The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

Ravian did not move even after hearing everything Bran had said.

The nearest side door was to his left, while the hall’s main entrance stood only several paces behind him. He could attempt to escape now, before Bran came any closer.

Yet he did not.

His feet did not turn toward either exit, nor did he even shift his body into a position from which he could run. He simply remained where he was, watching Bran and Mirai as though what unfolded before him were an experiment whose outcome he wished to observe.

Bran noticed.

”Strange,” he said. ”I expected you to start running the moment you saw me carrying these two axes.”

He ran his tongue along the edge of his lip before adding, ”But it’s good that you’ve accepted your death. I don’t want you exhausting me by making me chase you through this palace.”

Bran turned toward Mirai again and raised one of his axes.

Mirai straightened despite the trembling that swept through her body.

”Don’t even try it, Bran,” she said.

The axe stopped in midair.

Bran looked at her without losing his smile.

Mirai raised her chin, briefly reclaiming some of the stern authority of the Head Servant who had led the participants throughout the previous days.

”I’m the Mage,” she suddenly declared.

Silence descended over the hall.

Ravian watched Bran’s face, expecting shock, suspicion, or even hesitation.

But none of those appeared. Instead, Bran’s smile widened.

”I know,” Bran said with the same terrifying smile.

Mirai froze. Even Ravian narrowed his eyes for a moment, though for an entirely different reason.

”You know?” Mirai repeated.

”Of course,” Bran said as though the answer did not even warrant a question. ”Aldric isn’t the Killer, Garrick is dead, and I know my own role perfectly well. As for Rayan...”

His eyes shifted toward the white-haired young man.

”After Garrick and Sylvan died, he was the only one left within my circle of suspicion. He was always calm and sometimes even cooperative because he believed he controlled the game,” Bran said as his gaze toward Ravian turned cold. ”Even I, a serial killer, couldn’t fully understand his actions.”

Then he looked back at Mirai.

”Once everyone else had been eliminated, the Mage role could only belong to you. It wasn’t difficult.”

The axe in Bran’s hand rose once more.

At the moment he was about to swing it, Ravian’s expression changed.

A clear smile of triumph appeared on his lips.

He made no attempt to conceal it this time. Instead, his crimson eyes shone with sudden excitement, as though Bran were about to make the one move Ravian had been waiting for ever since entering the hall.

Bran saw it.

And stopped.

The axe remained raised, but his arm did not complete the swing.

His deranged smile diminished slightly as his gaze shifted toward Ravian.

He did not know what might happen if he struck Mirai. Perhaps she possessed an ability he knew nothing about that would activate automatically.

Perhaps Ravian had planned something tied to her injury, or perhaps his smile was merely a bluff. Bran did not know, and that was what unsettled him most about Ravian.

He could never tell what the man was trying to do.

But Bran had not made it this far as a serial killer wanted throughout the Empire by charging headlong into every trap placed before him.

Ravian’s smile vanished immediately, replaced by an angry frown.

”Why did you stop?!” he shouted.

Bran did not answer. He merely continued staring at him, his eyes narrowing further.

At that moment, Mirai understood what Ravian was trying to do—or rather, she misunderstood it.

Even though Bran raising his axe had not been part of her plan, Ravian’s smile had made him question every move he intended to make.

Mirai drew a deep breath before saying, ”I’m your only path to survival today.”

Bran’s eyes returned to her, while Ravian stared at her with genuine anger this time.

”What did you say?” Bran asked as he stepped closer.

”Rayan is the Killer,” Mirai said. ”You need to kill him before anyone else dies. Otherwise, the number of participants will fall to three, and he’ll win immediately.”

”I know that,” Bran said without any change in his expression.

”But do you know whom he chose as tonight’s victim?” Mirai asked.

Bran did not answer, but he lowered his axe slightly.

Mirai continued before he could give himself any more time to think.

”You don’t, and that’s precisely why you need me.”

She gestured toward herself.

”I’m the only one capable of protecting you when night falls. If Rayan has made you his next victim, the nightmare will kill you before you get the chance to reach him. But if you keep me by your side, I’ll stop the death he sends from reaching you.”

”And why would you protect me?” Bran asked. ”My path to survival requires killing you eventually.”

”Eventually,” Mirai emphasized. ”But if I allow you to die tonight, Rayan will win, and I’ll die with him anyway. If I help you kill him, however, I’ll buy myself more time. I may find another way out or I may not, but dying later is better than certain death tonight.”

Her explanation was simple.

Worse still, it was logical.

Mirai directed a cold gaze filled with hatred toward Ravian.

”He’s been following me since this morning because he wanted to use me as a distraction. He believed you hadn’t discovered the Killer’s identity yet and that you would approach me first, giving him enough time to decide how to deal with you.” Her blue eyes remained fixed on Ravian. ”It seems his plan has failed. But don’t underestimate him, Bran. Remember what he did to us over the past few nights. He killed three people right under our noses, bypassed every precaution we established, and no one suspected him until he admitted it to me himself.”

Everything Mirai said sounded convincing, yet Ravian sensed something wrong in Bran’s expression.

”And even now, he hasn’t lost his composure,” Mirai added sharply, pointing toward Ravian.

Ravian watched everything without expression.

The look she directed at him was so convincing that, had he not seen the fear concealed deep within her eyes, he might have believed she truly hated him.

’Good performance.’

Mirai’s plan was clear now.

She intended to make herself indispensable to Bran.

If he believed that she was the only one capable of protecting him from the Killer’s death, he would be unable to kill or incapacitate her and would be forced to keep her close. She could then draw him away from Aldric and perhaps grant them an opportunity to carry out the rest of Ravian’s plan.

Bran remained silent for several seconds.

Then he moved.

There was no warning before his attack.

His expression did not change, his smile did not vanish, and his muscles did not tense in any noticeable way.

Only two black arcs appeared, crossing the air at the same instant.

Shhk!

Mirai gasped, and for one full second, she did not understand what had happened.

Then both of her arms fell to the floor beside her.

Blood erupted from the severed stumps near her shoulders, while the Master Key Ring slipped from the fingers of her severed hand, sending a sharp metallic clatter ringing throughout the hall.

”Aaaaaah!” Mirai collapsed onto her knees, her scream tearing through the silence that had smothered the palace since morning.

Ravian’s eyes widened, and for the first time since Bran’s appearance, his expression completely betrayed him.

That attack had not been part of Mirai’s plan.

And Ravian had not expected it.

Bran stood over her as fresh blood streamed down the blades of his black axes.

Then he bent down slightly and spoke in a calm voice.

”I don’t need your protection, bitch.”

He raised his head, and his eyes slowly shifted toward Ravian.

His deranged smile widened once more as he turned his entire body toward him.

”And now...”

He tightened his grip around the handles of both axes.

”You’re the only one left.”