SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 368: The Last Threshold of Wrath (2)

“Calm down first, Gong-Ja. Your eyes are dripping with bloodlust.”

Raviel tapped the chair beside her. The fan she tapped on her chair’s armrest was one of the luxury gifts I had given her.

I bit my lip. The fan wasn’t just an expensive gift. Namgung Woon—Buwolseon, Teacher’s rival, the Murim Alliance’s leader, and the OJP Sect’s grand protector—had made the fan with great care.

Raviel would have known that I would come barging in. She was wise. Instead of simply telling me to calm down, she found a way to calm me down better than any words could. Her plan worked very well. Seeing an item that had even a little bit to do with Teacher cooled my rage. Still, it was like pouring ice cubes on lava.

“When else would I harbor bloodlust if not now?” I asked.

“Whenever that time may be, even if it is this very moment, it’s clear that the place where you should harbor that emotion isn’t in front of me. It’s not a matter of time but of place.”

“I’m aware, but I don’t want my rage to dull. The more I speak with you, the more rational I’ll become,” I said in a small voice.

Actually, ever since I had learned about her death, I had been speaking rather quietly. It wasn’t to stay levelheaded—quite the opposite. I didn’t want the anger in my heart to creep into my voice, not even a drop of it.

“I want to stain my hands with blood through pure rage and emotions. Please tell me who dared to hurt you, Raviel.”

“To my ears, that just sounds like an excuse for you to go mad.”

“You heard me right.”

Raviel smiled, seemingly pleased, as if she had found a new toy. For a moment, she seemed to tremble after witnessing the fierce wave of my emotions. Seeing the curve of her lips etched on her pale face, I knew I couldn’t keep this up any longer. Raviel was more interested in my reaction than her own death.

“Do you want to kill the one who killed me?” she asked.

“Yes.” I could feel the taste of blood seeping into my mouth; my teeth had bitten into the inside of my cheeks, cutting deep into the flesh.

“How do you want to kill them?”

“I want to tear them apart.”

I knew in which direction this discussion was flowing. Nonetheless, I could never stay silent at my love’s question, so I used my teeth as wheels and my tongue as a stream.

“I want to slice their lips along the lines of their teeth. I must hear their voice croak through the gap between their teeth and cut lips.”

“And the eyes?” she asked.

“I’ll dig them out. I’ll then mend their blood vessels and nerves with my aura before putting the eyes back in the sockets. Each blink will hurt so much that they’ll wish they were rather blind.”

Raviel’s smile clearly deepened. I saw a delicate shiver travel down her frame; she was enjoying the rare sight of her husband losing his reason completely.

“... Raviel.”

“I see. I wasn’t considerate. Close the door.” She pointed at the bedroom door behind me. “No one else may hear you or see you right now. That luxury should be allowed to me and me alone.”

I stayed silent.

“Please close it, Gong-Ja.”

I closed the door. The air in the room grew more toxic, smelling of blue lilies.

“What about hands? Fingers? What do you intend to do with their fingernails?”

The source of the toxin was those red eyes.

“I want to hear it. Tell me, my love.”

I told her about every hell that a human could imagine, envisioning a purgatory filled with white fire that would put hellfire to shame. My flames in my heart and the venom of my blood leaked out of my mouth. Raviel indulged in my warmth and venom, devouring them. The more my anger rose, the more Raviel’s red eyes glinted. My venom was sweet to her, like vitality.

“So, that is how you’ll kill them?” Raviel asked, calm as a lioness with a full stomach.

“Yes.”

“Among the shadows you took in, only a few aren’t killers. Some might as well be mass killers.”

“Ah...”

“The one who killed me ought to pay the price. Gong-Ja, my love, I won’t stop you from making that happen, but I wonder if the price will be measured fairly.”

I pressed a hand over my forehead. Raviel was asking me to be fair. I was the one who accepted Estelle and even forgave Yoo Soo-Ha, so the rules I had set when I took them in should be applied this time, too.

“Raviel, but...”

“Do you think I wasn’t enraged like you when you died?”

My heartbeat slowed down.

“How many times do you think you’ve died since you and I shared rings?”

I couldn’t say anything.

“How many times do you think I’ve held myself back?”

I bit my lower lip.

Raviel smiled. “Gong-Ja. You’ll also have to hold yourself back as much as I have.”

I couldn’t say anything after hearing that. I couldn’t allow anger to erupt out of me. Raviel knew my rage and how to quell it. Even if I had more to say, the words weren’t able to leave my lips.

Raviel grabbed my wrist and silenced me with her lips. Her scorching heat seemed to burn my tongue. I was sure that she had also taken the heat from my heart, too.

The door stayed shut.

***

It wasn’t until after the sun had set and the silver moon flickered outside the window that we calmed and talked.

“It’s the crown prince,” Raviel said.

There was that low resonance in her voice again, resembling a deep ripple in an icy sea. I loved this voice of hers. However, what she had said included someone I could never like. I gritted my teeth.

“That fucking ramen bastard. Was his blond ramen hair not enough? Did his brain also have to turn into bloated udon noodles?”

“I always look forward to hearing what you’ll compare the crown prince to. You didn’t let me down this time, either.”

The anger that had barely subsided over the last four hours reignited. However, only ashes remained where the fire had already swept through. As Raviel intended, anger like I had experienced before didn’t rise. Water—cold rationality—had seeped into the places the fire hadn’t gotten to burn. This rationality clung to my mind like dampness in an old basement, helping me get back to my habit of making reasonable deductions.

I said, “Well, no one but the imperial family would dare to think of harming the Duke of Ivansia.”

Once the flow began, the rest was clear. The gears in my head started turning.

“But the emperor is a wise ruler and knows that the Ivansia family has power in the empire. The crown prince acted alone, not the entire imperial family.”

“Hmm.” Raviel rested her chin on her hand. She was clearly enjoying this and gestured for me to continue.

“But if you die, everyone will immediately suspect the imperial family. The emperor will claim innocence, but it’ll be hard to ease the people’s suspicions. That is when the crown prince will rise against the emperor. ‘The emperor, blinded by power, assassinated the Duke of Ivansia, a loyal servant of the empire. As the crown prince, I cannot watch the empire fall, so I’ll hold back my sorrow and rise. Though I’m committing an unforgivable, unfilial deed toward my father, I’ll gladly pick up the sword and bear the sin if that’s what it takes to save the empire.”

Raviel didn’t refute me, which made me confident in my theory. That son of a bitch. That ramen bastard was too blinded by power. The only reasons he got to keep his position were that he was the heir to the empire and that the imperial family wanted to maintain their dignity.

How dare he...

I scratched my jaw. “Although it’s history now, the crown prince was once your fiance, Raviel. ‘Even if it ended in tragedy, I cannot overlook the death of a noble who was once my fiance.’ It would make a nice justification to gain the ducal family’s support.”

“How unfortunate...” Raviel let out a soft sigh, glancing at me sweetly. “People always marvel at your martial prowess, but no one knows that there’s another sharpened sword in your head, too. Well, what do they know anyway?”

I cleared my throat. “If the crown prince secures the ducal family’s backing, he practically has the support of the whole aristocratic faction. Therefore, in his own way, he would have thought that the success chance of his coup was high. Yes, in his own way. For this plan to work, he has to convince the people that the emperor is the one who killed the Duke of Ivansia. Raviel, where are you supposed to die tomorrow?”

“The people of the empire should rejoice for having such a wise Moon of Ivansia. I was waiting at the palace to have an audience with His Majesty.”

I knew it.

“... So the crown prince didn’t send an assassin but poisoned you. Yeah, I knew he was a fool when he left you and fell for Goldencup. He would have seduced a palace servant with his looks.”

“Correct. No one would blame me even if I scored one hundred twenty points on your one hundred point test.”

“Obviously, the crown prince wouldn’t have been in the palace at that time to avoid suspicion. Did he go hunting or something?” I asked with a frown.

“I see. Make that one hundred fifty points.”

“He would have brought some imperial guards for this hunt so that he could rush into the palace with them as soon as he heard the news of your death.”

“Two hundred points. This is a problem, Gong-Ja. Even if I’m a duke, giving more than double the top score will make people doubt my fairness as an examiner. Are you trying to force me into enduring the rumor of making a biased judgment?”

“Very well. I’ll step out for a moment. I’ll come back after killing the crown prince and those bastards who joined his hunt.”

“One hundred points deducted, and the score is brought back to one hundred points. How considerate of you.”

I looked at Raviel, who stared back at me. I said, “On second thought, five hours is not enough to calm my anger.”

“I see.”

“Also, it’s been ages since I’ve spent time alone with you like this. I’m angry that I can’t purely enjoy this moment because of the crown prince. That son of a bitch!”

“Then?” She tilted her head.

“Play with me all day.”

“Do you plan to give one whole day to the crown prince and his faction?”

“No, I’ll play with you for a day and rewind time.”

“A great plan. I see no reason to refuse your proposal.”

We played all day.

[You have died.]

[Rewinding time to twenty-four hours ago.]

We then played for another day.

[You have died.]

[Rewinding time to twenty-four hours ago.]

The more we played, the harder it became to find a reason not to play another day.

[You have died.]

[Rewinding time to twenty-four hours ago.]

The rest of the world? Assassination? Power struggles and political fights? They could all go to hell for all I cared. For now, I was going to spend time with my lover.

[You have died.]

[Rewinding time to twenty-four hours ago.]

It took us a week to calm down. Beyond the window, the silver moon still shone in the same spot. Raviel and I sat side by side with our chins resting on our hands, thinking.

“Was that too much?” Raviel asked.

“It may have been too much...”

“A week was too long, wasn’t it?”

I nodded in agreement. “A week might have been too much.”

“Then let’s just play one more day.”

“Yes, let’s play one more day and then stop,” I answered eagerly.

[You have died.]

[Rewinding time to twenty-four hours ago.]

And so another week passed. I wasn’t going to mention what kind of chaos we caused that week. We did three times what anyone would do when they could rewind time and everyone else forgot about it. All that mattered was that we were fully content.

“What’s the plan now, Gong-Ja?” Raviel asked in a perfectly satisfied voice.

I shrugged. “I’ll find the crown prince first.”

“Don’t kill him. If you must do so, do it later quietly, when no one cares.”

I kissed her cheek. “Okay. I’ll get going.”

Yes, I wasn’t going to kill him. Instead, I was going to show him pain that was worse than death.