Episode 89: Till Death, May We Never Part

Even if he couldn’t see her again, she just needed to live. As long as she was still alive, maybe someday they would meet again. Hubris told Jason while Alecto was contemplating.

“I’ll accompany you on the way to escape with Lady Misérian.”

“If there are a lot of people, it shouldn’t attract attention.”

“There is only the theory to bring the dead back to life. No priest had actually put it into practice. …Even if it’s successful right now, we have to wait and see if there’s any incomplete parts-—”

When Hubris poured out his words, Jason shook his hand as if he shouldn’t continue.

“Then, once we’ve escaped abroad, we’ll send someone to give the high-ranking officer the address. You must know that escape is a priority.”

Hubris had no choice but to close his mouth and nod because he couldn’t throw up at those words.

After Alecto’s visit and before leaving, the two broke up after deciding on a time to meet again the night after the execution date.

Jason, who was taking the lead without hesitation, stopped and stood tall in front of the entrance to the mortuary. Jason pulled out a sword that was cold on his waist without saying a word. When Hubris asked with a blink, Jason spoke softly.

“There’s already someone inside.”

“No way. There’s no one else to come, right?”

“No, there’s a dog that lost its owner.”

Jason grinded his teeth and ran inside. In the blink of an eye, Hubris also rushed along. Somehow, he had a very bad feeling.

The two men who ran into each other faced a burning body and a brown-haired man standing in front of it.

“You bastard… No way…….”

“My master had already anticipated that you would come. I was lost in the second basement of the Imperial Palace, but fortunately, it seems that I narrowly got ahead.”

“No!”

Hubris screamed when he realised who the owner of the burning body was. He took off his cape and hurriedly tried to extinguish the fire, but he was stopped by Anakin and turned round. Anakin pulled out a sword and pointed it at Hubris’ neck. Hubris shouted with bloodshot eyes.

“Do you know what you’ve done now? She could have been saved. She could have been saved!”

“I’m following my master’s orders.”

As soon as Anakin finished speaking, Jason rushed in. Anakin instinctively turned and defended against it. The sound of swords clashing with each other echoed through the empty basement. Jason quickly shouted at Hubris.

“I’ll be blocking him, so turn off the fire and save Lady Misérian!”

“All right.”

Anakin inserted his sword into Hubris’ thigh, who was about to stand up. While Hubris swallowed the pain, Jason cut Anakin’s waist. Unable to avoid the cut, Anakin swallowed a groan and glared at Jason sternly.

Jason saw Anakin’s movement and said,

“……You’re a half-swordmaster. You’ve read the instructions skillfully, but your swordsmanship is incomplete. I reached the level of swordmaster at a much younger age than you. Do you want to beat me?”

“I’m not here right now to distinguish between victory and defeat with you.”

Anakin aimed at the back of the neck of Hubris, who put out the fire, but failed due to Jason’s block. Anakin put a weak sword on his sword, this was the only way to barely block Jason’s sword with his sword. If he hadn’t done that, the sword would have been broken sooner.

The fire on the body went out and Hubris put divine power into the body. Then, the skin that had been burned by the fire shone and began to regenerate slowly. Sparks flew in Anakin’s eyes when he saw it.

The fight between the three turned strangely. A man who tried to save her somehow, and a man who tried to stop him. And another man trying to stop such a man was fighting with blood splattering.

As time went by, Anakin did his best to attack Hubris without thinking about his body’s safety.

Finally, Jason’s sword pierced Anakin’s stomach. Even with his already tattered body, Anakin did not let go of his sword.

Jason looked down at him and said to him as if he did not understand.

“Why is it you? I wouldn’t have been so angry if you were a man with a good side everywhere.”

“You don’t respect one of my master’s choices, really… you don’t know why?”

“Shut up! She could have changed her mind! It’s just that there was no opportunity.”

In response to Jason’s subsequent reply, Anakin vomited blood and anger.

“An opportunity? Are you sure you want to say that you wanted an opportunity? Changing someone’s heart, will, and thinking! It’s a great arrogance, a misjudgment!”

When Jason finally pulled out the sword that had been stuck in Anakin’s stomach and tried to slash him in the neck, and when Hubris almost succeeded in reviving the body in cold sweat, the body ignited again.

“Witch?”

When Hubris said the word, the air immediately cracked black, and a woman with red hair escaped from it like the flame she had bloomed. She wore a black satin dress and took a light step with her pearl-stained flat shoes.

“I came here just in case, as expected, it was too much to do alone.”

Jason swung the sword directly at the woman, but the woman lightly moved her body to another space.

Both Hubris and Jason looked at her in fear at the gesture that convinced them that she was a witch. The woman lightly nodded and greeted.

“Nice to meet you, gentlemen. I’m sorry, I seemed to disturb you, but it’s in my belief to keep my promise.”

“If you don’t want to die, step back, witch.”

Hubris struggled to extinguish the flame with his divine power, but the divine power he had poured into Eris was so great that there was not much divine power left to squeeze.

Jason, who glanced at Hubris, pointed his sword at the woman. But he wasn’t convinced he would win.

The woman also smiled with her eyes folded affectionately, as if she knew what Jason was thinking.

She whispered in a sweet and seductive voice.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t suggest such a reckless challenge. You must be ‘the strongest man in the world’, but that’s not synonymous with ‘the strongest person in the world’, right?”

“Did anyone ever tell you that you could get hurt if you’re overconfident in your own strength?”

“Oh, my. If you want to teach me, then I’ll have to teach you too.”

Despite Jason’s provocation, the woman did not lose her smile. Such provocations did not seem to be as impressive to those who listened to them all the time during their lives. .

“Before that, let’s greet politely for the first and last time. I’ll tell you in advance, but I won’t kill you. What’s the fun in killing something weaker than me?”

Instead, she raised her skirt slightly and bent her knees gracefully. As if imitating a knight taking off her gloves before her duel and throwing it at her opponent.

“My name is Medea. As the ninth witch of this land and the last witch left in the empire, some also call me Revenge.”

As her eyes burned sharply, Hubris warned Jason to be careful, but it was too late. Medea’s mouth corners twisted beautifully.

“Have you ever imagined yourself not bound by rules? Oh, baby. Whatever you imagine, I’m stronger than that.”

After it was all over, Medea looked for a moment at Anakin, who was barely breathing under her feet. It was the appearance right before his death, but unfortunately she did not have the power to replenish lost lives.

However, it was possible to paralyse pain so that Anakin did not feel pain.

“Why are you here? I thought you wouldn’t help me.”

“Isn’t it my job to ‘send her back’?”

It became something like a pun, but in fact, she didn’t intend to come. Because their deal was already over, so there was no need for trouble.

Visiting here and helping Anakin was more of a purely impulsive whim. She wanted to watch the end of a woman who could have been her sister.

As he spat out the rising blood and cleared his throat, he quietly asked.

“Am I going to die?”

“A few days later.”

“I see…”

“Do you regret it?”

Anakin thought for a while and soon nodded his head a little. Anakin said quietly.

“I dare to follow her. So… I actually wish to beg you. It may be impossible, but I’m asking you to tell me how I can chase her.”

“You’re an honest kid.”

“If I knew this would happen, I shouldn’t have said I’d chase her. She might be waiting for me…….”

Even his regret was not his own death, but his master’s waiting. Medea laughed, raising her neck to the knight in front of her, her terrifyingly and grotesquely loyal one. She had seen many human figures, but he was the first to be so blind.

Suddenly, she became curious. Could he be so blind even if he fell into a completely unfamiliar environment? Wasn’t his blindness the imprint that birds saw on their first hatchling?  Medea quietly opened her mouth.

“I’ll tell you a story.”