The Villain is Too Good at Sniping

70. Ghost Reaper Rebecca (3)

…The dark, vast auditorium.

As thunder and lightning raged outside, I sneaked in, my footsteps silent.

With [Observer’s Eye], I saw the flow of magical energy. I chased the residual mana, retracing my steps.

The student council room was filled with an intense, oppressive magical energy. Maybe it was already too late to intervene.

…But that didn’t mean I could retreat.

This task couldn’t be left to someone else. I had to do it myself.

The magical energy that had settled in was disrupting my breathing and suppressing my mana regeneration. It was making every step I took heavier.

In the end, I stopped for a moment. If I went any further, my body would be overwhelmed before I even found Rebecca.

“……”

I lightly drew a cross. I gripped the rosary Isabelle had given me in my left hand. With that, the influence of the dense magical energy decreased slightly.

“‘Light of God, power of Ad.'”

These items, originally used by the Sacred Temple, were not meant to be taken outside. If they were personal belongings of a priest, it was even more so.

Sacred Temple artifacts had sacred spells engraved on them. If an unauthorized person touched them, they would pay the price. The most representative price was a burn.

Right now, I was using the Sacred Temple’s artifacts without any resistance.

It was because all these items were Isabelle’s personal belongings. Right now, Isabelle was practically left with nothing. The only way to protect her was through Flail.

Isabelle had entrusted me with all her artifacts, believing in me. I had to succeed in this exorcism to meet her expectations.

The flow of magical energy visible through [Observer’s Eye] was chaotic, but ultimately, it narrowed down to one direction.

I had figured out where Rebecca was.

I turned away from the observer’s gaze. Without hesitation, I walked forward and pushed open the door of the small auditorium.

…The dark corridor.

The small auditorium, originally used for various announcements, was empty. However, I saw a lone silhouette sitting on the stage.

It didn’t greet me or say a word of welcome. It just sat there, legs crossed, staring at me.

“What on earth has happened to you, Rebecca-nim?”

“…”

“I thought we had time for at least one more conversation.”

I waited for a response, but Rebecca didn’t answer.

The lightning flashing outside illuminated the interior of the small auditorium.

In that brief flash, Rebecca gazed at me with empty eyes, devoid of emotion. A different light dwelled in her sunken, crimson eyes.

“It’s not Rebecca-nim anymore.”

The one sitting there, with Rebecca’s body, was just a specter that had taken over.

Only now did I realize I was too late. I had missed the chance to suppress it early on, and now it had come to this.

But there was no choice. The dormitory’s ghost incident had passed without fatalities, but it was different now, at the final act of the first chapter.

If Kyle and his group came here, someone would inevitably die. The specter grew stronger with each victim, and the possibility of suppressing it grew more distant.

In any case, it had already taken over Rebecca’s body, and as time passed, it would become more and more like her.

The moment it completely merged with Rebecca, the Rebecca I knew would disappear, trapped in a different consciousness, sinking beneath the surface.

“…Sion Esperando.”

Finally, it spoke.

The two eyes, which had been dull and lifeless, now held a certain fervor.

The observer’s gaze, which I had abandoned long ago, was something I realized was a feeling of liberation or conquest. It was an emotion that shouldn’t be harbored by either of us.

“I’ve been watching you for a very long time.”

It didn’t have the right to say that.

“I’ve been waiting for a long time to face you directly, with my own eyes and body…”

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It was even more unqualified to hold such feelings. Yet, it continued to speak, using Rebecca’s mouth.

“You seem to have known about my existence from the start, just like I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

“You’ve known I was inside Rebecca for a long time.”

It was a fact that the original player wouldn’t be unaware of.

“…Iana von Gaussfeldt Grander.”

“Who would have thought you knew that far?”

“People know me by another name: Grander’s specter.”

…Thunder struck. The heavens shook as if they were about to collapse.

In the midst of the silence, a sudden, loud applause erupted.

“Congratulations. I’d like to give you a prize, but is there something you want from me?”

“If you want something, do you have the heart to grant it?”

“If you wish, I can grant you one thing.”

A piercing gaze swept over my body from head to toe.

It leaned back, saying it would grant me a wish, but the moment I fell for it, I would die. It was one of the original’s bad endings.

“Is it really nothing?”

“…….”

“I didn’t know it would be so trivial.”

I didn’t react to him. I just stared at Geom-gwi with the same gaze I had always had.

“If I say I want to.”

“If you say you want to.”

“It’s just going back to where you originally belonged, after leaving the body you forcibly took.”

Geom-gwi let out a dry laugh. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

I didn’t respond, and added another sentence.

“…You had a lingering attachment to life, clinging to your only younger sibling’s body.”

“I had many regrets, but it wasn’t about clinging to my younger sibling’s body. I lived my life doing everything I wanted.”

“Don’t you acknowledge that until the end?”

“What?”

Geom-gwi’s eyes drew a circle, filled with curiosity.

But I would crush that curiosity.

There’s no story to share with you, and just like you had your answer from the start, I won’t compromise with you either.

So, I threw a cruel remark, piercing Geom-gwi’s heart.

“You’re already a being that’s dead and gone, aren’t you? As Iana von Gaussfelt Grander.”

No—

This statement was wrong. I corrected my words.

“Now, you’re not the Grand Duchess of Grander, but just a mere Geom-gwi.”

“It’s not like you’re Rebecca’s older sister, but you won’t even be called by name.”

“The dead are respected as the dead, but you’re not even an undead, just a mere ghost.”

“There seems to be a misunderstanding. I didn’t die.”

It’s a given, if you think about it. It was a miserable fate that I saw in a setting book, the miserable relationship between Geom-gwi and Rebecca.

“Rebecca saved me.”

Geom-gwi said, touching the spot below his collarbone, where Rebecca had pierced him when he was alive.

“Rebecca took me in. I loved Rebecca, and Rebecca loved me too. So, she gave me a place to live in her body, even when she killed me.”

“That’s nonsense. You just possessed her body on your own.”

“Do you think that’s nonsense? I’m right here. What more evidence do you need?”

There was no compromise, no room for doubt in my thoughts.

It was truly the words of a madman.

“I love my younger sibling. So, I’ll fulfill Rebecca’s wishes instead. I know better than anyone the emotions Rebecca had to suppress and give up while living as the Grand Duchess of Grander.”

Geom-gwi, who had drawn his sword, placed it on his knee, as if playing a trick.

“You don’t know, but Rebecca is a weaker child than you think. She’s a child who can’t even express her emotions properly, and it’s fortunate for Rebecca that I turned out like this. If I didn’t exist, she wouldn’t have experienced the feeling of liberation in her entire life.”

Geom-gwi’s sword slowly pointed towards me.

“So, I’ll clean up the mess Rebecca left behind, from Arsen to Grander, or even further beyond. I’ll settle everything Rebecca couldn’t.”

“I think that’s the least I can do, and it’s my duty.”

“Rebecca must have wanted that, which is why she gave me her consciousness.”

…Iana von Gaussfelt Grander.

In her lifetime, she was called the daughter of the Grand Duke of Grander, a single rose that bloomed in the north. Later, she was called a talented individual who would lead the north after the Grand Duke of Grander.

She had a talent. A talent for the sword, more precisely, a talent for [slaughter].

Her body, unable to wield a sword, held one.

An unqualified person had been given a talent.

Wherever Iana went, innocent blood was shed, and Iana didn’t let go of the sword in her hand until the moment she died.

Born as a sword demon, she took her last breath as a sword demon.

The massacre that occurred in the north finally came to an end only after Iana’s death.

Her body was cremated, and she was buried in an unknown snowfield, just as she had wished when she was alive.

…All of that is now just a past history.

The Grand Duchess of Grander had disappeared, and her position was taken over by Iana’s younger sister, Rebecca von Anastasia Grander.

But Iana lived on. She had taken over her younger sister Rebecca’s body.

The exact circumstances are unknown. Only the developers of the original story know how she managed to survive.

One thing is certain, though.

The sword demon who had awakened once again was not supposed to exist in this world.

“Everyone may have wanted me dead, but Rebecca didn’t want me to die.”

“You brought about your own death.”

“I’ve seen a lot while living in this body. Among them, there were things about you too. If you want, I can tell you.”

“…Do you have anything to say, or is it all over?”

“No?”

The sword demon shook its head and jumped down from the platform.

“The noble of Esperando, Sion Esperando. I hear he’s the son of the Esperando duke?”

As I didn’t respond, the sword demon continued to chatter.

“I thought you’d be able to take care of my sister. Unfortunately, it seems like it’s not meant to be. I really feel sorry about it. I thought you two would get along really well.”

The sword demon reached out its hand to me, as if asking me to take it.

“So I’ll give you a chance to be with Rebecca. I’ll make it so you can always be by my side.”

“…….”

“This is a chance that won’t come again. You want to kill the Esperando duke too, don’t you? I’ll help you. Until this body rots away, I’ll be by your side, and you’ll be by mine. Beyond Arsene, across the continent, and to another continent beyond that.”

“…….”

I simply remained silent, reloaded my gun, and pulled the slide.

“Take my hand. Sion Esperando.”

The sword demon, with Rebecca’s face, was smiling.

“Take my hand and hold me in your arms. No one else can do it. Only Sion Esperando, you can do it.”

“…….”

“Maybe Rebecca was hoping for that too.”

Just as it was about to say more…

I pulled the trigger, aiming at the sword demon.