Chapter 118

Everything was hateful.

I couldn't understand anything about the situation surrounding me, and I simply continued wandering through the snow-filled winter.

Back then, I was like an extra on a ruined stage.

What was I living for?

I didn’t know.

There was nothing I needed to protect, and there was nothing I wanted to protect.

And so, repeating days of self-destruction, I aimlessly wandered the snow-covered fields.

“Haa, haa...”

That day was no different.

I was drenched in blood from head to toe, bright red against the white snow.

My body was so battered it could hardly be distinguished from a corpse.

A trail dragged across the ground, streaks of blood stretching behind me as I trudged forward mechanically through the blizzard.

In that process, I stumbled upon a silver-haired girl.

“...So this is where you were.”

A calm voice spoke softly.

And that day, for the first time, I found one reason to live.

***

The air was chillingly still.

The lively atmosphere from earlier had sunk into a dreary silence, leaving only the snake and the sovereign locked in a tense standoff.

Two thrones stood in stark contrast: one white, the other black, a striking interplay of light and shadow.

Neither of us spoke.

The first to break the silence was none other than the old man.

“Doesn’t it remind you of the old days?”

His gaze, steeped in nostalgia, lingered.

The aged voice muttered as though recalling a distant memory.

“That day, too, we stared each other down like this... The day you destroyed my kingdom.”

Perhaps he was layering the past over the present.

As I quietly chewed over the sentences he spoke, a faded memory suddenly flickered across my mind as well.

It was of a particularly cold winter day.

The sovereign smiled faintly.

“Three years already, is it?”

“...”

“Sometimes, I find myself missing those days.”

“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?”

“You’re as cold as ever.”

I didn’t let my guard down.

Despite the old man’s outwardly nonchalant smile, within him writhed hundreds of venomous snakes.

Before me sat the ruler of the underworld.

And at the same time, he was the only person in the last four years who had nearly succeeded in killing me.

It was impossible not to feel the tension sharpening my nerves.

My gaze turned frigid.

“Your deceitful tongue disgusts me.”

“A snake loathing deceit—how ironic.”

“Sometimes, there are people more serpentine than the snakes themselves.”

He wouldn’t deny it.

After all, it was he who had taught me that truth.

I spoke.

“Anyway... Let’s get to the main point.”

“As you wish.”

The old man shrugged.

After a brief pause, he began speaking in earnest.

“The empire’s atmosphere is unsettling lately.”

“To be more precise?”

“It’s like the calm before a storm... On the surface, everything appears peaceful, but a disaster is looming.”

“You’re saying something significant is about to unfold.”

“I’ve already caught signs of it here and there.”

“Signs, you say.”

Interest flickered within me.

It was just around the time when the original story was reaching its trajectory.

Like it or not, the continent was on the verge of upheaval.

While I remembered most of the events from my previous life, I couldn’t be entirely sure of the future given how much I had tampered with the past.

Finally, I focused and requested more details.

The old man continued.

“The first group to watch closely... would naturally be the merchants.”

The merchants.

One of the original story’s most notorious antagonists.

According to the records, they were among the wealthiest individuals across the continent, using their immense fortune for all kinds of heinous deeds.

To the fox who had lost everyone, including her mentor, they were also the target of vengeance.

“Their movements have been unusual.”

“That’s unexpected.”

The merchants had shown no notable activity until now.

A sly smile crept across his aged lips.

It was—

“Because.”

—The laugh of a despicable old man I had almost forgotten.

“I’m still someone you need.”

An irreplaceable cog isn’t discarded so easily.

Like it or not, the old man was that kind of cog.

The most unsettling yet versatile and skilled card in my hand.

The reason I’d kept him alive until now was simple: I needed him.

In this world, every life had a value assigned to it.

The snake and the old man calculated each other’s worth.

—This is a transaction.

At the end of a bloody war, I hadn’t killed the sovereign.

Instead, I had assigned him a role.

The kingdom’s massive drug cartel, its far-reaching influence across the continent, and its overwhelming military power rivaling that of a nation—

I had commanded him to use those resources to guard the empire’s underworld.

The cult, which had been resurging across the continent over the past four years, had been held in check largely thanks to the sovereign’s assistance.

His presence unified the underworld of the continent.

“A card too valuable to discard, wouldn’t you agree?”

“....”

This was why he grated on my nerves.

The old man had a talent for unsettling his opponents.

Every conversation with him felt precarious.

Still—

“I’ll take my leave now.”

—I wouldn’t let myself be swayed.

After everything I’d been through, such mind games were nothing.

My mind remained cold and steady as I rose calmly from my seat.

As I did, his voice reached me, tinged with regret but bearing a satisfied smile.

“Not even a reply?”

“I’ve endured your provocations countless times before. Reacting now would be the strange thing, wouldn’t it?”

“Heh, that’s precisely what makes you so amusing.”

“Take my warning seriously.”

“When you call it a warning, how could I ignore it? I’ll even pass the word along to my subordinates—no need to worry.”

“Next time, I hope we meet under more peaceful circumstances.”

“Let’s hope so.”

As I turned to leave, a sudden question struck my ears, as though the old man had just remembered something.

It was a question about someone’s well-being.

“By the way... how’s that child doing?”

I froze.

My body reacted instinctively.

Unbothered, the old man continued.

“Neria, wasn’t it?”

“....”

“I wonder if she’s living well after betraying her master and running away.”

“You should watch your words.”

“And if I don’t... will you kill me?”

“Don’t cross the line, you replaceable cog. I’ve only spared you because dealing with you is tedious, but don’t forget—I can kill you anytime I wish.”

“Isn’t that an overreaction to a simple inquiry about someone’s well-being?”

“Ha.”

Simple inquiry, he said.

If he remembered what he had done to her, he’d understand why such a reaction was inevitable.

Our cold gazes clashed.

“Was it the name that bothered you? Then perhaps I should call her something else.”

“I said, watch your words—”

“Faithless.”

“....”

The single word echoed in the air, plunging the room into silence.

For a fleeting moment, memories of that bitter winter four years ago surged back to me.

The name from the old man’s lips was a scar that never healed.

—The Faithless One.

The final member of the sovereign’s personal guard, who no longer remained by his side.

It was also the name of the person I had saved with my own hands.

Neria Lightning.

Called "Faithless" by the ghosts of her past.

A girl who, until she met me, had been forced to endure a life of despair in this wretched world.

I unleashed the killing intent I had been holding back.

The atmosphere grew suffocating as the air around us became heavy with hostility.

“Do not call our vice-commander by such a name.”

I murmured.

My voice was steeped in pure, explosive malice.