Chapter 15: Sister’s Hunting Game

Avira was certain that her sister’s sighs did not stem from homesickness.

It was an utterly ridiculous notion.

The human world?

That weak, filthy, boring place shrouded in hypocritical holy light,

What was there to miss?

Skin burned by the sun?

Cheap beer that scraped at the throat?

Or those mortals whose lives were more worthless than dust, living day to day without guarantee?

Sylvia was far too noble a being for that.

She was her own sister.

Mother’s way of thinking was always so old-fashioned.

To think her sister was yearning for such a rubbish heap.

There was only one conclusion.

Her sister had stayed in the palace far too long and was utterly bored!

Yes, she was definitely sending her a distress signal in this way, craving a little… truly thrilling

entertainment to brighten her mood!

At that thought, the deep crimson in Avira’s eyes ignited once more with that uniquely hers, mixed with madness and indulgence, excited glow.

She knew exactly what to do.

She would prepare the most interesting “game” for her most beloved sister.

***

Sylvia was lying on the chaise lounge in her bedchamber, carrying out her most important daily task — daydreaming.

She gazed at the eternal, ominous crimson blood moon outside the window, contemplating a profound question.

If one did nothing but passively possess everything,

What meaning did life hold?

None.

So, it was best to just lie down.

Just as she was about to reach a state of complete oblivion,

The door to her chamber burst open with a loud bang, violently kicked from the outside.

Avira stormed in like a whirlwind.

Her face wore that familiar yet terrifyingly fanatic smile that Sylvia knew all too well.

“Sylvia! My dear sister!”

She hurried over in three strides, yanking Sylvia up from the soft chaise lounge.

“Stop daydreaming! Daydreaming is the most boring thing in the world!”

“Come on, I’m taking you somewhere fun!”

Sylvia was so dizzy from the sudden shaking, her entire body felt weightless.

“Sis… I don’t want to move, I’m so sleepy…”

She tried to use The Final Salted Fish Move: I’m So Sleepy, but Avira was immune to her lethargy.

“Sleepy, my foot! Get up and have some fun!”

Avira clapped her hands, and a group of waiting maids filed in one after another.

“Dress her in the Black Riding Suit, quickly! Hurry up!”

Alarm bells rang loudly in Sylvia’s mind.

Riding Suit?

What kind of place on earth required wearing that?

Instinctively, she struggled:

“I don’t want to go, I can’t walk…”

Avira pinched her cheek.

Her smile grew even brighter, but her eyes showed not a trace of warmth.

“It’s okay, we’ll take the carriage.”

Her tone clearly conveyed one message: If you dare say “no” again, I’ll tie you up and drag you there myself.

The former iron-blooded tough guy Ignatius, now the frail Princess Sylvia, instantly caved.

She surrendered.

Like a puppet, she was handled by the maids,

Dressed in an exquisitely crafted but uncomfortably tight Black Riding Suit.

Avira half-dragged, half-carried her into an incredibly luxurious Magitek Carriage.

Looking at her excited sister humming a tune beside her, Sylvia felt like she was being led to the execution ground.

“Sis… where exactly are we going?”

She asked in a trembling voice.

“Hehe, you’ll know when we get there.”

Avira winked at her, teasing her with the mystery.

“I’ve prepared a very, very fun hunting game for you!”

Hunting?

Maybe… she was just overthinking?

When the carriage stopped, Sylvia realized how absurdly wrong she had been.

There was no forest, no meadow here.

Only a massive, dilapidated Abandoned Castle standing on the barren plains.

Its black stone walls were covered with old slash marks.

A translucent magical barrier enclosed it like a prison cage.

The air reeked of decay mixed with the stench of blood.

“Come on, our VIP seats are up there.”

Avira pulled her hand with practiced ease.

They climbed the winding stone staircase, eventually reaching the watchtower at the castle’s highest point.

She took down a dazzlingly ornate Crimson Bow from the weapon rack and pressed it into Sylvia’s arms.

The bow’s body was cast in gold, studded with fist-sized gemstones.

“Sis, look down below.”

Avira pointed to the empty courtyard and spoke in a tone as casual as teaching a child a tossing game:

“The rules are simple.”

“You just stay here, and whenever you see something moving down there, use this to shoot it.”

Sylvia hugged the heavy Crimson Bow and leaned over to look down.

In the courtyard, a dozen or so staggering figures wandered aimlessly.

They were not beasts.

They were blood kin.

Dressed in tattered prison uniforms, covered in wounds, some missing limbs.

One prisoner seemed to notice the movement from the tower.

He raised his head, revealing a face twisted by despair and fear.

Sylvia’s blood instantly froze.

“The prey”

… were these prisoners?

This was hunting?

This was execution!

Avira seemed very pleased with the shock on her sister’s face.

She leaned close to Sylvia’s ear.

With an intimate tone, as if sharing a secret, she whispered and laughed softly:

“These people are the lowly nobles who whispered behind your back, claiming your bloodline was impure.”

“There are also a few remnants of the Mephisto clan who dared to harm you.”

“Mother locked them up in the dungeon — so boring.”

“I think, using them as targets to take them out is the best way to relieve some boredom, don’t you agree?”

Avira’s voice was innocent yet cruel.

Sylvia froze where she stood, her whole body chilled, unable to utter a single word.

She remembered the scenes on the battlefield when captured comrades were brutally killed.

She could not imagine ever standing in a tower,

Using a bow to shoot these defenseless prisoners.

No.

Absolutely not!

Overwhelming fear and instinctive resistance pounded wildly within her.

She wanted to throw down the Crimson Bow, to demand if Avira had gone mad.

This extreme emotional turmoil radiated outwards like a storm through the nature of Divinity, without any restraint.

Avira clearly felt it.

She felt her sister’s violently fluctuating emotions, her wildly accelerating heartbeat.

Then, her smile grew even more excited, more fanatical.

The red light in her eyes gleamed terrifyingly bright.

She completely, utterly, and utterly misunderstood.

“Hehe… look at you, trembling so much.”

Avira hugged Sylvia’s shoulders from behind, whispering sweetly in her ear.

“Your heart’s beating so fast.”

“You’re excited too, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be afraid, everyone’s like this the first time. You’ll get used to it after a few shots.”

Avira rested her chin on Sylvia’s shoulder.

Grabbing the hand holding the bow, she forcibly helped her raise the Crimson Bow.

The cold metal arrowhead aimed at a prisoner below who was wailing.

Sylvia was completely dumbfounded.

Excited?

I’m not excited!

I’m scared!

I’m terrified!

I just want you, a complete lunatic, to stay far away from me!

Her heart roared, screamed, and bombarded her mind with desperate pleas.

But her body was firmly restrained by Avira’s strength, unable to move.

Her fear, her resistance,

Her soul-deep “No,” flowed into Avira’s perception.

Yet it was perfectly twisted, filtered, and ultimately transformed into the sickest kind of nourishment.

Avira felt her blood boiling within her.

Ah, this panicked yet faintly excited trembling of her sister was

too adorable!

Too interesting!