“Master Charon, you really are a failure as a person. Well then, stop pretending. With the [Flawless Eye] watching, there is no way your petty ambitions and shallow schemes could remain hidden.”

“They only trust Winnie. If you keep up this act of kindness and let them return home safely, you know what consequences await you.”

“The son of the Wrathful Dragon Knight-Captain, hailed as one of Camella’s leading noble youths, the youngest full Wrathful Dragon Knight, a prodigy with limitless prospects, Charon, secretly conspiring with a demon sword to slaughter his own kin, a malicious, underhanded villain.”

“If you truly wish to expose this earth-shattering scandal, then by all means, keep hesitating and maintaining your dignity. Keep pretending to be oblivious.”

“Just imagine the scene, your glorious image, built over more than ten years, crumbling to dust in an instant. Heh, what a pity.”

“I told you not to speak such nonsense! I don’t understand what you’re saying!” Charon quickly defended.

“Huh? You still want to explain? Haven’t you seen the way they’re looking at you?”

At those words, Charon turned around and saw the three of them gradually distancing themselves. Amisa’s gaze was filled with wariness and caution, and even Fanya’s eyes now held deep suspicion.

“Do you understand now? You have no choice left.”

“Do I need to tell you what to do next?”

“Kill them. Eliminate the witnesses.”

“……” Charon fell silent. “Is this really necessary? I don’t want innocent people dragged into this.”

“Hahahaha… Master Charon, you truly are… hahaha… Have you deceived yourself so completely that you actually do your own act? Do you actually think you’re a good person??” Charon’s words earned only mocking laughter from [Bloodied Debt].

“You shouldn’t be asking me what to do. You already know the answer deep inside. After coming this far, you still want me to be the villain and voice your own thoughts??”

Charon remained silent for a moment. “You betrayed me before, too.”

“That was because you, Master Charon, refused to drop your final pretense, clinging to your “good guy” image and determined not to cooperate with me.”

“Though you aren’t the ideal choice, I have no other options now. If the best path is unattainable, then settling for second best is all that is left.”

“Come. This is your final chance. Don’t regret it for the rest of your life, don’t bring shame upon your family, your father, and end up rotting away in prison?” With that, [Bloodied Debt] rose before Charon.

After a brief silence, Charon clenched his fists, as if a decision had been made. Without hesitation, he grasped [Bloodied Debt].

“Senior Charon! Are you really going to do this?!” Fanya cried out instinctively upon seeing it.

“Don”t blame me, Junior Fanya, Junior Amisa.” At that moment, Charon seemed to have completely abandoned the last shred of his pretense. “Originally, this was only between me and Winnie. I only needed to kill him, everyone else would’ve been safe, no one would’ve known.”

“But you had to show up now, choose to believe Winnie, and interfere. I’m sorry.”

“I just don’t understand, what the hell makes this bastard so worthy of your trust?!” The moment he grasped [Bloodied Debt], Charon”s voice began to warp. Crimson, living veins slithered from the sword, crawling up his arm and burrowing deep into his neck, chest, and every inch of his skin.

“Aaaahhh!!!…” Charon’s agonized scream echoed across the space. His voice, once barely human, gradually lost all trace of humanity, growing coarse, desiccated, and shrieking, as if the living veins embedded in his throat had drained every drop of moisture.

After the veins burrowed into Charon’s body, it was as if they had sucked something out from within him.

The sight left Amisa deathly pale, trembling as she shrank into Winnie’s arms, clutching him tightly.

Of course, Winnie had no time to think about such things, so he instinctively shielded Amisa and stepped backward.

The wind that had been blocked was now unleashed, lashing fiercely.

Charon, who until now had at least maintained a facade of righteousness, had finally torn it all away. No pretense remained.

Perhaps he realized that clinging to appearances only hindered him, becoming a burden. And now, he truly had no other choice.

To let a golden child, raised in praise and privilege, face utter disgrace, ending his life imprisoned, was something he could never accept.

Winnie shielded his face from the fierce wind, frowning as he watched Charon, undergoing the pact with [Bloodied Debt], twisted into something barely human.

So this was what merging with the “Ultimate Evil Weapon” looked like, like selling one’s soul to a demon.

And indeed, the living veins pierced Charon’s veins, drawing out all of his blood and replacing it with some unknown substance provided by [Bloodied Debt].

No wonder once you made a pact with [Bloodied Debt], there was no escape. You became nothing more than a parasite and slave, forced to obey its will, descending further into darkness until you incited universal wrath and were hunted down.

For a shameless, ultimate evil armament like [Bloodied Debt], the destruction of its host meant nothing, it could simply switch hosts. For it, this was a zero-cost transaction.

While other legendary weapons might wait centuries for a suitable master, [Bloodied Debt] could, if it wished, change hosts more than a hundred times a year. It was only recently that it had chosen to stay low, lest the forces hunting it grew too numerous.

Charon’s voice shifted from dry to deep, then sharp and shrill, like several voices residing within his body, constantly changing. It was as if [Bloodied Debt] was reshaping his very body through the veins embedded deep within.

Watching this, Winnie couldn’t help but feel a strange admiration for the previous life’s Winnie, how could he have dared to form a pact with such an evil armament as [Bloodied Debt]?

Every host was merely a vessel, a tool. History shows that none had ever ended well, each transformed into a monster. How could he have believed he’d be the exception?

It wasn’t that he had made a pact with [Bloodied Debt], it was that he had been mentioned by it.

Watching Charon first drain dry into a gaunt, skeletal husk, then inflated with some unknown fluid, Winnie found the entire process utterly horrifying just to testify.

Fate was a mysterious thing.

In the previous life, it was Winnie who had been driven to this torment. Now, it was Charon’s turn.

Furthermore, the disguise Winnie had failed to remove in his past life had now been stripped away.

Clearly, Charon harbored deep resentment toward Winnie.

Winnie suddenly recalled a saying: when a former underdog, once far beneath you in status and strength, suddenly transforms and achieves more, even surpassing you, the resulting fury and bitterness is unimaginable. Especially for someone like Charon.

But when someone is ten times stronger than you, or more, you don’t feel jealous. You don’t feel unfair.

That was probably how Charon felt about Aesphyra, such a vast gap existed that even when Aesphyra and Mirexia officially announced their relationship, he didn’t dare utter a word against her.

Because he knew, he and Aesphyra weren’t on the same level. Even being compared to her was an insult to her.

Charon’s muscles rapidly expanded, now more explosively powerful than before, yet they gave off a deeply unnatural feeling, as if this strength was unstable, not truly his own.

His sudden growth caused his inner armor to burst apart, leaving only fragments clinging to his body.

“That”is right, Master Charon. If you don’t take such measures, how will you deal with your sanctimonious allies? Heh, they’ll certainly seize this leverage to demand even more from you.”

“How does it feel? To finally hold your fate in your own hands?” [Bloodied Debt] giggled.

“Charon, you’ve truly lost your mind. If you want to die, no one will stop you, but even in death, must you leave behind such a grotesque corpse?” Winnie frowned.

“Mad? Heh, no. I’ve never been better. I’ve never felt this incredible!” After a moment of silence, Charon suddenly burst into laughter, his voice like a roaring flood, shaking the very ground beneath him.

“The past me was a fool. Why did I care so much about what the weak thought of me?”

“As long as I’m strong enough to crush them all into submission, who dares to command me? Who dares to slander me behind my back?”

“Just wait, you who threatened me, made my life miserable… none of you will escape. You”ll all pay the price!” Charon roared with fury.

“Threatened you??” Winnie furrowed his brows.

“I”ll start with you, Winnie! Always opposing me since childhood, forcing me into this form, now I’ll tear you apart piece by piece!” Charon roared, plunging the [Bloodied Debt] into the ground. The earth trembled violently, nearly knocking the three of them off their feet.

Winnie realized what was coming, but grievously wounded and drained of strength, all he could do was push Amisa aside, before thick, living veins erupted from the ground and tightly ensnared him.

“Ugh!” Winnie gritted his teeth as the thick veins constricted violently, as if trying to crush his skin and bones into dust.

His struggles were useless.

“Winnie!” Amisa wanted to help, but she was powerless, lacking mana, her staff useless as a mere wooden stick.

Seeing this, Fanya rushed forward, swinging her sword with all her might to sever the vines. But the moment her blade struck, she was flung backward by the recoil, her sword unharmed, the living veins completely intact.

“Senior Charon! Have you lost your mind?! Possessing yourself with a demon! Release Winnie now!” Unable to harm the vines, Fanya brandished her sword and charged toward Charon as he slowly approached.

Fanya’s mana was nearly exhausted. She converted her last reserves of mana into light, concentrating it on her blade.

[Charged Light Strike]

The radiant knight’s blade slashed down upon the demon, but was blocked by a thick vein.

Fanya’s eyes widened in shock.

Her [Charged Light Strike] had only grazed the vein, failing to cut through at all.

“Wha—!” Before she could retract her blade, another tentacle lashed out, striking her unprotected abdomen with crushing force.

Fanya was sent flying, her sword clattering to the ground. She collapsed, coughing up blood, every bone feeling shattered. She couldn’t even stand.

“Fanya!” Amisa cried desperately.

“You two… you really didn”t have to end up like this. This was only between me and Winnie. I truly didn’t want to drag others in.” Charon shook his head, then curled his lips into a chilling grin.

Clearly, he was enjoying every second of this.

“There’s nothing I can do. Don’t blame me. Now, you both have to die.”

“Ah, Junior Fanya, Junior Amisa… I really don:t want to kill you. I have a principle, I don’t harm women. But you don’t have to die. All you need to do is willingly let me implant my veins into your brains, let me control your body, and obey my every command from now on… and you may live.”

“Live as my slaves.”

With that, Charon laughed as he approached the bound Winnie.

“But first, let’s settle some old scores.”

Having made the pact with [Bloodied Debt], Charon’s already unstable mind deteriorated further, easily influenced and completely corrupted.

“Winnie, when you opposed me, did you ever imagine this outcome?” Charon looked down at Winnie, helpless like a fish on a cutting board. “You had the chance to kill me before, but you let it slip. I never thought you’d be so foolish, to pass up such an opportunity for transcendence, all for some so-called human principles??”

“Might makes right, that’s the only truth.”

“Know what’s coming, Winnie? I”ll gut you like a fish, sever your limbs, drain your blood, and slowly torture you to death!” Charon laughed maniacally.

Yet, just as he stepped within five paces of Winnie, a staff blocked his path.

“Oh?” Charon grinned, amused, at the trembling yet resolute Amisa standing before Winnie, her mana utterly spent, her body trembling with fear, yet still defiantly holding her staff.

The golden-haired girl’s hands shook as she held the staff, knowing full well she stood no chance against Charon. Her face was pale with fear, yet her eyes burned with determination, shielding Winnie without budging.

“I… I won’t let you hurt him!”

“Brave indeed.” Charon smirked. “Honestly, I admire you, Junior Amisa.”

“With such a spirit and beauty, killing you truly is a waste.” With that, Charon raised his hand, another vein erupted from the ground, wrapping around Amisa’s neck and dragging her toward him.

“Ahh!” Her staff clattered to the ground as Amisa, in agony, instinctively tried to pry the vein off, uselessly.

“Then let’s implant the vein right now.” As he spoke, a writhing, crimson web-like tendril sprouted from Charon”s palm.

“Goddess… Saintess…” Amisa sobbed. “Please… save me. Amisa doesn’t want… to become a demon’s executioner…”

“Amisa!…” Fanya, lying on the ground, struggled to rise, but couldn’t even crawl to her sword.

“Save? This is the greatest salvation you could receive. You’ll understand someday.”

Meanwhile,

“Oh no!” In Winnie’s consciousness, the little angel clutched her head in despair.

She had watched everything, and wanted to help, but she couldn’t. She was powerless.

This child, truly a descendant of Varelis, his convictions were firm. At least now, his identity had been acknowledged by the little angel.

But even recognition meant nothing, his bloodline was dead. Because of that, she could do absolutely nothing.

‘It’s over. This time, it’s truly over. Unless a miracle happens… it’s really…’

“Huh? Huh??” The little angel, clutching her head, suddenly froze. “This… this feeling??”

This overwhelming, familiar sensation.

Could it be…?

The little angel suddenly looked up, stunned to see the once-empty consciousness rapidly filled with a sacred, pale cherry blossom hue. A pair of pure, immaculate white wings unfurled, embracing the empty space.

“This… this is?!” The little angel’s eyes broadened. “Varelis??”

Outside.

Fanya and Amisa stared in shock at the scene unfolding before them.

Winnie, suddenly radiating brilliant light, broke free from the living veins and kicked Charon away at the last possible moment.

The sheer force sent Charon flying back over ten meters before stopping.

“What is this?!” Charon growled in disbelief, glaring at Winnie.

“Is this…?!” Amisa, released from the vine, coughed as she stared in awe at the figure enveloped in pink light.

“My injuries… how…?!” Fanya realized she could stand, her bones, previously shattered, were now completely healed by the warm, gentle cherry-colored glow.

Even more potent than Amisa’s Flawless Light.

“This light… could it be…?!”

“Holy Light?!”

Both girls simultaneously thought of the same possibility, staring in shock at Winnie, bathed in cherry-hued radiance. Pure, flawless wings unfurled from the brilliant light, stretching freely like a god descending from heaven.

As the light faded, several white feathers drifted through the air. The wind lifted the exquisite girl’s cherry-colored hair, cascading down to her knees.

“Goddess Varelis?!” The moment she saw the cherry-haired girl, Fanya, just having stood up, nearly dropped to her knees again in excitement.

“Milady… Saintess??” Amisa, too, stood in stunned silence, trembling with emotion.

“Radiance Saintess?!” Charon, seeing the breathtakingly beautiful cherry-haired girl, was visibly shaken. “No… no, Winnie! You”ve got so many tricks, what kind of illusion is this now?!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep