Episode 139

Past.

Inside the Imperial Palace of the continent. The execution ground.

The space was large enough to accommodate an immense crowd, but now, only two were present.

A demon woman bound to the guillotine.

And the Emperor of the continent, Verd.

Only the two of them remained.

“Do you have any last words?”

The Emperor muttered quietly. His form was transparent, making him invisible, with only his magnificent robes visible.

“Last words?”

The woman, bound, murmured quietly.

“Last words, last words…”

Her long hair covered her face, so the upper part of her face was not visible. However, the corners of her mouth, faintly visible, clearly formed a relaxed smile.

“Why? Do you have something you want to hear?”

“If not, then forget it.”

The Emperor answered firmly.

His voice was devoid of any emotion, almost indifferent. An intangible energy began to rise.

“Just die like this. A mere spy of the Demon Realm.”

“A spy, yes. That’s how it was at first.”

The woman agreed.

The woman bound to the guillotine was a demon, raised solely as a spy to extract information from the Empire.

She was undoubtedly one of the most skilled spies among countless others. She even secured a seat among the Demon Gods and received the title of Spider Goddess.

“Though later, my heart changed.”

“Now you speak lies so easily.”

“I came to love the Emperor of the Empire and betrayed my homeland, the Demon Realm… It’s understandable that you don’t believe it. Even I don’t understand it myself.”

The woman gave a bitter smile.

“However, I have one last wish.”

The Emperor held back his energy and did not execute the sentence. He seemed to want to hear what the wish was.

“My child.”

“Child?”

The woman mentioned a child.

Because there was a child born between the Emperor and the woman.

“It was so painful to attain the position of Spider Goddess in the Demon Realm, and when I fell in love on the continent, my demonic heritage became a shackle. It was frustrating.”

“So?”

“Please let my child grow up on the continent. Raise them like an ordinary human. If they are thrown into the Demon Realm, they will certainly be raised as a weapon. That would be too cruel.”

“Your request is laughable.”

The Emperor firmly dismissed the woman’s request. His attitude toward demons was as if they were mere trash.

“The crime of deceiving me cannot be repaid with your death alone. Don’t worry; your child will also breathe their last.”

“You won’t grant my final request—”

Fwoosh!

The intangible energy, shimmering like heatwaves, created a round hole in the woman’s chest. Her heart vanished without a trace.

The woman coughed up blood from her mouth.

“I won’t curse you. I love you. But the child will definitely curse you. Definitely.”

Thud!

This time, her head was completely destroyed.

The demon woman, reduced to a pitiful corpse, was now accompanied by Ilaref beside the Emperor.

“Dispose of the body without leaving a trace.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will comply.”

However, after receiving the order, Ilaref did not seem to immediately execute the task, despite the time passing.

Eventually, the Emperor asked.

“Why? What are you hesitating for?”

“It’s…”

Ilaref hesitated before speaking.

“…It’s a message from the Demon Lord.”

“A message? Report it.”

Ilaref quickly bowed and complied.

The message from the Demon Lord was simple: Return the Spider Goddess’s child to the Demon Realm, and an agreement will be made.

The Emperor was silent for a moment.

He seemed to be deep in thought.

The child born between himself and the Spider Goddess surely possessed immense power. If he did not kill the child now and send them to the Demon Realm, it would undoubtedly cause future problems.

Ilaref seemed to be having similar concerns.

“Sending the child back to the Demon Realm seems like it will cause trouble later, but killing them would bring grave consequences… It’s too difficult for me. Your Majesty, please give your decision.”

“There is no need to hesitate.”

Finally.

The Emperor calmly spoke.

“Throw the child into the Demon Realm.”

Back to the present.

“Ugh!”

Akne could no longer hold it in and gagged.

“Ugh… ugh…”

It took a very long time for the girl to calm down. The cruel truth shown by Han Shin was more than enough to break her.

Han Shin sneered as he spoke.

“Spider Goddess, your birth is a hybrid of the Emperor and a demon. You were destined for misfortune from the start.”

Her birth was shockingly unexpected.

“Ugh…”

Akne could not utter a word and only held her head, groaning softly.

Finding the wrong picture.

It felt like being born into the wrong side of a “find the error” puzzle. It felt like the first button had been wrongly fastened, and her very existence felt out of place.

Facing the girl, who seemed ready to suffocate at any moment, Han Shin continued speaking as if it was of no concern to him.

“Your mother abandoned her duty as a demon and chose love with the Emperor. In the end, she was rejected by the Emperor as well. Can there be a more disgraceful mother?”

“Ugh…”

Akne continued to gag.

The revealed truth, the contempt directed at her, was so painful that she couldn’t endure anything.

Han Shin kept driving the nail in.

“There is none. There has never been a more disgraceful Demon God than your mother in history. Do you think the Demon Lord showed you mercy by taking you back into the Demon Realm? That’s not the case.”

Han Shin slightly bent his knees to meet Akne’s eyes and continued speaking while looking directly into her eyes.

“What use are you? You’re not even a pure-blood demon like the previous Spider Goddess. Don’t you wonder?”

“Ugh… Wuaaah…”

Eventually, the girl broke down in tears.

Though she had been granted the title of Spider Goddess, she was just a mere young human girl. She couldn’t overcome the sudden crushing truth and could only cry.

“Ugh… Ggrrgh…”

The sound of her painful crying spread, but Han Shin seemed to enjoy it more with each passing moment.

“Someday, when the time comes to negotiate with the continent, you will be used as a bargaining chip from the Demon Realm. You will be nothing more than a treasure stored by the Demon Lord.”

“No… Nooo…”

The girl denied it. She desperately denied it.

Her face, covered in tears, turned toward Han Shin. He merely gripped her shoulder tightly.

He wasn’t holding her to comfort her. It was simply to ensure that she couldn’t escape before the story was over.

Han Shin spoke as if there was no way out for her.

“You don’t? I know your achievements. Even after absorbing the energy of many virgins, there are no results. Your mother, at your age, commanded an entire army.”

He delivered each word slowly to the girl, who looked as though she might suffocate at any moment, hoping she would completely break down and be beyond repair.

“You are a life woven from the threads of tragedy, and your power is so weak that it is of no use. Wear the title of Spider Goddess and dry up until you die.”

Fear and tears flooded Akne’s face.

Large teardrops fell wildly as she shook her head, and Han Shin let out a laugh.

“This can’t be… no, this can’t be happening…”

The truth was too heavy for the young girl to accept. Her body went limp, and her heart shattered like glass.

“How… how could this happen? No, no…! Why is this happening to me…?! Ugh…”

Thus began the girl’s wailing, which continued for a long time. She fainted several times, was moved to the castle, and continued to cry until she reached the point of exhaustion.

“I warned you clearly, and the choice was yours. You insisted, even though it was obvious you would break.”

Han Shin whispered as he watched all of it.

“That’s how ‘grudge’ works. If you release one, two more will appear. If you release two, four will emerge. Anyway, try to live your remaining life well.”

With those words, he left, and from then on, Akne never left her bed again.

-Akne, it’s time to absorb your energy.

Even as the time to absorb her energy approached, she continued to cry and could not rise from her bed. Her attendants had to come to her bedroom to assist her.

One day.

She stumbled upon something by sheer coincidence. It was Han Shin’s crystal orb.

“…!”

She discovered it by pure accident, rolling under the bed, and the crystal orb was still playing back events that had occurred afterward.

She tried to immediately shut her eyes and discard it.

Yes, that was what she intended to do, but…

“……”

She couldn’t.

Like a thunderbolt, a certain moment deeply penetrated her.

-…Remove your filthy hand from the Princess.

-…I told you to release the Princess.

“……”

Unknowingly, she began to focus.

It was a record of some man who was intertwined with her.