TAPGB - Chapter 144
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
Leon, engulfed in white flame, struggled against the pain etched into his soul.
Purifying his contaminated soul one by one was much more painful than being burned alive. It was to the point where he couldn't maintain his senses at all.
Seeing Leon collapsing in an instant, Caesar grabbed him from behind and screamed.
“Lucian, now!”
To erase him from this world forever, they must kill him now.
Unless there are special cases like Leah, a soul that loses its body simply disappears.
Lucian raised his sword. Leon glared at Lucian with his haggard face and sallow eyes.
The moment Lucian frowned and was about to put down his sword.
“...Lucian.”
A trembling voice was heard. The blade came right in front of me and stopped abruptly.
Lucian's eyes wavered aimlessly.
“...Are you trying to kill me?”
What was in front of me now was not Leon, but Leopold. No, he couldn't tell if it was Leon or Leopold.
The reality that had been ignored in dealing with Leon came to the surface.
Leon had occupied Leopold's body from the beginning.
So he doubted his identity for a long time, and when he found out that he was Leon, didn't he struggle with betrayal and despair?
‘My brother is dead,’ he consoled himself as he dealt with Leon.
But now, as Leopold appeared before his eyes, Lucian could do nothing.
The corner of Leopold's mouth, which had been crying at the sight of Lucian shaking with red eyes, went up.
“Stupid. You can never kill me. Killing me is like killing your brother.”
Leon, wearing Leopold's skin, mocked him.
In the process of taking over Leopold's body, he took in all of Leopold's memories.
So he was able to fool Lucian's eyes for quite a long time.
Not only Lucian but not even Caesar and Leah can do anything about him.
Because he already knows that these two people care deeply about Lucian.
“You crazy bastard... !”
“You’re still human...?!”
Seeing him mocking Lucian's love for his older brother, Caear and Leah burst into flames. However, as Leon expected, the two could not do anything.
Lucian, who had been breathing heavily and shaking for a while, let out a scream.
“Aaaah!”
Phew!
The tip of Lucian's sword stuck in Leon's shoulder. He did attack, but not enough to inflict mortal wounds.
Due to the intense pain, Leon cried while acting as Leopold.
“Lucian, how could you do that to me...!”
“Hmm.. Hmm...”
Lucian's breathing gradually became heavier. Seeing this, Leon mocked and played Leopold, confusing Lucian.
Lucian's emotions seemed to be shaking.
“If you don’t kill me here, I will continue to chase Leah. And I will make Leah’s soul mine as well.”
A dark look swept over Leah. Leah knew that he had said this to provoke Lucian, but it was not Lucian.
Lucian gritted his molars and grabbed Leon's neck with both hands.
Uddangtang-!
The two fell to the floor. Lucian strangled Leon, his arms trembling. Leon looked down at Lucian with arrogant eyes.
“If you keep giving me strength like this, I will definitely die. But your brother's body will die as well. Then you will suffer from the guilt of killing your brother for the rest of your life.”
“Shut your mouth! My brother is dead! After you killed your brother... !"
“Who is it? I killed Leopold.”
Lucian paused at Leon’s next words.
It didn't seem like the words were uttered to overcome the current situation.
“How did I fool Leah?”
Leon had already known that Leah was examining his soul under the pretext of examining his body's condition.
Leon is a soul that was corrupted a long time ago. His soul is so thick that he cannot see an inch in front of him.
However, from what Leah has examined, his soul is white. What is the reason?
“Rather than absorbing Leopold’s soul, I thought it would be more advantageous to fool you guys by putting it over my soul.”
"No way..."
Leah's eyes trembled.
“Yes, Leopold is still alive.”
It is hope torture. Because they thought Leopold was dead, they dealt with Leon without hesitation. If he were alive, wouldn't that mean that this game was in Leon's palm from the beginning?
“It’s disgusting how much you cared for your brother.”
Lucian, who was in shock, heard Leon's taunts in his ears.
“He told me not to lift a finger against his younger brother, who was extremely weak. It's truly a comedy. Isn’t it funny how his older brother struggled to save his younger brother, but the younger brother actually tried to kill his older brother?”
“Can’t you shut your mouth?!”
Caesar, who was worse off, burned the white flame even more. Leon moaned as the purification became more intense, but the laughter that flowed from her mouth could not be stopped.
“Now, choose. Love or family? There are only two options given to you, so you’d better choose wisely.”
Hahahaha!
The sound of Leon’s laughter gnawed at Lucian’s ears. It had been a long time since Lucian's hand that was strangling his neck relaxed.
‘I know my brother is alive, but can I really kill this guy?’
No, he can't.
He fucking can't do it.
He volunteered to be Leopold's replacement for five years, waited eagerly for him to wake up safely, and had no choice but to accept Leopold's death when he saw that Leon had taken over his body.
There was no way he could touch this monster now that he knew that Leopold was safe.
Caesar frowned at Lucian's desperate appearance.
In his own way, Caesar maximized the power of purification to help him.
With the hope that when everything in Leon was purified, Leopold's soul remaining within it might be saved.
"Ha ha ha! No use! Leopold and I are already on the same page! If I die, he dies too! No matter how much you struggle...!”
Leon, who had been mocking with a proud smile, stopped. Just as he was wondering if something was going on again, Leon suddenly started shaking and convulsing.
“W-that’s ridiculous... !”
The reaction was different from suffering from being burned by a white flame.
“Ugh! Yes, how did you...! I would have swallowed you long ago!”
Leon screamed to himself. He seemed to be talking to himself.
He was struggling, pulling out his head and arching his back, but suddenly stopped.
Everyone held their breath and watched in the empty golden space. At that time, Leon's mouth opened and a soft voice was heard.
“Lucian.”
“...Brother?"
Leon... No, Leopold smiled softly and stretched out his hand to Lucian's face.
"I'm okay."
“...Ugh! Whoever wants to do it now... !”
“If you don’t kill him, the nightmare of 300 years will repeat itself. You have to protect the people you love.”
"Shut up! Shut your mouth!”
Like a dual personality, Leopold's expression and tone of voice changed from moment to moment. But in the end, it was Leopold who took over his body.
Leopold guided Lucian's hand and made him grab his neck.
“Don’t feel guilty, don’t be sad, do what you have to do. If I'm going to die by your hands, I can leave in peace...”
Tears suddenly formed in the corners of Lucian's eyes.
As he gave strength to his neck with his trembling hands, Leopold closed his eyes comfortably.
It was truly an appearance of meekly accepting death.
Lucian squeezed his eyes shut and trembled with his hands before eventually relaxing them.
“..I’m sorry, Leah.”
Lucian looked back at Leah who was next to him with a tearful face.
“I can’t possibly kill my brother with my own hands.”
“Lucian...”
Leag clenched her fists as she saw Lucian struggling to breathe and suffering.
“Of course, you should! Do you think you can live the rest of your life after killing your brother?!”
Leon, who had lost control of his body again, struggled and poured out all kinds of verbal abuse at Lucian. The words also included insults to Leopold, who willingly gave up his life.
Even though he knew that Leon had taken over Leopold's body again, Lucian could not raise his head.
Leah clenched her fists as she saw her tears falling down her lowered head.
“Love too! Brothers too! You're so stupid that you can't choose! Your sloppiness will eventually eat you up!”
“No, that’s wrong.”
Leah's cold words interrupted Leon's words. Lucian looked at Leah with her tear-filled eyes.
Leah was glaring at Leon with a truly angry expression.
“There’s no way you can choose between the two in the first place! What do you think about the human heart! Lover? Family? Do you think it’s normal for a bastard to weigh the two most precious things in this world?!”
“Leah...”
Leah grabbed Leon’s head.
“Lucian doesn’t have to choose anything. It’s my job to deal with you.”
Until she met Leon.
She was able to come this far without collapsing thanks to the love and help from those around her. Now it's her turn to return the favor.
Dense mana spurted out from her body. She forcibly entered the images of Leon and Leopold.
Perhaps because she was hit by Caesar's white flame, white flames fluttered throughout the image, purifying Leon's soul, which was scattered like smoke.
However, even though she was purified for quite a long time, his image was filled with black smoke.
It may seem overwhelming how to get rid of this huge and widely scattered soul, but Leah thought just the opposite.
‘The fact that the soul that is supposed to be united is so disorganized means that it has already lost its power.’
Maybe the elixir he had given him earlier was taking effect too late.
‘Whatever happens, it’s a good thing.’
Purple mana bloomed in Leah's hands. If Caesar's white flame purifies Leon's soul, Leah's mana annihilates his soul.
‘Do you know how many ghosts I’ve killed so far?’
While Leon was able to move his soul from one body to another for 300 years, Leah has lived as her own soul for 300 years, so in a way, her understanding of the soul can be said to be higher.
She also knows how to get rid of the spirit.
Leah's hand caught the black spirit floating in the air. Even though it was in the same form as smoke, his soul was still caught in Leah's hands.
Keekeeeeek-
As Leah yanked his out of her grasp, Leon's soul clumped together in Leah's hands and let out an unearthly cry.
Soon, in Leah's palm, there was a lump of soul tightly packed into a single sphere.
As she pressed it with both hands, he began to disappear from this world with a cracking sound.
'Stop! Stop!'
Leon's urgent voice echoed throughout the image.
It was a pain that was different from being purified. No, the feeling of going beyond pain and disappearing from this world forever without being able to be reincarnated was very empty and meaningless.
For Leoon, who lived tenaciously, extinction was an ending he had never thought about.
‘Stop it.. ?’
Leah was angry at Leon’s arrogant attitude.
‘There are dozens or even hundreds of people who have been harmed because of you! But now you’re telling me to stop?!’
She couldn't control her boiling anger. It's as shameless as it gets.
‘Because of me from the beginning...No, all of this happened because you were obsessed with me. Therefore, it is my responsibility to punish you and erase you from this world.’
Leah decided that she would no longer blame herself.
She is truly a victim. Why do victims blame themselves and suffer while the perpetrator lives shamelessly without regretting his mistakes?
It is Leon who must bear all these emotions, not Leah.
Leah's purple eyes were extremely firm as she tried to move forward without wavering or fear.
Her eyes had the same sparkle as when Leon first fell in love with Leah.
‘I will punish you right here and now.’
Against his corrupted soul, Leah declared war.
🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥲🫶
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