As Luca passed through that area, he saw the basement engulfed in flames, and the spatial rift transported them back to the dining room, where everything seemed normal, but it was incredibly hot… he was certain the fire would soon spread up here.
Arknight retracted her weapon, transforming it into a butterfly-shaped earring and attaching it to her ear, while Rivenhart and Sol put away their weapons. The scissors returned to Luxie's body, and Luxie was still unconscious as Luca carried her.
Rivenhart saw this and helped Luca stand up.
"Are you alright?"
"Thank you, I'm fine."
Luca nodded, and with Rivenhart's help, he was able to stand more steadily. This was probably the outcome the mirror had shown him… injured and trapped in flames… But Luca wondered why Luxie had become so enraged. What had happened?
Arknight looked around and sighed.
"Hmm, with this situation, we're about to have to fight again."
Everyone understood what she meant… they had failed to complete the mission their mistress had assigned them, which was tantamount to facing death.
The dining room where they met the butler and their mistress, as well as her husband, was where everything took place. At this moment, they heard loud laughter, drawing their attention to the chair in the middle of the room… the chair their mistress usually sat in. Her husband was sitting in that chair.
"What do you want here?"
Sol asked the husband with annoyance, after all, who could sympathize with or respect him now that they knew how terrible he was?
Luca looked at him, feeling uneasy, but he didn't know why… how to put it, he neither hated nor liked him, and he shouldn't interfere in their affairs. But the feeling in his body… this body he almost had no control over, every time he looked at her husband's face, he just wanted to punch him.
"I'm just an arrogant fool, but haven't I already said the important thing?"
"Are you sure the person you need to protect is the young mistress? If the way to escape here is to take her heart, what will you do?"
They just looked at him, finding it quite difficult. They had already struggled with Luxie; how could they possibly kill or even touch the young mistress, let alone rip out her heart?
Arknight wiped the blood from her face and looked back at the husband.
"Just take it? Is that really a question, sir?"
Arknight tilted her head, her eyes sharp as if she would do anything to benefit herself. The husband just sat there and nodded as if it were an answer he had anticipated and knew Arknight would give.
If anything, the situation was tense, and he simply waved his hand and picked up a glass of wine to drink from in front of them while they could smell the burning smell coming from below.
"Aren't you going to go save your friend? If you don't hurry, she might… You understand, right?"
He gently sipped another glass of wine.
Luca immediately left the place… he couldn't stay near that person for another second before his body lost control. His body seemed to be acting more intensely… more consciously since entering this world, which really made him uncomfortable.
If I found Eirene, would I be able to find more clues?
Luca thought to himself, if that were really the case, he should still save her, and Arknight seemed to be planning to do the same.
Luca signed. This courage he was showing… he hoped he could hold onto it for longer.
Sol then came out with the other two and looked at Luca.
"Are you planning to go find Bennett alone?"
Luca shook his head; he couldn't bring himself to say he wanted to punch his husband, so after that shake of the head, he said nothing more.
"Let's start looking around, maybe we'll find a clue."
Rivenhart, noticing Luca's embarrassment, suggested they should finish the game faster, as time was running out.
The rest, including Luca, began moving to find Eirene, but the problem was that they had no clue whatsoever. According to the husband, they only knew that Eirene was probably very close to the fire.
Arknight whistled very casually while leading the way, completely oblivious…that's what everyone would assume if they saw this, but for those who knew her, that was highly unlikely.
"La la la~"
Arknight had just finished whistling when she started humming, generally doing everything to make her feel better and more in control of herself.
Sol, walking behind Arknight, interspersed with Rivenhart, noticed that the roses displayed in the hallway were beginning to wither, another bad omen.
Luca saw what Sol saw, but he didn't think much of it; after all, they had already received those omens from the basement. He continued walking with them, but he didn't know his purpose until Arknight reached the garden.
"You want to see the mistress already?"
Rivenhart looked at Arknight. Arknight's actions were quite risky; after all, they still had the husband with his power of psychological manipulation. If they were caught between those two beasts, escape would be almost impossible.
Arknight stopped humming and stared straight at the garden.
"If not now, then when?"
Rivenhart could only remain silent. He knew she had a point; after all, they didn't have much time left… The fire had already spread to the first floor. Behind them, flames blazed, though they didn't know why it was spreading so quickly.
They had to act immediately, or they would become like the unfortunate roses.
Arknight entered the garden while Rivenhart remained outside, taking out his pen.
"You shouldn't use it anymore."
Rivenhart ignored Sol's warning and used his weapon to write.
After finishing writing, Rivenhart coughed up blood again, so Sol sighed and carried Rivenhart on his back.
Luca was about to put Luxie down, but then thought better of it. Perhaps, although it would slow him down, the little girl could awaken the maternal love of the mistress? Help him escape a terrible predicament.
Inside, they saw a very unusual scene.
The mistress was inside a sea of fire. The roses in the garden had all been burned, the flames spreading everywhere. Every branch, flower, and leaf was engulfed in the raging inferno.
"Where is the butler...?"
She stood there with her back to them, but they knew that if they didn't give a reasonable answer now, things wouldn't end well.
Isn't that Eirene?!
Luca noticed that the flower Eirene had been transformed into was lying on top of a birthmark on the mistress's face. Her pristine white dress was also burned, revealing several birthmarks, bruises, and scars, yet there wasn't a single burn mark, even though they were sweating profusely and gasping for breath because the surrounding flames were much hotter than usual.
The flower Eirene had transformed into had a special mark of her god… a book cover instead of a flower's pistil, and the other flowers were simply the shape of a real heart, covering her birthmarks… she was no longer human or in her original form.
Could this be the end? But each time the flames touched and burned a flower on the birthmark, it disappeared… could this be their final time before they could become those flowers?
The mistress turned to look at them; her face now looked very human.
"Where…is…the…butler?!"
A single shout startled them, a stark contrast to the elegant demeanor she was displaying at that moment. Everyone's hair became disheveled, as if the sound waves from their mistress were even stronger than Luxie's.
When no one responded, she understood what was happening and began to sigh, resting her chin on her hand.
"He's too merciful…"
"Kneel!"
All the roses on their mistress's body, the hearts pounding incessantly, caused them all to kneel. The flames burned even faster; before long, they were almost completely engulfed in eternal fire.
From the cracked stone walls, from the collapsing ceiling, from the very shadows of all of them stretching in the firelight. Dark red thorns twisted and turned, each segment bulging like living blood vessels. The petals slowly opened, making the scene more tense than ever.
Arknight had begun to draw her weapon and pin it to the ground, using it to flip herself up. But the others weren't as strong. Rivenhart, having used weapons so much, was now being pulled down by gravity, though not too badly; the protective layer had worked, allowing them to still hold on. Sol struggled to stand and went to Rivenhart.
Luca was still kneeling, of course, only Luxie on his back was completely unharmed… Luca was formulating a plan to save them from this situation.
The thorny vines snapped from the ground, lashing straight at Luca. Luca transformed Luxie into a pair of scissors, using it to propel himself forward and roll away, but he still felt the thorns graze his clothes, leaving a burning, stinging mark like being scratched by hot coals.
"A… strange… familiar person."
Walls of flowers rose in an instant, cutting them in four different directions. Luca was pushed back towards the altar, his vision obscured by dark red petals.
In the distance, Luca heard Rivenhart scream as thorns wrapped around his feet, the clanging of metal against stone from Arknight, and Sol shouting Rivenhart's name amidst the chaos upon hearing the scream.
Luca immediately used his large scissors to cut a large gash in the air, creating a spatial rift… But it wasn't quite right; he was thrown back. Although he reached his mistress and used the scissors to pluck Eirene's rose from her… he was instantly teleported back. Luca began to burn, and the burns pressed against his wounds, causing him to scream in pain. His scissors had begun to shrink.
"Are you alright?"
Luca heard Eirene's voice from the flower, so he just sighed in relief.
"It's alright, but we don't have time... I have to turn you back to human and prevent the mistress from becoming human."
The petals gradually contracted, giving way to flesh. The thorns retracted, revealing the ribs forming. The pace quickened and became more urgent.
...…
"I've waited a long time for this moment."
"If I were more perfect... he wouldn't have any reason to refuse... yes... I must be more perfect."
The mistress laughed while dancing in the middle of the fire.
.....
Eirene, in her flower form, understood the seriousness of the situation.
"Take out the artifact from my mark. At least it will give us a chance to find each other, even if it's not very high."
Luca followed Eirene's instructions, reaching into her mark to retrieve a Rubik's Cube and tossing it into the air. The light emanating from it shone in all directions, piercing through the flames.
[Prop '3D cube of genius']
[You have activated the 1-hour active time prop officially countdown]
The wall of flowers remained in place, but they began to move and shift positions. Luca started following the burning smell, as that was where the mistress was most likely to appear.
Everyone realized the prop was in effect and quickly relied on their experience. Luca, almost instinctively, guided them to each other. Of course, Arknight was the first to find Luca and the other two, leading them together.
But the prop's weakness wasn't quite... great, was it? The mistress had found them, and the hearts within the flowers began to beat rapidly.
Arknight lunged forward, aiming her twin daggers at the flowers, but the thorny vines blocked her path. However, that didn't stop Arknight.
Rivenhart tried to fight with his pen, but Sol stopped him.
"Instead of that, find her weak point."
Sol began to take out his small dagger, enough for self-defense, while Rivenhart rested and recovered, of course still holding his pen, ready to write in case of a worst-case scenario.
But… Was that the right thing to do? If they could hold out until their mistress gave up, it would be too easy.
"Attacks…"
As soon as their mistress gave the command, they remained unharmed, but the roses on her body did not. Layer after layer, like trained infantry, the thorny vines lashed low, forcing them to jump onto the petals above, which closed immediately afterward, cutting off their escape route.
Rivenhart slipped as a sharp thorn pierced the rock right in front of him. Arknight rushed to pull Rivenhart up, but the pull disrupted their balance, and a rose sprang from behind, its petals snapping shut like a trap.
Sol lunged forward, slashing the petals, sending red sap flying and smoking like hot blood, to protect the injured Rivenhart. But before he could catch her breath, two more thorns sprouted from the same spot, wrapping around Sol's wrists and pulling him towards the mistress. Luca, however, took a deep breath, picked up his scissors, and cut the thorns, though it created a scar on Sol's chest; it was better than being pulled into the mistress.
The tall thorns rose and intertwined to form a barrier, while the roots crawled along the ground, searching for gaps beneath their feet. The red light in the shrine flickered, its rhythm matching the beating of their hearts, and some of them were burned, replacing human skin.
Arknight had just severed a thorny stem when the rocky ground beneath her feet collapsed. Arknight fell halfway into the root pit, immediately being impaled by dozens of small thorns, forcing her to brace herself against the ground to avoid being dragged deeper.
Rivenhart lunged forward, sliding across the rocky ground, grabbing Arknight's shoulder and pulling her up.
In that instant, a thorny stem from the side lashed out, sending both of them flying. Luca, being nearby, rolled two more times, hitting his shoulder against a rock pillar, a numb sensation running down his arm.
Arknight used her twin blades to create a 360° circle to protect herself, while Sol, despite his injury, pulled Rivenhart away to protect him. Only Luca took the brunt of the attack.
Luca was about to stand up, though the flames were burning his skin, when a pile of roses appeared before him, ready to rain down… Luca instinctively raised his hand.
"Stop!"
All the roses stopped, and Luca saw his mistress standing there, staring intently at the scissors that had somehow transformed into Luxie; perhaps their lifespan had expired?
She couldn't bear to hurt her child, and besides… The photo album that fell out of Luca's pocket caught her attention.
"That album is… mine."
The album? Luca looked again; yes, he had obtained it because it contained information about the truth of this mansion full of roses.
"Yours?"
Luca struggled to stand up and was about to give it back to the unusually quiet mistress. The fire continued to burn, but everyone was watching. Just as the mistress was about to take the album, it was snatched away by her husband. He stood in front of them, grabbed the album, and took out a photo before attempting to throw it into the fire.
Luca knew it was very important. Just seeing her ready to throw herself in fire, while being held back by her husband, Luca plunged headfirst into the flames.
"Indeed… that kid is anything but normal."
Arknight watched with amusement at Luca's audacious decision. Her husband released her and stood a distance away from everyone, clapping.
"Interesting! Extremely interesting! He did this just for a woman!"
The mistress didn't protest; she just stood there, staring at the sea of fire Luca had plunged into.
"I… don't understand."
"How could you understand? A fool like you is truly ridiculous!"
Her husband's words made even someone like Arknight stare intently.
Eirene, having just entered the sea of fire, transformed back into her human form, gasping for breath… her clothes charred but still retained some characteristics of a flower, such as a flower stem replacing her eyelashes.
"But I must admit you've made this place look beautiful, just like the day the little girl was devoured by the demon."
At this moment, the mistress's heart was pounding faster than a raging fire, her emotions burning even more intensely, but this only made her husband more excited. He laughed even louder, more wildly than before.
"Careful!"
Eirene screamed, but it was too late. Her husband appeared right in front of Sol, delivering a blow that was neither fancy nor flashy, just pure brute force, straight to his chest. Sol flew backward, crashing into a stone pillar, blood gushing from his mouth.
"A group attack? That's not fair at all."
Arknight lunged forward, her eyes a mixture of hatred and amusement, almost like the husband's. She dodged swiftly and cleanly, counterattacking with a sweeping kick. Arknight rolled over her shoulder and sprang to her feet in an instant.
Rivenhart and Eirene split into two directions, forming a pincer movement.
"That's right, this is more fun!"
The mistress didn't move. The flowers around her continued to wither, their petals falling to the stone floor like cold ashes. The red light faded, but the pressure remained, like a chained beast watching. The husband glanced at him amidst the battle.
"See? You're a useless leech, only interested in your nonsense love and what it's bringing?!"
He laughed louder while the mistress gazed in one direction.
"Those who don't believe will leave. But you stay and stay for a long time."
The husband was stunned, and Arknight, taking advantage of the momentary lapse in concentration, kicked him hard, sending him crashing into the cracking wall.
"Perhaps you weren't waiting for just one person. You were waiting for a miracle big enough to prove you were right."
The husband only laughed and began to rage.
"What nonsense are you talking about?! Do you know that because of you, I lost her, the woman I truly loved, all because of your foolish love! Because you forced me, I lost her, the destiny of my life! Why should I wait for a miracle to happen to the person who took everything from me?!"
The mistress remained silent until they heard a scream; it was Luca, dressed in the most terrible clothes imaginable… Luca's skin was red and burned over almost half his body, and his face was badly burned and hideous. To be honest, it was truly hideous.
"I'm back."
Luca gasped for breath, holding the burnt album in his hand, but at least it was still more intact than the current Luca… he had used his body to protect it from the fire; after all, it was important.
Arknight took advantage of everyone's distraction and attacked like a sharp knife. Arknight lunged forward, forcing the husband back a step after he got up.
Rivenhart used the opening to pull Eirene away, placing her against a stone pillar.
"Can you stand? You just escaped from the flower stage."
Eirene nodded, her hands still trembling. The husband turned, trying to knock Arknight away, but Sol immediately blocked him. The two collided in mid-air, the force sending both of them flying backward.
Eirene immediately stood up. Her legs were still unsteady, but her face had regained some color. Eirene picked something from the ground, a charred piece of thorn, and threw it straight at the husband. It didn't cause injury, but it distracted him enough for Arknight, despite her injuries, to lunge forward from the side.
"Interesting. I should have killed you when you were still a flower."
Luca handed the photo album to the owner, who silently gazed at the pictures of herself as a human. Tears welled up in her eyes… but they quickly evaporated in the heat of the approaching flames. Except for the two bosses, everyone had a burn mark, and Luca's was the most severe.
"If my happiness comes at the cost of another's pain, would anyone still want to stay and call it love?"
The mistress asks.
Luca didn't know why he… as if a memory was controlling him, he uttered those words… and Luca had to admit that if it were him, he would have said the same thing.
"Pain is part of it, mistakes are part of it… and love will still remain, if the heart is brave enough to recognize both."
"So… learn to love yourself because it's also a form of love."
The mistress looked at Luca as well as at the others fighting.
"Stop!"
Everyone stopped, even the husband. At this moment, no one could move, not even Luca.
[You have successfully deciphered and been recognized… You have found the truth, verifying that you have a different identity, not just a servant…. passed.]
They saw the words, and Arknight stopped and sighed. She had vanished, and Rivenhart, Sol, and Eirene were the last to disappear, leaving Luca behind, slowly fading away as well. They were all slowly disappearing, watching the magnificent mansion engulfed in flames.
Luca saw his mistress approach and pull away her husband, who was cursing and screaming in despair.
"Let me go!! What are you doing?! I was about to kill them! I should be praying for 'him' to kill you!"
The mistress said nothing, only holding her husband back and looking at Luca with a smile. Before them was not a monster, but a beautiful woman with distinctive birthmarks on her body and a wedding dress.
"Take my child with you. Let her experience the world…"
Then she burst into tears like a child receiving love for the first time, a love she had earned through sacrifice and even risking her life.
"I realized I loved you… But this love came too late to save us."
"If… I had realized this love was wrong sooner; I wish I could turn back time to fix everything…"
Luca watched the flames engulf the love of a poor girl and a boy who lacked the courage to point out the mistake and pursue his own love… All the belated regrets were submerged in the sea of fire… it was no longer hot… It was unexpectedly cold.
Her sadness left Luca only able to watch, unable to help more… he had helped them as much as he could… Perhaps Luca could give their remaining creation of love a new happiness? A new love.
Luca pondered, gazing at Luxie sleeping soundly on his shoulder, along with the watch from the butler… Everything was submerged except for the child, the innocent baby, who remained alive, carrying hope.
...….
They had arrived at a dark space; now Luca was alone, and the system appeared before him.
[You are the player with the highest number of rescues]
[You obtain the nickname 'Angel in the Apocalypse']
[You are the player who satisfied the owner of this game the most.]
[You are the player with the highest number of discoveries]
[You obtain the nickname 'The Fearless One']
[The player with the most kills belongs to someone else.]
[Summary: You receive 1 hint for the next level + one prop]
[Hint: Hospital]
[Prop: Photo Album]
[Summary:
Luca stood there, watching a pen and paper appear before him, then sighed… he hadn't expected this extra step.
After briefly scribbling something on the paper, it disappeared, leaving what he had written on the system panel.
[Summary: A woman living in a mansion, who enjoys growing roses, secretly loves a young man from a wealthy family. She is unaware that he already has a girlfriend, but his family disapproves, causing him anger and resentment towards her. She, however, is completely oblivious to the harm she has caused. He compliments her beauty, while she has unsightly birthmarks, which is why she loves him. Before marriage, she became pregnant, and they had a daughter. This leads to his ex-girlfriend committing suicide, causing him to become addicted and sell his wife to perverts for money.]
[Of course, she doesn't complain… because she knows she must protect her love. Until one day, he summons a demon in exchange for wealth. He sells their child's emotions, then enslaves the child to the demon. The woman began to break down, not knowing why, what she had done to cause this outcome, and that her father, the butler, killed his grandchild to free her, which angered the demon and caused it to blame her husband, driving him insane… Finally, the woman decided to summon the demon once more… this time to incinerate everything and start over.]
[Your summary has been submitted]
[Loading….]
[You have completed the game]
...….
"If each rose petal were a declaration of love… then now I am left alone to count them, to heal my heart amidst the extinguished flame."
.......