The Son-In-Law Of A Prestigious Household Wants A Divorce-Chapter 23: The Blackthorns Sinner (1)

[Are you serious? You can’t even do this? Do you plan to live as the family’s disgrace?!]

The boy’s sin was...

He had no interest in swords.

[How could you be so weak-hearted?! Are you planning to tarnish the family’s name? How on earth do you expect to receive them like this-!]

His other sin was...

He couldn’t muster courage in the face of dangers.

[You? Cooking? Praise? How could such a madman like you exist?! Bring me the cane! Right now!]

His love for cooking, and his wish to show that off...

Was also the boy’s sin.

[Just how could a child like you—! Haa... A child who should’ve been born in some slum—! Came out of my womb—]

But, perhaps, his greatest sin was...

The fact that he was born here, as a Blackthorn, without knowing his place.

*   *   *“KUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

With a laugh that was close to a roar, Pollu thrashing about, as if in a frenzy.

The black liquid that had gushed out from his body had now returned back through the same holes it came out from.

He walked through the snow field.

Beside him, the yeti—already consumed by the black liquid—was following him.

“Skreee skreee, skreee skreee.”

Its pronunciation was more slurred than before, as if its brain had been damaged, but it was still able to pinpoint its targets clearly and walked towards them.

And then...

They arrived at the frozen river, facing directly with Silverna’s Reconnaissance Team.

“Pollu...”

“So it really is you.”

Hearing Isaac’s and Meladik’s murmurs, Pollu raised the corners of his mouth in a grin.

“I’ve returned, everyone!”

His appearance was completely different from his previously timid self.

His once pale skin now looked bumpy, and his skin color was turning black.

If the ‘bone’ piercing his heart wasn’t there, no one would’ve thought that this was Pollu.

“I’ve returned!! I even subjugated a yeti!! Kuhahahaha! See?! I’ve been helpful to you all! Right? Huh? Right?”

The reconnaissance team was struck speechless facing his compulsive questions.

As the others were dealing with their confusion about the current situation, Isaac slowly stepped forward.

“Pollu, listen to me.”

“Huh? Isaac? Who do you think you are?! You abandoned me!! Silverna!! Come out and talk!!”

Silverna stepped forward with a frown. Pollu opened his mouth wide, saliva dripped out from it uncontrollably, as if he was a hungry Demonic Beast.

“A-Abandon me? Silvernaaaa? Huuuh? A-Abandon meee? It’s okay. You are pretty. It’s okay because Silverna is pretty!! But abandon meee?? W-Was I that useless? Did I do something wroooong?”

“...Pollu?”

“No! No! Don’t be scared! I won’t kill you. But I could. No. I’m not sure. But Silverna is really pretty. I thought that when I see you first time. You do spear well. Different from me. Riiight?”

Pollu sounded completely unlike his usual self..

It was as if his filter for cognition and thought had disappeared.

As more of his words poured out, following his instincts, the life in his eyes disappeared. Then, he nodded.

“I will kill you!”

Whooosh!

The yeti swung its fist widely. Already anticipating this, Silverna leaped back a single step, dodging it.

“I’ll handle the yeti! The rest of you subdue Pollu!”

Funnily enough, the first one to answer her order was Pollu.

“Subdue? Subduuue?! Subdue Pollu! Yes! Kill him! Kill that trash! The stain of Blackthorn! The darkest star among stars! Purge the family’s sinner!”

“W-Why is he acting like that?”

Anna asked, but Isaac only bit his lip, as if chewing it.

They left the yeti to Silverna and rushed at Pollu.

Sharen Helmont took the first strike.

Whooosh!

Trying to end it with a decisive and quick blow, she channeled her ‘Crimson Essence’ from her entire body, and flew at Pollu.

Clang!

“...!”

Her red eyes trembled.

Seeing Pollu blocking her strike so easily with a single thin sword made her stare at him wide-eyed.

His body didn’t even budge a little.

It was as if he was doing something as light as grasping falling snow from the sky.

“Huh?”

Even Pollu was surprised at this.

He looked at his sword with round eyes. When he started to push Sharen back by applying some force into his sword, the corners of his mouth stretched wide.

“Kuhu, huhu! Huhahahahahahaha! Father! Can you see me now? Are you watching me? I! I just pushed back a Helmont!”

As Pollu burst into laughter, a spear pierced his side.

“Huh?”

This time, Anna delivered her strike while hiding behind Sharen’s Crimson Essence.

But the spear tip bounced off as if it had hit steel, not flesh. Pollu then lightly swung his arm to deflect her spear completely.

Even Meladik, who was about to make a follow-up attack with his fist stopped in his tracks.

Everyone realized that their attacks wouldn’t affect the current Pollu.

“He’s become a monster.”

“For some reason, my spear has been getting blocked quite often lately.”

Sharen and Anna retreated, assuming a formation to surround him while they were doing that.

But he was just in so much ecstasy that he didn’t seem to care about such things.

“Hahahahaha! So this is why! Father! Mother! This is why you told me every day to become strong! To swing a sword! To train!”

“...”

“Ah, really! I was stupid! If only I just swung a sword back then! Now that I’ve come to know this, I understand what it means!”

He slumped down, dropped his head and sniffled.

“But I still don’t want to do thaaat.”

Seeing him expressing his jumbled emotions, everyone was left bewildered.

“I guess he’s turning insane.”

“Just what on earth happened?”

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Sharen and Meladik muttered in bewilderment.

Meanwhile, Anna glanced at Silverna who was still facing the yeti.

They clearly couldn’t handle this by themselves—they’d need Silverna help, but...

“We can’t rely on her.”

Noticing what Anna was doing, Isaac made such a remark coolly.

“Pardon?”

“The yeti isn’t in a normal state either. It might not be as extreme as Pollu, but it’s also being controlled by the black liquid.”

From the way its body was dyed with a dull light, it was all too clear to Isaac.

Its strength and speed were leagues better than what it had before.

Originally, this would have been a situation where they should go and Lady Silverna.

“She’ll keep that yeti occupied for a while, so this is our biggest opportunity.”

If Silverna were to lose to the yeti, it would be over for them right there.

No one here could withstand the combined strength of the yeti and Pollu after all.

“Do you have a plan, Sir Isaac?”

At Anna’s question, Isaac stared at Pollu’s eyes. The black liquid was emitting a black aura around the poor sod like smoke.

It reminded Isaac of the vigorously burning firewood.

“If we drag this out, we’ll win. That state has a time limit.”

“...”

“Unfortunately, our situation made it so that we can’t just drag this out. So what we need to aim for is there.”

The tip of Isaac’s falchion pointed at the ‘bone’ stuck in Pollu’s chest.

It was the yeti’s first surprise attack that had taken Pollu down, essentially, it was the starting point of the current situation.

“We’ll use that to kill him.”

At Isaac’s words, Meladik and Sharen looked at him with surprised expressions.

His words implied that they really had to kill him, even though he used to be their comrade.

“We have to do this.”

There’s no hope for him anymore.

Isaac knew what was going on with the guy.

Although he had never seen the black liquid before, he had seen people who were exactly like Pollu back in his previous life.

“The moment he becomes like that, he’s no longer human.”

He said with a heavy voice.

“If none of you can do it, I will.”

His hand that was holding the falchion wasn’t trembling.

Watching Isaac step forward, Anna carefully asked.

“Wait, what do you know about this? Could you at least tell us?”

“...It’s called Vassalization.”

“Vassalization?”

“It’s a sorcery that the Transcendent Race uses to turn humans into their possessions.”

It’d make the human’s body stronger quickly, but in exchange, their mentality would be bizarrely distorted.

They’d only act according to their instincts.

Blurt out whatever comes to mind.

And forcibly pour out their true feelings.

“I’m sorryyyyy! Father! Mother! I’m sorry! I’m sorry for being born as a worm-like bastard!”

“That means...”

“Kuhuuuugh! I shouldn’t have been born! I, who refused to swing a sword despite having this power! Shouldn’t have been boooooorn!!!”

Anna’s gaze turned towards Pollu, tinged with fear.

“Kill meeee! I’m a disgrace that shouldn’t have been born! A rebellious child who only makes his mother shed teaaaars! THE BLACKTHORN’S SINNEEEEER!!!”

All the words he was spouting out were his true feelings.

“I’m a sinner! A sinner! Aak! Kuaaaak! Kill me! That way Father won’t be disappointed anymore! That way Mother won’t shed any more tears! I...! I must atone! Even if it’s like this!”

The Blackthorn’s Sinner confessed his true feelings while beating his chest.

He, who had lived a life of tears and regret, seemed to have forgotten even his own name.

Perhaps, that was why...

“Pollu! Come to your senses already, you stupid kid! You shouldn’t lose to something like that!”

Meladik shouted, expressing the anguish that had been built up in his chest.

Isaac’s words made him desperate. He believed that there must be another way to save the kid, but...

“Kuhuk!”

The Blackthorn’s Sinner turned his head sharply.

He stared at Meladik, nodded, and started drooling again.

“Right. Rightrightrightrightrightright.”

And then.

“I want to live.”

He immediately rushed at Meladik and swung his sword.