To You Who Will Destroy Me - Chapter 12

<Episode 12>

“I will obey your orders.”

The loyal subordinate of Barkan nodded obediently. It was uncomfortable to kill such a harmless-looking woman, but there was no other way. His superior was not so soft-spoken as to let the witness live.

“Find out the house. And send flowers to that woman.”

“Yes, flowers as you command… … Yes?”

Did I mishear you? You said to send flowers, not assassins? The subordinate, who had been bowing absentmindedly, raised his head in surprise.

“Yeah. Something big and flashy enough to surprise anyone.”

Unfortunately, Barkan was more serious than ever. He looked down at his bewildered subordinate’s face and smiled wryly as he emphasized again.

“Do as I say.”

Since he said this, his subordinates will definitely prepare themselves so that they won’t be negligent. Barkan thought that it was only natural that he should do that much for her. After all, he would have ruined her life because of him.

“… … I will follow your orders.”

Barkan stared at the back of his vanishing subordinate and took out a cigar. He didn’t need a lighter to light it. He simply placed the tip of his long index finger on it, and surprisingly, a flame burst out of his finger.

“Phew.”

As I inhaled the smoke deep into my lungs, I felt my senses becoming slightly dull and my head becoming hazy. Thanks to this, the pain of Masaka, which melts my bones and flesh, seemed to ease a little.

The cigarette the man smoked would have been poison to an ordinary person, but to him it was nothing more than a minor painkiller. However, a ray of sunshine finally appeared in his life, which was steeped in drugs and alcohol.

‘I never thought I’d find a reset button in a place like this.’

As I exhaled deeply, the image of the woman, as hazy as the dispersing cigar smoke, came to my mind. Somehow, from the moment I first saw her, I didn’t want to kill her. I almost did something regrettable.

Resebra, the giver of life. The only being who can relieve the pain of the powerful power that Masakas possess. And so… it was the treasure that all Masakas desire to possess so much.

The Resebra wasn’t something that you could easily get your hands on if you wanted one. But I never thought I’d find a treasure in such a trashy place.

‘I couldn’t find it because it was hidden in such a remote corner.’

I was really lucky. Barkan licked his lips slowly, thinking of the pitiful beauty who had innocently crawled into the beast’s den on her own two feet.

There was something he had not yet received from her. Thinking of the enchanting sweetness that emanated from her white flesh, her taste was very tempting and it still lingered on his lips.

His taste was always closer to kidnapping and raping princesses rather than rescuing them.

* * *

When Irelia returned home, she felt unwell for a while. It could be the aftereffects of motion sickness, or perhaps she had a cold from wandering around outside for so long.

But the real cause was something else. The red-haired man I saw in my dream.

The man she actually met was more dangerous and unpredictable. Meeting that man was a great shock to Irel in many ways.

‘Ha Mash. That was his last name.’

In that case, he must be Masaka. In the world of the game ‘Salvation’, only Masaka can use the surname ‘Ha Mash’.

Humanity worshipped Masaka, the only being who could defeat the cannibalistic monster Kitan. They were special beings who had received transcendent powers from their god Hashva. The holy name that followed them, ‘Ha Mash’, meant ‘children of the god’.

But the stronger the light, the darker the shadow. Masaka possessed the death spirit to kill Kitan, who were full of obsession with life, but they were also human, so they suffered from their own power. In particular, the stronger Masaka suffered from more extreme pain, and both their body and mind were worn out.

Because of this, the basic affinity system of the game ‘Salvation’ was to attack the corrupted Masakas and save them from suffering.

‘But I… … I can’t do that.’

Irel let out a deep sigh. The body she was possessed by now was nothing more than an unfamiliar supporting character called ‘Irel Ellorance’. So it couldn’t possibly have any ‘special’ abilities that could save the crazy Masakas.

‘Barkan. I’ve heard that name before.’

The moment I looked straight at the man and confirmed his name, I finally remembered. Barkan Ha-Mash. Of all the characters in Salvation, he was the villain who was close to the final mastermind.

‘Did he destroyed the kingdom?’

Not only that, he was a heartless monster who even burned the entire royal family to their death and their loyal subjects in the palace. Irel felt very complicated as she recalled the extremely vicious background of Barkan.

To be honest, it wasn’t really her style. A villain who was so full of malice to the core, without any conscience or guilt.

She liked characters who were good-natured and affectionate, but who also had a sad story or two. Because of her tastes, she didn’t touch the story related to Barkan at all. After all, the world of ‘Salvation’ was so vast that even without Barkan, there were countless characters to conquer.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have watched the story at least a little.’

It’s too late to regret it now. She came into ‘salvation’ and unfortunately met Barkan Ha Mash amongst all the characters.

How nice it would be if he could just forget about me like this. I could still vividly recall the feeling of his strong body pressing down on me, and his hot, strong grip on my neck.

Irel bit her lip, covered her ears, and shrank under the blanket. Would it have been better if she had been healthy? Her already bad physical condition seemed to be getting worse due to the anxiety that kept creeping up on her.

“… Rel, Irel!!”

It was then that the door burst open and someone barged in.

“What’s going on, brother?”

Irel was startled and popped her head out of the blanket, but was relieved to see that it was Michael. However, unlike Irel who was happy to see him, Michael’s expression was not very bright.

“Why didn’t you answer when you were here? Do you know how many times I called you?”

Irel sensed something was wrong with his stiff face.

“I didn’t hear you. What’s wrong?”

“That…”

Michael frowned and answered immediately. He then nodded towards Irel as if telling her to follow him.

“Come out. I think you should see it for yourself.”

Irel was bewildered, but followed him down the hallway. But even before she reached the bottom of the stairs, the air in the mansion felt strange.

The employees of the Ellorance family were seen gathered in groups of three or four, muttering with surprised faces or in bewildered tones. Then, when they saw Michael and Irel, they dispersed as if they had made a promise.

“Look at that.”

Michael, who had arrived at the front door, pointed to the front yard visible beyond the open door. At first, Irel’s eyes, which had been blank as she had no idea what was going on, soon widened.

“What is that… … all that?”

What was blocking the large front door of the mansion was an enormous flower carriage. And not just one, but at least ten flower carriages were blocking the entire front door.

‘Lily?’

Yes, that was right. The flowers that were packed in every open carriage were pure white lilies. They were already flowers with a strong fragrance, but when they were piled up like that, they were so toxic that it was almost suffocating.

“Irel?”

At this time, Michael shook her shoulder as she stood there blankly and pointed somewhere.

“There is writing on the carriage… … .”

It was as he said. Looking closely, I saw that in the middle of each bunch of white lilies, blood-red roses were placed tightly together, embroidering each letter.

“Ba, r, kan, ha, ma, sh… … .”

Michael read the inscription on the carriage in a trembling voice for her. Then, the pink-haired man standing next to the carriage approached and greeted her as if he had been waiting for her.

“This is a special gift from my master for the young lady of the Ellorance family. Please accept it.”

In contrast to his hair color that was as bright as cherry blossoms, the man’s face was expressionless. Dressed in all black, he looked like he was at a funeral. This was made even more so by the row of white lilies behind him.

Irel looked at him absentmindedly, and their eyes met in midair. Thanks to that, she was able to read simple information from the man’s seemingly indifferent green eyes.

[Cellos Azelica: Favorability 41]

Surprisingly, Celos, the confidant sent by Barkan, showed quite a high favorability rating towards her. Of course, there was a good reason for that favorability rating.

‘It’s pitiful.’

Cellos had been working under Barkan for quite some time, so he knew well what kind of ending would come to those who caught his master’s attention.

‘After all it would be broken, or ruined.’

He wondered what kind of person Irel Ellorance was, who was before his eyes, and he felt sorry for her. Of course, he didn’t show it because of his strong professional spirit.

“Are those the gifts he sent for my sister? The kind of flowers you only offer at funerals?”

At that moment, Michael, who was gritting his teeth, saw what was happening while standing next to her. His face, which had recovered from the shock, was filled with a fierce sense of duty to protect his younger sister.

“Who would carve their name into a gift for someone else?! It’s not even the recipient’s name!”

“I’m sorry if you didn’t like my master’s gift. I’ll try harder next time.

Cellos responded without even raising an eyebrow. Of course, Michael was even more indignant at this dry response.

“Sending such an eye-catching gift all the way to the mansion with such a fuss? Do you really think we don’t know about your impure intentions?”

At those words, Irel realized belatedly that this whole thing had been a well-planned trap from the beginning.

It was clearly Barkan’s intention to send a series of eye-catching flower carriages, and to have his name engraved on them instead of Irel’s.

This was a declaration of war. It was a public death sentence. He was going to announce his target to everyone. So that no one would dare intercept him.