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Chapter 443: The Fall of the Usher Family (3)

Tudor recalled what Sinclaire had said.

“When the Emperor went to subjugate the Usher family in the past, the Ushers demanded that all attendants be dismissed so the Emperor and the family head could speak one-on-one.”

The Emperor, firmly believing no one could harm him, experienced betrayal from his two closest aides.

The assassins of the Usher family were incredibly secretive and meticulous.

From this story, Tudor learned that the Usher assassins had been striving to gain the trust of their targets for a long time.

…But reality was advancing a step further.

Swish—

Feeling a cold wind from behind, Tudor quickly turned his head to the side.

Bianca’s dagger grazed Tudor’s side.

“Bianca!”

Tudor’s voice seemed not to reach her.

In her dazed, unfocused eyes, there was no sign of her former sharpness.

Madeline laughed as she looked at Bianca, who acted like a puppet.

“The Usher family’s members become unknowingly brainwashed when inside the mansion. The path leading into the mansion is essentially a magic circle of brainwashing. Walking that path triggers the brainwashing.”

She winked at Tudor and continued.

“The last line you spoke was the trigger. Once the brainwashing is activated, they consider any outsider as the primary target for elimination.”

“Damn it!”

Tudor raised his spear.

With a blank expression, Bianca drew her bow and shot arrows.

Whizz! Whizz!

Tudor’s spinning spear deflected the arrows.

However, Bianca’s rate of fire was so incredibly fast that even Tudor had to keep retreating.

“…Ugh! She’s stronger than when she’s herself.”

Tudor forced a grin and made a joke, but Bianca’s expression remained icy.

Madeline laughed as she watched Bianca, who had turned into a puppet.

“Finally, that young and fresh body will be mine! I’ve always been troubled by this half-rotten body!”

With that, Madeline ripped off the bandage covering her belly.

Her decayed and rotting abdomen, with an empty cavity inside, was fully exposed.

“…So, the real Madeline died a long time ago.”

“Hohoho—yes. I’ve worked hard to mask the stench, always filling it with perfume or dried flowers. But now, I can say goodbye to that.”

Madeline turned to look at Roderick, who was seated in a chair.

“Poor Roderick. If you had just given me your body, your daughter wouldn’t be paying the price now.”

Roderick’s pupils trembled at her words.

Tudor called out to him with a sliver of hope.

“Lord Roderick! Your daughter is in danger! You must wake up! The demon is after Bianca’s body!”

Dodging Bianca’s arrows, Tudor kept shouting.

But Roderick remained motionless.

His pupils wavered briefly, but soon a misty fog and the red death enveloped him again.

Madeline cackled.

“Hohohoho—what did you expect, did you think he’ll just get up and start shooting arrows?”

She was making fun of Tudor.

The demon had released poison throughout the swamp, which mixed with the rising mist and engulfed the entire mansion.

“Ugh…”

Tudor knew this too.

Unless the entire mist enveloping the mansion grounds was removed, purifying the mansion was impossible.

That’s why Vikir had advised that they needed to lure the demon outside, as fighting inside the mansion would be futile.

However, with Bianca charging at him, even that plan seemed impossible.

Even if Tudor managed to escape outside, the demon would remain inside, having already secured the body it desired—Bianca’s.

“Get a hold of yourself, Bianca!”

Tudor pushed Bianca back with his spear and then aimed its tip at Madeline.

Rather than confronting Bianca, he intended to target Madeline directly.

But—

“Hahaha—do you really think that will work?”

Madeline remained motionless, exuding an aura of absolute confidence and arrogance.

Creak—

Bianca, now aiming her bow at Tudor’s back, prepared to shoot.

At that moment—

“…!”

Madeline’s eyes widened slightly.

Surprisingly, Tudor continued to charge at Madeline without glancing back, despite Bianca aiming at his back.

A blue aura began to surge at the tip of Gungnir like a tidal wave.

It was evident that he was pouring all his strength forward, disregarding the threat behind him.

“Hahaha—what, do you trust your girl~friend~? Do you think she won’t shoot?”

“Shut up!”

Tudor kept rushing towards Madeline.

Bianca, standing behind him, aimed her bow and arrow at Tudor’s back, showing no hesitation.

Madeline’s eyes glinted seductively.

“Poor fool. Like a true Donquixote, you’ll die by the arrow of the woman you love. Love always ends in the grave.”

Eventually, she coldly commanded Bianca.

“Dear, shoot him. Put him out of his misery.”

Following Madeline’s command, Bianca immediately drew her bow.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she aimed at Tudor’s back and released the arrow.

…Thud!

Bianca’s shot, infused with all her power and mana, created a grey-white whirlwind.

The arrow traced a graceful arc and embedded itself into Tudor’s back.

Thwack—

The sound of flesh tearing and blood spurting echoed through the room.

“Hahaha—look at you, pitiful humans! This is the end for both the Usher and Donquixote Clans!”

Madeline burst into manic laughter upon seeing Bianca’s arrow lodged in Tudor’s back.

…However.

Her laughter abruptly stopped.

Thwack—

Red streams of blood spurted from Tudor’s back and abdomen.

Bianca’s arrow had indeed pierced through Tudor’s body.

At that critical moment, Tudor, as if anticipating the arrow’s trajectory and position, twisted his body, causing the arrow to graze his side instead of hitting vital organs.

The arrow, now stained with Tudor’s blood, left only a shallow wound as it flew past him.

Thwack!

Maintaining its momentum, the arrow shot forward and astonishingly embedded itself right in the middle of Madeline’s forehead.

“Ugh!?”

Madeline was aghast as the arrow pierced through her skull and exited the back of her head.

Her vision darkened, and her thoughts were momentarily severed.

Her entire body trembled and staggered.

No matter how demonic, being unexpectedly pierced through the head would unsettle anyone.

Moreover, the dark blood coating the arrowhead—what was it…?

‘…May you find peace.’

With a strange hallucination echoing in her mind, memories other than her own began to emerge in the darkness of her fading vision.

A cold, dying body.

Rough hands covering her view. A face and voice full of scars.

‘…Such a kind person.’

Simultaneously, Madeline felt her entire body trembling violently.

Like an insect curling up as it dies, her fingers and toes twisted grotesquely inward.

“Grrrhh!”

As Madeline writhed in agony.

At that moment—

“Run!”

Bianca’s eyes returned to normal.

Despite bleeding from her side, she grabbed the nape of Tudor’s neck and started to run.

The ice wall shattered by Madeline’s shock, allowing Bianca and Tudor to throw themselves through a window beyond it.

Simultaneously.

…Whoosh!

Tudor had lit a black firework.

“…This can’t be. The brainwashing didn’t work!? How!?”

Despite being shot through the forehead and the back of her head, Madeline did not fall but charged forward.

She failed to stop Bianca and Tudor from jumping out the window toward the swamp.

…Splash!

The mire and sludge of the swamp enveloped them. They kept sinking down in the swamp.

They felt a disturbing sensation as if the red specter of death was licking their entire bodies with a long tongue.

Even amidst this, Tudor and Bianca reassured each other as they faced each other.

Eventually, Tudor’s arm, which had been above the surface, reached high.

Bianca held on, preventing Tudor from sinking into the swamp.

Whoosh—Bang!

The firework exploded. A black pillar of smoke rose high into the sky.

Visible even over the ridge where Vikir was waiting with his preparations.

“Success!”

Without needing to say who first, Tudor and Bianca embraced each other.

“Well done, Bianca! That last arrow hit perfectly!”

“…Figgy’s blood already smeared on the arrowhead, saved us from failure.”

But the task was far from over.

[AAAAAGHHH! These insolent insects!]

The cry from the window was unmistakably inhuman.

A voice that pierced through the listener’s eardrums and struck fear like a stake into their hearts.

The voice of the demon.

Hearing it, Tudor and Bianca nodded as if reaffirming some unspoken agreement.

Their original purpose was to lure the demon out of the mansion, so Tudor and Bianca swiftly dove underwater into the swamp.

Splash—

It was too far to swim to the bridge connecting the mansion to solid ground.

Risking being caught by the demon, they moved slowly underwater, holding their breath as long as possible.

Amidst the black reeds swaying underwater, Tudor and Bianca swam.

Above the surface, eerie will-o’-the-wisps danced around, casting an eerie glow over the unsettling underwater scenery.

…Crash! Splash, splash, splash—Splash!

From behind, the sound of windows shattering in the mansion echoed, and debris from the broken windows fell onto the swamp’s surface.

The water’s surface rippled violently.

[…Where are you! …Where the fuck are you!]

For some reason, the demon’s voice carried directly across the water’s surface.

Tudor and Bianca suppressed their spine-chilling fear and dove deeper.

Among the black reeds reaching out like water ghosts.

Avoiding the eerie glow of the will-o’-the-wisps, Tudor and Bianca stealthily moved deeper into the forest of reeds underwater.

They navigated through the heavy muck and waves of the swamp floor, where many things had sunken, inching forward slowly, ever so slowly, to lure the demon out of the mansion.

They were getting close to the ridge where Vikir and their allies waited.