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Chapter 41
“Kyaaaah!”
Kellic screamed in agony.
A sharp sizzle followed, like flesh burning, and a faint acrid smell filled the air.
“No… no…”
Stunned, Maybel sank to the ground.
With the Mark of Servitude now imprinted, Kellic would never be able to resist Caesar’s will again.
Her words telling Kellic to live his own life now felt meaningless—because of her, he had become enslaved to Caesar.
Maybel couldn’t even cry; the scene before her was too horrifying.
“Ha… haha. Done.”
Caesar let out a satisfied laugh as he looked at the mark on Kellic’s collarbone.
There was an unmistakable glint of madness in his expression.
“I… have made Zigmunt’s beast entirely mine!”
Was stealing something from Zigmunt really that satisfying?
Caesar shouted with more excitement than ever before.
But it was only brief.
“Ha… this one’s done now.”
He threw the weakened Kellic to the floor as if his business was complete.
“Ugh… huff…”
Kellic, half-conscious from the pain, stared blankly with his yellow eyes.
Seeing this, Maybel felt her heart plummet into the pit of her stomach.
“Your turn now.”
Caesar approached Maybel, holding the signet ring.
Sitting on the floor in despair, Maybel looked up at him.
The expression on his face was terrifying, far worse than when he had been cold and emotionless.
“D-Don’t come…”
She tried to back away, sliding on the ground, but quickly found herself blocked by the wall.
In the grip of terror, she scrambled for a way to reason.
“I-It’s an… an artifact, isn’t it? Only beasts can use—”
“Ha, if this were an ordinary signet, that would be true.”
Caesar gave a sinister smile.
“This isn’t just a Mark of Servitude. I’ve modified it using hundreds of magic stones and dozens of beasts, so it can even be used on humans.”
“W-What…?”
“It was originally meant for your mother when she returned, but consider it a gift for you and that one first.”
“This… this is impossible…!”
Maybel was speechless at the revelation.
She had heard that now, without magic, humans could only use artifacts by becoming companions of a phantasm type—but Caesar had modified it to bypass that?
With a swift motion, Caesar grabbed Maybel’s neck.
“Ugh…!”
“Stay still. It’ll sting a bit.”
“Ugh…!”
Maybel squeezed her eyes shut as the signet approached her stomach, ready to be imprinted.
Thwack!
A stone flew and struck Caesar on the back of his head.
Startled by the unexpected attack, Caesar turned—only to be met with shock in his eyes.
“Y-You… how did you—”
“Let go of Maybel immediately!”
The person who had thrown the stone was none other than Kellic.
And beside him…
“That ends your filthy act, Caesar.”
Zigmunt stood there.
Hearing his familiar, long-missed voice, Maybel’s eyes widened.
She couldn’t believe it.
Zigmunt had really been in the underground prison of Ashilonia Manor!
“Master…?”
Maybel called out, her voice unintentionally trembling with relief.
Seeing Maybel’s state, Zigmunt’s brows knitted in pain.
Her neck was wounded from the blade, and her body bore countless minor cuts from being thrown around.
Even watching her like this made his stomach churn with anger.
Yet, apparently, her real father didn’t seem to care.
“You coming here changes nothing!”
Caesar, frozen in shock, tried to imprint Maybel again.
Ssshhh—!
Of course, Zigmunt wouldn’t allow that.
“Krah!”
With a slash of his sword, he cut Caesar’s wrist, forcing him to drop the signet.
Clack!
Seizing the moment, Kellic quickly rolled and grabbed the fallen artifact.
“Got it!”
“Good job.”
Zigmunt immediately shielded Maybel behind him and faced Caesar.
“You little bastard…”
Caesar groaned in pain, clutching his injured arm as he got up.
“Caesar. I already knew you were a hopeless, irredeemable human scum.”
Zigmunt’s sharp words made Maybel’s eyes widen.
It was no wonder—he usually spoke properly and politely in front of her.
“Maybel! Come over here quickly!”
If Kellic hadn’t called from the other side, she would have stayed frozen in shock.
Maybel hurried to Kellic.
“Where are you going!”
Caesar, desperate, drew his sword to seize her, but clang!
“Your opponent is me. You pathetic thirty-year-old, thinking you can bully a child—you’re pitiful.”
Zigmunt effortlessly blocked Caesar’s sword as if handling a child.
“Taunting a kid in front of them, aren’t you ashamed? Honestly, why are you alive…”
Zigmunt continued insulting him without pause, as if he had memorized these words just for today.
“How dare you speak such blasphemy!”
Caesar, flushed with humiliation and rage, lunged fiercely.
Aura surged along his blade.
But Zigmunt parried it without using his own aura.
Clang—clang—sshhh—clang!
The clash of steel rang sharply between them.
Though worried, Maybel first checked Kellic’s collarbone.
“Brother, wait a moment. Let me see… Does it hurt?”
Her hands trembled as she inspected where the mark should have been.
Kellic, seeing Zigmunt’s skilled swordplay after so long, glanced at Maybel’s shaking hands and held them gently.
“Don’t worry. It didn’t mark me.”
“Huh?”
“See, I have this.”
He lifted the inside of his shirt, revealing a small artifact stitched into a crooked pocket.
“An Nullification Artifact!”
He usually carried it in his pocket, but before leaving the Grand Duke’s Castle, he had sewn it in as a precaution.
Kellic smiled playfully, relieved it had worked.
Realizing the artifact, Maybel’s strength drained, and she collapsed to the ground.
“I… I really thought something terrible would happen to you…”
Relieved, her trapped breath returned, and her heartbeat steadied.
Tears threatened to fall, and she buried her face in her hands, trembling.
“Of course, I thought you’d know…”
“But… you were in so much pain! So I… I…”
“T-That’s… hmm, because it was modified? But still, my master’s invention wouldn’t lose to a guy like that.”
If it had been an ordinary mark, he wouldn’t have even felt the pain.
After a moment, Maybel threw herself into Kellic’s arms.
“I’m so glad… really glad…”
Her voice, repeatedly relieved, was wet with tears.
Blinking, Kellic hugged her back.
“And you, Maybel? Is your neck okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. The bleeding stopped quickly…”
While the children comforted each other, the adults’ fight still raged on.
Kaga-gang—Kang!
Caesar pressed forward with all his strength, but Zigmunt’s legs didn’t budge.
“You…!”
“They say a skilled swordsman can read his opponent just by meeting blades.”
“Huh…?”
“So I know well enough, Caesar. How pitiful and wretched you really are!”
With Zigmunt’s push, Caesar was sent flying through the air, barely landing.
“Must be hell. You desired this mansion so much, yet you’ve accomplished nothing with your own hands.”
“Don’t make me laugh! I took this mansion! I’m the head of this house!”
Struck at the heart of his pride, Caesar lost control and charged again.
Aura surged sharper and denser along his blade.
But Zigmunt still didn’t use his own aura.
Zigmunt, skilled enough to control Caesar without aura, lightly deflected his attacks.
“Really? I think those who know will already understand. Without Sophia, you are nothing.”
Caesar’s expression wavered violently, and his blade trembled.
