TGS - Chapter 113
Chapter 113: Snake Venom and an Old Grudge
The girl approaching step by step was gaunt and thin. She wore a loose linen robe that made her look even more frail.
Her chestnut hair was dry and dull, and her face had an unnatural, pale-bluish hue. Her eyes were fixed on the Princess, unblinking, shining with a startling brightness as if they had absorbed all her life force.
"You actually remember me..." the girl whispered. Her tone was stiff and halting, as if she hadn't spoken normally in a long time, and her voice was mixed with a strange hissing sound. "How surprising. Even I can't recognize myself anymore."
Tarsha, the only daughter of the Lord of Kadera City.
Before her father was executed for corruption and bribery, this girl, who was around the Princess's age, had already disappeared. At the time, Alyuin was about to leave for Digebia to join the army. She heard from the servants of the lord's manor that Tarsha had left with relatives, so she didn't investigate further.
The Princess had never paid much attention to this girl of privileged birth, who had a somewhat arrogant and overbearing personality. She just never expected—
Alyuin scrutinized her cautiously, not letting her guard down because of her past impressions.
In fact, Tarsha's appearance here was the greatest anomaly.
As thoughts churned in her mind, Alyuin said calmly, "It's been a long time. What are you doing in Senna City?"
"To reminisce with you, of course, Your Highness."
It wasn't just Tarsha's appearance that had changed; her demeanor and way of speaking were also vastly different from the past. There was not a trace of her former arrogance or pride.
She was more like a venomous snake.
Her tone was soft, thin, and slow. When her eyes stared straight at someone, it made them want to look away, a chill running down their spine.
Alyuin neither retreated nor dodged, meeting the cold malice in those eyes head-on.
"I don't recall having any old matters to reminisce about with you. If you want to chat, you'd be better off returning to Kadera."
"How could there not be? What happened to my father, how I became like this—it's all thanks to you!" Tarsha suddenly raised her voice, almost hysterically. "How dare you look at me so indifferently? How dare you!"
The end of her sentence broke into a near shriek.
Before this, Alyuin had only been speculating. Tarsha's sudden outburst confirmed her vague thoughts, and she couldn't help but frown.
"The ones who took you away back then weren't your father's relatives."
"—They were people from the royal city."
"So what if they were? So what if they weren't? No matter who took me from Kadera, I was going to come back for revenge. It just so happens he sent me to kill you. Isn't that a coincidence?"
The pretense was dropped. Tarsha seemed to have completely forgotten her earlier talk of reminiscing. With a short dagger in each hand, she lunged forward, a chilling smile on her face.
Alyuin's gaze sharpened, and she raised her sword to meet the attack.
Everything about this attack, from the person to the circumstances, was strange.
The Princess couldn't figure out what Horst was plotting for the time being, nor could she understand how Tarsha had accumulated such shocking hatred, or what gave her the confidence to come to Senna City alone to assassinate her.
For this reason, Alyuin's moves were exceptionally decisive and cautious, with no intention of underestimating her opponent.
What if Tarsha was a genius with daggers, held back by her upbringing?
But the reality was the exact opposite. In their first exchange, the dagger in Tarsha's left hand was sent flying, and her fingers bent at an unnatural angle, clearly broken.
Alyuin's expression faltered for a subconscious moment, but her other hand had already swung out reflexively. In a flash, the shadow of her sword swept past, and Tarsha's right hand, still clutching the dagger, was severed from her forearm.
The cut was clean, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
The severed hand flew in an arc and landed on the ground not far away. The dagger clattered dully as it hit a stone.
The air froze for a moment.
The Princess's expression grew stern. She sidestepped to create some distance before quickly scanning her surroundings, wary of potential archers.
Having a past acquaintance appear first to draw her attention while archers lay in ambush on high ground, ready to shoot when she was unprepared—this was also an effective assassination tactic.
But there were none. The roofs of the noble's residence were empty, and there were no other suitable hiding places for archers.
At that moment, Tarsha paid no mind to her severed right hand. Her eyes widened, and a slightly crazed, expectant smile spread across her face.
"Shhh... shhh... shhh..."
The faint rustling of something slithering through the grass was nearly inaudible, but it did not escape Alyuin's ears. She whipped her head around.
The slender body of a venomous snake was winding behind her. Its triangular head was already raised high, sharp fangs bared in its mouth, and it struck like lightning at the spot below the Princess's knee, an area not covered by her tall boots.
Alyuin's pupils contracted sharply.
A reaction speed unattainable by ordinary people erupted in that instant. The tip of her sword stabbed straight down, piercing through the snake's neck with lightning speed and pinning it viciously to the ground.
At the same time, however, a drop of blood seeped from the Princess's shoulder.
It slid down her honey-colored skin, staining the snow-white linen collar a pale red.
Alyuin turned her head and glanced down.
A comparatively small venomous snake retracted its fangs, its head hovering in mid-air as it flicked its hissing tongue.
Its body was coiled around Tarsha's arm, extending from her wide sleeve.
Her gaze returned to her shoulder.
The tiny teeth marks of the snake were like a mark dotted by the God of Death in bright red pigment.
Tarsha was no longer hysterical. A smile of satisfaction spread across her face as she began, "You never expected—"
Before she could finish, Alyuin's hand shot out, instantly grabbing the snake's head. With a slight twist of her fingertips, she snapped its neck and tossed it aside.
Almost simultaneously, the hand holding the sword hilt released its grip. She drew an arrow from her back and, with a reverse grip, plunged it into Tarsha's chest.
The arrow entered through her chest and exited from her back—fast, accurate, and steady.
The force of the blow sent Tarsha stumbling backward to the ground. She trembled all over from the pain, but she paid no mind to the fatal wound and burst out laughing.
"Want to kill me? Of course you want to kill me, but it's meaningless. I was about to die anyway, cough cough, hahaha... You've wasted your effort."
"But I did it. I got my revenge before returning to the Kingdom of the Gods. Nothing could make me happier—"
Alyuin said nothing, looking down to examine the wound.
The first drop of blood was red, but it stopped bleeding after that. The wound had already turned a dark, blackish-red, a sign of a potent poison.
Her fingertips felt ice-cold.
If the wound had been on a hand or foot, Alyuin would have cut off the afflicted part immediately, without a moment's hesitation.
Because this type of snake was the most venomous and fastest-acting species in Solancia. There was no antidote. In the face of nature's most terrifying poison, human medicine was useless.
But it had bitten her on the shoulder—gouging out a piece of flesh wouldn't stop the poison from spreading. The only thing to do was to say one's last words.
Tarsha seemed accustomed to pain. She ignored the sharp arrow in her chest, her eyes wide as she watched the Princess's reaction, waiting for her to break down, to become helpless, to show a look of despair in the shadow of death.
But Tarsha was disappointed. She saw nothing of the sort.
"The temple scribes all say you're very knowledgeable. You must recognize this snake, then, right? A Luntelila snake. A bite from it is certain death—why aren't you afraid? You should be afraid!"
Alyuin: "Oh."
She cut off the snake's tail and, following a folk remedy, smeared the blood that flowed out onto her wound. In her heart, though, she knew it was futile. If snake blood were an antidote, the Luntelila snake wouldn't have killed so many people.
Tarsha, on the other hand, grew agitated, muttering, "You should be afraid. Why aren't you despairing? You were supposed to suffer this..."
Suffer the same despair she had once experienced!
A man whose face she couldn't see clearly took her from her home. Just like that, she never saw her father one last time, forced to leave her home for the royal city.
The promises to take good care of her were all lies. When she was locked in a room, unable to take a single step out; when she was carried into a room filled with a strange, thick fragrance; when she was forced to drink potions and watch in horror as the snakes she had always feared slithered over her body—
What was Alyuin doing?
Whether she was living peacefully in the Kadera temple or earning military honors on the border battlefield, it didn't matter. As long as Tarsha knew the Princess was alive and well, she couldn't stop hating her.
Why?
Why was she the one who had to face hell?
Tarsha didn't dare hate King Horst, whom she had never even met, nor did she dare hate the strange and terrifying Perfumer. Among all the people who had brought her to this state, it seemed the only one she could hate was the Princess.
And so she did.
Using hatred as the pillar that kept her alive, Tarsha endured experiment after experiment. The Perfumer saw her as the only potentially successful test subject, calling her "the great Beast God's agent on earth, of my own creation."
But "potentially successful" did not mean she would succeed.
The last vial of potion was a fragrance that allowed her to coexist with venomous snakes, but it was also a poison that destroyed her body.
Tarsha couldn't withstand it, so in the Perfumer's eyes, she was already a failure. Having a dying test subject do Horst's bidding was a way to not waste her last bit of value.
How ridiculous...
Tarsha stared blankly at the sky, suddenly feeling lost and adrift.
Now she was really going to die.
At least she had avenged her father before she died. Even if she couldn't make the Princess show despair, she could at least be at peace.
Alyuin pressed the edges of her wound and asked in a cold voice, "Where are the people here?"
"They've fled," Tarsha said. "Worried about your personal guard? Don't worry, I just released a few snakes. If she's lucky, she might make it out alive to collect your corpse."
Alyuin: "Is that so."
The Princess stood up, looking down at Tarsha with a cold, commanding gaze.
"I've been thinking. If Luntelila snakes were so obedient and this could be achieved so easily, Horst would have used them against me long ago. But he hasn't."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I was just imagining what you've been through. I assume it wasn't pleasant. I don't care, nor do I sympathize."
"I just find it a bit laughable. You don't dare to hate the person who did this to you, so you push all the blame onto me. Does that make you feel better?"
"Nonsense! Cough, cough, it was all because of you in the first place!"
"No one knows the truth better than you."
Tarsha flinched instinctively and saw a hint of pity in the other's eyes.
"Are you... pitying me? You have the mind to pity me?"
Alyuin: "An illusion."
She took a step forward, grabbed the end of the arrow, and pulled it out nonchalantly. Even after being bitten by the most venomous of snakes, her movements were still swift and powerful.
"—As for collecting corpses, don't worry. No matter what, you will die before I do."
The arrow piercing her chest had also plugged the wound.
But now that the arrow was pulled out, fresh red blood immediately gushed forth like a crimson fountain. Some of it splattered onto the Princess's collar, lending her calm face a cruel and terrifying aspect.
"...You..."
Tarsha coughed up bloody fragments. Before she could say more, her consciousness was already sinking into darkness.
I want to go back.
Her eyes were open, staring up at the sky as her breathing gradually stopped.
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
Comments
Post a Comment