The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 192

He was finally acknowledged by the one who had killed him in the past.

Even Roxana, his own sister, had denied him so cruelly.

Now, no one even called him by that name anymore.

Now, he couldn’t even recognize who he was anymore….

For the first time since becoming a doll, Nix felt an overwhelming urge to wail like a child until his face was a mess.

“If you stop that hand, you die.”

The red, torn mouth in the air mocked him again, loudly.

But the man standing before Nix merely looked down at him with a chilling face, still devoid of any hint of a smile.

“So, before your breath runs out…”

A cold touch covered his hand holding the shard of glass. It was so cold that it made him shiver to his bones.

Driven by a mercilessly resolute force, Nix’s hand once again aimed at Noel’s heart.

“Kill him.”

That was what you truly desired, the demon whispered.

Nix was swallowed by a massive emotion, a mix of elation and despair, and he laughed and cried without realizing it.

Soon, red blood splattered before his eyes, clearer than ever before.

* * *

Roxana stopped at the central passage.

Whirr.

A gust of wind blew from the side, ruffling her hair. The sickening smell of blood clung to her senses.

Jeremy was not with her right now.

He was dealing with other dolls they had encountered on the way.

Roxana could track their movements through the butterfly she had placed on Nix before he left the room. That’s how she found this place without getting lost.

She had also witnessed Nix’s experiences through the butterfly’s perspective.

So, although she had anticipated it, the scene that unfolded before her eyes was far more intense than what she had seen indirectly.

The central passage was in such disarray that almost all the glass was shattered.

The floor was also cracked precariously, so Roxana stopped at the end of the corridor, unable to move forward.

The edges of the remaining frame were thickly embedded with shards of broken glass.

The three of them were standing on the glass floor across from her, where the largest cracks had formed.

Blood flowed from Noel’s body, which lay on the floor, spreading out to the sides.

Deon was next to Nix, who was kneeling in despair, tears streaming down his face.

The scene that caught Roxana’s eye as she arrived was Deon pulling a sharp piece of glass from Noel’s chest.

The moment Roxana froze, her face hardening, Deon noticed her too.

Deon’s face was as cold and expressionless as ever.

But the stillness around him felt slightly different from usual, which was unsettling.

…Did he kill Noel Vertium?

Which one of them?

The butterfly connection had been cut off midway, so she couldn’t be sure who had done it.

Nix seemed to realize Roxana’s presence as well, his bloodshot eyes moving.

With his face covered in tears and blood, he moved his trembling lips.

“Ro… Roxana.”

It was a fragile voice that felt like it was catching in his heart.

In Vertium, where flower petals fell like a blizzard, he had called her that then too.

Even though no one had ever called Roxana that in his presence, as if it were natural.

“I, uh, I…”

Nix, covered in blood, sobbed, large tears falling.

She didn’t know what made him cry so sorrowfully.

When Ashil was thirteen, Lant, who didn’t like him, once gave him a small baby animal as a gift.

Ashil was delighted with the first gift he had ever received from his father and cherished it.

A year later, Ashil was given the order to dissect and kill the animal with his own hands.

Ashil cried as he cut open the belly of the animal he had named, fed, and groomed himself.

Lant ordered him to throw the remains of the animal as food for the monsters.

That day, Ashil returned to his room and cried with the same face he had now.

Why did that memory come to mind now?

Still a cunning doll.

Knowing he was in a disadvantageous situation, was he pretending to be Ashil again in front of her?

But even as she thought that, Roxana couldn’t bring herself to say a word as she looked at him.

…He had always bothered her.

When he was nervous, he would touch the bridge of his nose for no reason, and when he was in a difficult situation, he would clench his fist, wrinkle the corner of his left eye, and scratch his thumb with his finger.

Nix couldn’t possibly know those minor habits, but he imitated Ashil too well.

That’s why she acted even more coldly.

If she didn’t, she felt like she would mistake him for the real Ashil, even for a moment, as she had done in Vertium before.

Then she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself again.

But why was ‘that thing’ crying in front of her now with the same face as Ashil?

Deon, taking in Roxana who was staring at Nix, frozen in place, finally realized.

What he had to do now.

The clouds cleared, and a sparkling radiance formed in his vision.

Roxana saw a blood-soaked hand moving behind Nix.

The conversation she had with Deon on the last day in Agrische suddenly flashed through her mind at that moment.

“I don’t regret killing Ashil.”

Without any time to think, Roxana reflexively moved her hand.

Smash! Clang!

The weapon that had been in Deon’s hand was shattered and flew behind him, embedding itself.

Red blood droplets scattered in the air along with the broken glass shards.

“Even if I go back to that time, I would kill that bastard again without hesitation.”

“…Stop!”

But Deon didn’t hesitate at all and grabbed the weapon that had been in Roxana’s hand until just now and was now embedded next to his face.

“Stop, Deon…!”

Roxana rushed forward.

The glass floor, already cracked in places, cracked even more with every step she took.

Nix, who had been sobbing, turned his head towards the dark shadow cast over him.

The Grim Reaper’s scythe fell upon him.

But fortunately, Roxana’s whip wrapped around Deon’s wrist and pulled him, slightly changing the direction, and Nix was able to avoid the attack aimed at him by a hair’s breadth.

Roxana, who had already approached, blocked his path.

Golden hair fluttering in the wind crumbled with light in his vision.

Nix stared blankly at the back view of the person protecting him with tearful eyes.

Deon immediately grabbed the whip wrapped around his wrist with a strong grip and pulled it hard.

He didn’t immediately cut down Roxana, who was an obstacle.

But he grabbed her, who had been pulled forward, and threw her back mercilessly.

Bang!

Roxana slammed into the wall behind the passage, stifling a groan as she bounced off.

Leaving her behind, Deon approached Nix again.

Four years ago, Roxana said to Deon, with Ashil’s illusion in front of her.

“I won’t let Ashil be killed twice by the likes of you.”

But look.

Now, Ashil, who had come back to life like this, was in front of Deon’s eyes, and Deon had another chance to kill him.

The moment he saw Roxana, who had appeared a little while ago, staring at the sobbing Ashil with an astonished look.

Deon realized that this was what he wanted now.

To kill Ashil once again in front of Roxana.

“Roxana!”

Cassius, who had just arrived at the scene, flew from the passage connected to the adjacent building and witnessed Roxana being thrown against the wall.

He rushed over and checked her condition.

Fortunately, Roxana was safe.

Although her right arm was dislocated and her ankle was fractured from the earlier incident, the healing power remaining in her body quickly recovered before Cassius could even intervene.

Then, his gaze immediately shifted to the passage where Roxana had appeared a little while ago.

Flames flickered in Cassius’s eyes as he immediately grasped the situation.

“Deon Agrische…!”

Soon, his body shot out like a spring towards Deon, who was attacking Nix.

Roxana also gritted her teeth and got up immediately.

Clang!

Cassius picked up a piece of metal that appeared to be the remains of a doll from the floor and clashed with Deon.

Deon had no choice but to stop attacking Nix because he was being obstructed by Cassius.

“Get out of the way, Cassius Fedelian.”

Cassius did not hesitate and attacked him again despite Deon’s cold rebuke.

It seemed that what Deon was trying to achieve, even at the risk of hurting Roxana, was to kill Nix.

And Roxana didn’t seem to want that.