‘—What? Queen of Leeches? Those bastards said Queen of Leeches just now, right?''


    ‘Isabe is the 3rd ranking Executor of the ck Star Organization?''


    ‘What kind of bullshit is that? Then who the hell are those bast… ah.''


    —It was a sensation as if he had been struck by lightning.


    The misaligned puzzle pieces, the twisted gears, they all clicked into ce.


    <em>-In any case, the situation has changed a lot ever since the ck Star Organization appeared. Marco Giorno, who previously acted without the tiniest bit of fear, is now in hiding without being able to make a sound.</em>


    Paolo''s words came to mind.


    ‘Holy… shit.''


    ‘Why was I unable to realize?''


    ‘Why? Why? Why?''


    ‘The ones that were targeting Isabe… weren''t from the ck Star Organization.''


    —An unsophisticated appearance that made it impossible to think of them as trained assassins.


    —Brutal to the point where they wouldn''t hesitate to swing their weapons at regr civilians.


    ‘The Marco Family.''


    They were the ones who were trying to assassinate Isabe.


    ‘Wait a second. But I definitely felt the ck Stars’ mana from them.''


    Why was the ck Stars’ mana felt from the members of the Marco Family when they were the ones that were being pushed out by the ck Star Organization?


    ‘No way.''


    Ohjin’s eyes opened wide.


    Suddenly, a part of Arshad Khan’s transmitted memories came to mind.


    <em>-Fufu. Poison should be dealt with by poison.</em>


    The one known as the King''s Delegate that led the ‘Noctua'' faction of the ck Star Organization…


    Cheon Woosung.


    Those were the words he had spilled.


    ‘Dealing with poison by using poison… is this what he meant?''


    Theplete picture was now drawn in his head.


    ‘The Noctua faction and Marco Family held hands.''


    …And that was the reason the ‘ck Stars’ mana could be felt from them.


    ‘Fuck me.''


    The insides of his head that could not think of anything but swears burned up


    ‘Putting aside the fact that I can''t feel the ck Stars’ mana from Isabe…''


    If her true identity really was the ‘Queen of Leeches'', then the difference between the two of them was literally heaven and earth. Hence, being unable to sense her mana was more than usible.


    However…


    ‘…I waspletely fooled.''


    Saying that it was carelessness was an excuse.


    Saying that he couldn’t help but misunderstand was nothing but selffort.


    He had just been deceived like an idiot… by Isabe''s skillful act.


    ‘Goddammit.''


    As a person who called himself a scammer, being unable to see through a mere act made remorse weigh down his body.


    ‘I''ll reflect on my actionster.''


    He wasn''t in a situation where he could dwell on his past actions out of regret.


    Ohjin opened his eyes slightly and focused his mind on the conversation the Marco Family and Isabe were sharing.


    "Ha! Are you bluffing now that your king has copsed?"


    "Hm? King? Ah… you''re talking about Ohjin."


    Isabe''s lips curved up bashfully.


    "Certainly, Ohjin is charming like a king."


    <em>Fufufu—</em>


    Her eyes shone as she looked down at Ohjin, who had copsed.


    "Kugh! Y-You dare!"


    The assassins'' bodies shook from herpletelyid-back attitude.


    "—What are you all doing?"


    "B-Boss?!"


    At that moment, a youth brushed past the assassins and appeared.


    He had a shaved head and intricate tattoos all over his body.


    "It''s been a while~ Marco!"


    Isabe shook her hand weingly at the youth.


    "Goddamn bitch… let''s see if you''re able to act so frivolously once I tear off that mouth of yours."


    "Oh, my. You''re as vulgar as ever. Is it because you have no hair?"


    "You piece of shit!!"


    <em>Grit!—</em>


    Marco ground his teeth and raised up a bat covered in sharp thorns.


    <em>Owooong!!—</em>


    The stigma on his left chest shone radiantly as powerful mana waves stirred up the surrounding area.


    "She can''t even use mana because of the curse! Hurry up and grab hold of her!"


    "Yes, sir!"


    His underlings bowed down deeply.


    "Fufu. Can''t use mana, huh?"


    Isabe put in a thick smile.


    "It certainly is a dreadful curse."


    She had ended up getting bestowed with a curse much more powerful than she had predicted due to the unexpected intervention of the Noctua Faction.


    —That''s right.


    The Executor ranked 3rd in the ck Star Organization.


    Even she, who was a high-rank Awakener that had attained the rank of ''10-Star'', had ended up getting her mana sealed.


    "—But did you know?"


    Isabe spread her arms wide and looked up to the sky.


    The sky with a zing sunset had already settled down and left only bright starlight shining down.


    "The stigma of Hirudo… bes many times stronger in the night."


    <em>Owooong!!—</em>


    Deep, red light shone out from Isabe''s stigma.


    "…What?"


    Marco''s eyes shook.


    "N-No. Th-That can''t be true."


    Unable to ept the reality in front of his eyes, he shook his head while his body trembled.


    "It-It''s the Purple Forbidden Enclosure''s Curse!!! Do you believe that you''ll be able to escape from its effects just because it''s night?!"


    The Purple Forbidden Enclosure''s Curse…


    It was one of the best curses.


    No, it was a curse so powerful that it would be fine to call it something else, as it went beyond the ‘curse'' ssification.


    The organization had poured in multiple years worth of funds and manpower in order toy the foundations of that curse, and because not even that was enough, they were barely able toplete it due to receiving support from the Noctua faction.


    "There''s absolutely no way it has been released already when it hasn''t even been half a day!!!! Not even the Seven Stars can escape from the Purple Forbidden Enclosure''s Curse!!!"


    "Hmpf. Well, I guess you''re right."


    Isabe smiled brightly while nodding her head.


    "However, isn''t that the case of the ‘Seven Stars''?"


    "…What?"


    "Fufu. I''m not one of the Seven Stars, am I?"


    She spoke in a tone like she believed that she was above the Seven Stars.


    "Y-You delusional bitch!"


    Marco shouted out of absurdity and looked at his underlings.


    "What are you all doing?! Hurry up and kill her!!"


    "B-But."


    "It''s all a bluff, you fucking dumbfucks!! What are you being scared for?!"


    "Y-Yes, sir!"


    Marco''s underlings fixed their grip on their weapons even while their bodies trembled.


    "Dieeeeeee!!"


    "Uaaaah!"


    —Awakeners that numbered in the hundreds charged at her.


    "—Oh, my."


    Isabe smiled brightly as she looked at the Awakeners heading her way.


    "You children really don''t value your life, do you?"


    Her fingernails became dyed in red.


    From left to right,


    with her index finger extended out,


    she drew a red line in mid-air.


    ———————————————!!!!!!


    There was no sound.


    Following the line of blood that split apart the air—


    <em>Pshk!! Phsssshk!!!—</em>


    —their heads dropped down.


    Decapitated heads rolled around the ground.


    Red fountains scattered all around the riverside that was set in darkness.


    "Uh, ah."


    "Ah… ah."


    In an instant…


    When not even a second had passed—


    "Aaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"


    "M-Monster!! She''s a monster!!"


    —Over half of the members of Marco''s family that had numbered in the hundreds had lost their heads and died.


    "Fuu. Ha~"


    Isabe looked at the pouring blood fountains and took in deep breaths.


    Soon, she furrowed her delicate eyebrows.


    "Hmpf. They only smell fishy and disgusting. I really do wonder what they go around eating in general."


    Isabe looked at the remaining members who survived with distaste.


    "E-Eeeeeeek!!"


    "Witch!! She''s a witch!!!"


    The members, engulfed with fear, turned away from Isabe and tried to desperately escape.


    "Oh, my. Where are you going?"


    A voice drenched in bloodlust rang out in their ears.


    "Aaaaahhh!! S-Spare me!! Please spare meeeeeee!!!"


    "Wh-What are you bastards doing!! Don''t run away!! I''ll kill the ones that run away!!"


    Marco urgently shouted out to his escaping underlings, but it was toote to stop their movement.


    And in the ce those frightening underlings were going…


    <em>Pshk!! sh!!—</em>


    "Kugh!! Kuk!"


    "Krrr!"


    Hundreds… no, thousands of beings wearing blood-red masks were massacring Marco''s underlings.


    "Th-The ck Star Organization!"


    Marco''s expression distorted severely as he looked at the beings that wore red masks.


    "Damn it!"


    He raised up his bat covered in thorns and aimed for Isabe.


    "Die, you fucking leech!!!"


    He roared as he kicked off in ast-ditch effort.


    <em>Bang!!—</em>


    His stigma shone radiantly as his bat made the currents nearby blow violently.


    "Hmpf."


    Isabe frowned as she puffed air out of her nose.


    <strong>"I most certainly… told you not to call me a leech, did I not?"</strong>


    —A voice that rang out eerily.


    <em>Boooom!!!—</em>


    Red energy started to stir up the surroundings like a tornado.


    "Argh!!"


    <em>S-S-S-Slice!!—</em>


    Small scratches started to pile up on Marco''s body as if his entire body was being sliced by sharp razor des.


    Although they were scratches, as the number of them far exceeded a thousand, they developed into wounds that couldn''t be called scratches anymore.


    "Ah, uha, uh."


    Blood gushed out of Marco''s body as he stumbled while taking steps back.


    Isabe slowly extended her hand towards him.


    The drops of blood bled by Marco floated into the air and slowly flew to Isabe.


    "<em>Nom</em>."


    Isabe licked Marco''s blood and drank it.


    Suddenly, her expression distorted.


    "Twe!"


    She spat out the remaining blood in her mouth as if she had drunk something dirty.


    "I intentionally incited you to use the curse since you all kept hiding like little cockroaches… but it appears that hardship was in vain."


    It was more edible than the blood from his trash underlings, but that was all.


    The taste didn''t make her feel rewarded in the least for sacrificing herself to be the bait.


    "S-Spare me…"


    "Hm."


    Isabe grabbed both of Marco''s arms and brutally twisted them off.


    "Uguaguagahak!!!"


    "Even the sound of your scream is vulgar."


    <em>Tch—</em>


    Isabe grabbed onto Marco''s chin this time as if something wasn''t to her liking.


    "—You said that you would tear off my mouth or whatever, yeah?"


    A beaming smile was ced on Isabe''s lips.


    "Uh, ua, ah, no… Aaaahhhhhhh!!"


    <em>Rrrrrip!!—</em>


    She violently tore off the chin in her grasp.


    Blood spurted out and drenched the ground.


    "<em>Sigh</em>. I went through all that trouble for this?"


    —Overwhelming.


    Even though Marco was one of the ‘High-rank Awakeners'' that was deemed to be outside the scope of humans, he was nothing but amonce 3 to 4-Star Awakener in front of Isabe.


    * * *


    * * *


    "I apologize for beingte, your Majesty."


    An old man with finely taken care of gray hair who gave off a well-mannered impression approached her after the Marco Family was annihted.


    "…Roberto."


    Isabe looked down at the bowing old man andmanded with a cold voice.


    <strong>"Kneel."</strong>


    "Yes, ma''am!!!"


    <em>Bang!!—</em>


    The old man called Roberto kneeled down on the floor with both knees without hesitation.


    "Chair."


    "Y-Yes!"


    After kneeling down, he ced his hands on the ground.


    <em>Plop—</em>


    Isabe nonchntly sat down on Roberto''s back and twisted her slim legs.


    "Even if themunications went down, weren''t you a little toote?"


    "F-Forgive me!"


    "And you didn''t even notice at all that Noctua intervened…"


    "Please kill me, your Majesty!!"


    "Oh? Really?"


    Isabe''s blue eyes shone as she unhesitantly stabbed the back of Roberto''s neck with her fingernail.


    <em>Pshk!—</em>


    "Kugh! Kaah!"


    Roberto''s eyes flipped to the back of his head and he started to throw up blood from his mouth.


    "Should I really kill you?"


    Isabe stirred around the finger that was dug into Roberto''s neck.


    "Kurh! Kuk! Kuuugh!! P-Please, kill me!"


    Roberto''s attitude didn''t break down even as he spat out blood.


    "Fufu. I''m kidding."


    Isabe smiled alluringly and took out her finger.


    She licked her finger that was drenched in blood and continued.


    "In any case, that bothersome Marco Family should be finished with this."


    "I-It''s all thanks to your Majesty''s exceptional scheming."


    "Hmm. Is that so?"


    Isabe furrowed her brow as if something was unpleasant.


    "To be honest, it was quite dangerous this time."


    As she hadn''t predicted that Noctua would cooperate with the Marco Family, she hadpletely fallen into the ‘Purple Forbidden Enclosure''s Curse''.


    If she had been captured by those men earlier…


    ‘Hmm. Quite some horrifying things would have happened to me.''


    Marco wouldn''t kill her in one go with his personality. Isabe would have been humiliated until night came and then ughtered every person there once the curse was released.


    ‘Though the fact that the Marco Family would have been annihted doesn''t change.''


    It was most likely that she would have ended up with a new ‘trauma'' that was hard for even her to bear.


    —A trauma so horrific that she would lose her grip on the faint thread of rationality.


    "Fufu. In regards to that, Ohjin could be said to be my benefactor."


    "By Ohjin…"


    <em>Cr</em>ack<em>!!—</em>


    Isabe used the heel of her shoe to stomp down on Roberto''s hand.


    "Kmpf!!"


    "It''s not Ohjin to you, but ‘Sir'' Ohjin. Understood?"


    "F-Forgive me!! By Sir Ohjin… do you mean that Awakener who''s famous in Korea?"


    "That''s right."


    Isabe nodded and got up from Roberto''s back.


    "I was simply interested at first… but I didn''t imagine that it would be to this extent."


    With heated eyes, she approached Ohjin, who was lying on the ground.


    She crouched down and sniffed him.


    "Ahhh! This sweet smell…! It really is the best!"


    Even whenpared to any other smell she had smelled to date, the ‘smell'' that Ohjin gave off was overwhelmingly sweet.


    "No, the act ofparing them is insulting in itself."


    Compared to his smell, every smell she had smelled until then was nothing but food waste in the gutter.


    "Well, then."


    Isabe carefully held out her hand and dipped the tip of her finger into the drops of blood that trickled out of Ohjin''s wounds.


    She slightly licked the droplet of blood that formed on her finger with the tip of her tongue.


    "—Ah."


    Her soul shook.


    "Ang! Haa… uht!!!"


    Isabe leaked out lewd moans and twisted her body as if she was constipated.


    ‘Wh-What is this?!''


    The smell was great on its own…


    But the taste was in a ‘league'' of its ownpared to other blood.


    ‘I-I''ve never imagined anything like this before.''


    It was to the point where she would believe that what she drank until then was not blood but feces.


    "…Haa."


    Isabe dipped her finger into Ohjin’s blood and licked it with a rhapsodic expression.


    If Isabe had it her way, she would want to just drink up all the blood that collected on the ground in one go, but…


    ‘If I do that—I might just die from pleasure.''


    The taste of Ohjin''s blood was to that degree.


    "Fu, fufufu, fufufufu."


    The sound of stickyughter rang out from her mouth.


    "Roberto."


    "Yes, your Majesty!"


    "Bring me an elixir."


    "A-An elixir?"


    "Hurry."


    —A potion of dreams that could only be made by a high-rank Awakener of Aquarius.


    "H-Here it is."


    "Hand it over."


    Isabe poured the elixir into Ohjin''s mouth.


    His wounds were recovered in an instant.


    "Fufufu."


    Isabe looked down at the copsed Ohjin and stroked his cheek lovingly.


    While she stuck out her tongue and licked her lips—


    <strong>"I won''t </strong><strong><em>ever</em></strong><strong> let you go."</strong>


    —her blue eyes shone with deep greed.


    T/N: Changed ‘Stigma of the Owl Neb’ to ‘Stigma of Noctua’, and the ‘Owl Faction’ to the ‘Noctua Faction’ to be more astronomically (and story-wise) urate. The other word for Romani has also been changed to Romani. It is what the raws said but more research should have been done on my part. Sorry. s have been updated.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_constetions