I Thought I Was the Monster Duke's Fake Tranquilizer - Chapter 4
The power coursing through his body began to move beyond his control.
Edward knew this sensation all too well.
It was the harbinger of a rampage.
‘…The purification was insufficient after all.’
Should he have endured the revulsion and accepted a little more?
Sepina’s purifications always made him feel that way. A wretched sensation, as if hundreds of earthworms were crawling over his body.
The priests would chuckle lewdly, saying it was merely because His Grace had yet to know the pleasures of the flesh, but Edward thought otherwise.
‘There’s no mistaking it.’
Because…
Bang!
His thoughts were cut short by the sound of armor tearing apart.
Unable to withstand the power surging from his body, the fastenings had flown off.
Edward steeled his gaze.
Standing rooted in place, he struggled to subdue the tidal wave of power, but it was no easy task.
‘This won’t do.’
If he rampaged here, there would be casualties.
With so many asleep at this late hour, the damage would be great.
‘Best to endure and go back… to Sepina for purification…’
Hah.
In that moment, his lungs swelled as if they would burst.
He felt scales pressing up along his body, hidden beneath his armor. Crrack.
It was a sign. Too late to return to Sepina.
Edward moved quickly.
‘…Outside.’
At the very least, if he rampaged outside the temple rather than within, the damage would be less.
True, there would be casualties among those trying to subdue him, but he could buy time until Sepina arrived.
Grind.
Even as he gritted his teeth and forced himself forward, his vision flooded red.
The cold night air of the garden that he barely managed to reach did nothing to stop the rampage.
Crackle.
“…”
He looked down. His fingertips gleamed black, like a dragon’s claws.
Soon, a horrifying sensation, the feeling that he was about to lose all control of his body, crept over him entirely.
It was the sensation Edward loathed above all else.
Crunch.
He clenched his jaw harder. Tendons corded along his jawline.
‘Don’t make me laugh.’
If he could no longer move by his own will, then he would rather…
Edward gathered his power with the last shred of his reason and aimed it at his own arms and legs.
‘I’ll have to break them…’
He was just about to unleash the attack upon his own body whenâ
“Uwaaah!”
Boom!
Something plummeted from above and crashed straight into his chest.
* * *
A few minutes earlier, in the underground dungeon of the temple.
“Hey! You worthless thing!”
Clank, clank!
The guard, striding in with an air of arrogance, made a show of banging threateningly against the iron bars.
“Chow time!”
The expendables locked up in this prison often forgot their place and resisted, demanding to be let out. It was essential to keep them in line like this.
‘The temple feeds and houses them their whole lives!’
Surely it was only natural for them to offer up their holy power in return.
And yet they had the gall to complain about their treatment and make a racket. Unacceptable.
And soâtrample the seeds of rebellion, suppress them, squeeze them dry…
After repeating that process over and over, only one remained.
‘Well, bearers of holy power are born so rarely these days. Can’t be helped.’
The temple had to keep its power. That was the only way his own authority, as someone affiliated with it, would rise.
“Tch.”
The guard clicked his tongue and roughly shoved a piece of moldy bread between the bars.
‘At least the last one’s quiet. Small mercy.’
The final expendableâwhose name he couldn’t even be bothered to rememberâwas always silent and entirely without presence.
And yet, despite that, her holy power was considerably, no, vastly higher than the others.
Perhaps thanks to that, she had lasted this long, steadily providing holy power…
‘But.’
Why was she so quiet today?
She had always been quiet, but usually, when he shoved the bread in, he’d hear the sound of her wolfing it down frantically.
“Hey! I said eat!”
Bang, bang!
The moment he pounded on the bars and peered inside.
The guard froze in place.
“…Huh?”
The woman bound in chains was slumped over, collapsed on the floor.
As if she were dead…
“…Wh-What the!”
As the guard flustered, his eyes caught the moldy bread scattered around the fallen woman.
It was the bread he’d rationed out last night.
‘Now that I think of it!’
Wasn’t she the one who had choked on that very bread yesterday and nearly died?!
“Damn it all!”
Had she choked again the moment he’d taken his eyes off her?!
This was bad. He had no way of knowing how long she’d been like this.
What was worse, she was under his charge. If something went wrong, he would be the one punished.
A chill ran down his spine. Goosebumps rose on his forearms.
The temple was benevolent, yes, but it was also notorious for its merciless punishments.
The guard fumbled frantically for the keys and unlocked the iron gate.
