SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 237: The Death King’s Family (1)

Sylvia clenched her fists. “What do you mean by handling this?”

Raviel calmly replied, “Here’s a summary of our issues: I hurt you. I apologized in an attempt to lessen the wound, but it’s difficult to heal the wound with just one apology. Even now, your wound probably hasn’t healed yet.”

“Well, when you say it like that, it makes me seem really petty. Okay, what then?”

Raviel raised three fingers. “We have three options. The first is for me to suffer until you can relieve yourself from your wound.”

I clenched my fists. Raviel glanced at me before looking at Sylvia again.

“But that cannot be done. My suffering doesn’t involve just me. It brings down too many things that depend on me. In the past, it was the well-being of the empire, and now, the happiness of my lover has been added to the list. This is why I simply cannot grant this. More than anything, your butler has already proven by giving his all that you cannot become happy this way.”

Sylvia stared down at the ground. The story about her butler would always remain within her as a debt that she could never repay.

Raviel folded one of her raised fingers. “The second option is to physically destroy you.”

Sylvia flinched and raised her head. The silver tyrant looked down at Sylvia, her red eyes seemingly capable of piercing even the darkness.

“Under normal circumstances, I would choose this option without hesitation. My spouse told me about a goddess who said murder is the ultimate incompetence, and I completely agree with her. Murder isn’t proof of competence. It’s simply chosen when there is no other option within sight.

“But I am not an omnipotent goddess or an omniscient transcendental being. I am a person with limits. In truth, I’m merely a slightly intelligent bipedal beast who cannot survive without bread and water. Still, even with these limits, I should protect what I have. That's why I have no choice but to physically eliminate everything that threatens or has the potential to threaten my safety.”

Raviel's willingness to acknowledge her limits enveloped her voice with a humane dignity.

Sylvia gritted her teeth. “So, are you saying you’re going to get rid of me? Or are you saying that you cannot allow a person like me to have a proper physical body, so you intend to keep me chained to serve in the legion?”

“Both are correct, but I won’t choose either one right now,” Raviel answered. She folded another finger, leaving only her index finger up. “The third option is to accept your heart. In other words, I can take you as my concubine.”

Sylvia threw her a questioning look.

Silence fell. Ja Su-Jeong slurped her share of barley tea, the noise cutting through the dead of night. Even the Heavenly Demon Cult followers hiding in the shadow of the walls held their breath.

The Guardian let out an exclamation.

—Wow!

The legend of legends who had conquered the ninety-ninth floor of the Tower looked as if he was contemplating something truly profound.

—Zombie, I need some popcorn. Make sure to get me the one with caramel, not plain. In my opinion, popcorn tastes best when it’s coated in a moderately brown caramel. How should I put it? It tastes even more special because it feels like biting into a cavity. Anyway, I’m yapping.

His words weren’t very profound. I would have preferred if he shut up for now.

Finally, someone broke the silence. It was hard to see it in the dark, but I was sure Sylvia’s lips trembled just as much as her voice when she asked, “W-What the hell are you saying? Concubine? Concubine? H-How dare you! I am Sylvia Evanail. His Highness the Crown Prince swore to me that he’ll make me his crown princess, yet you’re asking me to become a concubine? Seriously?!”

“Seriously.”

“Bullshit! Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit! What the fuck are you talking about? D-Do you seriously think that makes sense? What in the world goes inside your head—”

“Hmm. It’s indeed bullshit,” Raviel agreed.

Because she agreed, my heart, which had sunk to a bottomless pit, slowly ascended from my stomach and returned to its rightful place.

“There are two reasons this is bullshit,” Raviel said, raising two fingers again. “First of all, this is not something I can decide on my own. My social image, my status, other people’s reactions... All these secular issues can be sorted out, but first, an agreement must be reached between Gong-Ja and me. The fact that this agreement wasn’t made makes this solution bullshit.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. My heart was at ease now.

Sylvia screamed, “No, that’s not it! What about my opinion? That should be the first prerequisite—”bone

Raviel folded a finger. “Two. Do you really love me?”

Sylvia closed her mouth.

“Is it possible that you weren’t just admiring your idol, but loving her? Didn’t you experience the desire to possess something you couldn’t have, or assumed you couldn’t have?”

A long silence followed.

Raviel put down the teacup. Ja Su-Jeong picked up the tray, collected the rest of the cups, and disappeared inside the hanok.

“I love Kim Gong-Ja. I love everything about him. I never thought this kind of love was possible. It would have been impossible for the countless people who have lived and died so far, but one miracle was granted to me, allowing me to meet him.” freewёbnoνel-com

Raviel sounded calm as if she was just stating the truth.

“Everything is perfect. The sound of his breathing, the empty space in my bed he leaves at dawn, his warmth... I feel happy with every trace that my love leaves behind. I understand him, and he understands me. We live in the same timeline.” She looked back at Sylvia. “Therefore, I cannot accept anything else as love other than this kind of love. Do you love me that much?”

Sylvia lowered her head, either unable to find a proper answer or simply choosing not to answer. She wanted to avoid saying anything altogether.

“You know by now that you don’t love me. That’s why I can’t love you.”

Correct. That was it. Countless coincidences and immeasurable amounts of blood were needed for Raviel and me to love each other. The reason our love was strong was simply that it wasn't easy to achieve in the first place. Our love was difficult. It had become a reality only because of who we were.

Darkness gathered behind Sylvia’s draping bangs. She kept her head down as she asked, “Then what? What are you saying we should do?”

She trembled. Her clenched teeth began to turn red because of the blood dripping from her gums. “You won’t let me destroy you, you won’t kill me, you won’t love me... What’s left then? All you gave me was an apology, saying that you aren’t perfect. Ah, what am I supposed to do with it? Tell me, what am I supposed to do?”

“I want to leave that choice to you,” Raviel said, looking back at me. “Gong-Ja.”

“Yes, Raviel.”

“If you give Sylvia a physical body using your Skill Earthbone Dragon’s Skull, will she become much freer than when she was part of your legion?”

I understood the intent of her question, so I nodded. “Yes, she’ll be free.”

“Is that freedom equivalent to what she enjoyed while alive?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Enough to pursue what she wants?”

“Yes.”

Raviel nodded before looking back at Sylvia. “Pursue what you desire, Sylvia Evanail. You want to destroy me? You almost succeeded once. Try it again. But, to do so, you’ll have to be stronger than me and my lover. You’ll also have to be able to completely disregard the butler who sacrificed himself for you.”

Goldencup’s wheezing stopped.

Raviel added, “Do you want to die and disappear? Or do you want to kill me? Give it a try. But I have no intention of going down without a fight. I’ll resist with everything I have, and I’ll win. You will have to do better than the last time you tried to destroy me. Or do you want me to love you? Perhaps you would like to become my idol, like I was to you in the past. That, too, depends on your efforts. Maybe you can even achieve that dream.”

Raviel looked straight at Goldencup the whole time she talked. The two locked eyes.

“Either way, Sylvia Evanail, I recognize you as my opponent, someone who opposes me in everything, as well as an equal human being.”

From the very beginning, this could be just what every world needed.

“So, I’ll ask you, Sylvia Evanail, do you acknowledge me as another human being?” Raviel asked in a quiet voice.

Silence.

***

Sylvia looked up at Raviel blankly. Beyond the dark sky, the white moon was shining. With her back against the moonlight, Raviel looked very solemn.

After who knew how long, Goldencup finally broke her silence. So much heat had built up within her chest that even when she opened her mouth, nothing other than steaming-hot breaths came out. Bloody malice, anger, shame, self-reproach, resentment—all of these emotions leaked out alongside her breaths.

“It—” Sylvia was practically vomiting words into the world. “It’s difficult for me.”

She clenched her teeth so hard that her gums bled. It hurt, but her eyes never wavered.

“Not looking up to you two, not looking down on you... Accepting you as other human beings... I want to do that to myself, but actually doing it to others is...”

Her voice resembled two glued pages that someone was desperately trying to unstick.

“So this is how it is. You apologized to me, but I can’t do the same. I can’t forgive you.” Sylvia covered her face with her hands. “I know how shameless of me it is to say this. I know that what I did to you was far, far, far worse. Even though I know that...”

Regardless of one’s physical power or social authority, the person who forgave would always be stronger than the forgiven. Sylvia wasn’t that strong. Hence, she couldn’t forgive Raviel.

Trembling, Sylvia took a deep breath and barely managed to say, “So, for now, I want to give it a try. Since I’m an idiot, I don’t know how long it will take to forgive you all and accept you as fellow human beings, but I will try to make it happen. Because that’s—”

Sylvia swallowed down her words. She could have held out until they were digested and disappeared, but with her head down, she added, “Becoming that kind of person would have been what my butler wanted.”

Tears welled up in her eyes. Sobs followed her sniffles.

“First, I’ll try becoming someone he wouldn’t be embarrassed with. It’ll be difficult, but I—”

This was the manifestation of her will to live. Since I had the power to distribute life, I gladly said, “Good. Then try to live, Sylvia Evanail. Live the life you want and prove what you’re capable of. I will be with you.”

The golden card I held in my hand glowed. I put her will into the Earthbone Dragon’s Skull.

[Activating the Skill!]

The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel