me hope.

“Because I’ve seen you being incredibly strong. It was just dummy data from three years ago, though.”

“Three years… What?”

“Nothing. Anyway, what’s important is that I’m sure of it. So, when you’re in danger, just think about this.”

Irene’s voice started to fade.

Time, which had been crawling in this moment of crisis, suddenly sped up.

The Emperor’s Blade lunged.

Luminil hesitated, hand hovering over the button.

Then, she decided to trust Irene.

She believed in the version of herself that Irene believed in.

“How rude of you, standing before me like that.”

At that moment—

A vast, violet barrier erupted from Luminil.

The Emperor’s Blade, who had been rushing forward, suddenly stopped.

As if an invisible force was crushing them down—

They abruptly dropped to their knees.

Luminil looked down at her hands.

It was definitely her own magic surging from her body.

And yet, for some reason, it sent chills down her spine.

Irene’s younger sister gently set Luminil down.

Then, she quietly stood beside her.

“Wow. To think I’d see ‘Darkminil’ in a game before Laios Fantasy.”

…And, of course, she said something incomprehensible in her usual Irene way.

Luminil nearly asked what she meant, but decided to focus on the enemy instead.

She remembered what Irene had once said—

“I can forgive any other enemy… but anyone who tries to kill Luminil—I’ll kill them.”

“But you’ve spared people who tried to kill you?”

“Of course. Luminil is far more precious to me. So, for my sake—if anyone tries to kill you…”

In her memory, Irene stood opposite her younger sister.

And at the same time, they both spoke.

“I’ll kill them.”

“Kill them.”

Waves crashed against the ship.

Thunder roared.

And every time the lightning briefly illuminated the surroundings—

Ghostly, abandoned ships drifted into view.

That gave me chills.

Yep, she’s definitely a villain…

Thank you for NOT siding with the villains. Thank you for NOT siding with the villains. Thank you for NOT siding with the villains.

This isn’t even a fight anymore—it’s a massacre.

Wow… I just stared in awe.

“It’s honestly not even fun anymore. And why are you all reacting like that? I didn’t even kill anyone.”

That was the truth.

She had said the ships were abandoned.

Not that she had killed the people aboard.

In fact, she hadn’t stabbed a single person with her blade.

She had only disarmed them and intimidated them.

If someone asked why she insisted on going to such lengths to avoid killing—

Well.

She didn’t know anymore.

Maybe it had just become a habit.

Or maybe, in the end, she was still human enough to hesitate at the thought of taking a life.

Either way, she looked down at the last remaining person.

Tied up in ropes, screaming at the top of their lungs—

But it wasn’t out of fear.

“I’m the last one, right? Right? Getting thrown into water by Irene—this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Am I right?”

And on top of that, they were still broadcasting.

Still chatting with their viewers, speaking into their live stream.

What kind of terrifying villain gets treated like a celebrity?

Irene quietly picked up the woman bound in ropes.

The moment their hands made contact, the woman let out an ecstatic shriek, as if she had just shaken hands with a famous idol.

So Irene promptly tossed her into the water.

SPLASH!

A moment later, the bracelet on her wrist registered the score increase.

To all the commoners who doubted Irene—TAKE THAT!!!!!

Where do they even go when they get thrown into the water?

Right now, they’re all in the Hero’s Guild waiting room, drying off. LMAO

Hey, why is everyone laughing? Shouldn’t the purge start now?

Eh, no way…

“No way, huh? Haven’t you ever heard the saying—‘No way’ is what gets people killed?”

?

What does that even mean?

Ugh, there she goes again…

Irene being Irene.

Baby Irene, always making up weird phrases.

Baby-rine! Baby-rine! Baby-rine! Baby-rine!

[User zmfntm has been temporarily banned.]

[User qprxj has been temporarily banned.]

The stabbing has begun.

“Aaaah! Everyone, take cover!!!”

Move

Moving

Mo… Mo…

As soon as the battle ended, I opened my terminal and started acting as promised.

Of course, I didn’t temporarily ban all 5,000 people.

I couldn’t even do that.

Besides, there were even people who considered getting banned by me to be some sort of reward.

That was just too creepy.

I couldn’t stand it.

Instead, I blocked about 50 of them.

A warning still needed to be given.

“Alright, from now on, anyone who calls me ‘Baby-rine’ will be executed on the spot. Got it?”

Tch

Ba…byr…ine

User ‘Blade of the Wind’ has been temporarily banned.

Gasp

Ba…Byr…ine

Wow, this one’s getting off easy. LMAO

User ‘fltp’ has been temporarily banned.

Big Irene is watching you.

Once the cleanup was done, I looked around.

Something felt off.

It was like I had forgotten something…

I thought for a moment before realizing it.

“Where’s Luna…??”

Luna was missing.

Had she run away?

No—she hadn’t been there from the beginning.

Wait, why wasn’t she here?

Should I go look for her?

Just as that thought crossed my mind—

A voice suddenly echoed in my head.

“How rude of you, standing before me like that.”

It was Luminil’s voice—serious, but different from usual.

And I recognized that line.

“Wait. That’s… Dark Luminil’s line.”

Why was that suddenly ringing in my head?

I didn’t know what had happened—

But I knew it wasn’t something ordinary.

Should I go back?

Just as I was about to make that decision—

“Irene. I’ll prove myself on my own. And I’ll make sure to brag about it, too!”

It was definitely directed at me.

But it wasn’t something I was supposed to hear.

I hesitated.

Something was definitely happening to Luminil.

And from the way she spoke, it wasn’t something good.

Somewhere along the way, she had unlocked the power of the “Dark Luminil” that had remained as dummy data.

I felt uneasy.

Every instinct in my body was screaming at me to go back to her.

But her voice kept stopping me.

It was Luminil herself.

“I can’t just keep living by receiving help. I’m the Demon King!”

“I’ll definitely make you proud. I’ll tell Irene that I’ve become a Demon King she can be proud of!”

I looked at the portal I had just started to open.

And then, I closed it.

Right now, Luminil believed in herself more than anyone else.

So, I needed to believe in her too.

Her life signals were still stable.

I picked up my sword again.

“Since the numbers have gone down, let’s begin the final round.”

The last stage of the Hero’s Guild civil war was about to begin.