Episode 176: Rubia (1)
“Ah… sob…”
Under the full moon’s glow, Athena sat in agony, clutching her ankle. It was a time when everyone else was fast asleep.
Both her ankles were wrapped in cloth, once white but now stained a deep red.
This was the evening of the day Athena was imprisoned.
Claire had returned to the prison with a few mercenaries in tow.
“There’s a risk of escape. Sever the tendons in her ankles.”
Claire Fowler’s command left the mercenaries stunned. Athena, after all, was of noble blood, even if she was a suspect.
“Lady Claire… this prison is made of rare metal that absorbs magic. It’s not easily broken. Besides, Lady Athena is wearing a magic-sealing device…”
“Considering her skills, we can’t afford to be complacent.”
“But…”
When the mercenaries hesitated, Claire slapped one across the face.
Smack.
The sharp sound echoed through the prison. Claire spoke irritably to the startled mercenary.
“If you’ve heard the order, just follow it. Why so much chatter?”
“L-Lady Claire… it’s not that…”
“You know who’s in charge of the mercenary corps now, don’t you? Do I need to call Ulrich to beat some sense into you?”
With those words, Athena realized who had taken her father’s place as the mercenary leader.
It was Ulrich Hopper, Claire’s son.
It wasn’t particularly surprising. Ulrich Hopper was a master-class warrior and a formidable presence within the mercenary corps.
“If you understand, do as you’re told!”
Reluctantly, the mercenaries surrounded Athena. Yet, they couldn’t bring themselves to carry out Claire’s order.
“It’s okay.”
Athena knew what kind of person Ulrich Hopper was. Honest and reliable, but utterly incapable of defying his mother’s orders.
If Claire truly summoned Ulrich, the mercenaries would have no choice but to endure punishment.
The Fafnir Mercenary Corps wasn’t known for strict discipline, but their punishments were severe, sometimes even fatal.
“So just do as you’re told.”
The mercenaries bit their lips. In the end, they drew their swords and cut into Athena’s ankles.
The tendons at the back of the heel were thick, and the pain of severing them was unimaginable.
Yet Athena only trembled, refusing to scream.
“What a tough woman.”
Claire muttered in irritation as she left the prison, the mercenaries following her out.
Only then did Athena allow herself to groan, clutching her ankle in visible pain.
”…It hurts.”
Hours passed, but the pain didn’t lessen.
Athena leaned against the wall, closing her eyes, hoping for even a moment’s relief.
How much time had passed?
The iron door of the prison creaked open, and someone entered. Athena opened her eyes to see who it was.
Claire Fowler stood before her.
“Look at you.”
Claire looked down at Athena, who had no choice but to look up due to her severed tendons.
“Such childish behavior.”
But Athena refused to lower her demeanor. She spoke to Claire in her usual tone.
“Childish? Well, every time I do something childish, it feels so satisfying.”
Claire laughed brightly, and Athena shivered at the ugly emotions she sensed from her.
”…Why are you doing this to me?”
Athena asked the question that had been on her mind.
Even though many factions disliked Athena, Claire’s animosity was particularly intense.
“Good question. I’ve been wanting to tell someone.”
Claire knelt down, meeting Athena’s eyes.
“What do you think of your father?”
The question was so unexpected that Athena could only remain silent.
“Your father, Karl, was a notorious womanizer. He changed women as often as he changed clothes, and if he fancied someone, he’d have her by any means necessary… a truly despicable man.”
Athena knew well how depraved her father was.
“But none of the women he was with ever complained. How could they? Where else would they find a man as handsome, powerful, and high-ranking as Karl?”
The Mercenary King, Karl Hopper, was a man who had it all.
Wealth, fame, personal prowess, and even good looks.
“Moreover, Karl never aged. I’m not a knight, so I don’t know, but they say he was so strong he defied aging. So, of course, no one could hate him. That was the problem.”
Karl Hopper never aged. He was always handsome and charming.
But the women were different. They aged with time. Their skin lost its elasticity, and their eyes drooped. Their beauty faded day by day.
“Do you know how older women are treated? They’re completely ignored by Karl. He never seeks them out again, as if the affection of their youth was a lie.”
Claire’s voice grew slightly agitated.
“At least the women who bore his children were lucky. Those who didn’t were expelled from the mercenary corps. They gave their youth to Karl and received nothing in return.”
Even the women who bore the Mercenary King’s children didn’t fare much better.
They weren’t expelled from the corps, but they didn’t receive Karl’s attention either.
“Can you even imagine how it feels to have the man you once loved with all your heart taken by younger women?”
Claire’s eyes darkened. Athena swallowed dryly and asked.
”…What does that have to do with me?”
“Ah, right. I should get to that. I don’t know if you know, but… your mother was the woman Karl searched for all his life.”
Athena had heard it from her father himself.
In his youth, he had been saved from a fatal wound by her mother. Thanks to her care, he survived.
After that, he searched for her mother but found little success.
“Eventually, Karl found your mother. By then, she was old, sick, and… really nothing special. So I didn’t pay her any mind. Karl couldn’t possibly like a woman like that.”
Claire gritted her teeth.
“But do you know what actually happened? Karl only sought out your mother. He clung to her until the day she died. Why? He never came back to me, saying I was old. He ignored me. But why only your mother? Why just her?”
Claire slammed her fist against the iron bars. Her skin split, and blood trickled down, but Claire only glared at Athena.
”…I want to kill you, but everyone stops me from doing that.”
Claire sighed, as if genuinely disappointed.
“Tomorrow, I’m going to expel you from the mercenary corps. Don’t ever return to the Fafnir Mercenary Corps.”
Claire turned to leave. Before exiting the prison, she added as if she had just remembered.
“Oh, by the way, that man Damian is dead.”
Athena’s eyes widened at the sudden news.
“What do you mean? Why is Damian dead?”
“I don’t know. The guard found him dead from a heart attack when he went to deliver dinner.”
Athena dragged herself to the bars, clutching them as she shouted.
“Don’t lie! You expect me to believe that?”
“Believe it or not, it’s up to you. But why would I lie to you?”
With that, Claire left the prison.
“How did you know I was lying?”
Damian admitted to Rubia’s accusation without hesitation.
After all, the lie was only meant to find out the Mercenary King’s whereabouts.
Having achieved his goal, there was no need to cling to the lie.
“I received a message from my master. He said he wanted the Mercenary King’s soul after hearing your plan. If he had sent you, there would have been no need to contact him separately.”
Damian chuckled. Of all times, why did Sla contact him now? His luck was truly abysmal.
“Come to think of it, there were several oddities.”
Rubia continued, glaring at Damian.
“None of the dark mages ever call ‘him’ by name. He’s too great for that, and there’s always the risk of the Empire discovering his identity.”
Damian hadn’t called Dorgo by name for any special reason.
He simply couldn’t bring himself to use an honorific for someone like Dorgo.
“Moreover, it was strange that he ordered Garot to be killed. The one who cherishes and loves us so much would never order our deaths.”
Damian almost burst out laughing at that.
Dorgo cherished the dark mages only because they were valuable assets for the impending war of annihilation.
“Not only did you deceive me, but you also killed Kardak… Do you know how useful he was? It’s incredibly hard to find a dark mage of his caliber in the Poison Arts.”
Rubia wasn’t angry because ‘Kardak’ was dead. She was angry because a useful ‘tool’ was gone.
It was the same Rubia he had seen in his past life.
She didn’t particularly like men. She saw them as tools to be used and discarded. A stark contrast to her master, Sla.
“Don’t think about dying so easily. I’ll make sure you experience every bit of suffering life has to offer before I trap your soul and torment you for eternity.”
“You’re awfully confident. Have you forgotten I’ve already killed two of your kind?”
At Demian’s words, Rubia let out a dry laugh.
“Are you seriously comparing me to those two? That’s quite an insult to my pride.”
Dark sorcerers were ranked by their mastery of arcane magic. Naturally, a sorcerer who had spent years honing their craft was far more formidable than one who had just attained the title.
Rubia wasn’t just any dark sorcerer; she was a disciple of the infamous Slur. Her mastery of arcane magic was leagues beyond those two.
“Well, what would a brainless knight know? Let me make it easy for you to understand—I’ll show you.”
Dark energy erupted from Rubia’s body, a dense, chaotic force.
Crack.
Her shoulder bone jutted upward.
Snap.
Her neck twisted to the side.
Crunch.
Her entire skeleton and muscles began to contort violently. Bones elongated, tearing through her skin, while hundreds of muscle fibers wrapped around them.
She transformed into a towering figure, nearly three meters tall, with grotesquely swollen muscles that resembled tumors. Her appearance was so monstrous that her gender was unrecognizable. The beauty that once stood there was gone, replaced by a creature that inspired pure terror.
“Ah, refreshing.”
Despite her hideous form, Rubia’s voice remained as beautiful as ever, making it all the more unsettling.
“This sense of liberation never gets old.”
There was only one school of dark sorcery that specialized in transforming the body for combat: the Frenzy School. Known for its close-quarters combat prowess, it boasted the most formidable fighters among dark sorcerers. Like her master Slur, Rubia was a member of this school.
The pheromones she emitted were a result of her transformed organs.
“Resist with all your might. I want to savor this feeling for as long as possible.”
Rubia lifted her massive leg like a beam and slammed it into the ground, causing an explosion that made the earth tremble.
Her body shot forward in a straight line, appearing right in front of Demian as she swung her hand like a blade.
In that instant, her forearm elongated and snapped like a whip.
The lightning-fast strike aimed to cleave Demian in two.
Just before the attack landed, Demian swung his sword. The aura he released sliced cleanly through Rubia’s forearm.
”…What?”
In her moment of shock, Demian swung upward from below.
His aura exploded forth, a massive slash that tore through Rubia’s body and reached up to the sky.