“Thump… thump-thump, thump-thump-thump.”
Her heart was slamming frantically against her ribs, and cold sweat broke out on her palms, making it nearly impossible to maintain her grip on the coarse rope.
‘Calm down, calm down. Isn’t this what was decided? I should have fully prepared myself on the way here…’
Histori swallowed hard, then freed one hand to press firmly against her chest.
How irritating.
She had thought that once her body turned into a member of the Demon Race, her soul would become cold and ruthless along with it, losing the empathy a human should have.
Yet when the moment truly came, the weight of just one or two ropes felt heavy enough to suffocate her.
…Heh, that made sense.
After all, what she was about to do was deprive a being of equal intelligence of their life.
Staring at the black-haired girl on the suspension bridge, Histori took a deep breath and gently closed her eyes.
Looking back, during her time at the Demon King’s Castle, there had been countless opportunities to strike—whether it was when Amir’s back was turned or when she had her eyes closed to rest.
However, back then, she had simply warned herself: ‘If I try to lay a hand on the Hero, I’ll just be killed instantly by her counterattack,’ or ‘I just need to wait for the Demon King; he’ll handle everything.’
Now it seemed those were likely just excuses she used to escape her own guilt.
Even if her appearance had changed to that of the Demon Race, and even if she possessed extraordinary power, at the core of her soul…
She was still just an ordinary human.
How could an ordinary human have the courage to personally sever another person’s destiny?
“…”
Sensing the unsettling silence emanating from Histori, Amir stopped in her tracks at just the right moment.
Standing in the center of the precarious suspension bridge, she looked into Histori’s eyes with a half-smile, as if waiting for something.
“What’s wrong, Histori?”
The wind above the cliff carried Amir’s cool voice to Histori’s ears.
“Are you standing there motionless because you still have something left to do?”
“…”
“What’s with the silence?”
Amir smiled and took two steps toward Histori, appearing completely oblivious to the predicament she was in.
“If you’re still afraid, then I’ll just come over to you instead.”
“…”
‘Do it, Histori.’
‘If you don’t act now, it really will be too late.’
This was the only time Amir would stand so openly on the bridge.
Once she got closer, even if Histori severed the ropes, someone of her skill could leap back to solid ground in an instant.
Histori gritted her teeth fiercely.
A faint aura of blood condensed at her fingertips before breaking apart, causing the rope to sway slightly in the air.
In the time she hesitated, Amir’s footsteps had brought her from the center of the bridge to only a final one-third of the distance away.
‘Move! Hurry up and move, Histori!! Don’t you want to escape Amir’s clutches!?’
‘She’s the Hero, the enemy, the great foe of the entire Demon Race. She’s even the one who killed your father! Kindness toward her is cruelty toward yourself!’
‘Have you forgotten? She nearly killed you multiple times. Right now, you’re just paying her back a little. You haven’t even put a blade to her throat!’
‘Besides, it’s not certain Amir will die, right? She’s the Hero; she might have some ridiculous blessings on her, like a Gliding Blessing, a Fall Damage Immunity Blessing, or even a Flight Blessing… or something like that!’
‘The only thing you’re doing right now is cutting two ropes beneath her!!’
Thirty meters, twenty-five meters, twenty meters, nineteen meters…
For some reason, Amir’s pace seemed to slow down.
Even though she was only a single step away from the safety line, she lingered at that dangerous threshold, refusing to take another step forward.
…It was as if heaven, earth, and man were all urging Histori to strike.
With just a gentle motion, just a slight flick of her finger, everything would be over.
—The Blood Contract would be dissolved, her identity would remain hidden, and from then on, the sea would be wide enough for the fish to leap and the sky high enough for the birds to fly.
“…”
Looking at the slender figure on the bridge, seeing Amir’s black hair tousled by the wind and that faint, trace of a smile on her face.
Ultimately, Histori let out a bitter laugh and relaxed her clenched fingers.
The killing intent in her heart receded like the tide, leaving behind nothing but a hollow sense of helplessness.
‘It’s no use.’
‘I really can’t do it on my own.’
Despite having the hollow title of the Blood Magic Princess, ever since she transmigrated to this world, she had only stayed in the Demon King’s Castle eating and waiting to die.
The first corpse she had ever seen in her life was the Minotaur messenger Amir had killed herself.
‘Master Demon King, asking someone like me to kill… please have mercy…’
Histori took a deep breath of the cold air near the cliff, then bit her lower lip and gave a bitter smile to the figure standing above the abyss.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Lady Hero. I’ll come over right…”
— *Vwoom.*
However, the very instant Histori prepared to lift her foot and step onto the wooden bridge toward Amir, an abrupt buzzing sound suddenly exploded in her mind without warning.
At the same time, her vision began to turn a deep, bloody red.
‘Is this… the bloodlust?’
‘No, that’s not right. This is something similar to bloodlust, yet different.’
‘My body… is losing control!?’
The blood aura that had dissipated earlier reconsolidated at the tips of Histori’s right fingers, forming a sharp Blood Blade.
It was more violent and restless than any time before.
‘Oh, no!?’
Histori’s pupils shrank.
She instinctively grabbed her right wrist with her left hand, trying to stop this will that did not belong to her.
But it was too late.
Three Blood Blades, shimmering with an eerie red light, shot out from Histori’s fingertips, ruthlessly severing the two ropes that held up Amir’s life.
*Snap.*
Accompanied by a faint cracking sound, the wooden bridge, deprived of its support, instantly disintegrated.
Countless planks began to plummet toward the endless abyss below.
Simultaneously, the black-haired girl on the bridge seemed to widen her eyes in surprise.
She reached out toward Histori, as if trying to grab onto something.
But having lost her footing, even with the Hero’s Blessing, she began to lose control of her body, falling into the depths along with the wreckage of the bridge.