Lynx's eyes widened like two saucers. Finally, this reckless girl had shown apprehension in her usually smug and self-assured face as she noticed the familiar silhouette of a man inside the Mysophobodemon.
Pavor found her fear cathartic, especially after what she had done to slime larvae. Another poetic justice in his eyes.
"I... Father... Why is my father inside that..." She mumbled.
She then rushed towards the Phobodemon, trying to free the man inside. "Father!"
But the impulsive girl only caused the monster to wail, and only then did she realize that the man who was once her father was wailing with it.
"AUUUUUUUUUURRRRRR!!!!!" Duke Vanus' mouth hung wide open like a snake that unhinges its jaw.
The sight rattled Lynx enough to stop her from attacking. Other factor was Tudo shouting at her:
"Stop it, Lynx! The more you attack it, the more you will spread the disease!"
She turned around. "What disease….."
Her eyes widened at the image of Tudo and the villagers pockmarked with deep black holes that oozed with green fluids.
She looked at her own hand, but there was nothing. It was only the commoners who were affected.
"Why am I not..." She mumbled.
A voice came from behind her, low and brimming with malice.
"Because you are a noble. Your father only wants to hurt commoners like your friend over there. He despises the poor and finds them as the bringer of disease."
Her heart almost froze upon feeling that cold breathe on her ear.
"T-That's not true... My father adores commoners... He had overseen the training of many commoner soldiers and his friend Paenitet is not of noble blood either... So how could he…."
"How could he indeed? Your father has changed, haven't you noticed?"
Lynx did notice. Her father had become distant after the latest war, but he would not speak much of it besides being the only survivor. It was a tragedy for the kingdom of Erosith, but they had already since recovered when the priests of Amore had countered the black magic of the cultists that worship the Lord of Dread.
She thought that since they had won the war, he would return to his former self. Her father had been to many battles, and had years of experience in combat. So why…..
Well, his right-hand man had died.
"Was it because of Paenitet's death?" She thought out loud. "But why would he hate commoners for that—"
The voice that whispers to her seems to be able to taste her fears and doubts, and so could essentially read her mind. Or at least, could understand the source of the darkness growing in her heart.
"You know why…. You have seen the signs, but ignored it….."
The signs....
Her father became reclusive, and would have debilitating nightmares in the middle of the night. One of the words he would yell the most when he was screaming from these nightmares was:
"Traitor!"
How could she not have connected the dots on who this traitor must be?
Perhaps Tudo would have, but Lynx was all brawns. She was only ever good at combat strategy, and even then, she was more intuition than actual calculated plans.
Dread continued to grow on her heart. Traitor.... If her father's friend, the most loyal friend of his that she had ever met, was a traitor...…
Anyone could be.
No! She must not get carried away. She tried to fight back, and focused on piecing out this puzzle.
"So he believed Paenitet betrayed him….. But why? Is it related to this disease he's spreading?"
Pavor was pretty impressed by this woman's strong will. She may not be good at deducing and was uncovering this secret pretty slowly, but she had enough mental strength to not be immediately swayed by her doubts.
'Hm. I suppose she does deserve the title as second strongest Retaliator in her batch.'
But even so, that just made him more keen on breaking her mind. It's always the strongest who are most enjoyable to break.
He whispered again, the shadows dancing behind his eyes. "What does your father fear the most? His behavior…. What does it say about the secret he's been hiding?"
"He....."
The cogs seemed to begin to move in Lynx's mind.
"After the battle, he would scream at the servants. He was not like that before, he had always treated them like equals."
"Did he really? Or was it just mere politeness, the noblesse oblige that he must uphold?" The dark voice taunted.
Lynx furrowed her brows. "Of course he was genuine, he's…."
She then recalled the memory of when a butler was picking up a broken plate of meat that Duke Vanus threw on the floor.
That memory…..
Was when she was only 10 years old. Way before the battle where his behavior has changed.
Duke Vanus' voice was cold. He did not shout at the help, but his eyes said it all. The way he looked down on the butler. As if he was a pest on his shoe.
"I asked for venison, did I not? So why did you give me beef?"
The butler stammered, holding his bloody head. "M-My Lord…. The butcher said that His Majesty had prohibited the hunting of deers and the consumption of their meat for a while due to an plague that affected them—"
"You are dismissed from my household."
Back then, young Lynx thought it was less cruel than how most nobles treat their servants. But she had heard the butler crying, begging with the duke's secretary to not dismiss him.
"Please! If I am dismissed from the duke's household, no other house would take me as a manservant! I had a wife and three children to feed—"
What did she do when she saw that?
She hid.
Acted blind and deaf to what happened, and returned to her room as a maid gave her some tea and biscuits for an afternoon snack. She was young back then, so there's not much she could do but…..
"Denial is truly a powerful thing. It can make you forget about the shadows in the back of your mind, but they're still there. Waiting. Festering."
She watched as the holes got bigger and bigger on the bodies of the commoners in front of her, looking at her in anticipation.
Begging her to kill her own blood and flesh for their sake.
The man who had brought her into this world, who raised her, cherished her. Gave her a life that everyone could envy. Duke Vanus was a loving parent, and a loving friend...
Until the shadows that lived within him had taken over.
The ones we love can turn into monsters in the blink of an eye. Denial was the veil that love has casted over our eyes to not recognize this truth.
The disease brought by the Phobodemon was growing stronger now, and Tudo was feeling weak. He groaned, trying to endure the pain.
"Urkkk!" He vomited blood and sank to the ground, barely able to grip his spellbook.
The blue wall of his own magical energy was wavering, flickering like a candlelight being blown by the wind. Soon, it will fully vanish.
"Time is ticking, you must make a choice." The voice continued to taunt Lynx. "Can you kill your own father for the sake of these commoners he sees as traitors?"
"I..."
Lynx's mental fortitude may be strong, but Pavor could feel it slowly wavering like the defense wall.
He turned to Davien, who said nothing.
He was blind, but not deaf. Surely he could hear all this?
But he realized that Davien was too focused on performing a ritual to stop the green smoke from spreading the disease. He was trying his best to purify dozens of people, and sweat poured down his forehead.
Pavor smirked. Though he was pretty curious on how the sheep of Amore would have reacted if he indeed heard his provocation on the heroine of Violentia.
He continued.
"The choice is yours, as it has always been with humans. You and your 'paths'. Go against your own nature or succumb to it. Your father has fully succumbed to it, but will you as well?"
Lynx gritted her teeth. "I will not succumb to it."
"But could you kill him?"
"I..."
"What weighs more? The life of one man who was precious to you, or the life of many that you barely know? Both paths seem to only lead to despair, doesn't it?"
And there it was.
Presented by the only future she was left to face, Lynx fell to her knees and started sobbing. Softly, quietly. Like a scared shivering cat on the streets.
"Please….. Help me, Your Highness. I could not do it."
Pavor smirked, feeling his body get stronger from this delicious fear. The shadows that surround him now were so dark that they had become opaque.
He was planning on slaying Duke Vanus anyway, but he couldn't miss the chance to torture this girl. He would never miss the chance to torture these foolish humans.
"Very well."
He raised his blade, and ran at a speed that made it seem like a black meteor was about to hit the giant Mysophobodemon!
Then...
Thwuck!
The head of Duke Vanus rolled into the ground, and the monster was defeated.