To You Who Will Destroy Me - Chapter 127

Had they learned it in science class? Strong light often comes with heat. Every time the man used his powers, the temperature inside the cave shot up.

“Huff… Huff…”

The heat was stifling, causing the fine hairs on Irel’s arms to stand on end. Her breathing became labored, and as she crawled, trying to escape the cave, dizziness overwhelmed her.

And her eyes—oh, her eyes were burning. Already aching from the relentless flashes of light, her corneas now felt dry, as if being scraped by sandpaper every time she blinked.

“Let go, damn it!”

The man, taking advantage of his superior vision, had decided to engage Jin in close combat. The sounds of their struggle echoed through the cave, making Irel’s heart skip a beat.

“Jin! Are you alright?!”

Before she could get her bearings, someone grabbed her wrist. At first, she thought it was Jin, but the grip was rough and forceful.

“If you don’t want to get hurt, behave.”

“…!!”

It was Archbishop Ramon. His voice was disturbingly close. Irel thrashed desperately, twisting her wrist free and kicking his shins with all her strength.

“Ugh!”

Ramon grimaced in pain, clearly not expecting such fierce resistance from the seemingly gentle Irel.

“You dare, you parasitic insect clinging to a Masaka!”

With anger boiling over, Ramon flung her to the ground. Irel let out a short scream as she hit the jagged cave floor.

‘Ugh, it hurts!’

Her elbows and knees throbbed with sharp pain. In less than a minute, she had been battered, bruised, and tossed around, her whole body feeling raw.

“Sister-in-law! Are you okay?!”

Hearing her cry, Jin threw off his attacker with everything he had. Desperately trying to help her, he fumbled around the floor, still unable to see properly.

“Ha! How pathetic. Crawling on the ground like the insect you are,” Ramon sneered.

Ugh, he’s insufferable.

Irel gritted her teeth at the condescending laugh from above. She knew she probably looked pitiful, but she wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

“Surrender now, before things get worse. You fools,” Ramon taunted.

No way! If I get caught, no one’s coming to rescue me, not even if Varkan sings a musical number!

Her hand brushed against something solid. A stone. It was small, and probably useless, but she threw it in Ramon’s direction with all her might. To her surprise, it hit him with a satisfying thunk, followed by a grunt.

“You wretched little—!!”

Whoever said that a weak attack only angers your enemy further was absolutely right. Ramon, now enraged beyond reason, did something he usually considered beneath him—he grabbed Irel by the hair.

“Ahh!”

“I’ll deal with you myself. First, I’ll make you spill every secret you have with some truth serum, and then I’ll burn your eyes with acid so you’ll never see the light again.”

Ramon’s voice was filled with venom as he yanked on her hair, causing her to wince in pain. But just as he was about to continue his tirade, a cold breath brushed against her exposed neck.

—That’s enough. Everyone, stop where you are.

The voice was bright and cheerful, strangely out of place in the chaos. It was the kind of voice that could easily be ignored in a battle like this, but somehow, everyone froze as if turned to stone.

“Ah, looks like I’m a bit late. Guess I’m slowing down with age these days,” said a woman, her tone casual and light. She smiled brightly as she made her way into the cave, as if the tension of the scene didn’t affect her at all. Her short, bobbed hair swayed, giving her an almost girlish appearance, completely at odds with her words about aging.

“Hey, darling! Long time no see,” she called out, waving enthusiastically when she spotted Irel.

Irel’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Bubble?!

What on earth is she doing here?!

Irel had a mountain of questions, but her body refused to move. It wasn’t just the shock—she realized the woman had used Vlad’s binding command to freeze everyone in place.

‘This feeling… it’s been a while,’ Irel thought, trying to twitch her fingers, but nothing moved. She could use her Risevra power to break free if she wanted, but at the moment, it didn’t seem necessary.

“What… What is this?!” Ramon gasped, finally realizing that they were all under the woman’s control.

“D-damn it, my body… won’t move,”

Unlike the calm Irel, the two Masaka who had been struggling in the background were now in a state of utter confusion. Neither of them had ever encountered Bubble or Vlad before, so it was no surprise they were unprepared for the sudden paralysis brought on by the command.

“What’s going on? What are you all doing?!”

The only one still able to move was Archbishop Ramon. For some reason, Vlad’s binding command had no effect on him.

“Oh my, what do we have here?” Bubble’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. In a flash, she had already closed the distance between them, now standing right in front of Ramon.

“Goodness, how rude! Why are you grabbing a woman by the hair like that?” Bubble scolded, wrinkling her nose at the sight. True to her words, Ramon still had a firm grip on Irel’s hair.

“Step back, or I’ll…!” Ramon threatened, clearly realizing that these women knew each other. His hand moved toward Irel’s throat, but before he could get any closer, Bubble’s expression hardened.

—Stop.

“…What is this? What are you doing?”

Once again, Ramon was unaffected by the command. At this point, even Irel started to realize something was strange.

From what she knew, Ramon was an ordinary human. So how was it that Vlad’s powers weren’t working on him?

‘He wasn’t immune to Jin’s illusions earlier. Something’s definitely off.’

It was then that Bubble, standing just inches away, smiled knowingly. She seemed to have figured something out.

“Oh, now this is interesting. You’re carrying something unusual, aren’t you?” Her tone was cheerful, but her eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.

Ramon’s face turned pale as he finally understood the situation.

“Those eyes… could it be?! You’re Vlad?!”

In the dim light of the cave, her crimson eyes appeared more like a dark brown, which had delayed his recognition.

“Vlad?”

Drakal, one of the paralyzed Masaka behind them, furrowed his brow. He had been part of the elite royal guard for most of his life, tasked with protecting the kingdom. The royal family had always needed Masaka’s power, but they also treated it like a double-edged sword, both using and fearing it.

That’s why they recruited Masaka for the special royal guard. Naturally, the leader of this guard was Philip Alswaiz.

Even though they were royal guards, they rarely left the palace. Sending them on missions to hunt down low-level monsters like Kitan would be inefficient, especially if the king were left unprotected in their absence.

Philip drilled this philosophy into his subordinates. As a result, Drakal and the other guards had little experience in actual combat, and this was Drakal’s first time encountering one of the rare Vlad.

‘Damn it.’

Drakal’s face twisted in frustration. Of all things, a Vlad! Everything had gone off the rails since the start of this mission.

He had originally come as temporary security for Archbishop Ramon. The plan was simple—protect Ramon while he dealt with whatever business he had in the cave, then leave. But things kept spiraling out of control.

‘Why are these people even here?!’

When they first encountered Irel and Jin, it had been a surprise, but nothing Drakal couldn’t handle. After all, they were dealing with a weak Risevra and a Masaka whose skills amounted to mere tricks.

But as soon as the fight started, he realized it wasn’t going to be that easy. He had already been struggling when Vlad, an even greater threat, suddenly appeared. Drakal’s resolve was quickly crumbling.

‘Should’ve never come in the first place.’

He’d always lived comfortably as part of the royal guard. Loyalty to Ramon? Responsibility? Drakal had none of that. And now, with the tide turning against him, he was looking for a way out.

In contrast, Jin’s face had brightened with sudden realization. His sharp mind had already pieced together that the situation wasn’t as dire as it first seemed.

‘Our sister-in-law has quite the connections, doesn’t she?’

Facing a Vlad, his natural enemy, wasn’t something Jin particularly enjoyed, but he knew he wasn’t in a position to complain. If Bubble hadn’t shown up, he would be dead by now, and Irel would’ve been dragged away.

Unlike Drakal, Jin had crawled up from the bottom. He had grit, and he had learned a lot from surviving in harsh conditions. He knew that the power of a Vlad wasn’t fundamentally different from that of a Masaka.

‘The situation’s not so bad,’ Jin thought, though he was frustrated by his inability to protect Irel. Looking down at his powerless arms, he sighed. It reminded him of how far he still had to go, but it also fueled his desire to improve—to become strong enough to protect someone he truly respected.

Someone like Irel.

Meanwhile, Bubble was continuing to interrogate Ramon, her voice sharp and accusing. She sounded like someone catching a thief in the act.

“Tell me, where did you get that? It’s not something you should be able to possess.”

Ramon wasn’t backing down, though. “You keep spewing nonsense. Leave, or I’ll snap this woman’s neck!” His voice was filled with venom as he tightened his grip on Irel’s throat.

“Kk!” Irel let out a choking sound, gasping for breath. Seeing this, Bubble’s fanged grin disappeared, replaced by an expression of cold fury.

“You’ve gone too far, you bastard.”

Smack!

The sharp sound echoed through the cave. Bubble had slapped Archbishop Ramon across the face, her hand striking with such force that he tumbled to the ground in a loud crash. He was so dazed by the blow that he couldn’t get up for a moment.

“D-did you… hit me?” Ramon stammered, his hand gingerly touching the cheek that had just been struck. His face was twisted in disbelief, as if he were the tragic heroine of some melodrama.