A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law-Chapter 185: The Past

“Damn it...!”

“......”

“You... leech bastard...”

A stream of curses spilled from the half-dragon girl’s mouth between ragged breaths.

“Just die already, damn it...!”

Her expression had long since twisted into one of utter disgust.

— Chzzzzzz...

Anyone would feel the same after watching Count Ringaarden’s body, which she’d already torn apart more than twenty times, regenerate perfectly in a matter of seconds.

“D-Didn’t expect it... but... they’re kind of evenly matched...?”

“......”

“M-Maybe... he might actually win...?”

Watching anxiously from the sidelines, Ember began to mumble with hopeful eyes.

“...No. It’s still too soon to feel relieved.”

“Huh?”

“What the Count lacks right now is a decisive blow to win.”

But her glimmer of hope was quickly shattered by the Death Knight, who was still watching the Count with a wary gaze.

“W-What do you mean by that...?”

“It’s simple. Yes, the Count is continuously regenerating. He could probably do that all day. But that’s all he’s doing—regenerating.”

“......Ah!”

“In a sense, it’s the most passive form of defense. Sure, they say defense is the best offense, but with just regeneration, he’ll never win.”

The Death Knight was right. At first glance, it looked like an even fight, but in reality, the Count had been getting slaughtered one-sidedly by the girl for some time.

“B-But you said he’s feared among black mages, didn’t you? Maybe he’s just waiting for an opening while he keeps regenerating?”

“That’s only because white mana is deadly to black mages. But no matter how powerful that girl is, the racial difference is just too great.”

Normally, an attacker would’ve gotten tired or frustrated by now. But this was a being with half the blood of a dragon.

“Th-Then... what if he just keeps regenerating until her mana runs out...?”

“What do you think dragons are? They can sleep for a thousand years on stored energy alone. If it comes down to a battle of mana depletion, even he’ll be at a disadvantage.”

Both fighters showed no signs of exhaustion—aside from the girl being a little worked up. But if this dragged on for days, it was obvious who would eventually win.

“Th-Then... what if we helped...?”

“Are you not seeing what’s happening in front of your eyes?”

“Oh.”

“She’s not even in her true dragon form—just polymorphed—and she’s still doing this. If we got involved now, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Ember, who had been trying to carefully suggest helping out, immediately shut her mouth, understanding the Death Knight’s point.

Right now, the Count was being crushed by the girl’s spells every ten seconds.

If Ember—currently powerless—and the mana-exhausted Death Knight tried to jump in, they’d just end up as helpless meat lumps without any of the Count’s regenerative ability.

“You sure do like explaining things more than I expected...”

“......”

“You’re a bit different from the image I had of you.”

As Ember quietly muttered, watching the Death Knight’s expression again—

“...I used to.”

“Huh? Really?”

“But...”

Just as the Death Knight’s face darkened at those words—

—KABOOOOOM...!

A deafening blast rang out like a cannon firing, and the Count’s body—sent flying at insane speed—smashed into the distant ice wall.

“Eek!”

“...Tch.”

Ember flinched and covered her ears with a groan, ducking her head. Clicking her tongue, the Death Knight resumed her explanation.

“Either way, this can’t be called a fair fight. If the Count has no way to subdue that girl, the outcome is already decided.”

“T-That can’t be...!”

“But something’s off.”

Then she tilted her head slightly and muttered.

“There’s no way he would’ve shown up without a plan...”

And a moment later, her eyes lit up with realization as a cold smile curved her lips.

“Ah, so that’s what it was.”

She raised a hand and pointed at the dragon girl’s arm.

“Look at her right arm.”

“...Huh? Oh!”

At her words, Ember turned her gaze to the girl’s arm—and her expression brightened.

“Her arm is freezing over!”

At first, it had only been the girl’s right hand. But now, the ice had begun to creep past her wrist and up her arm.

“No matter how mixed her blood is, she must not be completely free from the ancient Dragon Lord’s oath. That changes everything.”

“I-If this keeps going... she’ll just freeze herself and die!”

“You can’t deal with that man using brute force alone. Looks like the tide might turn after all.”

With a wide grin, Ember even clapped her hands—then tilted her head again and asked,

“...Did you say ‘might’? Isn’t this basically game over?”

“The spells a dragon can use aren’t limited to destructive magic alone.”

Right at that moment, the girl suddenly stopped attacking and began to take deep breaths.

“Damn pests that keep being reborn no matter how many times you kill them...”

She glared at the Count with an icy gaze and began gathering mana again.

“Fine. If it’s impossible to erase you from this world... then I’ll make you just like us...”

Then, as she raised both hands and summoned a magic circle, Ember screamed out in alarm.

“S-Sealing magic!”

“Yes. Sealing magic is the perfect counter to someone like the Count.”

Indeed, for a being that regenerated endlessly, sealing was an extremely effective response.

“It was originally developed for the weak to resist the strong—so when the strong use it against the weak, its power is unquestionable.”

And when someone powerful used it on a persistent but weaker enemy, it was hard to think of anything more effective.

“If only he weren’t a white mage.”

But as the Death Knight pointed out, there was one thing the girl had overlooked.

—VMMM...

As the magic circle forming above her head began to emit a strange vibration, the girl’s eyes flew wide open.

“Wh-Why is this happening... all of a sudden...”

—Crackle...!

“...Ugh?”

Before she could react, the magic circle began to shake violently and go out of control.

“N-No way...!”

Desperately trying to stabilize the spell, the girl suddenly snapped her head forward as she realized the cause.

“"May the journey and man's will be strengthened.......” (translated from runic Futhark, stylized Old Norse / Proto-Germanic)

Count Ringaarden, who had appeared silent all this time, was staring directly at the magic circle and murmuring something continuously.

“Wh-What is he doing?”

“Energy, journey, enlightenment, wisdom. Combining those runes creates a path to forcibly access the spell formation... no, explaining it won’t help you.”

“I-I feel like you’re insulting me, but yeah, I didn’t get any of that.”

Ember frowned a little at the difficult words, but nodded in agreement.

“In short, he’s forcefully injecting white mana into the spell to overload it.”

“Huh? Isn’t that helping the enemy?”

“Properly reinforcing a spell makes it stronger. But forced reinforcement breaks it. That’s how delicate spell formations are.”

As she said, magic circles were intricate, multifaceted systems.

And if you allowed interference, there was no telling what might happen.

“And when it comes to forcibly manipulating spells with white mana, Count Ringaarden is unmatched—even among the top of Lumen Ordo.”

“W-Why’s that?”

“Because it’s his only weakness. Of course he studied ways to counter it.”

“Ahh...”

Ember scratched her head and mumbled as the Death Knight continued to explain.

“So basically, he hacked the magic circle...?”

“Whatever that means, it’s not exactly hacking. More like... never mind.”

Despite her blank expression, Ember had surprisingly gotten the right idea—at least by modern standards.

To be more accurate, it wasn’t hacking. It was like a DDoS attack on the magic circle.

“"Golden star-born path, break....” (translated from runic Futhark, stylized Old Norse / Proto-Germanic)

Unlike a real DDoS, which required multiple sources, the only one overloading the spell now was the Count himself.

“Wh-What did he just say...?”

“Command, rampage, star god, fury, shatter... Nothing subtle. He’s only using words to make the spell go berserk.”

“Th-Then...?”

“Just keep watching. You’ll see what he was aiming for.”

And as if on cue, the result revealed itself seconds later—just as the Death Knight said.

“A-Aaagh! You crazy bastard...!”

The girl, struggling to stabilize the circle, tried to cancel the spell by lowering her hands—but it was too late.

“KYAAAAA!”

The now completely berserk magic circle exploded downward—engulfing her entirely.

“...From the moment I acquired the relic, your chances of victory were already gone.”

As she fell to her knees, the Count finally began walking slowly forward, opening his mouth to speak in a quiet voice.

“W-What... are you trying to do to us...”

“I’m sorry, but there’s no need for you to know.”

She glared up at the Count with her last ounce of strength, but his voice remained cold.

“I’ve no real interest in you. And there are many things in this world better left unknown...”

“...W-Wait.”

“If you could just close your eyes for a moment, I’d appreciate it.”

She tried to rise, but it was already too late.

“N-No...”

The freezing had reached her throat, and the ice finally silenced her.

“......Haaah.”

The Count sighed lightly as the light faded from the frozen girl’s eyes, then slowly turned his head.

“W-Wow. We won...”

“......”

“C-Congratulations~!”

In the awkward silence, Ember tried to force a cheerful voice, wiping sweat from her brow—but the Count’s gaze remained cold.

“I have no business with those who consort with demons.”

“U-Uh... you mean us?”

“This is your final warning. Step aside and back away.”

Ember tried to ask something but was overwhelmed by the Count’s oppressive aura and quickly stepped back.

“......” 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Even the Death Knight, who had been staring at him, silently withdrew.

Then, the Count began to walk forward once more.

“...At last.”

He stopped right in front of Whitney, still unconscious on the ground.

“This day...”

As he mumbled quietly to himself, he reached into his coat to pull something out—

“Stop.”

The Death Knight, who had stepped back earlier, suddenly blocked his path with a voice like ice.

“You’re interfering with me?”

“I-I didn’t interfere...”

“No reason for me to.”

Ignoring Ember’s timid comment, the Count questioned the Death Knight.

“Why do you want to turn your own son into the Demon King?”

And she responded with a question of her own.

“Is it revenge for your wife?”

“So that was it, after all.”

The Count’s eyes, silent until now, suddenly gleamed with a chilling light.

“A brutal revenge plot against the Embergreen House and Meredia Embergreen—that’s your end goal.”

But as soon as she finished, the light faded. His gaze returned to its usual, soulless calm.