Chapter 47
Witches do not die.
As long as the Demon King lives, witches do not die. It was an immutable law.
Bang!
The bottle of liquor rolled away into the distance. The makeshift wooden table collapsed with a crash.
“What are you getting at?”
Iruel, trembling, pointed a dagger at Rufus.
“How do you know about my mother? Tell me the truth, or I’ll kill you— Right now!”
The sharp tip of the dagger pressed against Rufus’s skin.
“Who’s killing whom?”
Rufus looked coldly at Iruel.
Memories of being betrayed by Iruel in his past life surfaced.
Iruel’s mother was a witch serving the Demon King Audixus.
Iruel, who grew up among demons, knew that if the Demon King died, the witches bound to him by blood pacts would also die.
Iruel wanted to save his mother. So, he leaked all the information of the demon subjugation army to her.
The result was disastrous.
The Demon King Audixus eluded every human trap, effectively neutralizing their main forces.
The demon subjugation army was merely a plaything in the Demon King’s hands.
The prolonged three-year campaign was largely due to Iruel’s betrayal. Realizing Iruel was colluding with the demons, Rufus immediately executed him, despising himself for even once considering him a friend.
“Your hand is shaking.”
Rufus observed Iruel’s hand holding the dagger.
“Hard to hold a dagger, isn’t it? Must be difficult to even stand properly.”
“You bastard…”
Feeling his body stiffening, Iruel glared fiercely at Rufus.
Eventually, the dagger fell from his powerless grasp. Iruel’s body toppled over like a rotten tree.
“What did you put in the drink?”
“Karosis.”
“You’re insane…”
Karosis, the poison that slowly solidifies a person’s blood, leading to death.
Iruel, lying on the ground, gasped for air, clenching his teeth. It was excruciating. His organs were seizing up one by one. Yet, he couldn’t die immediately; it would take hours for the d**g’s effects to fully take over.
“Did His Majesty send you… to kill me?”
“No. The king isn’t that clever.”
Rufus crouched down in front of Iruel.
“And as I said from the start, I won’t kill you.”
Rufus presented an antidote in front of Iruel. Only then did Iruel recall Rufus’s words as he was brought into the tent.
“What do you want?”
Iruel, his face contorted, gasped for breath.
He didn’t want to admit it, but Rufus held all the cards in this negotiation. Rufus wouldn’t give Iruel the antidote until he got what he wanted.
Rufus looked at Iruel indifferently.
“Actually, I have nothing to say to you.”
“Damn it, then what the fvck do you want from me!”
“Call your mother here.”
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
Iruel’s eyes bulged.
“My mother abandoned me at the house of Viscount Eustice. I have no connection with her. I am human, not a demon.”
“Then you’re of no use to me. Go ahead and die.”
“You goddamn fvcker… You said you wouldn’t kill me!”
“That was under the condition that you’ll cooperate.”
Rufus idly rotated the antidote in his hand.
“And it doesn’t matter if you die. I can just say you defied my orders and died by my sword. Viscount Eustice would probably be glad to be rid of his bastard son.”
“You filthy son of a…”
“Instead of cursing, why don’t you persuade your mother? Or shall I do it myself?”
Rufus turned his gaze to a corner of the tent.
“Witch Odr. Reveal yourself if you want to save your son.”
A small mouse stood where Rufus’s gaze landed. The very one that had been squeaking all this while.
A common gray mouse found in the outskirts.
Except this mouse housed a witch.
The mouse scurried towards Rufus. Iruel closed his eyes tightly and bowed his head.
“No, Mother…”
Before Rufus’s feet, the mouse glowed red. Its form shattered into dust and then reassembled into a larger figure. A woman appeared before Rufus.
“I am the Witch Odr, who you seek.”
The woman with flowing red hair stood boldly before Rufus.
Her age was indiscernible, her eyes gleamed crimson, and a black mark of a curse adorned her forehead.
Just as Rufus remembered.
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