Chapter 36
Jane's first reaction to the tiger woman Camilla's statement was denial.
“No, you must have misunderstood something. Were you brainwashed or something?”
But the certainty in the tiger woman's eyes shook Jane's faith, and those clear eyes dispelled even the possibility that Camilla had been brainwashed.
Camilla was sincerely claiming that the Godfather was the nameless swordsman.
“That can't be···”
“Jane. You've always been like this. People don't listen when you explain things with words. So···”
Whoosh.
The tiger woman tore off her top.
‘Oh my. How embarrassing.’
Dominic turned his head, sneaking a glance at Camilla's upper body.
And he was disappointed.
Scales had sprouted across Camilla's upper body like armor.
Then he remembered that he had one himself, and while Dominic reflected alone, Camilla roared and charged at Jane.
“So I'll carve the truth into your body!”
Graaagh!
With a tiger's roar, Jane charged in barehanded.
True to her epithet, the Rending Tiger, Camilla pressured Jane by swinging claws toothed like saws.
Their speed, skill, and power were all clearly different from when she wielded her saws.
Only then did Dominic revise his assessment of Camilla.
‘Now that's Fourth Tier.’
When she wielded the saw, he had wondered whether she had risen through the tiers by overpowering her opponents with strength, but her movements with her claws showed that was not the case.
The saw had merely been Phase One.
When Jane dodged Camilla's claws, the building behind her was sliced into five pieces like tofu.
‘Yes. This is what Fourth Tier should look like.’
Breaking walls with a saw and collapsing mansions was far too ordinary for Fourth Tier.
A proper Fourth-Tier attack should be able to cut down a building with a single basic strike.
Only now could it be called a fight worthy of Jane.
While Dominic watched with his arms folded, Jane dodged Camilla's attacks and recalled Dominic's teachings.
- “Power is good. Once you reach around Fourth Tier, you can easily cut through buildings.”
As he said this, Dominic had cleanly cut down an innocent tree with his sword.
- “But no matter how powerful you are, it means nothing if you don't hit. Don't waste strength on attacks you can't land.”
- “And when you're certain you can hit···”
‘With everything I've got!’
Ting!
Her full-power thrust aimed at Camilla's chest bounced away uselessly.
Jane was Fourth Tier too, so she managed to leave a slight scratch on the scales, but even that scratch regenerated in an instant.
Even the deep scar on Camilla's face was regenerating in real time during the battle.
“Tsk.”
The Jane of old would have grown impatient at the sight of Camilla's regeneration and recklessly attacked again.
But having learned composure from Dominic, she gave up cleanly and retreated.
‘I can't cut the scales with my skill.’
Even if she could, regeneration would make it meaningless.
Fortunately, Camilla had areas without scales.
Beneath both armpits, beneath her chin, and on her face.
While Camilla hacked through buildings one after another, Jane dodged her attacks and targeted those areas.
Then, when Camilla thrust her palm out wide,
‘Now!’
Jane drove her dagger beneath the armpit of the extended left arm.
The moment Camilla's left arm was disabled, Jane seized it and threw her to the ground with a jujutsu technique.
She avoided the right claws Camilla swung from the ground, twisted the joint, and drove her dagger into the right armpit as well.
No matter how strong her regenerative ability, she could not heal while the sword remained lodged in the wound.
Jane climbed atop Camilla, whose arms had both been disabled, and stopped her dagger in front of the tiger woman's face.
“It's over.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Kill me.”
“You need to explain in detail what you were saying earlier.”
“I told you. The Godfather is that person.”
“That's why I'm asking you to explain exactly what you mean.”
The Godfather had earned notoriety in the underworld by killing the nameless swordsman.
But he was that very person?
And what, then, was the head that had been hung in the square?
Taken together, the Godfather's actions were contradictory.
Perhaps reading Jane's feelings, Camilla, lying on the ground, gave a sardonic smile.
“Then see for yourself.”
“?!”
At that moment, a shadow fell over the heads of the two women and Dominic.
A storm swept in belatedly.
Jane and Dominic looked up at the sky, their faces twisted amid the storm.
Smooth scales that glittered like obsidian. Red eyes like rubies.
One wing blocked the sky, while sunlight streamed down beneath the empty space where the other wing had been.
Grrr···
Red eyes containing hatred for his lost half and wisdom gathered over countless years looked down upon the earth.
[My child.]
When the dragon opened its mouth, the storm subsided.
Camilla smiled at the black dragon.
“Father···”
[I'm sorry, child. I was late.]
“It's all right.”
Jane's pupils shook violently.
It was not merely the shock of the Godfather revealing himself.
The dragon's tier was a staggering Seventh.
‘Why?’
The Godfather's sudden arrival had been included in the scenario.
If the Godfather were not a fool, it would be logical for him to appear alongside the eighth and ninth executives before they were defeated one after another.
But predicting that the Godfather was a dragon would have been closer to delusion, so naturally he had not included it in the scenario.
What was even more incomprehensible was why a dragon would hide behind the marquis and play father to a gang of mafiosi.
‘Wait.’
Her attention had been so focused on the dragon that she had overlooked something.
‘If the Godfather is here··· then where is the ninth executive?’
Before she could finish the thought,
Plop.
The dragon tossed a bloodied narrow-eyed tax official beside Dominic.
The instant the old butler's gaze fixed on the tax official, a scaled bull beastman appeared behind him.
“Hah!”
Tyrant Gauro.
The mafia alliance's second-in-command, the Godfather's closest aide, and a man said to rival the Godfather himself.
There was no need for the Godfather to reveal himself within the alliance because most problems were resolved by this bull beastman.
The beastman aimed for the old butler's back and drove a straight punch at him.
Dominic easily dodged the attack, but immediately afterward, the bull beastman stamped down hard and rammed the old butler with his shoulder.
Boom!
With a thunderous impact that was impossible to imagine coming from striking a person, Dominic's body flew all the way to the opposite side of the city.
“Domi···”
Before Jane could even call out to the old butler, the dragon knocked her aside as though removing her from atop Camilla.
Jane was driven into a distant wall without even being able to scream through the blinding pain.
Having knocked her aside, the dragon did not even spare Jane a glance, worrying instead about Camilla.
[Daughter. Are you all right?]
“I'm fine, Father.”
The Godfather used telekinesis to pull the daggers from both of Camilla's shoulder blades.
While Camilla regenerated her wounds, the scaled bull beastman who had sent Dominic flying spoke to the dragon.
“Father. I will deal with that old man.”
[I'm indebted to you once again.]
“It is only natural. It is the duty of the eldest son.”
The bull beastman clasped his hands and chased after Dominic, who had flown to the opposite side of the city.
The black dragon watched his eldest son's back recede into the distance, then lowered his gaze to Camilla again.
[Are you all right now?]
“I'm sorry. As your eldest daughter, I do nothing but disappoint you every time.”
[No. You are doing more than enough. A child need only grow slowly beneath a parent's shadow.]
The words were warm, utterly at odds with his ferocious eyes.
Camilla, moved, clasped her hands.
The dragon smiled fondly, but soon wiped the smile away and cast his gaze toward where the elf had been sent flying.
*
Jane emerged from the collapsed wall, clutching her side.
‘This is bad.’
If only the bull beastman had come, she and Dominic might have been able to handle him somehow.
But she had never imagined that the Godfather would reveal himself like this.
‘I never even thought he would come looking for us.’
The Godfather was famous for never showing his face, much like Count Rex in the neighboring domain.
She could not even imagine that someone who had not revealed himself once in a hundred years would suddenly appear like this.
That was not the only problem.
‘Hailudin was taken down too.’
The narrow-eyed tax official had already been defeated.
It was an inevitable result, considering that the Godfather was that black dragon, but if things continued like this, the other mafia factions Hailudin had been holding back would join the fight as well.
‘Wait. A black dragon?’
The nightmare of her past flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
Black dragons.
Those hateful lizards that had burned down her village.
Once her thoughts reached that point, the empty space where the Godfather's missing wing should have been finally caught her eye.
‘No way···’
The one who had demanded human sacrifices from the village···
Jane's mind grew even more confused.
Meanwhile, the black dragon finished speaking with Camilla and met Jane's eyes.
[You··· hurt my daughter···]
At that moment, the tiger beastwoman spoke to the growling dragon.
“Wait, Father.”
Camilla quickly summarized everything that had happened so far into the Godfather's ear, wherever that might have been.
Including Jane's past and the story connected to the nameless swordsman.
“Father. Please give that child a chance as well, just as you gave me one.”
The dragon's eyes seemed to grow gentler after hearing Camilla's words.
The black dragon cast his gaze toward Jane as she staggered to her feet, then···
[Very well.]
He nodded and began shrinking.
The dragon's size gradually diminished until he took on human form.
Polymorph.
A form dragons used to amuse themselves and communicate with humans.
At last, the remaining half of his wing was absorbed into his back, and the Godfather finished his polymorph.
His black hair gleamed with a sheen like black scales, and his red eyes remained unchanged.
But his face seemed to reveal a cruel truth that Jane desperately wished she could deny.
“No··· That can't be···”
Camilla looked at her old friend with sympathetic eyes tinged with faint mockery.
“You understand, don't you? This is the truth.”
“No!”
The Godfather gave a benevolent smile to Jane, who denied it as though screaming.
[I understand, my child. I understand your sorrow.]
“Don't make me laugh! Don't defile my memories!”
Jane thrust her dagger with a desperate motion.
The Godfather partially dispelled his polymorph and broke the dagger against his scales.
[A child who refuses to listen needs discipline, wouldn't you agree?]
Crack!
The Godfather's casual kick struck her solar plexus.
Amid the sound of several ribs breaking, she was driven back into the rubble she had just escaped.
[I will discipline you for as long as it takes. Until you understand.]
***
Meanwhile, old butler Dominic had been embedded in a distant section of the city wall by the bull beastman.
He too could not conceal his bewilderment.
‘What the hell? Why did the top guy show up first?’
It felt as though something had gone terribly wrong with the plan.
‘Those black lizard bastards.’
They had been beasts gifted at ruining plans since ancient times.
The old butler rolled his shoulders as though they were stiff and climbed out of the wall.
To assess the battle, the old butler rapidly spread his presence throughout the city.
First, there was one bull's head charging over to finish him off.
He ignored that and focused on the lizard facing Jane.
‘Huh?’
Why does that guy look exactly like the alternate character I scrapped? What is this, an impersonation?
The problem was that the tiger woman had called that black lizard the nameless swordsman—in other words, Jane's benefactor.
Whatever had gone wrong, it had gone spectacularly wrong.
Dominic quickly organized the situation in his mind.
‘So that swordsman was me, Jane is doing all this because of me, and that lizard is impersonating me···’
After a brief deliberation, he reached a conclusion.
‘I might as well launder my discarded alt's reputation one more time while I have the chance.’
He had no idea how that black lizard had found a corpse to use as a disguise and impersonated him, but he seemed to have his reasons for doing so.
If that was the case, then all he had to do was launder the identity one more time.
History was written by the victors, after all.
Just as he had done in the laboratory, he only needed to make sure the dead could not speak.
And by cutting down the protagonist's former teacher without hesitation, he could create an opportunity to oppose her through their convictions.
‘Then shall I begin in earnest?’
At last, it was time for the twist-filled final boss to appear.
***
Jane attacked the Godfather again and again.
But every time the dragon knocked her away helplessly, her despair deepened.
It was not simply because she was weak.
[I remember. That day, too, I had to kill my own family with my hands.]
The Godfather recited the nameless swordsman's deeds as though slowly gnawing away at her mind.
[I went to the village, lost my wing, and realized something. Unlike arrogant dragonkind, humans were overflowing with potential. But my kin interpreted my words differently.]
No.
That can't be.
This is a lie.
She thought the black dragon was lying.
But his words fit together far too perfectly.
[Did you never find it strange? When you said you would not accept my existence, why did I not slaughter you all immediately?]
That can't be.
Jane denied it and squeezed the words out.
“Then··· what happened to the head in the square?”
[I did not lie. The swordsman died.]
“What?”
The Godfather recalled the past with sad eyes.
[The citizens were the ones who killed me.]
According to the Godfather, the citizens had betrayed him while he was living as the swordsman.
At the time, the marquis disliked the swordsman, who stirred up trouble throughout his domain.
The marquis put a bounty on the swordsman's head, and the swordsman hid himself out of concern that the citizens would be harmed.
But the citizens sold him out to the marquis, and the marquis captured the swordsman.
So the swordsman revealed his true form to the marquis.
He spread his black wings, broke both of the marquis's legs, and turned him into a puppet.
Then he began taking revenge on the citizens who had sold him out.
[That was when I realized that the only ones I could trust were these children, not humans. I realized it far too late.]
So he freed the beastmen and made them his family.
Unlike humans, the beastmen did not betray him. They called him Father and showed him their respect.
Thus the mafia alliance was formed, and the dragon declared that the swordsman had died.
From that day onward, the swordsman became the Godfather.
“I, too, foolishly resisted Father until I learned the truth.”
Camilla added her voice from beside him.
Blinded by rage at the swordsman's death, Camilla had rebelled alongside Jane and their other comrades.
But while most of the others died after reaching the ends of their natural lifespans, Camilla alone reached the Godfather.
And she witnessed this truth.
“This is why I parted ways with you and started using a saw.”
All humans must suffer.
Their nature is ugly, so their wickedness must be suppressed endlessly in this way.
The family bosses had joined this ideology because they were the furry beastmen who were discriminated against even among their own kind.
“Jane. We may be different races, but you have proven your loyalty for a hundred years.”
[Since my eldest daughter pleads her case, I have no choice but to heed her as her father. I will not fault you for killing my children. I am magnanimous.]
“See? Father is magnanimous.”
Camilla reached a hand toward her with compassionate eyes.
Jane's face was shadowed. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and she slapped Camilla's hand away.
[Sigh···]
The Godfather let out a deep sigh and approached Jane.
At that moment, Jane pointed her broken dagger at her own throat.
“Don't come any closer.”
[···]
“You aren't him. Don't defile my memories···”
A single tear slid from the elf woman's eye.
Because Camilla knew what it felt like for one's heart to break, she tried to comfort the elf.
“Jane···”
“Don't call me that with that filthy mouth!”
The broken dagger made a shallow cut across Jane's throat.
Seeing this, the Godfather gave a faint smile for just a moment, then hardened his expression and approached Jane again.
[How dare you try to die in front of your parents?]
Before she knew it, he had appeared right in front of her.
He twisted her wrist and slapped her cheek.
Then he kicked Jane in the stomach once more as she sat on the floor.
[You need more discipline.]
He dispelled the polymorph below his elbows and approached the fallen Jane.
Jane could not get up.
Her chest tightened.
The pain of her broken bones was nothing.
Far more painful was the realization that the swordsman she had admired so deeply had fallen this far, and that she had been deceived for a hundred years.
The man wearing the swordsman's face revealed dragon claws and approached her.
Black ink spread across the few happy memories in her miserable life.
Feeling a single tear slide down her cheek, Jane instinctively murmured the name that came to mind.
“Dominic···”
“Did you call, miss?”
The Godfather's leisurely approach toward Jane came to a halt.
Everyone present turned their eyes toward one spot.
Amid the battlefield of collapsed buildings and splattered blood, the old butler, as though he had come from another world, smiled benevolently.
“Didn't I tell you? Until this journey ends, I will be your butler.”
Light began returning to Jane's eyes, which had been losing their luster.
The Godfather clicked his tongue and gestured to Camilla.
“That old man isn't necessary, Father.”
With his eldest daughter's confirmation, the Godfather rolled his shoulders and approached the old man.
“Know your place, human.”
“Ho ho···”
The old man, who had been standing with his hands behind his back, laughed and tossed something toward the Godfather.
Plop.
A round, horned object rolled to a stop at the Godfather's feet.
It was the head of the Godfather's eldest son, the ninth executive, Gauro.
The Godfather's pupils dilated.
The old butler did not miss that brief opening and closed in until he stood at the Godfather's feet.
“Fa-ther!”
Amid the eldest daughter's scream, which seemed to reach him in slow motion, a sharp line passed through the Godfather's arm.
The Godfather's gaze followed the line.
At its end, he saw a familiar black-scaled arm flying through the air.
The Godfather grasped the situation and snapped his gaze forward.
But it was already too late.
Shnk!
A cold, razor-sharp edge pierced deep into his chest.
As though his purpose were to inflict pain, the old butler twisted his sword and widened the wound.
"Ggrrk."
He spoke to the Godfather, who trembled as air escaped his lungs, unable even to scream.
“Know your place, lizard.”
The old man, who had never once lost his benevolent smile, hardened his expression for the first time.