For now, I released Count Python. He’s not exactly trustworthy, but leaving him like that didn’t sit right with me either.
So should I have killed him?
Unfortunately, I’m not that cold-hearted. Killing someone who isn’t resisting just because I feel uneasy about them goes against my principles.
“Anyway, are you heading back right away?”
“No.”
If what he said is true, then something serious has happened with the attack team. It means they’re fighting an enemy that can neither be killed nor exhausted.
“Even if what you said is true, they’re people who’ve made it through all kinds of hardships. If things go wrong, they’ll at least be able to pull out.”
“Well, I’m no expert when it comes to battle, so I won’t comment.”
That sly attitude of his.
He looked completely at ease.
Just moments ago, he’d been locked up and on the verge of death, yet for someone supposedly timid, it was unexpected.
“So? You didn’t sneak all the way in here without a reason, did you?”
“I came to get my friend back.”
“Sounds like your last plan didn’t go so well.”
“……”
It didn’t go well.
No, more accurately, it was flat-out rejected.
I couldn’t persuade Ollie. I couldn’t refute what she said, and I couldn’t come up with an alternative either.
Raven, now a Death Knight, was a disaster just by existing.
He can’t live among ordinary people.
But can I really bring myself to say that he should be purified?
Even knowing that it’s the right thing to do, my heart won’t allow it.
If even I hesitate, how much harder must it be for Ollie? Still, I know that if things continue like this, the situation will only get worse.
So I’ll try again.
I’ll keep trying, over and over, to make Ollie understand and convince her to come back.
“And you? Why did you come all the way here? Looks like you walked straight up to the Great Sage yourself.”
“Curious? Even if I told you, you’d think I was lying.”
“Then forget it.”
“Alright, let’s do that. Let’s each focus on our own goals. Of course, it’d be even better if we help each other along the way.”
Something about this still didn’t sit right with me.
The very fact that I had to cooperate with him was unsettling. But at the same time, leaving him out of sight felt just as risky for now.
He wasn’t much of a fighter.
But he was the kind of man with a nest of snakes inside him.
He could betray me.
No…if he got caught snooping around here, he’d definitely sell me out first to save his own skin.
“Fine. We’ll move together. But we choose the route.”
“Suit yourself. I don’t know the layout of this place anyway.”
***
A detention facility.
No….at this point, it would be more accurate to call it a castle.
There were plenty of cells, but there were just as many ordinary rooms and key facilities. If anything, it felt more like a repurposed complex than a place built solely as a prison.
“Try to keep your footsteps down.”
“You’re asking an ordinary civilian like me to do that? That’s a bit much.”
“Do we really have to bring this man along, Johan Damus?”
“It’s more dangerous not to.”
“You heard him, Miss Oracle.”
“……”
Oracle shot Count Python a look filled with undisguised disgust.
Even someone as shameless as him seemed hurt by that blatant hostility, and he eventually fell silent, shrinking back.
“Johan Damus. This man is the worst kind of criminal. He’s consulted on most of the noble-related crimes across the Empire.”
“That was by His Majesty’s order.”
“You were the one who happily carried them out.”
“That can’t be. It pains me, truly. What a tragedy that there are so many cruel people in this world.”
Crunch!
A tarot card grazed Count Python’s cheek as it flew past.
Seeing it embedded so deeply into the stone wall that it looked impossible to remove sent a chill down my spine.
The Oracle doesn’t hold back.
“Ahem! Miss Oracle, you know, don’t you? I’ve shared everything I’ve done and how to resolve it all. Wasn’t I put to use so that all those sins could be neatly wrapped up and dealt with at once later on? You agreed to that as well.”
“I did not. I voted against it at the time.”
“I-Is that so… My apologies.”
The Oracle didn’t even try to hide her disgust, as if she were looking at a crushed insect.
I wasn’t even the target, yet it still sent a chill down my spine.
“I need to hear what kind of pathetic plan you’re scheming.”
“You’ll just get angry if you hear it.”
“Be quiet, Johan Damus.”
“Fine, have it your way.”
I’ll just quietly keep scouting.
“You won’t believe me even if I tell you.”
“That’s for me to decide.”
“Very well. The reason I approached him… was for revenge.”
“Revenge…?”
It already sounded unbelievable from the start.
While focusing on scouting, I kept my ears open to the conversation behind me. I was curious what kind of nonsense he was about to spout.
Count Python was a snake of a man.
He’s never loved anyone, and he’s thoroughly self-serving.
That’s exactly the kind of person who would cut off his own tail without hesitation, no matter the means.
In other words, he has no one precious to him.
Which means he has no reason to feel anger over someone’s death.
And yet, revenge? Ridiculous.
“I planned to get close by earning the Great Sage’s favor, then stab him in the back.”
“Stab him in the back? With no real combat ability, how exactly were you planning to do that?”
“Well, you see—ugh!”
Count Python suddenly gagged and vomited something up.
“By using this.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“…I know, so stop looking at me like that.”
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes welling up, after coughing up a thumb-sized glass vial.
It was quite a sight.
He wasn’t crying because he was emotionally hurt. Those tears were just a natural reaction from forcing something like that out, but it still felt unpleasant to watch.
“Anyway, see this? There’s a bit pooled at the tip. It’s poison. A very potent one. I was planning to make him ingest it.”
“Ugh, that’s gross…”
“……”
At the Oracle’s completely unfiltered disgust, Count Python’s eyes welled up again. This time, it really did seem like emotional damage.
Honestly, I might’ve cried too.
“Ahem… So then? How did that brilliant plan of yours get exposed?”
Oracle coughed awkwardly, as if realizing she’d gone a bit too far, yet still asked with visible disdain.
I didn’t expect her to be this bad at hiding her emotions.
“Well, it was due to an unfortunate circumstance. I gave it to him… and he didn’t die.”
“……”
The fact that it half-worked is what’s frightening. Does this mean that, one way or another, Count Python really is that capable?
“This is one of the imperial treasures I obtained. A deadly poison. It’s made by mixing multiple potent toxins with hydra poison that can even destroy the soul, and then enhanced with the power of the imperial bloodline. A truly dangerous substance.”
Step.
Oracle took a step back.
It seemed she recognized exactly what kind of poison Count Python was holding. It must be extremely dangerous. The fact that he was carrying something like that in his mouth was terrifying in its own way.
“The Great Sage drank this and was completely fine. That’s when I realized…he has already transcended death.”
“Isn’t it possible it just failed? Maybe he only pretended to drink it.”
“That could be. But just in case, I also smeared it on the teacup handle. I saw him pick it up with my own eyes, so there’s no doubt he was exposed to the poison.”
Thorough, as expected.
If I had been his target, I’d already be dead.
It reminded me of the time Loki handed me a cup of tea in the past. Back then, I drank it without worry because I had an antidote. But what if there had been another poison on the cup itself?
Just imagining it is horrifying.
“And yet, after being exposed to such a poison, he acted completely normal. That alone told me the power of destruction wouldn’t work on him. Johan Damus, you know what the Great Sage’s weakness used to be, don’t you?”
“His power is immense, but he lacked the control to handle it.”
“Correct. And now?”
A deadly toxin infused even with the power of destruction. Hydra venom. Something even gods are said to fear.
And yet, despite ingesting something that should have caused unbearable agony, he showed no reaction at all.
“He doesn’t feel pain? No… he’s completely freed from phenomena that would lead to death?”
“Exactly.”
When humans overexert themselves, they grow exhausted. They suffer from muscle pain and agony.
But Faust had transcended all of that.
Pain is essentially the body sending warning signals.
If those signals no longer exist, then the body can easily push past its natural limits.
“He could do things that would normally drive a person insane… without issue.”
The limitation and weakness of the Great Sage Faust was that he lacked the ability to control his immense power.
But if Count Python’s words are true, it means that the current Faust is now able to fully wield his power without any conditions.
You could say he can use [Thought Split] without restriction.
He has reached a state where he can utilize dark magic and awakened abilities while wielding the countless chains he prides himself on.
Just imagining it is horrifying.
“So the Great Sage has become a monster…fine. Johan Damus already said he wouldn’t concern himself with that, so it’s not important.”
Not important? It’s extremely important.
I don’t want to see my friends get hurt either. I just choose to trust that they’ll take care of themselves.
It wasn’t that I didn’t care.
“I understand the means of your revenge. Then what’s the reason for it?”
Oracle continued to interrogate Count Python, still clearly suspicious.
“The destruction of His Highness Loki’s soul. That is my reason for revenge.”
“That’s……”
For the first time, Oracle looked flustered. She blinked a few times and scratched her cheek before asking bluntly,
“Were you really that loyal?”
“I know, of course I know. I’m the one who knows best how others saw it. Didn’t I say so? You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you. Well, it’s not your fault, Miss Oracle. His Highness Loki probably suspected me as well.”
Count Python wore a bitter expression.
I had known, to some extent, that he was genuinely loyal to Loki. Still, I thought it was only because their interests aligned.
But for him to go as far as seeking revenge for his death……
That meant his loyalty was real.
“Everyone probably thinks I followed His Highness Loki for the sake of shared interests. In fact, when I first met him, that was exactly my intention. His Highness approached me for the same reason.”
“Then how did you end up becoming loyal to someone like that?”
“Humans are more emotional creatures than you’d expect.”
Count Python let out a faint, bitter chuckle.
It was the most genuine expression I had seen from him so far.
“When you see someone who resembles you, it tends to leave you utterly stunned.”
***
Count Python had been looked down on since childhood. He grew up constantly being compared to his more capable siblings.
By the time he rose to the rank of count to vent that resentment,
He had no real purpose. No dream. His only goal was to crush his siblings and stand above them where they could only look up in despair.
But what about after that?
Count Python came to realize that he was doing better as a count than he had expected.
Some of the siblings he had driven out even told him they had misunderstood him, and that they hoped he would continue to be a good lord.
Of course, there were still many who found him disagreeable……
Only then did Count Python come to understand.
“In the end, the only one who can prove who you are is yourself.”
You don’t know until you try.
Even if others say it’s impossible, it’s too soon to give up.
Act first, and if you fail, then you can pay the price.
Those were the thoughts he had come to embrace.
He shared those words with Loki.
“Yeah, I know.”
Loki was just like him.
An unfit member of the imperial family, a madman who could do nothing but rage.
He had failed the Emperor’s trials and had nothing that stood out compared to the other imperial members.
The only thing about him worth acknowledging was his chilling level of obsession.
“Why do you wish to become Emperor?”
Count Python asked.
Why did he want the throne? The other imperial members who had given up on the succession had all gone on to find their own paths.
Even the Second Princess Cyntia was said to be working at a forge somewhere unknown.
If you had neither the dream nor the ability, there could be nothing more foolish than clinging to the throne.
“Who knows? Does the reason really matter?”
But he had succeeded.
What began as nothing more than a stubborn desire had led him to become a renowned noble.
If that was the case, then the impulsive boy before him could do the same.
He believed in that possibility.
Count Python smiled at the sensation, as if he were looking at his younger self.
“Then go ahead and try.”
Count Python chose to support Loki.
The reason was entirely selfish.
“Let’s show them that even people like us, the leftovers, can make it.”
In the end, it was nothing more than a matter of proof.
Even if a snake sheds its skin, it cannot become a dragon.
But that doesn’t mean a snake isn’t allowed to dream of ascending to the heavens.
***
Count Python knew.
The idea that he might succeed was nothing more than a fantasy.
And yet, he had made it. So perhaps Loki could as well.
Even so, he faced reality.
“If he gets crushed by reality, then it can’t be helped. If he tried to scheme and ended up being outplayed… well, what can you do? He just lost.”
Count Python held no grudge against Johan who had cut off Loki’s last breath.
Who would quietly accept death while being attacked?
And in a sense, Johan too was someone clawing his way to the top from nothing.
So it was fine. He acknowledged it. He accepted the defeat cleanly.
“But that man is different. A hypocrite who uses others however he pleases and then pretends to be unaffected.”
The Great Sage who mourns every death as if he were some kind of saint?
It was laughable.
He had used Loki. And he hadn’t even mourned his death.
He had been thoroughly used and then discarded.
“Even villains have their own sense of dignity. That kind of vile hypocrite is the one thing I cannot forgive.”
So he would tear off that mask.
The snake crawling at his feet sought to strike at the dragon that arrogantly held its head high toward the heavens.
So that one day, when that solemn mask is stripped away and his ugly true face is revealed, he could laugh at him to his heart’s content.
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