TINOT 23

Chapter: 23

It was a dream again.

Kiiiiiik—
An unpleasant screech, like metal being scraped, drilled into Lisithea’s ears.

Lisithea hurriedly checked the clock on the table.

It was just past midnight on the 13th.

The time she was supposed to act was still two days away.

Something was clearly wrong.

The room was already littered with the corpses of monsters and soaked in blood, as if a fierce battle had already taken place.

Her arm felt strangely heavy. When she looked down, she saw that her hand and sword had been bound together with cloth—tied so tightly that even if she lost her grip, she wouldn’t drop the blade.

Her breathing was ragged. Her heart pounded as if it would burst.

Lisithea calculated how long her body could hold out.

At best, about ten minutes.

That was only if that damned seizure didn’t strike.

Kiiiiiik—

The circling screech outside grew closer—

Crash!

The window shattered as a gigantic bird flew in.

Every time the enormous eagle spread its wings and slashed with its claws, furniture tore apart like paper.

It was a harpy—a man-eating monster born from eagle eggs.

Crunch!
Its talons smashed into the bed.

Kiiik! Kiiik! Kiiiik!

Unable to glide freely in the cramped room, the harpy shook its head violently, shrieking in irritation.

Lisithea seized that moment and ripped off her hairpin, hurling it.

The hairpin pierced the harpy’s left eye perfectly.

“Kiiieeek!”

Screaming, the harpy lunged at her.

Lisithea ducked just in time, narrowly avoiding its claws, then stepped on the bed and leapt onto its back.

Kii—kiiik!

The harpy thrashed wildly, screeching as it tried to shake off the thing clinging to it.

Bracing her thighs with all her strength, Lisithea drove her sword into the base of its wing.

The harpy lost balance and crashed to the floor.

The impact felt like her own body was shattering.

Using her sword to push herself up, Lisithea stabbed into the back of its neck, severing the monster’s last breath.

She no longer had the strength to stand.
Her sword hand trembled violently.

If another monster came now, she would surely die.

“Ah… Miss…”

She wasn’t alone in the room?

Lisithea turned toward the voice.

There stood Mari, pale with terror.

Her vision was completely red—Mari’s clothes and face were drenched in blood.

Lisithea reached out, desperately hoping it wasn’t Mari’s blood.

Then—

A massive serpent’s shadow fell over Mari.

“Mari! Get out of the way!”

Lisithea screamed—

And woke up.

Her entire body was soaked with sweat.

She checked the clock.

There was exactly one hour left until the 13th.

Since she didn’t know when the monster assault would begin, she had to move immediately.

Lisithea yanked the bell rope beside the bed like a madwoman.

“Mari!”

She changed into easy-to-move clothes, tied her hair, put on light protective gear, and inserted her poisoned hairpin.

The same hairpin she had thrown into the harpy’s eye in her dream.

It was impossible not to find that ominous.

But it was the most useful hidden weapon she had.

Just as she finished preparing, Mari knocked.

“Miss… what is it? At this hour…?”

Mari rubbed her sleepy eyes.

“Mari, you need to leave the mansion right now and—”

Kiiieeek!

With a dreadful screech, lights flared up across the Marquis Aster’s estate.

“Miss… isn’t that a monster’s cry?”

It was too late.

Sending Mari out now would be sending her to her death.

‘Scylla, you took my money and this is how you do the job?’

Lisithea had only ordered a small incident—just a few low-level monsters.

But now even a man-eating harpy had appeared.

This had gone terribly wrong.

She grabbed Mari and shoved her under the bed.

“Stay here. The knights from the main house will come soon, so just—”

“I know… If I stay by your side I’ll only get in your way. I’ll do exactly what you say.”

Mari forced a smile, holding back tears.

From beneath the bed, she waved as if to say she was fine.

Lisithea bound her sword to her hand with cloth and reviewed the dream.

Two monsters had appeared:

The flying harpy, and a serpent-shaped one.

What that serpent was would decide everything.

‘If it’s a hydra or a wyvern, I might survive…’

She raised her senses.

From far away came the clash of weapons, monster screams, and human cries.

The annex was ten minutes from the main house.

They wouldn’t spare troops for her.

They’d remember her only after everything was over.

Her dream confirmed it.

Here in the annex, she would fight alone.

‘It’s okay. I was still alive until the snake appeared.’

The dream would come true.

Which meant she wouldn’t die before then.

Crash!

The sound of the annex door breaking.

Tap, tap, tap—the footsteps of a beast.

A bipedal monster.

Lisithea hid behind furniture.

Doors were smashed one after another—then the door to her room opened.

Moonlight revealed the monster.

Two horns.
Split hooves.
Rectangular pupils.

A satyr—a goat-shaped walking monster called a demon’s servant.

It wasn’t actually that dangerous.

Just a tough-skinned goat.

The real danger wasn’t its horns or hooves.

‘Finish it fast and silently.’

Lisithea lunged and pierced its throat.

The satyr collapsed, blinking before letting out a thin “Meeeh…” and dying.

She twisted her blade out while covering its mouth.

A satyr’s cry summoned other monsters.

That was why its vocal cords had to be cut instantly.

But then—

Tap, tap, tap—tap tap tap!

Hooves came running down the corridor.

“Meeh! Meeh! Meeeeh!”

The satyr’s cry echoed through the annex.

The demon’s horn calling monsters.

Kiiiiiik—

The metallic screech came again from outside.

‘Next is the harpy.’

Lisithea pulled her sword from an arachne’s corpse and checked the clock.

Just past midnight on the 13th.

Only an hour had passed, yet blood filled her throat.

Her body had once been the only thing she could control in this world.

Pain, growth, achievement—she had earned them all.

But after she turned sixteen, everything changed.

Her body weakened.

Her senses dulled.

Even what she had built with sweat and effort was taken from her.

Her heart felt ready to burst.

Crash!

The harpy broke through the window.

Everything happened exactly as in the dream.

She fought desperately.

She killed it.

Then—

“Ah… Miss…”

Mari, soaked in blood, called to her.

Only then did Lisithea realize—

The blood was hers.

Her torn forehead bled into her eyes, turning the world red.

And then the serpent appeared.

Lisithea loosened the cloth binding her sword.

This was not a hydra.

Nor a wyvern.

A rooster’s comb sat atop a smooth serpent’s head.

The king of all serpents—

Basilisk.

“Mari! Move!”

Lisithea grabbed Mari and hurled her sword into the basilisk’s open jaws.

The blade suddenly glowed blue—

Fwoosh!

Blue flames erupted.

The burning sword pierced the basilisk’s mouth.

The monster thrashed in agony.

A sickening stench filled the room as blue fire burned inside its body.