Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 207
The distortion of space was something she had grown accustomed to. The dungeons that appeared in this world always had a similar appearance.
The issue lay with the ‘entity’ that emerged from it.
From the narrow space, just large enough for a person crawling on their hands and knees to pass through, something was crawling out.
It was a ‘person being constructed’.
On rattling red bones, chunks of what seemed to be muscle and blood vessels began to attach.
These masses, resembling muscles and veins, formed bit by bit.
Empty cavities were filled with crimson organs, and eyeballs appeared.
Irene, swallowing her horror, observed its form.
It was quickly transforming into the appearance of Wilhelmina.
Meanwhile, Irene’s gaze shifted to the space from which Wilhelmina had emerged.
At first glance, it looked like the pitch-black darkness typical of a dungeon entrance.
But upon closer inspection, she could see shapes beyond it.
It wasn’t a dungeon. That was certain.
‘A room in the residence?’
Beyond the blurred outline of the distorted entrance was a place resembling Irene’s room.
But it couldn’t possibly be her room. Right now, her room was brightly lit, with several maids and knights sitting inside.
If that were the case, then surely…
The entrance fully closed.
The entity, now entirely in the banquet hall with Irene, stood upright.
While the rest of its body perfectly mimicked Wilhelmina’s, the face was incomplete—its eyes, nose, and mouth wandered aimlessly across its surface.
Finally, as each feature found its place, the mouth fully settled, and it opened wide.
——–!
A horrific sound, beyond the range of human hearing, echoed through the banquet hall.
Irene collapsed to the floor on the spot.
Seeing this, the monster—or rather, the creature now bearing Wilhelmina’s complete face—smiled broadly.
The sight sent chills down Irene’s spine.
It was the same expression Wilhelmina had always worn when something bad happened to Irene in the past.
Wilhelmina, seemingly delighted by the success of her attack, let out a sound akin to laughter for a long while.
Then, straightening her posture, she looked at Irene and spoke.
“Stu…pid… thing…”
Though her words were halting, the tone, and the mocking laughter that accompanied them, were identical to Wilhelmina’s.
The monster was perfectly imitating Wilhelmina.
No, by now, the monster was Wilhelmina.
Wilhelmina slowly stepped toward Irene.
Behind her, red liquid trailed from her steps.
When the trail was first discovered, the people in the fortress had tried to determine what it was.
It had clearly been something the monster had left behind, yet purification power couldn’t erase it, leaving them baffled.
One thought lingered in everyone’s minds.
‘Human blood.’
That would explain why it couldn’t be purified.
At that moment, Irene recalled purifying Michael not long ago.
It had been the day he returned from the auction house and came to her room later, asking for purification.
As she began the purification process, the blood of the monster staining his clothes had faded away.
But the marks on his chest and abdomen had remained.
Those stains, which Michael claimed weren’t from the monster,
Were now unmistakably the same as the traces left behind by Wilhelmina.
All of it, human blood.
As Irene sat frozen in place, Wilhelmina took another step closer.
“I finally found you.”
Wilhelmina’s voice was now much smoother than before.
Even the smirking curve of her lips as she smiled mockingly felt eerily familiar.
If not for her awkward, slow movements, Irene might have believed the real Wilhelmina was standing before her.
Gone were the sharp teeth and claws she had seen earlier.
Instead, Wilhelmina raised both hands, reaching toward Irene.
As if to say that even without sharp tools, choking her to death wouldn’t be a problem.
Watching Wilhelmina approach, Irene blinked rapidly.
Perhaps thinking this was Irene’s desperate resistance, Wilhelmina burst out laughing as she walked.
“What? Are you scared? Acting all high and mighty, and now look at you.”
Even her words were now smooth and natural.
This made it even harder for Irene to distinguish whether the being before her was a monster or Wilhelmina.
“Why…”
Irene’s lips trembled as they formed a short word.
At this, Wilhelmina’s eyes narrowed, and her expression twisted.
“Why? You’re asking why I’m like this?”
Then, she let out a loud scoff.
“How pathetic. You were disgusting from the moment I first met you. With a face like that, you should’ve just been sold off anywhere, but instead, you had the audacity to possess the power of a Purifier.”
