Flames surged like waves, engulfing everything in sight. The sky had long been stained black by thick smoke.
I couldn’t help but frown at the screams echoing from all around.
Is this hell prepared just for me?
Such thoughts suddenly crossed my mind.
I had lived a life where staining my hands with blood was the norm.
The lives I had taken, simply killed for the sake of survival, could no longer be counted with just two hands.
Compared to the original Abel, it wasn’t that many, I suppose.
But that didn’t mean I was a clean person. Whether I had killed thousands or hundreds, the fact that my hands were stained with blood was the same.
Plodding along.
I slowly walked down the path leading far away.
The scenery I passed was all too similar.
Burning houses. People rolling around, shrieking as flames engulfed them. Those suffocating from smoke and collapsing.
How long had I walked past them?
I finally saw what seemed to be the source of the flames, a square. The place where the grand statue of the Emperor had stood. Only the shattered upper torso of the statue remained.
I spotted a familiar woman sitting on what appeared to be the statue’s pedestal.
“…Adele?”
Shortly cropped black hair, and eyes shining as red as rubies. The beautiful woman who looked like she could enchant anyone at a moment’s glance was Adele.
I froze momentarily at her significantly more mature appearance compared to the first time I saw her.
She seemed to notice me too and turned her head this way. Adele, who had been staring at me, soon smiled.
It was a smile that was far from her usual innocent laughter. The corners of her mouth twisted in a way that made it seem like death hung around her.
“It’s been a while, Abel.”
“What the…?”
This wasn’t the Adele I knew.
It wasn’t just the fact that she wasn’t speaking formally. So many things about her had changed from the Adele I once knew.
‘..Is this a dream?’
My senses felt dulled compared to usual. If I were to put it simply, it was similar to a lucid dream, I guess.
If not for that, the current situation would be inexplicable.
Perhaps I was having a prophetic dream.
“What’s wrong? This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
Adele stared blankly at me while sitting next to the statue. She soon landed lightly on the ground and cautiously approached.
‘What’s that…’
Upon closer inspection, there were countless corpses sprawled around Adele. Each of them oozing blood from gaping holes in their chests and necks.
It would be an understatement to say the scene was horrifying; it was a massacre.
“You know, I still love you, Abel.”
“What on earth…”
Adele wiped the blood from her fingers into her mouth. The sight sent chills down my spine, and I shivered.
She seemed to ignore my words and approached me without hesitation. Her ruby-red eyes gleamed with a blood-like glow.
“I killed the Crown Prince, I killed the Tower Master…”
Adele murmured this before breaking into a fleeting smile.
Her eyes carried a dead look, twisted into a smile. For the first time, I felt fear coming from her.
“I finally killed the Emperor.”
Adele tapped the head of a man lying at her feet. Familiar blonde hair and golden eyes—with a shockingly tearful expression, his limbs severed.
Could that possibly be the Emperor?
“I truly worked hard, didn’t I?”
Stepping over the Emperor’s neck without hesitation, she wiped her smile off. The joy had vanished from her face, replaced only by a grim emptiness.
“How many times have I died? Thousands? Or maybe tens of thousands?”
“Stay alert, Adele.”
“I’m sorry. I lost count after the 1000th time, so I don’t really know anymore.”
The conversation didn’t connect. It wasn’t exchanging words; it was more like she was pouring out her thoughts.
Adele’s gaze faintly lost its spark. It wasn’t that she had fallen victim to mental magic.
She had simply lost her mind due to the prolonged looping of her experiences.
What had happened in the meantime to lead to this?
Even if this was a dream, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
It may seem ridiculous to seek logical coherence in a dream, but…
Adele, who had approached me in no time, hugged me tightly.
The overwhelming scent of blood made it hard to breathe. I could not find the strength to inhale, feeling the aura of death beyond her warmth.
“What about the others…”
“Huh? Oh, you’re talking about the Princess and the Crown Prince?”
It wasn’t just a reference to them. No, had Adele ever spoken of them so casually before?
Was she treating them as people at all in her mind right now?
“I used them as disposable pawns. They were quite useful, those who were crazy about revenge.”
Chills ran down my spine.
“Why would you do something like that?”
“Huh? Well, the only one who matters to me is you.”
While wrapped in my embrace, Adele murmured these words. Her eyes no longer held any signs of life.
Only upon seeing her eyes did some content from the original story come to mind.
If it was an extra, the Monster of Scarlet Flame.
An extra detailing a bad ending route that occurs when Adele, after enduring countless loops, loses all means.
The author of the original work must have thought the bittersweet ending wasn’t enough misery, so they personally wrote this if route.
Adele, who turned the Crown Prince, the Tower Master, and even the Emperor into mere stepping stones with her own life, was meant to eternally bind Abel as the conclusion of that story.
“Abel, I love you.”
“…”
I couldn’t say a word.
I merely stared quietly into Adele’s eyes. Chains burst forth from her hand.
The artifact that played a crucial role in sealing the Emperor, Gleipnir.
A chain, resembling red fabric, wrapped around my neck. Along with a chilling sensation, Adele’s blood-soaked smile filled my vision.
“Let’s be together forever.”
As those words faded away, my consciousness began to sink. It felt as if a vast darkness enveloped me, and when my eyes opened again…
“Cough, ha…”
I gasped for breath and sprang upright. I already knew this was a dream.
But I could not respond calmly to Adele’s appearance.
That sight was exactly what I feared the most. Hadn’t I grown stronger just to avoid such a situation?
“Ha, ha…”
My hands trembled.
My mind remained hazy. It was the insomnia brought on by the dream I had just experienced.
If I attempted to sleep deeply for even a moment, I would inevitably have that nightmare. The twisted image of Adele trying to bind me.
Ever since I had personally killed Duke Hardenberg, Abel’s father, I had thought I would be free from insomnia, but that wasn’t the case.
The cause was clear.
It must have arisen from the anxiety that began after Adele almost died at the hands of the Emperor in that village.
At that time, I had never imagined that she would face such a life-or-death crisis, let alone encounter the Emperor directly.
“Whoa…”
Adele’s infinite reincarnation abilities are extraordinary. However, that power isn’t omnipotent.
As mentioned in the original work, there are a few cases where her ability would be nullified. One of those is the presence of the Emperor.
If she died at the hands of the Emperor, Adele’s reincarnation would not activate. Behind that lies a complicated narrative, but it wasn’t the main point.
Had she not called for me through a contract while dying, Adele may have died that way.
If somehow that kind of thing actually happened…
“Stay alert.”
I slapped my cheeks with both hands and got up. The time was still dawn as a faint moonlight shone through the window.
Anyway, at this rate, I wouldn’t be able to sleep for more than a few hours even if I tried.
Thinking that, I slowly left the room.
The Duke’s residence was quiet in the early morning hours. No signs of servants bustling about or laughing merrily as they worked.
Well, it was likely time for everyone to be asleep.
‘Didn’t the original work say there weren’t any servants at all?’
How many would want to live in a Duke’s mansion where servants were casually killed for fun?
At least Laura and Allen were nearby, but I remembered that most of the roles had been filled by automata-like dolls.
Shaking such thoughts off, I stepped out of the Duke’s residence and inhaled the chilly morning air.
“Whew…”
That reminded me, I used to get up early every morning to jog in my previous life.
The first few months were a struggle, but after that, it became a habit.
‘..It would be tough now, though.’
Due to the nature of the Duke’s work, where leaving things undone piled up, I no longer had the luxury to do morning exercises. Though I sometimes found myself missing those times.
Those days when I was unburdened, ready to challenge anything fueled only by my youth.
‘..Am I getting old?’
Mentally speaking, I had easily surpassed 50, so yes, I was definitely getting old.
“Haah!”
“Just a bit more!”
Voices could be heard in the distance.
Recognizing the familiar voices, I headed that way. Reaching an empty space, I found Adele and Arin practicing Spirit Magic.
“Three consecutive tree chops!”
The blade of wind manifested in the air and split three floating logs. Have they really grown this much in just a few days?
“Next, ah, Duke.”
Noticing me, Arin bowed her head. Adele also turned her attention and, upon seeing me, her eyes widened in surprise.
“Abel! It’s been a while.”
“Are you feeling okay now?”
“When was that? I’m all better now.”
Adele easily twisted her arm, the one that had been broken before. In contrast to the somber image I saw in my dream, she exuded an energetic vibe, causing a small chuckle to escape me.
Indeed, this lively expression was the real Adele. Not the one who had lost her sanity in my nightmare.
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