Sister, I Hit You Because There Was a Ghost Behind You - Chapter 56

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 56. The Ugly Truth Behind the Mask
Throughout my ascent up the staircase, the weight of two men’s gazes burned into my back like hot iron.
Their sincere confessions, intoxicated by the flower’s fragrance, refused to dissipate into the air—instead, they clung to my ankles like sticky mud, refusing to let go.
I maintained an icy expression and led the way toward the balcony entrance.
The Holy Knights of the Papal See standing guard at the entrance crossed their spears to block our path and issued a stern warning.
“This is an exclusive area for distinguished guests. Those without authorization must withdraw.”
Before his words could finish, Kairik von Herzen stepped forward, radiating a bestial killing intent.
He kept his hand thrust into his tuxedo pocket, smiling with a metallic edge as he growled low.
“Authorization? I think my fist will crumple your helmets before that becomes relevant.”
As the Holy Knights reached for their sword hilts in panic, Demian Lyart positioned himself before them, emanating an elegant yet overwhelming pressure.
He withdrew a silver seal symbolizing the Knight Commander from his ceremonial pocket and issued a cold command.
“I am Demian Lyart, Knight Commander of the Central Holy Knight Order. I carry an urgent secret mandate from His Holiness for the Cardinal. Open the way at once.”
The moment the knights confirmed the Commander’s seal, their faces drained of all color.
As they hastily lowered their spears and threw open the doors, I strode past them with unhurried grace into the balcony.
Inside the balcony, an eerie silence reigned, utterly severed from the chaos below.
The obese Cardinal, adorned in a golden mask, was greedily devouring the rare delicacies heaped across the table.
Around his neck and wrists, threads of black demonic energy—visible only to those with spiritual sight—coiled like serpents.
He resembled a grotesque puppet, dancing on invisible strings.
I settled into the chair across from him with arrogant poise and spoke with contemptuous mockery.
“Your appetite is truly remarkable, Cardinal. And this despite the continent’s calamity standing at our very doorstep.”
The Cardinal lifted his head stupidly, unable even to wipe the sauce from his lips.
He too was thoroughly drenched in the fragrance of truth flowers, his eyes glazed and drool trickling from his mouth.
He laughed vacuously, his hoarse voice shrieking.
“Calamity? What does it matter! Once the deepest sanctuary of the Papal See opens, I shall obtain eternal life!”
I narrowed my eyes and traced the black threads coiling around his neck to their source.
The threads emanated from a crude, tarnished iron ring encircling the Cardinal’s finger.
This was the living key to the Papal See’s depths, and the medium that had enslaved the Cardinal to the Greed Demon.
I extended my hand toward the ring and asked with chilling pressure.
“Tell me the location of the sanctuary that ring indicates. And tell me who gave you this toy.”
The Cardinal writhed in agony, clutching at his head, yet the flower’s fragrance compelled him to speak truth.
He wailed and sobbed, pouring out every secret.
“The Master gave it to me! That Master with no name and no face! The sanctuary is hidden beyond a massive mirror on Papal Palace Underground Level 7!”
The moment I extracted this crucial information, the iron ring on the Cardinal’s finger blazed crimson.
Black smoke erupted from the ring, instantly transforming into a colossal centipede-shaped Greed Demon that descended upon us.
[How dare you pry into secrets! I shall dissolve every shred of your flesh and bone!]
The Greed Demon shrieked with grotesque fury, its dozens of legs writhing repulsively.
Demian Lyart cried out urgently and drew his holy blade, slashing through the air.
“Violetta, fall back!”
Pure divine radiance split through the demon’s body, but it scattered like mist before coalescing again, clinging to existence with stubborn resistance.
Hundreds of grotesque legs thrashed through the air, shattering the balcony’s ornate chandelier into glittering fragments.
Glass shards rained down like a deluge as the Greed Demon unleashed torrents of viscous, nauseating acidic venom in all directions from its maw.
Demian Lyart instantly unfurled a shield of light to intercept the toxin, but the venom that touched the barrier shrieked with a terrible sound, billowing forth black smoke with ferocious intensity.
Beyond Demian Lyart’s shoulder as he concentrated on defense, Kairik von Herzen kicked off the ground and surged upward like a wild beast.
As he leaped into the air and raked down with elongated bestial claws, a sharp crimson blade of energy extending from his fingertips savagely lacerated the Greed Demon’s thick carapace.
Kairik von Herzen bore down on the Greed Demon’s head and roared with ferocious fury.
“You pathetic worm—how dare you writhe before me!”
With a thunderous crash, the finest marble floor fractured like a spider’s web, sending fragments scattering into the air.
Though the physical impact crushed the Greed Demon’s form grotesquely, I could not prevent its fragmented mana from engulfing the entire balcony like a swamp.
The noxious miasma the Greed Demon exhaled began rapidly poisoning the balcony’s atmosphere.
The lethal toxic mana seeping through the barrier seared my spirit eyes a vivid crimson, as if burning them away.
I wanted to summon my mana hammer from the subspace pouch as I normally would and shatter it to pieces in one breath, but my fingertips trembled faintly and I lacked even the strength to grip a weapon.
Because the Cardinal’s ring was a conduit directly connected to the deepest darkness of the Papal See, the toxin’s potency was on an entirely different level from the Greed Demons I had faced before.
With each breath I drew, a terrible pain as if my lungs were pierced by sharp metal shards washed over me.
I squeezed my eyes shut against the mounting headache and the overload of my spirit eyes, staggering.
Then Demian Lyart swiftly approached and embraced me firmly from behind.
The cool forest essence flowing from his chest purified my entire being and steadied my scattered mana.
I steadied my drowsy consciousness and spoke softly, as if sighing.
“Demian Lyart, I’m recharged now—please let me go.”
Demian Lyart reluctantly loosened his grip, yet exhaled a cool breath against my ear and whispered low.
“You must remain at my side until your mana stabilizes. This too is a knight’s duty.”
Kairik von Herzen, who had trampled the Greed Demon’s remains beside us, saw the scene and cried out with eyes blazing with jealousy.
“Duty, my ass! Violetta, do you really love being in that pretty boy’s arms so much?”
I shot both men a sharp look and spoke coldly.
“Both of you, stop this. Is now really the time for jealousy? The prey looks like it’s about to escape.”
At my rebuke, both men faltered and fell silent, yet neither withdrew the keen glint from their eyes directed at each other.
I roughly seized the iron ring from the fallen Cardinal’s hand and thrust it into my garments.
The eerie coldness emanating from the ring pierced through my thin silk gloves and touched my skin.
That a single worn, crude piece of iron could harbor such a vast conspiracy capable of destroying the continent was truly astounding.
Now my destination was certain.
Papal Palace Underground Level 7—the source of all calamity and the place where the Mastermind lurked.
I casually adjusted my torn dress hem and gazed down beyond the balcony’s railing.
In the Hall below the balcony, nobles still intoxicated by the fragrance of the Flower of Truth continued to dance, their foolish laughter ringing out.
They would never dream of the terrible calamity coiling beneath their feet.
The masquerade remained resplendent, yet this cold iron ring clutched in my hand heralded the prelude to a bloody tempest that would overturn the continent’s fate.
I turned toward both men and declared with an elegant yet deadly smile.
“The masquerade ends here. Shall we head to the Papal See and slit the throats of those little rats?”
Reading my chilling resolve, Demian Lyart gripped his holy sword anew and pledged his steadfast loyalty, while Kairik von Herzen wiped the blood from his knuckles and wore the faint smile of a predator.
At my command, both beasts prepared to follow me, their eyes burning with different flames.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————