Chapter 441: The Fall of Usher (3)
Tudor's mind flashed back to a story Sinclair had told him.
'It is said that once, when the Emperor went to subjugate the Usher family, the Usher family wanted to have a one-on-one conversation between the emperor and the head of the family, leaving all the attendants behind.'
The emperor experienced the betrayal of two of his closest advisors in a place where he firmly believed no one could harm him.
The assassins of the Usher family were equally stealthy and vigilant.
Tudor thought the lesson to be learned from this story was that Usher's assassins had long since earned the trust of their targets.
... But the reality was that they were one step ahead of that.
jjiiig-
Tudor jerked his head to the side at the cold wind behind him.
Bianca's dagger sliced through his side.
"Bianca!"
Tudor's voice didn't seem to reach her.
In her dilated pupils, there was no sign of the firearm she once held.
Madeline chuckled as she watched Bianca stand like a doll.
"When members of the Usher family are in the mansion, they become brainwashed without their knowledge. In a way, the path into the mansion is the route that draws the magic circle of brainwashing, and walking along that path is the trigger condition for brainwashing."
She winked at Tudor and continued.
"The last line you said is the trigger. Once brainwashing is activated, outsiders are considered the first priority to be killed."
"Damn it!"
Tudor raised the spear.
Bianca, with an expressionless face, raised her bow and fired an arrow.
peopeopeong!
The spear swung around and smashed the arrows.
But Bianca's firing speed was still so incredibly fast that even Tudor could only stagger back.
"...Ugh, you're even faster than you were when you were sober, aren't you?"
Tudor tries to force a smile and make a joke, but Bianca's expression is cold.
Madeline laughs at Bianca's doll-like transformation.
"Finally, a young, fresh body is within my grasp, and I've always been troubled by this half-rotten one!"
After speaking, Madeline took off the belly band that was covering her stomach.
Then, the rotten and crumbling belly skin and the empty abdomen inside were clearly visible.
"... Also. The real Madeline died a long time ago."
"Hohoho- yes, I've had a hard time covering up the stench, always having to fill it with perfume or dried flowers or something. But that's gone now."
Madeline turned her head to look at Roderick in the chair.
"Poor Roderick. Why don't you just hand over your body to me? Your daughter will pay the price for your stubbornness."
Roderick's pupils flinched at her words.
Tudor called out to Roderick with a glimmer of hope.
"Roderick, your daughter is in danger, you must wake up, the demon is after Bianca's body!"
Tudor continued to shout as Bianca shot arrows at him with her dazed eyes.
But Roderick was frozen in place.
His pupils flickered for the briefest of moments, but then a thick mist of water and a red deathly fog enveloped him again.
Madeline chuckled.
"Hohohoho – what do you expect when you see poisonous air rising from the swamp?"
She was right.
The demon had released poison all over the swamp, and it was mixing with the moisture rising to the surface and infecting the entire mansion.
"Kugh...."
Tudor knew it, too.
It would be impossible to cleanse the mansion without clearing the entirety of this watery fog that enveloped the grounds.
That's why Vikir had told him to lure the demons out of the mansion, as fighting inside would be futile.
However, Bianca's rushing toward him makes that impossible.
Even if Tudor ran outside, the demon wouldn't budge.
The demon would not move, for she already had the body she wanted so badly.
"Wake up, Bianca!"
Tudor shoved her back against the spearhead and turned the blade.
Rather than deal with Bianca, he intended to go straight for Madeline behind her.
However.
"Hohohoho- that's not going to work."
Madeline was still standing there, unmoving.
A posture of absolute confidence and arrogance.
kkilig-
Bianca aims her arrow at Tudor's back as he runs towards Madeline.
Then.
"...!"
Madeline's eyes widen slightly.
To her surprise, despite Bianca's arrow pointed at his back, Tudor hadn't turned around and was running toward her.
Kiiiiing-
An aura as blue as a tidal wave rises at the tip of Gungnir.
It could be seen that he was truly putting all his strength into the front, not caring about the threat behind him.
"Hohohoho- What, you trust your friend, you think she won't shoot an arrow?"
"Shut up!"
Tudor continued to run toward the front where Madeline was.
Even though Bianca, standing behind, is aiming at Tudor's back with her bow and arrow.
The corners of Madeline's eyes curved seductively.
"Poor thing. Who wouldn't be a fool from the Don Quixote family? to be killed by the arrow of the woman he loves. The end of love is the grave, after all."
Then, turning to Bianca behind her, she commanded coldly.
"Shoot, my dear. Let's make it easy for him."
With Madeline's command, Bianca moved immediately.
Without hesitation, Bianca drew her weapon, pointing it at her friend Tudor's back.
Then, a single arrow fired with tremendous momentum.
...Pow!
A powerful charge containing all of Bianca's power and mana was fired, creating a gray-white gust of wind.
It flew in a graceful parabola and landed directly in Tudor's back.
peoeog-
The sound of tearing flesh and splattering blood echoed through the room with a piercing sound.
"Hohohohoho- they're disgusting, they're such sloppy people! Now, both Usher and Don Quixote are over!"
Madeline burst into laughter as she saw Bianca's arrow pierce Tudor's back.
...However.
Her laughter did not last long.
peoeog-
A stream of red blood spurted from Tudor's back and stomach.
Bianca's arrow had clearly pierced Tudor's body.
And at that moment, as if he knew in advance the direction and location of the arrow's flight, Tudor twisted his stance to the side, rotating his body so that the arrow would tear through the flesh of his side and fly away.
The arrow passes through Tudor's body, leaving only a relatively light wound.
The arrow is stained red by Tudor's blood.
ppeo-eog!
It flew straight on without losing any of its power, and surprisingly, it lodged itself in the center of Madeline's forehead.
"Kuugh!"
Madeline gasped as the arrow pierced her skull and exited the back of her head.
Her vision went black and her thoughts were cut off for a moment.
Her entire body began to shake and tremble.
Even a demon could not help but be shaken by an unexpected arrow piercing its head.
Moreover, what is this black blood on the arrowhead...!
'...Please go to a comfortable place.'
Strange voices in her head, and memories that were not her own began to surface in the center of her blackened vision.
A body growing cold. The rough palm that covered her vision. A face and voice full of scars.
'...He's a good person.'
At the same time, Madeline felt her entire body tremble violently.
She felt her fingers and toes twisting and curling strangely, like the body of an insect curling inward when it dies.
"Kuuuuuuuggghhh"
Madeline groaned as her body twisted and turned.
Just then.
"Run!"
Bianca's pupils returned to their normal color.
She grabbed Tudor by the back of the neck as he staggered, bleeding from the side, and turned and started running.
The ice wall crumbled from Madeline's impact, and Bianca and Tudor threw themselves through the window beyond.
At the same time.
...pusyug!
Tudor lit the black firecracker he'd been holding since the moment the arrow pierced his body.
"...No way. You're not brainwashed! How!"
Madeline was still running forward, unbowed, despite the arrow piercing her forehead and the back of her head.
But was it too unexpected? It didn't stop Bianca and Tudor from throwing
...pungdeong!
Swampy muck and mire surrounded them.
An unpleasant sensation, as if the evil spirit of the red death was sticking out its long tongue and licking their entire body.
But in the midst of it all, Tudor and Bianca looked at each other and held their hearts together.
Then, Tudor's arms, which were above the surface, were stretched high.
Bianca was holding on to him so that he wouldn't sink into the swamp.
Poof!
A firecracker exploded. A black pillar stretched high into the sky.
So that we can clearly see beyond the ridge where Vikir is waiting after completing some preparations.
"It's a success!"
Without even thinking about who went first, Tudor and Bianca hugged each other.
"Good job, Bianca! That last arrow went in!"
"...I wouldn't have made it if it weren't for Piggy's blood on the arrowhead."
But the job isn't completely done yet.
[Kuaaaaaaaaagh- These cheeky bugs!]
The scream that erupted from the window was clearly not human.
A voice that pierced the listener's eardrums and drove fear like a stake through them.
A demon's voice.
There was no doubt that Madeline was showing her true colors.
As soon as they heard it, Tudor and Bianca nodded as if they had made a promise.
Tudor and Bianca quickly dived down to the bottom of the swamp, knowing that their goal was to lure the demon out of the mansion.
Boom.
It's too far to swim to the bridge that connects the mansion to the surface.
It's better to move slowly, underwater, holding their breath as best they can, than to risk being caught by the demon right away.
Tudor and Bianca swam beneath the black, rippling water.
Reddish will-o'-the-wisp lights were circling above the water, giving a clear view of the eerie and grim scene beneath the water.
...kwakwang! pungdeong- pungdeong- pungdeong- cheombeong!
Behind them, the windows of the mansion shattered, and they could feel the debris of the shattered windows falling to the surface of the swamp.
The surface of the water distorted wildly.
[...Where are you! ...Where are you!]
Somehow, the demon's voice came straight from the water.
Tudor and Bianca fought back a chill down their spines and dived deeper and deeper.
Black water plants reached out like water ghosts.
Tudor and Bianca ducked under the fiery glow of the will-o'-the-wisp and into the forest of aquatic vegetation.
They began to push their way through the heavy muck and ripples of the swamp floor, where many things had sunk.
Slowly. Slowly. To lure the demon out of the mansion.
Toward the ridge beyond, where Vikir and the others were waiting.
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