Obsession... What's That? I Just Wish Someone Would Help Me Escape - Chapter 90
Kido, Johann, and Enrique were no exception.
Their gazes scattered in different directions, each reflecting a unique emotion.
Shapes, initially like faint wisps of smoke, began solidifying with increasing clarity as each person focused.
The souls of the dead began to appear one by one.
“…You…”
Kido was facing the soul of a man with the same hair color as her.
Staring silently at his spirit, Kido glanced around.
Grandis, too, was staring at someone with an expression of disbelief.
“Theo?”
As she murmured the name of the spirit before her, tears trickled down her cheeks. Kido, aware that the spirit was Grandis’s fiancé, looked away uncomfortably.
“Mother, it’s too hard for me…”
“Did you finally come to take me with you? I missed you so much!”
Some, reunited with the dead, wept loudly; others rejoiced.
It was clear that the spirits summoned were loved ones whom the living had cherished.
Among those caught in the wave of mixed emotions, only Justina observed the scene with an expression of intrigue.
“What a dreadful ability,” she remarked.
Kido tried to resist being swayed by the intense emotions around her, telling herself that this was nothing more than sentimental drivel. Yes, it was merely an illusion reconstructing memories from the past.
The bitter pragmatism she had inherited from her father in her past life sometimes came in handy.
Kido was certain that Johann and Enrique, too, would see through this. But Johann was staring at the spirit before him with an expression she had never seen—one of guilt, anger, and sorrow all mixed together.
Before him stood a pale, beautiful woman with long, jet-black hair flowing down to her waist, silently meeting Johann’s gaze.
For a moment, Kido thought the woman’s look resembled that of Uncle Claude when he occasionally looked at her.
“Ah.”
Suddenly recalling something, Kido’s eyes widened.
Demon power originated from human emotions steeped in sin. If emotions ran too high, it might accelerate the onset of a rampage state.
‘Rampage precursor symptoms.’
The event she had feared most now loomed before her. Running away had been her mindset as a powerless person in the past. But now, things were different.
Kido raised her voice to call out to Enrique.
“Enrique, are you all right?”
He turned slowly and replied.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Enrique, fortunately, showed no signs of confusion.
Even upon seeing his mother, the Empress, who had died when he was young, he remained calm.
‘Enrique. My poor bastard son, I hear you’ve gained an ability. What shall I do? I don’t have the strength to protect you.’
She hadn’t been a particularly good mother when she was alive.
She’d been plagued by extreme anxiety, a perfectionist to a fault, and relentless, even towards her own children.
Yet, maybe she’d valued him more than he realized, seeing that her spirit appeared before him.
‘No matter what it takes, I will protect your place.’
She had always been a woman who achieved her goals by any means necessary.
Though her methods were twisted, her motivation for her child’s sake had been genuine.
“Who do you think Johann’s seeing? Judging by the hair color, is it his mother?”
At Kido’s question, Enrique sighed and replied.
“Yes, Lady Catriel.”
Watching Johann and Lady Catriel, Enrique added.
“When Johann was young, he witnessed his mother, Lady Catriel, pass away.”
He continued in a steady tone.
“And it seems we’re too late to run now.”
A chilling, murderous aura swept through the air as the ground under Johann’s feet cracked, and black flames started to encircle his body, rising up like a dark firestorm.
“Johann!”
Sensing the onset of a rampage, Kido called his name, but Johann, eyes wild and unsettling, gave no response.
Seeing the emptiness in his gaze, she quickly realized that he was on the verge of completely losing control, consumed by a singular bloodlust.
She instinctively crouched, bracing herself.
“Aagh!”
“Aaaah!”
The air filled with the harrowing screams of prisoners.
Enrique, blocking the wave of flames that surged like a cold blast from a fire extinguisher, murmured to himself.
“I’m okay because of our elemental opposition. He’ll be fine too.”
Fire melts ice, and ice extinguishes fire.
Though their natures were opposites, that had only helped them survive their respective paths.
And now, in this critical moment, it made them the only ones capable of watching over each other’s end.
Boom!
Johann lifted his gaze to the sky, his face impassive. In the sky above, a massive spell formula began to spread.
Seeing it, Enrique’s eyes widened in shock.
“Well, this is troublesome.”
Noticing his tone, Kido lifted her head slightly, her expression uneasy.
“What is?”
“It seems he’s broken free from the necklace’s restraint. His power restrictions have been lifted.”
“Then aren’t you in danger too?”
Enrique slowly shook his head.
“I told you, I’m fine.”
He pulled Kido close, holding her firmly as he whispered.
“It means everyone but me is going to die.”
