The Damn Family Is Back Again

386. Yggdrasil Project (26)

I’d thought everything was finished.

Just when I felled that b*stard, I thought it was finally over.

How could I… overlook something like that?

I felt a damning stupidity wash over myself.

‘Damn it…! That, to overlook *that*!’

Belian Theresia.

Because the opponent was who they were, this plan couldn’t afford a single flaw.

A meticulously woven scheme. A plan so close to fruition. At this present moment, within the unfolding of all that was coming to pass, the Yggdrasil Project *had* to be crushed.

Yes. Up to there, it was flawless.

I began to interfere with the intricately branching plans, one by one.

Approaching silently, I analyzed and thwarted the other plans, completely.

I discerned the true intent and even summoned the westerners, natural enemies to the project itself.

In this process, there wasn’t a single problem.

However.

I was overlooking the most crucial element.

He was a genius.

A genius born with an utterly absurd talent.

A singular, unmatched talent dwelling within his mind, in a land where no one could understand him, and there was no one to compare.

Thus, cooperation simply did not exist.

His brain, unmatched by any other, required no assisting hand.

Which is to say, avoiding failure meant precisely this.

If unnecessary, simply discarded.

If hands became troublesome, simply eliminated.

Even if a card was lost from his hand, simply replaced with a new one.

In this manner, the traces of failure were buried.

Erased cleanly, for the path to success, to victory.

For his ambition’s sake, he would seize what he must, but if unable, would cleanly erase it, forging a new path in a different direction.

This way, at least, he would not fail. No, rather, he would bury it beneath the success of his next endeavor.

The fruits of such actions were already starkly evident.

Theo Lamsteir and Emma Urnen of the Duchy Estate.

Maph of the Shatren Territory.

And even the Theresia Marquisate.

All of them, erased.

Theo Lamsteir and Emma Urnen, once their crimes were exposed at the Duchy Estate, found their backing completely severed. Even attempting further investigation proved impossible.

The Shatren Territory. After capturing Maph and severing Shatren’s hand, they were immediately transformed into Tree Ogres, cutting off all information so that no trail could be followed.

The Theresia Marquisate. He severed the Marquis, a man who was once his father, without a backward glance. Moreover, indifferent to the fate of the entire Marquisate, he didn’t so much as attempt to seize the rights of the current head, Harnier, instead framing her with a crime and branding her a fugitive, with the aim of destroying the Marquisate itself.

Useful cards, thus, were discarded one by one.

Once certain they could not be brought into his hand, he would relinquish them without a trace of regret.

After that, it was only a process of deletion.

Mercilessly, cleanly, not even leaving dust behind.

Only erasing.

It was a terribly familiar method.

‘That kind of method… I, *I* know it best!’

Because he was a human being forged of pure reason. Because he possessed not a single emotion, he could discard them without hesitation.

If you cannot possess it, discard it.

If you cannot have it, erase it.

For you can always fill the void with something else.

That uniform pattern of casting things aside, convinced that they were never yours to begin with… it was a trick I, too, had used countless times.

-Neeeigh!

“Please. Please don’t let me be too late…!”

*

-Tap, tap, tap.

“Haa. If it isn’t the Duchess. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Arkshus, who had been sent crashing into the wall by the direct hit of a spell, twisted his shoulder as he pulled himself free.

“…He’s unscathed, even after taking that.”

Isabella furrowed her brow.

It had been a direct hit, without a doubt.

Though her body was aged, it was magic she had poured a not insignificant amount of mana into, striking him head-on.

‘And yet, to be so…unblemished…’

Even as Isabella voiced her doubts thus,

Aksius curled the corner of his lip in a smirk.

“How brazen you are, Madame.”

“…What was that?”

“Nay, merely rising from your sickbed in such a manner is brazen enough, wouldn’t you say? And then what was it? Your son’s woman? Was Karsein truly your son, after the way you treated him?”

Isabella’s eyes wavered.

“You did nothing but torment him, claiming him as your son. Deeds unforgivable, all of them. And now you would play the mother?”

“Duchess! Don’t listen to him!”

“The man himself would be quite astounded, I imagine. You, who knew nothing of what transpired within these ducal walls.”

“…”

Her vision begins to blur.

“Even Karsein Vagrandra…was the Vagrand name truly bestowed upon him properly? Do you even know how he was treated by the servants beneath you?”

“No! Duchess! Stay with me!”

“Furthermore, and I know this to be true…did he ever receive proper treatment as family within these walls? You never once knew his birthday, did you?”

The tips of her fingers trembled.

“Never allowed to call you ‘Mother.’ Never sensing anything amiss when addressed only as ‘Duchess.’ You allowed your own family to be framed, yet could only see him as a burden, a source of endless trouble…ah, the memory remains so vivid. Yes.”

“──, ───!”

“Never shielding your own child, merely raising a hand to your head as if in pain, never even placing him on the same familial footing…what exactly did you ever provide him? Can that truly be called a maternal relationship?”

Other voices, began to fade.

“I saw it all. Even within the Order of Knights—”

Each word was a poisoned dart finding its mark.

“Not just the knights, but the maids, brazenly touching the food—”

Blades that could not be refuted tore into her heart.

“With no one on my side, not even my own mother—”

Sins of days past.

Inerasable scars of yesterday.

All became sharpened steel, flung her way.

“But, now? You come now? To feign motherhood, to wallow in hypocrisy?”

Isabella thrashed, caught in a bottomless mire.

Watching only the retreating back of Carsein, seeing the child’s phantom form, she could only scream for him not to leave.

But all that returned was a frigid voice.

A voice brimming with resentment, hatred, and fury, relentlessly tormenting Isabella.

A torrent of abuse, a hailstorm of vitriol.

That they were strangers from the start, that they were never truly family, that wouldn’t it be better to be rid of a vulgar, witless burden– such sharp words poured from his lips, and her heart was gouged raw.

Her spirit was gnawed away, little by little.

Worn down, torn apart, fractured to pieces.

Then, exhausted, she would drift to sleep, only for Carsein to appear again. And then, at some other moment, falling asleep only to find Carsein once more.

But…

-Fwack!

“Krrk?! What…!”

Then came a certain day.

Karsein, on that day, was different.

Instead of spewing forth insults, he didn’t unleash the pent-up emotions of all this time.

Rather, he embraced me, whispering…

the word “Mother,” and gently soothing me.

Only then could Isabella claw her way out of that suffocating mire.

Karsein… she had to let him go now.

She mustn’t cling, claiming him as a child raised in her heart.

That, truly, was… the choice for him.

As she accepted and accommodated that truth, Karsein’s visage began to slowly fade.

No. Before she knew it, he became unseen.

Karsein’s presence, which she had always witnessed.

It all must have been a phantasm.

Her own selfishness, brought forth by yet another plunge into madness.

The lingering attachment to Karsein, the obsession to insist he was still family.

She realized that all of this was the swamp of her insanity.

“…As a mother, I am the worst. I know that much. I know this is a hypocritical act.”

“Heuh…!”

“Still, I must indulge in hypocrisy. If it means that child can be happy.”

Thus, this time, I must protect.

This time, it would not be a phantom.

“Milady. Continue your work. I shall deal with him.”

“…Yes!”

Isabella, resolute, standing guard before Harnier.

At that sight, Aksius’ eyes shifted.

“…I hadn’t expected this to fail. So, it’s come to this. I’d hoped for a more…entertaining spectacle.”

-Hisshhh.

“Now that you’re back to your senses, you’re quite useless. I’ll just have to kill you now. Isabella Bagrand.”

“…! What!”

The very air shifted.

Aksius, gripping his blade properly, charged.

Isabella barely managed to raise a defensive barrier.

But his strength… it was brutal.

“Ugh…!”

“Don’t waste your strength; lie down. I’ll return you to your sickbed.”

“You speak nonsense…!”

-Crackling sizzle!

“Even so, I am the mistress of Bagrand. Did you think I would fall so easily!”

As if refusing to yield, Isabella conjured and unfurled dozens of magic circles.

However, having already clashed with that power once, he knew he wouldn’t last long.

‘Perhaps, with my power alone, I cannot bring him down. At best, I can only buy some time.’

And after that time runs out…

Then, his frail body would be severed by that sword.

Death.

He was, in essence, staring it in the face.

Even so, his resolve to not back down from Isabella remained unyielding.

‘That woman, who will bring happiness to that child… this young lady, I must protect her with my own hands. Even if it means my death!’

Magics began to spill from the alchemized magic circle, filling the room.

*

-Shirr, ting!

-Whoosh! Ssssssssss.

-Pajijijijik! Clang!

All manner of armaments and elemental masses were unleashed, yet none touched Aksius.

It was insufficient to reach the killing demon who had already taken so many lives.

No matter that the Duchess’ mana, that her lineage, held immense reserves, her aging body had its limits.

-Thwack! Crunch.

Aksius grasped a magic spear with his bare hand and shattered it.

Due to the continuous consumption of mana, Isabella’s stores were depleted. Even the power of her magic had significantly weakened.

“Tch. You could have died peacefully, yet you only waste my time! Get out of my way, now!”

“…Haa. Haa. Not yet, not yet…!”

“Kuh! You still have strength left?”

Even as she breathed raggedly, Isabella wove her magic once more.

“Cough, cough!”

Blood spilled from Isabella’s mouth.

“You will not… touch her. Not the young lady…”

“This tenacious woman!”

──! ───!

The embers of magic sparked anew.

Coughing blood, Isabella forced mana from her core, buying time, still.

Thanks to her, the five treasures were activating fully.

“…! The final treasure!”

“Complete… d…”

Karn Bagrand had said it so: All the treasures would strip Yggdrasil of its power entirely.

Having activated the final treasure, there was nothing left now.

However.

“Kuh-ugh. How dare you, how *dare* you…!”

“…!”

“Even if nothing else, I will take you with me, Harnié, at least *you*!”

The descent of Aksher’s sword, straight as a falling star, could not be stopped.

She was late. Harnie’s magic was bound to be slower than that blade.

Therefore, Isabella hurled herself forward. Not Harnie, but *she* would meet the descending steel.

“M-Madam!”

“Be happy, my Lady. Be at peace.”

“N-No… How could you…!”

This would have to do. She was an old crone anyway. If sacrificing this one worn-out body could safeguard Karsein’s happiness, then it was enough.

To protect that child’s joy was a greater triumph than avoiding her own death.

For that reason alone, Isabella could gladly close her eyes and embrace the end.

But, perhaps it was not her time to depart just yet.

– *Clang!*

“What now? What the…!”

“…Haa. Haa. What does it look like? A change of players.”

“You… How did you get here, Karsein you…!”

Behind the fading form of Akshus, turning to ash…

Stood Karsein, silver dagger clutched in hand, breath coming in ragged gasps.

“…Thank you for protecting Harnie. I’ll finish this quickly. Rest, Mother.”

Isabella, speechless and gaping, burst into tears at those words.

‘Mother… he called me Mother.’