The Villain's Sister - Chapter 78

Johan watched the doctor stitch up the wound and checked the clock.

In dream time, it was 2:37.

About 17 hours remained here, less than an hour in reality.

‘If I force her out of the dream, her consciousness will shatter.’

The magical truth he had gained when he narrowly escaped death on the battlefield was not the kind that dealt with the mind.

Perhaps because he had received it at the brink of the afterlife, all he could do was summon death.

To cut, to smash, to blow up, to turn into ashes.

Even if by some chance he succeeded in safely bouncing Giselle’s consciousness back into reality, he couldn’t guarantee his own safety.

But when he saw Giselle’s bandaged hand, no other thought remained.

Just the fact that she was injured enraged him. If anything worse happened to her, he would…

“You really do drive people insane.”

“You’re the kind of man I want to bury six feet under.”

“You just threw away your last chance.”

Without even glancing at Johan, Giselle raised her middle finger at him.

“Fine. If you don’t want to believe it, then I’ll make you believe.”

Johan thought.

If it was too hard for her to believe this was a dream, then he would make her believe it.

Violence was what Red Shadow did best.

***

As soon as Johan left the hospital, he grabbed Giselle and moved them back home.

She twisted her wrist roughly, shaking him off.

“You can’t get out of this dream on your own, so as a wizard, I came into your consciousness. Since I’m poor at mental magic, there’s a high chance I’ll be swallowed by this place and die.”

“Then go ahead and die.”

As Giselle was about to pass him and head into her room, Johan spoke to her back.

“Langfester Hospital.”

Giselle froze. Johan continued his confession, “You snuck into my room, saying someone was chasing you.”

Swoosh.

Giselle turned. Her eyes twisted as she confirmed the being she herself had created.

“…You were that soldier.”

Drop.

Her head lowered. Hair spilled over the hand pressed to her forehead.

“It’s time to repay the debt I owe you. You save people through healing, but I’m different.”

“Go to a hospital. You sound like you’ve got delusional disorder.”

Tap.

Johan tapped the floor with the tip of his shoe and approached her, speaking as gently as he could.

“You must have felt out of place in this world at times.”

When Giselle, no longer seeing any value in continuing the conversation, turned her body away, Johan slowly warned her.

“Unfortunately, don’t resent me.”

“What—”

Just as Giselle opened her mouth, Johan swung his arm like a conductor.

Whoom— Boom! Boom boom boom boom—! Bang! Bang!

From the farthest place visible beyond the windows, the world began to collapse.

Shopping malls belched black smoke as if a terror attack had struck, buildings split in half and crumbled.

Fires in apartments blazed as if to devour the world.

Schools were sucked into holes that opened in their playgrounds.

Screams and explosions filled the air.

As buildings collapsed and shockwaves erupted, the glass windows of Giselle’s apartment shattered.

Crack, thud!

Clang, crash, thump!

The falling glass was blocked by magic, suspended in midair, then all at once crashed down onto the floor.

Giselle forgot even to breathe as she watched it all with her own eyes.

In just one minute, a dreamlike, idyllic world had turned into hell.

“Y-you… you…”

Pale, Giselle’s head creaked as she turned.

Johan forcibly caught her gaze and said, “This is not reality. It can’t be reality.”

Johan’s vivid eyes shone coldly. They were neither Johan’s nor Heinrich’s.

They were the eyes of Red Shadow, unmasked.

Terrified, Giselle stepped back. For every step she retreated, Johan advanced.

Blue eyes gleamed eerily in the light of the flames exploding around them.

With his lips twisted into a crooked smile, he asked, “And Red Shadow helping you, could that ever be reality? Don’t you think not?”

Boom! Boom boom boom! Rumble!

A massive explosion rose in the distance, flames surging upward.

Black smoke from the burning world blotted out the clear sky.

Giselle gasped for breath. Her eyes filled with tears that could fall at any moment.

Checking his watch, Johan demanded flatly, “Fifteen hours remain. Decide before then.”

Drip. Drop.

Giselle’s tears fell onto the soot-stained floor.

Where they landed, the original tiled floor revealed itself.

Biting her lip, Giselle glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

“I tried to take you gently. Didn’t I say it several times?”

“Trash.”

Giselle roughly shoved Johan away.

Johan let himself be pushed as she wished.

Giselle was a frightened child and a lost traveler.

Johan did not stop her from hitting him.

Thunk.

Pushed all the way back, his shoulders hit the wall.

“I don’t want to go back. I’d rather die here… I really don’t want to go back there…”

Watching Giselle sob bitterly, Johan said coldly, “I can imagine what kind of life Raphael, who lost his sister, would live, but you mustn’t be able to imagine it.”

“Rapha…el?”

Her face was stained with ash blown over from the next building, the tear tracks stark against it.

Beast-like cries escaped between her clenched teeth.

Whether this was a dream or reality, she was terrified of the ruined world.

Not to mention Red Shadow, who had destroyed it.

But Mist Island was even more dreadful than the despair before her eyes.

Giselle’s face crumbled. Helpless, she shed tears until her strength gave out.

Thud.

Still clutching Johan’s collar, she leaned her forehead against his chest.

Her sobbing breaths trembled hotly.

“Hhhuhhh, hic…”

At Johan’s silence, her crying grew louder.

But her cries were swallowed by the sound of explosions not far away.

Thump. Thump.

Awkwardly, Johan patted her back.

As her crying grew, he pulled the frail body into his arms.

The dampening hem of his clothes was heavy, and the blackened sky was suffocating.

Beneath the screams of the collapsing world, he let out a long sigh.

Violence was the way most familiar to him, but today it was unbearably hard.

Hard, harder still… and agonizing.

***

It was black and red.

The ruined world was like that.

“Is he really alive?”

“I could swear it.”

“…Raphael was not just my brother…”

The burnt-smelling wind tousled Giselle’s hair.

And her voice, worn as if singed by the smell of smoke, explained to him.

“He was like my mother and father… maybe it’s closer to the feelings you have for me. That’s why I can’t bear Raphael dying twice.”

Giselle, gazing at the black-and-red world, made a call.

The person answered before the third ring.

— Deva? Are you safe? Damn it! My flight’s canceled, so I can’t get to you! The news says it’s terrorism. What the hell is going on…

Haha.

A hollow laugh slipped from Giselle.

If it were Raphael, he would have called until her phone overheated, even before she tried to reach him.

Haha. Haha.

Sweeping her fallen hair back, Giselle snickered as she etched the still-burning world into her eyes.

“I only ever thought the world could go to ruin, but now I really get to see it.”

— What? Deva, what are you saying? Are you in a safe place?

“Raphael.”

— Yeah.

“Raphael. That policeman. You really don’t remember?”

— You’re saying that now? I asked if you’re safe!

“I definitely went to see the policeman I was dating and messed everything up, but you said it never happened. Come to think of it, sometimes our memories didn’t line up, right?”

— God. What the hell are you talking about!

“I can’t remember his name or what he looked like. I only know I liked him. You too?”

— I don’t know! I told you a hundred times, I never met such a bastard! Deva, you’re not hurt, are you? Why are you acting like this and making me anxious!

“Raphael. You know… this place is a dream.”

— What?

Giselle replied in a hoarse voice.

Beneath the heavy lids blinking slowly, her hollow eyes checked the broken wall clock.

“I think it’s true.”

The clock on the wall pointed to 8 p.m.

On Mist Island, 8 p.m. was when citizens locked their doors and the city was reborn as the stage for villains and heroes.

When Raphael went to work to dominate the city, Giselle prayed alone.

Please don’t get hurt.

Get hurt if you must, but please survive.

It was a life lived in constant dread of when he might pay for his sins, but after Raphael died, she thought.

Even that had been happiness.

“If it’s a world where you haven’t died, then I can endure it again. See you at home.”

The moment Giselle dropped the phone, the rising smoke froze in the sky.

The dancing flames stopped, and the screams vanished.