The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 30

The Earl’s Scion Is a Genius – Episode 30 (30/200)

Chapter 4: Discovery: The Scion Discovered

The Twilight’s Seven Executives.

The Apostle of Jealousy.

The Ice Witch.

The woman, known by many names, was actually named Niflheim.

She was an ice manipulator, born with an innate talent for handling ice.

In the Arnia Continent, a unique talent could be a blessing for nobles, but for impoverished commoners or serfs, it could turn into a curse.

Unfortunately, the latter was the case for the woman.

Born with the extraordinary talent of an elementalist [a person who can control elements like ice, fire, or earth], she was sold to a circus troupe.

Her parents, unable to overcome poverty, sold her for a mere 10 gold.

She traveled the continent as a clown.

A girl who uses ice.

Even her appearance seemed to be sculpted from ice.

The rarity stemming from her uniqueness fueled the twisted possessiveness of high-ranking nobles, and the girl became a victim.

That was when she lost both her legs.

A common story found anywhere in the Arnia Continent.

However, the ending was slightly different.

The woman’s power grew stronger as she matured, beyond what a mere noble could handle.

The girl stained her hands with blood.

She showed no mercy to those who stood in her way.

She even awakened a new ability.

It was a basic mind control ability, a truly terrifying power that allowed her to control a large number of low-intelligence monsters.

With long-term effort, she could even make humans with high intelligence somewhat favorable to her.

Filled with dissatisfaction towards the absurd world, it was perhaps inevitable that she would be recruited as an executive of Twilight.

At the time, she was incredibly arrogant.

She feared nothing in the world.

Now, her greatest goal and mission in life was to help the Demon King Baal destroy this wretched world.

…Until she met him.

“What could have happened to a young girl like you to make you help the Demon King? I truly pity you.”

Gordon Lloyd.

That was the first thing he said to Niflheim on the battlefield.

A pebble fell into a calm lake, and a violent wave surged in the girl’s heart.

The only warm word thrown into her already broken mind fueled her possessiveness.

But Gordon was not a man she could easily have just because she wanted him.

A Sword Master of the Seven Stars [an elite group of powerful swordsmen].

He was her equal, or even stronger.

Rather, that was what made Niflheim even more obsessed.

She deliberately chose battlefields where he was present.

She visited the territories he governed and caused disturbances.

Like a child breaking a water bottle to get attention, she acted out in every way possible.

That was where she first met Karina.

A girl with red hair.

She was of a similar age but possessed abilities completely opposite to her own, and even the path she had walked was the opposite.

A Sword Master, a Flame Swordsman, and possessing a beautiful appearance, she was revered by everyone.

Even the greedy nobles who had treated her like a toy bowed before the girl.

‘We were born the same, so why are that woman and I so different?’

Yes.

‘I can understand up to that point.’

‘The world is inherently unfair.’

But the moment she truly felt rage was when she witnessed the look in Karina’s eyes as she gazed at Gordon Lloyd.

As someone in unrequited love, she could tell.

The eyes of a fellow one-sided lover.

‘That woman and I have the same man in our hearts.’

‘And that woman and Gordon are both Seven Stars. I am merely an enemy they must eliminate.’

‘I’m jealous. I’m so jealous I could go crazy!!!’

She wanted to destroy everything about Karina.

She wanted to have everything about Gordon Lloyd.

She was jealous.

She was so jealous she was going crazy.

‘His place is mine.’

‘He is mine.’

‘I must have him.’

Why? Why?

There was a reason why she volunteered to come to the Northern Mountain Range after the Demon King Baal was sealed.

It was also for the organization’s long-cherished wish of resurrecting the Demon King, but this place was also quite close to the Marquis Lloyd’s territory where Gordon Lloyd was.

Also, it was right under that damn Karina’s nose, so she could stab her in the back at any time.

‘A new noble-born recruit has arrived. He is the son of Marquis Gordon Lloyd.’

Moreover, although it was a coincidence, she had also discovered a new piece of Gordon.

She wanted to kidnap him right away, but she was holding back because the mission was more urgent.

But there was no need to refuse a guy who came to my territory on his own two feet.

Already, countless fantasies were running through her mind about how to play with the fragment of the man she loved.

‘How about making him a dog who only listens to me? Or perhaps it would be enjoyable to slowly watch him die after torturing him. I want to see his miserable face begging to be made a slave.’

Her delightful plan was shattered when she followed Victor’s trail with the brainwashed Yeti.

“…He fell?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was a crazy bastard with a screw loose. He jumped in without hesitation.”

She looked inside the crevasse.

Even she would have trouble if she fell in there, let alone a user-level warrior.

A vein popped on her forehead as annoyance surged.

As if understanding her feelings, the Yeti let out a threatening roar and lifted Victor by the scruff of his neck.

“Cough! Cough!”

“Victor, if you were trying to test my patience, you succeeded. I’ll give you that. If you fail to bring me a toy again, there will be no next time. Got it?”

“I, I’ll keep that in mind!”

Even Victor, who had reached the Expert level, was like a child in front of Niflheim, who was at the Master level.

As the Yeti lowered its hand, Victor barely regained his freedom and collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

“Thank you for your mercy. I will execute the plan to deal with Karina perfectly this time.”

“How are you going to do it? Your identity has already been exposed. Henon must have cleaned up after you in advance.”

“Th-That… I’m sorry.”

“If you’re sorry, you’ll be the bait yourself and lure Karina to the Owlbear habitat. I’ll be waiting there, ready to greet her.”

“Understood.”

Niflheim watched Victor’s retreating figure as he bowed his head and ran.

Jealousy seethed in her heart.

She wanted to capture Karina as quickly as possible and trouble Gordon to quench her thirst-parched heart.

* * *

Five minutes before Niflheim arrived at the crevasse.

-Jump. That’s the only way.

Below the cliff was darkness so complete that it was impossible to see the bottom, truly a chasm of a thousand cliffs, but to obtain the Golden Branch, I had to go down.

As I cast my gaze towards the crevasse, Victor said with a relaxed expression.

“You’re not thinking of jumping, are you? That’s a stupid idea. If you fall down there, you won’t even be able to recover your bones.”

Victor’s sword was covered in bluish mana.

A Mana Sword, the symbol of an Expert.

‘Should I fight Victor as is and get caught by the Apostle of Jealousy, or should I jump into the crevasse as the Heavenly Demon said and take a gamble with low odds?’

In fact, I had already decided what to do.

“I was called a Scoundrel in the Lloyd family.”

Victor’s footsteps, which had been approaching, stopped at the sudden remark.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s as it sounds. I was treated like a scoundrel in the territory. All the territory residents hated, despised, and avoided me.”

“That’s unexpected. Judging by how you’re serving in the North, you seemed like a diligent soldier.”

“Everyone has a past they want to hide. Do you know why I was called a Scoundrel?”

“Well, I don’t know, but if you’re bringing up small talk to buy time, I want to tell you it’s useless.”

“It’s because I acted the opposite of what people wanted, like a rebellious child. See you later, then.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I threw myself into the crevasse.

Wasn’t I scared?

Of course, I was scared.

But since there was no other way out, I jumped.

“Did you ever see such a crazy bastard!”

Victor’s exclamation of astonishment was heard from above, but even that gradually faded as the distance increased.

Soon, I would collide with the hard ground.

No matter how good my recovery was, falling from this height would mean instant death with no chance to recover.

The reason I jumped despite knowing this was that I had something to believe in.

[Activating skill Wood Control.]

[The growth of trees is accelerated.]

Kwakwakwak!!!

While falling, I grabbed the tree branches that came out through the ice wall and reduced the speed of my fall.

It was difficult.

The falling speed was considerable, so the tree trunks broke every time I grabbed them, and I had to summon new tree trunks each time.

‘Please!’

I didn’t give up and continued to activate Wood Control.

As a result, I was able to grab the tenth tree trunk and dangle on the wall.

Blood dripped from my completely peeled palms, and bruises were tattooed all over my body from hitting it while falling.

[Activating skill Tenacious Vitality.]

[Recovery is increased.]

Thanks to the passive skill, minor injuries gradually recovered.

Using the tree branches that came out through the ice wall as handles, I slowly descended.

I had to go down for a long time.

Just thinking about what would have happened if I had gone all the way down to the bottom with my bare body was terrifying.

Thud.

Finally, I reached the bottom.

A chasm where only darkness existed.

I couldn’t see the top anymore.

‘Where the hell is this?’

When I groped the ground, the bottom of the crevasse was a stone floor, not ice.

A silence like death constricted my whole body, and the sound of my footsteps echoing with each step was unusually loud.

How long had I walked?

Just as I passed a certain point, torches suddenly flared up in all directions, as if sensing movement.

The surroundings brightened, and the surroundings became identifiable.

“!!!”

Surprisingly, it was a ruin.

Old, moss-covered stones formed a magnificent structure.

Red crystals were embedded in the eyes of the pillars that soared high to the ceiling and the gargoyle statues located everywhere, shining eerily.

To be honest, I was nervous about what to do if the gargoyle statues moved, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.

“What is this place…”

There was a pyramid in front.

It was a pyramid so large that the Egyptian pyramids would be laughable, and one person looked like an ant in front of it.

The entrance to the square door was visible, and as I turned my gaze towards it, a voice echoed in my head.

-Hey kid, it’s there. I can strongly feel the energy of the Golden Branch there. I’m sure of it.

It seemed I had found it properly.

I didn’t know what was inside, but I carefully moved my steps.

I activated the druid’s intuition to the maximum to see if there were any risk factors, but there were no major issues.

The place I finally reached was an altar.

The branch I was looking for was floating above the altar.

My heart, seeing the branch radiating a dazzling golden light, was filled with indescribable emotion, and my heart rate soared like crazy.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

‘Why does a simple branch look so delicious?’

I realized once again that I was a druid.

The Heavenly Demon was right.

That branch would surely allow me to leap to a higher level.

It was when I was walking towards the altar as if possessed.

-To dare bring a Demon Sword. You must have multiple lives. Die.

A vast energy pressed down on me.

It was an overwhelming murderous intent that I had never felt from anyone.

The aura of Marquis Lloyd, a Sword Master, and Commander Karina was also fierce, but compared to this, they were at the level of children.

It was so strong that it felt unrealistic and made me look up to it. Today was the first time I realized that the saying that one could kill a person with just their aura was realistically possible.

If I were an ordinary human, I would have died on the spot.

If I were an ordinary human.

But I am not an ordinary human.

[Activating skill Self-Purification.]

[Immune to all status ailments.]

Even the murderous intent that transcended humans could not harm me.

Because the druid’s ability is one of the components of the causal relationship that moves this world.

-How! A mere human shouldn’t be able to withstand this fear…

In the gap where the opponent was flustered, I was able to confirm the attacker’s identity.

As soon as I turned around, my breath stopped at the sight of the huge figure that came into view.

An ogre?

A troll?