TSSAH 01

Chapter 01

*Poof.*

As I confirmed that the blade tip had pierced deep as intended, the first thing I felt was, absurdly enough, a sense of relief.

The feeling of, ‘Ah, I’ve finally finished my revenge.’

“Hah.”

A weary sigh escaped my lips.

They say revenge is hollow.

That person who said that and I must be different breeds.

Like finishing a long-overdue assignment, like a sinner who has paid their price, my heart became light as if it had grown wings in an instant.

“Grrk.”

What finally broke the quieting of my thoughts was the groaning of a despicable human being, now rolling on the floor and dying.

Since I’d stabbed the dagger precisely beneath his ribs, severing both his heart and artery in one go, this man’s life didn’t have long left.

In that precious time, even if he spent it atoning for the crimes he had committed, it would be questionable whether heaven’s gates would even crack open for him.

It seemed the man had decided to waste even his final breath.

The wrinkled face of the man who once ruled like a king twisted towards me.

“He, Helena. How could you…!”

The Wickers Earldom, a massive dark organization that dominated the northern region of the Eastern Continent, the Krolin Kingdom.

He was Benedict Wickers, the head of that house and its boss, who had manipulated the Krolin Kingdom at his whim.

But now, for this middle-aged man drowning in his own blood, such honors meant nothing.

To me, an assassin belonging to Wickers and the captain of its intelligence unit, he was just a lump of flesh about to roll into hell at my feet.

“Benedict Wickers.”

I called his name and slowly knelt down on one knee.

Then, I pulled out the necklace I had hidden in my clothes and slowly rubbed the blue gemstone.

*Swoosh*—

Along with a low sound like the wind blowing, I felt my appearance, which had been enchanted by the artifact, begin to change.

My dark red hair turned black.

My ordinary brown eyes turned the color of a deep red ruby.

My pale features, which had been made to resemble Benedict Wickers’s dead daughter, transformed into a face reminiscent of my mother in her youth.

A look of shock began to spread across Benedict’s face as he helplessly looked up at me.

“Y-you, surely you’re not Mo, Morton…?”

Even though many years had passed, the reason he recognized me so quickly was probably due to the jet-black hair and blood-red eyes I inherited from my father—the distinctive traits of the Morton family.

“Do you recognize me now?”

“You all were clearly… dead. H-how…?”

“No, I survived that day. And I crawled my way up here to complete my revenge. Thanks to you, Benedict Wickers.”

Thank you.

I whispered into the man’s ear.

“I abandoned the surname, but I deliberately kept my given name, Helena. Yet you never suspected a thing.”

For all his power, Benedict Wickers was a staggeringly dull man.

A complacent incompetent who never even dreamed that the blade of my revenge was slowly descending upon him.

“Huk. Ghrrr….”

The bleeding must have reached its limit; red, foamy blood dribbled from Benedict’s lips.

“This is revenge for you using and killing the Morton family 13 years ago.”

My father had trusted this man before me, Benedict Wickers.

And because of that foolish judgment, not only my father, but my mother and my little brother Lucas were all brutally murdered.

Right before my eyes, as I hid in my father’s secret workshop hidden beneath the floor.

“Run, you must live!”

“Mother! Father!”

“Hurry. Take this and run. Go now, Helena!”

From that day when I was 10 years old, a full 13 years.

The screams that had tormented me every night for so long were finally subsiding, along with the sound of Benedict Wickers dying.

“Hurk, keok….”

I wish he’d just die quickly.

To the man who was gasping, unable to give up his pathetic attachment to life, I said.

“Just get lost to hell already.”

“……Grrk.”

With my words, the light of life completely faded from Benedict Wickers’s eyes.

I silently watched his now lifeless form for a moment, then stood up.

“Now it’s my turn to die.”

Of course, I didn’t mean literally dying.

It was just that to safely escape from Wickers, I needed to fake my death.

I didn’t want to live my whole life on the run as a traitor who killed the boss.

Wickers was notoriously ruthless in that regard.

I pulled a round object from my pocket.

This too was a type of artifact, like my necklace, a mana bomb that would explode after a set time with just a tiny infusion of mana.

“I hope this prototype doesn’t misfire.”

It was an invention from some unnamed workshop, not officially released, which I had acquired with difficulty through the black market.

I gave the body that was once Benedict Wickers a nudge with the tip of my toe and turned around.

“Now, if I just set this up properly on the way out…”

But before I could even take two steps, I had to stop.

A large man with red hair and gray eyes, similar to what I had possessed as Helena of Wickers, stood in the doorway of the office.

“…Edward.”

Benedict Wickers’s son and heir.

The man I had used for my revenge: Edward Wickers.

“Why are you here now…?”

He wasn’t supposed to be here right now.

He was supposed to be away from the mansion for a few days inspecting external businesses.

I had made sure of that.

So why.

“Helena.”

Edward’s cold, mineral-like gray eyes scanned my body meticulously.

“That blood…”

I gritted my teeth.

I knew better than anyone how the sight of a dear friend soaked in their father’s blood would appear.

“Come here.”

I had expected Edward to rush at me to kill me immediately, but instead, he reached out his hand to me.

With the same unwavering confidence as always, believing I would come to him when called.

But those days were over.

I didn’t move.

Instead, I transferred the mana bomb from my back to my left hand.

“If you won’t come, I’ll come to you.”

*Thud, thud.*

Unable to wait any longer, he began walking rapidly towards me.

I drew the sword at my waist.

I could see Edward also drawing his sword without hesitation, his persistent gaze fixed on me.

*Whoosh!*

Finally, Edward’s heavy sword came flying at me.

I didn’t dodge.

*Clang!*

With a harsh metallic sound, sparks flew as the two swords clashed.

“Helena.”

*Grrrind*—!

Amidst the grating, eerie metallic sound of blades scraping against each other, Edward commanded.

“Put down the sword.”

“Would you put it down if you were me?”

I scoffed and shoved Edward away with all my strength.

A hollow laugh escaped me at his arrogance, how even in this situation, he habitually let himself be pushed back by me.

Then, his cold gray eyes fixed on the corner of my mouth.

Just as I expected.

I seized that opening to roll the mana bomb, now infused with mana, behind me.

In that very brief moment, Edward’s gaze followed it.

An opening.

*Whoosh*—!

I quickly thrust the sword he had given me towards him.

“Looks like you have time to be distracted, huh?”

“Helena, you…!”

Edward gritted his teeth and swung his own sword to block.

Taking advantage of the disruption in his stance, I quickly checked outside the office.

Fortunately, no other organization members were in sight yet.

It was then.

Edward’s grip, attempting to grab my shoulder, was suddenly right there.

“Where do you think you’re going.”

I quickly pulled my body back, trying to aim for a vital spot again, but failed.

His sword was already weighing heavily down on mine.

“Listen to me properly.”

Edward growled lowly.

I guess this was the only way.

Instead, I lunged into his chest and gave my wrist a light flick.

The dagger I had hidden in my sleeve slid familiarly into my hand.

*Thud!*

The sharp blade dug into Edward’s side.

It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it was a spot where bleeding and pain would be significant.

For a normal person, getting stabbed there would cause them to lose consciousness or their reason to be numbed by the pain.

But just as I was about to let go of the dagger’s hilt to pull my body away—

*Tap.*

Edward’s hand caught my wrist.

“Don’t go.”

His immense grip strength made my entire arm tingle.

“If you leave like this, Wickers will chase you. You know well what that means.”

“I know.”

My voice in reply was as rough as his breathing.

“But I can’t die here, can I?”

I had to choose between dying as a traitor who killed the boss, or being hunted.

There was no question.

I twisted the dagger once more and pushed it deeper into Edward’s abdomen.

“Guh!”

As Edward’s body staggered momentarily, I shoved him hard and started running towards the door.

At that moment, a searing sensation spread across my shoulder.

“Tenacious bastard.”

Edward had swung his sword at me amidst all that.

But I couldn’t stop running.

I continued dashing towards the office entrance and looked back.

Through my jet-black hair, severed along with a piece of my shoulder, I saw Edward, kneeling on one knee, his gray eyes burning darkly as he glared at me.

“Try running, then.”

He said.

“I will find you, Helena. You will eventually return to Wickers. And then…”

*KABOOM!—*

The mana bomb exploded.

Using the shockwave, I successfully rolled out of the office.

“What the hell! What happened?!”

“It’s coming from the office!”

I heard shouts from Wickers’s organization members scattered around the mansion, running this way.

Naturally, the mansion’s security would become lax.

I melted into the darkness, heading towards the escape route I had prepared over a long time.