Episode 145. Love is a Fatal Weakness
Flutter~.
A pink petal landed on Seira’s palm.
She blew it with her lips and stared at the scenery where the petal flew.
“It’s bigger than I thought.”
A huge wolf stood on the stage of the event hall.
“Kuaaaaang!”
As the terrible beast’s howl tore through the air, people began to run away in fear.
Among the people running away frantically, the Emperor stood tall and glared at his clan.
Seira leaned out of the window as if she found it amusing.
“It seems the Emperor is less flustered than I thought. I guess he anticipated what would happen today.”
“It doesn’t matter. As long as he has a weakness, it’s our victory.”
“That’s right. He’s under a curse and suffers whenever he thinks of Adele. That’s why there were so many drugs in the Marvel Palace.”
The story that Mark had told Isabelle had reached them. However, Mark didn’t say anything about Christine’s curse being lifted.
“Love is a fatal weakness.”
Seira’s blue eyes wavered.
“Do you have a fatal weakness, Maurice?”
Maurice just stared at the Emperor sharply as if he hadn’t heard.
Seira smiled bitterly and stared at the same place as him.
Maurice’s government.
The rebel priests all acknowledged that their relationship was special. No, it seemed special.
But in reality, even though she was in the same bed as Maurice, they didn’t feel special. They just felt like business partners.
But, well, it didn’t matter. The priests knew her as Maurice’s woman. If she could get rid of the Emperor and restore her former glory, she would become the best lady.
Then she could revive the fallen Oswald family.
Isabelle should be publicly executed, and Adele...
‘I should lock her up in the cellar where the charnel house used to be for the rest of her life.’
Seira felt a little better at that thought.
“By the way, what happened to the Duke of Crichton and his men?”
Maurice answered in a languid tone, as if nothing had happened.
“He must be wandering around the barrier right now. When he gets out, everything will be over.”
Zimmer, who had rushed to catch Maurice, must have been caught in the priests’ barrier magic.
Because of that, he must have been wandering around the same place.
“Now that we’ve taken the dog away from the Emperor, it’s the Emperor’s turn?”
“It’s time to give him a nice gift.”
“I wonder. Will the Emperor kill his clan, or will he sacrifice people to protect his clan?”
“Either way, he’ll be cornered.”
Maurice turned and walked to the center of the chapel.
There, about thirty priests in white were already waiting in the choir.
He raised one hand high. He was holding a long papal scepter in his hand.
It was the symbol of the Pope’s authority, which was why the priests followed him so much.
“Let’s begin.”
As soon as the order was given, a hymn filled the chapel.
To those who didn’t know, it was a simple and mysterious song.
Keeeeeee...
At that moment, the Pope’s scepter in Maurice’s hand began to glow.
As the light from the scepter enveloped several priests, they suddenly began to utter high-pitched sounds.
Keeeeeee...
The sound, which gradually became higher and thinner, exceeded the range that ordinary people could hear.
It would only be heard by the wolf clan with their highly developed hearing.
And this sound would become a spell to control the wolf clan that Maurice had used as a test subject.
“It seems that he got into a fight during the performance and lost his temper, and mutated. What should we do, Your Majesty?”
The WG knight quickly ran over and reported the situation to Christine.
Christine would not forgive anyone, even his own clan, who turned into wolves and harmed innocent people.
However, he had to be careful because he didn’t know if it was Maurice’s plan.
“First, let’s organize the situation and watch. There are enough Capital Guards nearby.”
He had already figured out the locations and numbers of Capital Guards nearby.
If the wolf-turned-thing went berserk, there were about fifty people within arm’s reach. They were all armed. There were also about two hundred Kalime troops around the venue.
In any case, the safety of today's event was Kalime's responsibility. It was best for the incident to be resolved in their hands.
If Christine got involved, there was no telling where or what kind of story would come out.
It was a situation where he would be criticized by both the wolf clan and the people.
Fortunately, the guy was still on the verge of going berserk, so if he just quietly backed off...
However, it seemed like the situation would get worse.
Sssssss...
In addition to the guy on stage, people who turned into wolves began to appear here and there.
Surprisingly, they were people wearing the clothes of the Capital Guard.
It was unexpected that Maurice would disguise them as a Capital Guard and send them in.
“Damn, I got a kick out of it.”
“What should we do, Your Majesty?”
Before long, about fifty Capital Guard members had turned into wolves, and some people at the venue had also turned into wolves.
And their numbers continued to grow.
What was even more desperate was that all of the Kalame troops who had been standing guard around the area were gone.
Was that natural, since the guys and Isabelle had joined hands?
The only troops left to protect the people were Christine and the WG Knights. Some had been taken away by Zimmer, so even that was only half.
“I’ve resurrected my clan, so I must take responsibility for it.”
Slurp!
As Christine drew his rapier,
Slurp! Slurp!
All of his knights drew their weapons.
“Adele, don’t look back and listen carefully.”
Leana approached Adele and whispered.
“We’re going to run away from here now.”
Slurp...
Countless people were turning into wolves. However, there was still no movement.
Nevertheless, terrified people began to run away like crazy.
“What about the people here?”
“His Majesty will take care of it. But you know that if Adele gets caught by Maurice, things will get complicated, right?”
Adele nodded.
Christine was the only one who could save the people here.
To do that, she couldn’t hold him back.
“There’s a carriage behind the stage. If you give the signal, it’ll move there.”
“Hmm.”
Adele checked the carriage that was visible beyond the stage.
“It’s now!”
Leana shouted, and the two began to run.
At the same time, beasts began to howl fiercely here and there.
Kwaaaaang!
Kwaak!
They all tore at their ears and screamed in agony.
Their eyes were red and bloodshot, and they drooled from their mouths.
They looked like rabid dogs.
“The guards say that they all screamed terribly right before they died. It was as if they were howling in agony.”
It was exactly as the coroner who performed the autopsy had said.
It was clear that Maurice was controlling them from somewhere.
“Adele, go first!”
Leana shouted as she put Adele in the carriage.
“Leana, what about you?”
Leana grinned.
“I am the world’s greatest wizard. Let’s go!”
At Leana’s command, the carriage carrying Adele started to move.
Three or four knights rode beside it, guarding it.
Left alone, Leana stared at the cathedral building.
The five-colored glass of the arched windows shone dazzlingly under the sunlight.
A hymn was coming through the open window.
It was a pure and pious song, regardless of the terrible situation here.
However, Leana knew that the song was mixed with an ancient spell.
It was a terrible curse and a spell of rage.
The wolf clan that Maurice brought was all affected by that spell.
'Maurice, you bastard...!'
He had wanted to turn the wolf clan, who had been excellent warriors a long time ago, into a weapon of the Vatican.
A machine that would kill for them without ever dying.
'I'll kill you!'
Only then could this terrible tragedy be stopped.
It was then.
"Kuaaaaang!"
When she turned around at the howl that shook the ground, she saw Paul approaching her in a wolf form.
He was the strongest warrior of the clan, and he was huge, and the murderous intent that he exuded made her shiver.
"Damn it! Did this bastard get hurt by Maurice, too?"
At that moment, Leana saw Maurice through the open window of the cathedral.
He was smiling at Leana through the shining stained glass. It was too peaceful for a murderer's smile.
Leana's heart raced as she looked at that smile.
'What is this feeling?'
She was so angry that she shouted at the top of her lungs,
“You son of a bitch, Maurice. You’re finished!”
It was just as Maurice had said in the dream.
Her life as a sorcerer was coming to an end.
Her body had been rapidly deteriorating from using more mana than she could handle for six years.
But even if she were to die, she couldn’t let Maurice go like this.
When Leana gathered her mana, her entire body was enveloped in white light.
“Kuaaaaang!”
Paul rushed at her fiercely as if to stop him.
But Leana flew straight at Maurice and shot a dazzling light.
"...!”
Smack!
Clank...!
One side of the cathedral wall shattered like a biscuit, and colored glass scattered into the air.
But Maurice was nowhere to be found.
“Come out, Maurice!”
Unlike Leana, who was excitedly squealing, Maurice’s quiet voice was heard.
“I warned you, Leana. You can’t use magic anymore.”
He was already sitting on the flowerbed bench under the cathedral. He looked as leisurely and carefree as if he were basking in the sun.
“I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!”
Leana jumped down the flowerbed again, chasing Maurice.
“Gyaaaah!”
But suddenly she felt a terrible pain and rolled around on the ground.
“See, even the most gifted magician has her limits.”
Maurice clicked his tongue as he looked down at Leana rolling around at his feet.
“This dog...!”
At that moment, Maurice bent down and placed his finger on Leana’s lips.
“If you swear one more time with that pretty mouth of yours, I’ll punish you, Leana.”
Leana bared her teeth as if she was going to bite off his finger. Then she screamed fiercely.
“You son of a bitch! I’ll tear you to pieces! I’ll grind your bones and drink them, and pull out your intestines…&$%&!”
After that, Leana continued to swear at him with all the terrible curses she could muster.
But Maurice laughed out loud as if he found it amusing.
The laughter was so loud that Seira looked down from the broken window.
'Maurice, you look happy for some reason.'
Well, after defeating someone who had given him so much trouble, was it natural for him to be happy?
Seira rested her chin on her hand and stared at Maurice and Leana as if watching.
Then her face slowly hardened.
It was the first time she had seen Maurice's eyes like that.
Even when he held her, he was as cold as ice. He seemed to have no heart.
But now, his eyes were hot with desire.
Those eyes were not filled with a desire to win or a sense of victory.
Eyes that yearned for something.
Desiring, obsessed, loving, and only seeing the other person...
The eyes of a man in love.
'That's ridiculous!'
At that moment, Maurice's face became as cold as ice.
Just as what Seira had seen a moment ago was an illusion.
“You didn’t listen, so now it’s your turn to get in trouble, Leana.”
“What the...!”
“...!”
Maurice chanted a short ancient spell.
Then, the red ancient language began to spread across Leana’s white skin.
Flutter~.
A pink petal landed on Seira’s palm.
She blew it with her lips and stared at the scenery where the petal flew.
“It’s bigger than I thought.”
A huge wolf stood on the stage of the event hall.
“Kuaaaaang!”
As the terrible beast’s howl tore through the air, people began to run away in fear.
Among the people running away frantically, the Emperor stood tall and glared at his clan.
Seira leaned out of the window as if she found it amusing.
“It seems the Emperor is less flustered than I thought. I guess he anticipated what would happen today.”
“It doesn’t matter. As long as he has a weakness, it’s our victory.”
“That’s right. He’s under a curse and suffers whenever he thinks of Adele. That’s why there were so many drugs in the Marvel Palace.”
The story that Mark had told Isabelle had reached them. However, Mark didn’t say anything about Christine’s curse being lifted.
“Love is a fatal weakness.”
Seira’s blue eyes wavered.
“Do you have a fatal weakness, Maurice?”
Maurice just stared at the Emperor sharply as if he hadn’t heard.
Seira smiled bitterly and stared at the same place as him.
Maurice’s government.
The rebel priests all acknowledged that their relationship was special. No, it seemed special.
But in reality, even though she was in the same bed as Maurice, they didn’t feel special. They just felt like business partners.
But, well, it didn’t matter. The priests knew her as Maurice’s woman. If she could get rid of the Emperor and restore her former glory, she would become the best lady.
Then she could revive the fallen Oswald family.
Isabelle should be publicly executed, and Adele...
‘I should lock her up in the cellar where the charnel house used to be for the rest of her life.’
Seira felt a little better at that thought.
“By the way, what happened to the Duke of Crichton and his men?”
Maurice answered in a languid tone, as if nothing had happened.
“He must be wandering around the barrier right now. When he gets out, everything will be over.”
Zimmer, who had rushed to catch Maurice, must have been caught in the priests’ barrier magic.
Because of that, he must have been wandering around the same place.
“Now that we’ve taken the dog away from the Emperor, it’s the Emperor’s turn?”
“It’s time to give him a nice gift.”
“I wonder. Will the Emperor kill his clan, or will he sacrifice people to protect his clan?”
“Either way, he’ll be cornered.”
Maurice turned and walked to the center of the chapel.
There, about thirty priests in white were already waiting in the choir.
He raised one hand high. He was holding a long papal scepter in his hand.
It was the symbol of the Pope’s authority, which was why the priests followed him so much.
“Let’s begin.”
As soon as the order was given, a hymn filled the chapel.
To those who didn’t know, it was a simple and mysterious song.
Keeeeeee...
At that moment, the Pope’s scepter in Maurice’s hand began to glow.
As the light from the scepter enveloped several priests, they suddenly began to utter high-pitched sounds.
Keeeeeee...
The sound, which gradually became higher and thinner, exceeded the range that ordinary people could hear.
It would only be heard by the wolf clan with their highly developed hearing.
And this sound would become a spell to control the wolf clan that Maurice had used as a test subject.
***
“It seems that he got into a fight during the performance and lost his temper, and mutated. What should we do, Your Majesty?”
The WG knight quickly ran over and reported the situation to Christine.
Christine would not forgive anyone, even his own clan, who turned into wolves and harmed innocent people.
However, he had to be careful because he didn’t know if it was Maurice’s plan.
“First, let’s organize the situation and watch. There are enough Capital Guards nearby.”
He had already figured out the locations and numbers of Capital Guards nearby.
If the wolf-turned-thing went berserk, there were about fifty people within arm’s reach. They were all armed. There were also about two hundred Kalime troops around the venue.
In any case, the safety of today's event was Kalime's responsibility. It was best for the incident to be resolved in their hands.
If Christine got involved, there was no telling where or what kind of story would come out.
It was a situation where he would be criticized by both the wolf clan and the people.
Fortunately, the guy was still on the verge of going berserk, so if he just quietly backed off...
However, it seemed like the situation would get worse.
Sssssss...
In addition to the guy on stage, people who turned into wolves began to appear here and there.
Surprisingly, they were people wearing the clothes of the Capital Guard.
It was unexpected that Maurice would disguise them as a Capital Guard and send them in.
“Damn, I got a kick out of it.”
“What should we do, Your Majesty?”
Before long, about fifty Capital Guard members had turned into wolves, and some people at the venue had also turned into wolves.
And their numbers continued to grow.
What was even more desperate was that all of the Kalame troops who had been standing guard around the area were gone.
Was that natural, since the guys and Isabelle had joined hands?
The only troops left to protect the people were Christine and the WG Knights. Some had been taken away by Zimmer, so even that was only half.
“I’ve resurrected my clan, so I must take responsibility for it.”
Slurp!
As Christine drew his rapier,
Slurp! Slurp!
All of his knights drew their weapons.
***
“Adele, don’t look back and listen carefully.”
Leana approached Adele and whispered.
“We’re going to run away from here now.”
Slurp...
Countless people were turning into wolves. However, there was still no movement.
Nevertheless, terrified people began to run away like crazy.
“What about the people here?”
“His Majesty will take care of it. But you know that if Adele gets caught by Maurice, things will get complicated, right?”
Adele nodded.
Christine was the only one who could save the people here.
To do that, she couldn’t hold him back.
“There’s a carriage behind the stage. If you give the signal, it’ll move there.”
“Hmm.”
Adele checked the carriage that was visible beyond the stage.
“It’s now!”
Leana shouted, and the two began to run.
At the same time, beasts began to howl fiercely here and there.
Kwaaaaang!
Kwaak!
They all tore at their ears and screamed in agony.
Their eyes were red and bloodshot, and they drooled from their mouths.
They looked like rabid dogs.
“The guards say that they all screamed terribly right before they died. It was as if they were howling in agony.”
It was exactly as the coroner who performed the autopsy had said.
It was clear that Maurice was controlling them from somewhere.
“Adele, go first!”
Leana shouted as she put Adele in the carriage.
“Leana, what about you?”
Leana grinned.
“I am the world’s greatest wizard. Let’s go!”
At Leana’s command, the carriage carrying Adele started to move.
Three or four knights rode beside it, guarding it.
***
Left alone, Leana stared at the cathedral building.
The five-colored glass of the arched windows shone dazzlingly under the sunlight.
A hymn was coming through the open window.
It was a pure and pious song, regardless of the terrible situation here.
However, Leana knew that the song was mixed with an ancient spell.
It was a terrible curse and a spell of rage.
The wolf clan that Maurice brought was all affected by that spell.
'Maurice, you bastard...!'
He had wanted to turn the wolf clan, who had been excellent warriors a long time ago, into a weapon of the Vatican.
A machine that would kill for them without ever dying.
'I'll kill you!'
Only then could this terrible tragedy be stopped.
It was then.
"Kuaaaaang!"
When she turned around at the howl that shook the ground, she saw Paul approaching her in a wolf form.
He was the strongest warrior of the clan, and he was huge, and the murderous intent that he exuded made her shiver.
"Damn it! Did this bastard get hurt by Maurice, too?"
At that moment, Leana saw Maurice through the open window of the cathedral.
He was smiling at Leana through the shining stained glass. It was too peaceful for a murderer's smile.
Leana's heart raced as she looked at that smile.
'What is this feeling?'
She was so angry that she shouted at the top of her lungs,
“You son of a bitch, Maurice. You’re finished!”
It was just as Maurice had said in the dream.
Her life as a sorcerer was coming to an end.
Her body had been rapidly deteriorating from using more mana than she could handle for six years.
But even if she were to die, she couldn’t let Maurice go like this.
When Leana gathered her mana, her entire body was enveloped in white light.
“Kuaaaaang!”
Paul rushed at her fiercely as if to stop him.
But Leana flew straight at Maurice and shot a dazzling light.
"...!”
Smack!
Clank...!
One side of the cathedral wall shattered like a biscuit, and colored glass scattered into the air.
But Maurice was nowhere to be found.
“Come out, Maurice!”
Unlike Leana, who was excitedly squealing, Maurice’s quiet voice was heard.
“I warned you, Leana. You can’t use magic anymore.”
He was already sitting on the flowerbed bench under the cathedral. He looked as leisurely and carefree as if he were basking in the sun.
“I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!”
Leana jumped down the flowerbed again, chasing Maurice.
“Gyaaaah!”
But suddenly she felt a terrible pain and rolled around on the ground.
“See, even the most gifted magician has her limits.”
Maurice clicked his tongue as he looked down at Leana rolling around at his feet.
“This dog...!”
At that moment, Maurice bent down and placed his finger on Leana’s lips.
“If you swear one more time with that pretty mouth of yours, I’ll punish you, Leana.”
Leana bared her teeth as if she was going to bite off his finger. Then she screamed fiercely.
“You son of a bitch! I’ll tear you to pieces! I’ll grind your bones and drink them, and pull out your intestines…&$%&!”
After that, Leana continued to swear at him with all the terrible curses she could muster.
But Maurice laughed out loud as if he found it amusing.
The laughter was so loud that Seira looked down from the broken window.
'Maurice, you look happy for some reason.'
Well, after defeating someone who had given him so much trouble, was it natural for him to be happy?
Seira rested her chin on her hand and stared at Maurice and Leana as if watching.
Then her face slowly hardened.
It was the first time she had seen Maurice's eyes like that.
Even when he held her, he was as cold as ice. He seemed to have no heart.
But now, his eyes were hot with desire.
Those eyes were not filled with a desire to win or a sense of victory.
Eyes that yearned for something.
Desiring, obsessed, loving, and only seeing the other person...
The eyes of a man in love.
'That's ridiculous!'
At that moment, Maurice's face became as cold as ice.
Just as what Seira had seen a moment ago was an illusion.
“You didn’t listen, so now it’s your turn to get in trouble, Leana.”
“What the...!”
“...!”
Maurice chanted a short ancient spell.
Then, the red ancient language began to spread across Leana’s white skin.
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