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Chapter 32
“My power? What power?”
I tilted my head, pretending not to understand what he meant.
At that, he let out a low chuckle.
“Like I said, my little sister is just so cute.”
“……”
Ugh.
I hadn’t even eaten anything, but I felt like I was about to throw up.
“Unfortunately, no matter how cute you act right now, I can’t just let this slide. I won’t overlook it just because you pretend not to know.”
The eyes that had been smiling all this time turned cold.
“Originally, you shouldn’t have been able to tell whether this place was real or not.”
He stared at me with eyes sharp as a finely honed blade.
“I was supposed to toy with you here, then easily claim your soul once it had ripened beautifully.”
That was how it should’ve gone—but as he added that, he let out a short, humorless laugh.
“But the power you obtained.”
“……”
“Because of that power, you realized this wasn’t reality. Your companions too. Impudently so.”
After saying that, he set down his fork and knife and clasped his hands together, fingers interlaced.
He watched me in silence for a moment, then suddenly began speaking at an incredibly fast pace, completely unlike before.
“That’s a power no one has ever obtained. Yeah—one that no one could ever have… So how did you do it?”
“……”
“Hm? How did you come to possess that power?”
The way his eyes flashed as he asked made him look genuinely insane.
The reason he’d been acting gentle toward me all this time—without harming me—was exactly this.
To fully grasp the nature of my power.
That was probably why he’d left Isael behind and dragged only me into this place.
He looks like he wants to kill me right now.
He clearly wanted to kill me—but couldn’t.
Because he needed the information I had.
Until he got what he wanted, he wouldn’t be able to kill me.
Well, the feeling was mutual.
My gaze dropped to the cord of the necklace wrapped around his thick neck.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“When your brother asks you something, you should answer, Rosie.”
You’re not my brother.
Just how long did this bastard plan to keep pretending to be Dominic?
“Hm? I said answer me.”
Facing his impatient tone, I asked back lightly,
“Curious?”
“Of course. Why else would I ask?”
“Then how about a trade?”
“Huh?”
To the man tilting his head in confusion, I shamelessly made my demand.
“I’ll tell you what you want to know—so give me that key in return.”
What do you say?
When I added that, he snorted.
“Ah, so that’s what this was about.”
He stared at me with an amused expression, then shook his head.
“You know, I could force the answer out of you, Rosie.”
“……”
“But my love for you is simply too great, so I’m holding back. Of course, even my patience has its limits.”
What utter bullshit…
I let his nauseating words go in one ear and out the other.
Doesn’t look like he has any intention of handing over the key willingly.
Unfortunate, but that meant I’d have to look for an opening.
I’d have to steal the key somehow and make a run for it.
Just as I was making up my mind, he slowly licked his lower lip and spoke.
“Our master has learned that you can wield that power. He was furious.”
“……Your master?”
Master?
Is he talking about the demon in charge of this floor?
Or the demon that rules the entire tower?
“He ordered me to kill you after confirming how you unsealed the sealed power.”
Sealed…?
While I was seriously pondering the meaning of his words, his voice continued without pause.
“But I have no intention of going that far. How could I do that to my beloved little sister?”
“Who is your master?”
“Hm, I shouldn’t do that, should I? You must’ve had a hard time just getting here—I can’t make it even harder.”
“No, I’m asking who your master is.”
“I simply plan to keep you staying in this space. I promise I won’t torment you.”
“Hey.”
“It’s a shame I can’t make your soul suffer, but it can’t be helped. I’ll take good care of you until the day you die—as your brother.”
“Hey, could you at least answer—”
“It’s not a bad deal for you either. You can live comfortably here. Eat lots of delicious food, sleep well. I’ll let you live like that until you die.”
“……”
Is he seriously just going to keep talking without listening?
“So, shall we be honest now? That power—no, those powers.”
His smile had completely vanished as he stared at me.
“How did you unseal them?”
As if to say the jokes were over.
Seeing his hardened expression, I swallowed dryly.
Don’t provoke him unnecessarily.
Looking at the situation calmly, that was the right call.
Right now, I didn’t have the strength to face him head-on.
Calling the others here wouldn’t be a good idea either.
I’d already experienced firsthand that the spirits’ power was useless in this place.
If I summoned them recklessly, I might just end up demonstrating exactly what he was curious about.
He asked how I unsealed them.
He seemed to believe I had used some method to remove the seals on the spirits and gained access to their power.
In reality, all I did was eat a single fruit—and after that, I could command them.
He didn’t seem to know that.
Seals…
If the others truly had been sealed originally, there was a high chance that he also possessed the power to seal them again.
Or at the very least, he might know how—or know someone who could.
Maybe that so-called “master” has that kind of power.
Either way, it seemed best to lie low for now.
Just then, the faint presence of the spirits—which I’d barely been able to sense earlier—suddenly grew strong nearby.
There was only one thing that could mean.
“……Looks like an intruder has arrived.”
Leaving the fake Dominic’s chilling voice behind me, I turned my head.
The tightly shut door of the sitting room was opening.
“Rosette!”
The hand I stretched out with all my strength grasped nothing as the slender body disappeared into the wall.
I slammed my fist against it, but the wall was solid.
So solid it was hard to believe it had just absorbed a person moments ago.
Isael reflexively turned to the side.
Three pitch-black silhouettes were huddled together there.
They fluttered in place, reaching out toward the wall—then recoiled when their hands passed straight through it.
Clenching his teeth, Isael demanded,
“Your master has disappeared. So why are you still here?”
One of them stepped forward and shook its head.
It was the one Rosette referred to as “the eldest.”
“Our eldest has a really beautiful voice. Too bad you can’t hear it.”
Rosette could communicate with them.
But Isael couldn’t hear the voices of those black figures.
He’d never once regretted that—until now.
“You know where Rosette went, don’t you?”
They were connected to her.
Which meant they should be able to sense her location.
As expected, “the eldest” nodded—quickly and forcefully, several times.
“Then find her.”
Isael gave the order immediately.
“Find her—and guide me.”
The black figure nodded again and began to move.
After going a short distance ahead, it glanced back, as if telling him to follow.
Isael didn’t hesitate.
His head felt like it was burning.
The image of Rosette’s hand slipping from his grasp flickered before his eyes.
He should have held on.
He should have held on…
If only he’d stretched his hand just a little farther—just a bit faster, with more strength—
<Feeling bitter because you’re not strong enough? I told you to give me blood. How frustrating! I told you I could make you stronger!>
An alien voice echoed in his head.
Isael glanced briefly at his sword, then continued walking as if he hadn’t heard a thing.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was finding Rosette.
Nothing else did.
Soon, the black figures stopped in front of a door.
As if to say this is it, they stepped aside and cleared a path.
Isael opened the door without hesitation.
And the instant he stepped inside, something flew at him.
Paat—!
He instinctively raised his sword and struck it down.
What fell to the floor crumbled into powder and vanished.
Isael lifted his head.
He saw Rosette, reaching out toward a man seated in front of her.
“Got it!”
Her bright voice rang out.
The next moment, Rosette came running toward him.
The black figures beside her were sucked into her body as if being absorbed.
Then—grab.
Her hand clasped his.
“Isael, let’s run! Now!”
Pulling the shouting Rosette behind him, Isael cut down the sharp blades raining toward them with his sword.
The attacker froze, eyes wide in shock.
“…How— even the Holy Sword?”
Isael released Rosette’s hand and charged at it.
Pud-deuk.
The man before him collapsed in place, turning into a thick, black liquid.
Only the clothes covering it remained, proof that something shaped like a human had been there.
“……”
Isael realized it immediately.
We missed him.
Swallowing a curse between his teeth, he turned around.
Rosette was looking straight at him.
Their eyes met—and she pulled her lips up into a radiant smile.
…She’s smiling?
For a moment, Isael was at a loss for words.
“Ta-da.”
Completely unconcerned, Rosette held up what she had clenched in her hand, looking delighted.
“I stole the key~”
