Chapter 99

Auxiliary Chapter Following in the Monster’s Footsteps! For Eliza, the past week has been like one long nightmare. Not only did the Thirteen Nightblades get slain one by one, but in the end, even her father joined the ranks of the fallen. From there, the Despoht family assets and property got seized bit by bit until, ultimately, she was driven from her home. Now she can feel people and money distancing themselves from her with every passing day. “This is an outright travesty!!” she bellows from her temporary lodging. She hurls her half-empty cup at the wall with her face contorted in indignation. “Oh, sure, now you people don’t want to curry favor with me anymore!” Why is all of this happening to her? At this rate, she’s liable to be found guilty in her trial. Countless nobles have already broken ties with the Despoht family. “I’m not finished. Not yet…” However, that isn’t to say that all of them have. The Nightblade families are all in the same boat, and the bonds they share aren’t so easily cut. Surely, they’re all in dire straits with their family heads dead and investigations knocking at their doorsteps. However, that’s precisely what’s going to bring them solidarity. “It’s high time I got all Nightblade successors together. I won’t let things end like this. I refuse to!!” Things are going to be fine. She still has blackmail material on the Knight Order and the judge. If the next generation of Nightblades bands together and lays on the pressure, they can turn the situation around in a snap. Eliza is certain of it. “I’m summoning the Nightblades and holding a meeting! Gather them up at once!!” she shouts over to her subordinate, who’s staying in the next room. No matter how long she waits, though, nobody comes over. “Hello?! Is anyone there?” She opens the door to the adjoining room with a look of puzzlement on her face. Inside, the room is empty. Its window is open wide, and the cold night air flows in freely. “Perhaps they went to the bathroom or something… I’ll have to punish them for that later, won’t I?” A cruel smile spreads across her face. Then she hears a strangely squishy set of footsteps coming from behind her. “Well, there you are. Where in the world did you get off—?” When Eliza turns around, she freezes. Standing there is a clown drenched in blood. “Y-you’re…J-Jack…the Ripper…” She shrinks back in shock. The bloody clown’s feet squelch as it closes in on her. “Eeek… S-stay back!” She takes everything she can get her hands on and throws them largely at random. However, none of it is enough to stop the bloody clown’s advance, and soon, Eliza finds herself forced all the way back to the wall. “L-look, I’m sorry… What’ll it take for you to forgive me?” She gives the clown a twitchy smile as she tries to fawn over it. “Tell me, what is it you want? I’ll do anything…” She’s making puppy-dog eyes, and her voice is downright saccharine. She nonchalantly lets her negligee slip a little to reveal her fair skin. Jack the Ripper stares at her. Seeing the clown’s reaction, Eliza lets her negligee slip a little further. “Tee-hee…” She turns her gaze to her own naked chest. There’s a knife planted in it. “Wha—?” Red droplets of blood roll down her lily-white skin. “AaaaaahhhHHHHHHH!! How dare you?!” Eliza punches Jack the Ripper with all her might, then falls to the floor and clutches at her chest wound. “How dare you. How dare you…” Eliza coughs up blood and glares resentfully at Jack the Ripper. Then she gasps. “I-it’s you… Why?” Jack the Ripper’s mask is off. Eliza’s punch dislodged it, and it has fallen on the floor nearby. “Why is it you…?!” Jack the Ripper’s face is that of a student Eliza knows all too well. “Answer me, Christina!!” There before her stands Christina Hope. Christina looks down at Eliza with ice in her eyes. Eliza’s expression is one of shock. “Kaff… I—I can’t believe you were Jack the Ripper all along…” The blood spilling from her chest pools on the floor, swallowing up the mask. “I wasn’t,” Christina says as she leans down to pick the mask up. “What do you mean, you weren’t?” “I’m just following in his footsteps.” “His…footsteps…?” “That’s right. He chose to appear before me, and now I finally understand why.” “What?” “He wanted to teach me about his duty. To show me his bloodstained path.” “What…are you talking about…?” “This country is rotting. The blades of the just run dull. If we want to vanquish evil, we need an even greater evil on our side. He was asking me if I had the conviction to become that.” With a twisted smile, Christina places the clown mask back over her face. “This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for.” She grabs the knife embedded in Eliza’s bosom. “D-don’t—” These prove to be Eliza’s final moments. Christina twists the knife, then wrenches it free. Blood gushes everywhere. “Gack… Kaff…” Eliza’s body goes cold, and Christina gazes down at her and pulls out a playing card. She takes the card and shoves it into Eliza’s chest wound. “My name is Jack the Ripper. With an evil blade, I vanquish the wicked.” On the card’s face, there’s a joker.