Chapter 260

Grab!

Ceres tightly grabbed the knife that was aimed straight at Antonian's stomach with her bare hand.

“You're going to get scolded by your big brother later if you keep this up.”

Ceres let out a short sigh.

Drip... drip.......

Blood dripped steadily from the hand gripping the knife.

[Buu!]

[Pi, Pii!]

[Grrrr.......]

Sooty and Airien jumped up and down in alarm, while Whitey let out a low growl.

They had been unable to bring themselves to interfere because these were Ceres's precious younger siblings, but once Ceres was injured, they could no longer simply stand by and watch. The blue light in Whitey's eyes gradually began turning red.

“Airien... tie them up.”

Deciding that this had gone far enough, Ceres finally gave Airien an order.

The instant the words left her mouth, tree vines sprang into existence and tightly bound the two children.

I wonder if they'll end up bruised later. Being tied up like that isn't going to put too much strain on their bodies, is it?

“I... I'll kill you. Big Sister, I'll.......”

“I'll kill you, Sis.......”

“.......”

Even while bound, the children continued glaring at her and shouting in sharp voices, leaving Ceres with a strange feeling.

She knew perfectly well that they didn't mean it, that someone was controlling them and forcing those words out of their mouths, but even so, hearing such things in the children's own voices made her chest ache a little.

Boom! Bang!

“......?”

At that moment, an inexplicable series of thunderous noises began coming from outside.

Wondering what the hell was happening now, Ceres looked out the window toward the source of the noise and let out an incredulous sigh.

“What the hell is that now?”

People. So many people that she couldn't even see the end of the crowd were trying to force open the estate gates. Some weren't even hesitating to climb over the walls.

“Them too?”

[Looks like they're showing the same symptoms as your younger siblings, nya.]

Ceres clicked her tongue repeatedly at Eliette's answer. At this rate, if she just stayed here doing nothing, something really was going to happen.

After experiencing her siblings' attacks just moments ago, Ceres couldn't regard those people as ordinary civilians either.

Hadn't even little Julia's attack carried a fair amount of force?

‘Besides, it's not like I'm some murderer.’

They're trying to kill me, but I can't exactly slaughter them as much as I want, can I?

‘Even hitting their vital points doesn't knock them unconscious. It just makes them go even crazier.’

What kind of fucking situation is this?

“I'd better find that bastard first.”

The one controlling them right now.

[He'll be somewhere nearby.]

Of course he would. There was no way he could control the minds of that many people from far away.

Ceres turned her head and looked at her two younger siblings. Even while bound by the vines, the two were still desperately struggling to kill her. As she watched them, Ceres's gaze gradually turned cold.

Shing.

Ceres opened her subspace and drew out her sword.

“Airien, Sooty. You two protect the kids.”

[Pii!]

[Buu!]

After confirming that Airien and Sooty were nodding vigorously in understanding, Ceres immediately headed outside.

Whoosh, whoosh!

But she hadn't even taken more than a few steps before she was forced to twist her body aside in a hurry. Attacks were flying at her from all directions.

“Haa.”

Butler Colin, Jay the maid, and every other servant working in the house were approaching her with weapons in their hands.

“Fuck.......”

This is seriously pissing me off. If they were actual enemies, I could at least kill them.

Suppressing the curses that kept threatening to burst from her mouth, Ceres ran past them. The situation outside the estate was even more chaotic.

“Kill her!”

“That woman.......”

“Ceres... must kill.......”

Countless people charged at her with their eyes rolled back as soon as they saw her. Dodging them, Ceres sharpened her senses to their absolute limit.

She was searching for another presence besides those attacking her.

‘...Over there.’

And after a short while, she managed to locate one particular presence. A powerful presence clearly different from all the others.

Fwish!

“......!”

At that moment, an arrow grazed past her face. Someone had even brought out a bow and was recklessly firing arrows at her. Probably someone who normally enjoyed hunting.

[Grrr.......]

She had tried to dodge it, but a thin trail of blood ran down Ceres's cheek.

A low growl escaped Whitey's mouth when he saw it.

“Tsk.”

I'm seriously starting to get pissed off. Should I just break their arms or legs?

If I can't kill them, shouldn't I at least make sure they can't move?

Ceres slid the sword she had drawn back into its sheath. A scabbard was much better for beating people with, after all.

Step.

“......?”

But then a small figure quietly moved in front of her and blocked her path.

It was Whitey.

“Whitey?”

I told you to stay back and protect the kids, so why did you follow me?

“Get ba......!”

Whoosh!

Ceres, who had been about to tell him to move back because it was dangerous, couldn't finish her sentence.

The form of Whitey standing in front of her had begun to change. And along with it, Ceres's head tilted farther and farther upward.

“.......”

Ceres's mouth fell open blankly before she even realized it.

The wolf cub was gone, and a completely different being had appeared in his place.

‘...The Master of the Forest?’

The enormous wolf she had seen in the Ice Tree Forest.

The Master of the Forest himself.

“Why......?”

Why is this guy here? Ceres's thoughts were in complete disarray. Whitey had definitely been standing right there only moments ago.

‘So.......’

...Whitey wasn't the cub of that wolf, the Master of the Forest. He was the wolf himself?

“Hah.”

Ceres continued staring blankly at Whitey, who had transformed into an enormous beast and planted himself in front of her.

Awooooooo—

At that moment, a long howl erupted from Whitey's mouth.

The howl was filled with such naked fury that merely hearing it sent chills crawling over her skin.

Thud.

Thump, thump.

Flop.

“......?”

But the moment the Master of the Forest's howl ended, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The people who had been charging at her as though intent on killing her suddenly froze in place. Like puppets whose strings had been cut, they began collapsing one after another.

Whoooosh.

And then something began flowing out of their ears and mouths.

[Ceres, that's it, nya!]

At Eliette's shout, Ceres looked where the cat's front paw was pointing and saw it as well.

Writhing black mist!

‘That was controlling everyone?’

The black mist soon began moving toward somewhere. Ceres hurriedly chased after it.

The strange substance was heading in the same direction as the presence she had detected just moments earlier.

‘That's going back to its master right now, isn't it?’

Whoosh!

[You're not getting away that easily.]

Eliette, who had transformed into her human form before Ceres knew it, blew out a long breath.

A red energy flowed from her mouth and engulfed the dispersing black mist.

The black mist faltered briefly, then began moving somewhere even faster.

“What did you do?”

[A curse.]

Eliette answered Ceres's question with a graceful curl of her lips as she stared in the direction where the black mist had disappeared.

[The black mist contained the energy of whoever was controlling it, you see? So I placed my curse on that energy.]

Once that energy returned to its master, the curse would settle upon him along with it.

[You know what my curse does, don't you?]

“I do.”

Watching Eliette's smile stretch even wider, Ceres nodded eagerly, enthusiastically agreeing with Eliette for once.

‘Her curse.’

It was exactly what it sounded like.

“You reap what you sow.”

***

Flash!

“......!”

With a burst of brilliant light, someone appeared at the Drow Baron's estate.

It was the Duke of Schweiz.

A short while earlier, he had received word from the subordinates he had assigned to keep watch around Ceres. Something seemed to have happened to her.

They had reported that countless people were swarming toward the Baron's estate and that the servants inside the house were acting strangely as well.

The moment he heard the news, the Duke of Schweiz immediately used a teleportation magic scroll to travel there.

Yet the Baron's estate he arrived at was, contrary to the report he had received, eerily quiet. He could barely sense anyone's presence at all.

“Ceres!”

Behaving completely unlike his usual self, the Duke of Schweiz shouted Ceres's name at the top of his lungs as he rushed into the house.

Bang!

Then, following the only presence he could sense, he threw open the door to a room.

His eyes widened slightly.