Book 4: Chapter 22

Shut Up, Malevolent Dragon! I Don’t Want to Have Any More Children With You

“How… Did you do it?”

Isha still couldn’t quite believe she had just been killed by Leon.

“When we met in the corridor just now, you and Xiao-Luo definitely didn’t have any kill cards.”

“Because if you did, you wouldn’t have turned around and run.”

“But now it’s only been ten-odd minutes.”

“That’s not enough time for you to complete a task that would reward a kill card…”

“So how exactly did you… do it?”

Compared to the question of how Dad killed Auntie, what Noya cared about more was—

Where Mom had gone.

According to what Auntie said earlier, Dad and Mom should’ve been acting together.

So why was the one who dropped in like a divine soldier to save the day only Dad?

Noya lifted her little face and looked at Leon.

She heard Leon say slowly,

“I really don’t have an item card that can directly kill a player.”

“But I do have one card… the ‘Avenger.’”

Isha raised a brow.

“‘Avenger’?”

“Yeah.”

“If I personally witness a kill, then for a short time I’ll gain the ability to kill a player.”

But even if Leon had the Avenger item card, Isha still didn’t understand at first.

“But when I killed Mu’en and Claudia, you weren’t there at all.”

“You couldn’t trigger the Avenger effect.”

“So how did you—”

Halfway through her sentence, Isha abruptly stopped.

Her red dragon eyes widened slightly as she stared at the cake in Leon’s hand—one small bite missing.

During this whole game, she had already figured out parts of certain roles’ abilities.

For example, Xiao-Luo’s Royal Chef could use pastries to inflict special negative effects on a target.

It could even achieve a poison kill.

In that instant, Isha understood.

“Xiao-Luo ate the poisonous cake she made herself right in front of you.”

“She eliminated herself.”

“And that triggered your Avenger effect, didn’t it?”

Leon nodded.

At this moment, there wasn’t much expression on his face.

But it also didn’t look like he was drowning in negative emotion because he had “sacrificed” his wife.

It was just that this game’s immersion was strong.

And using “self-kill” to trigger Avenger felt, in a way, a little too “tragic and heroic.”

So no matter what, Leon couldn’t bring himself to grin and joke with Big Sis about it.

After learning the full story, Isha sighed, then shook her head with a smile.

“Of course…”

“When you two team up, you really are strong.”

“If I’d known, I would’ve eliminated one of you earlier.”

Speaking of that, Leon still had a question.

“I can more or less guess your method, Big Sis.”

“You used the ‘Apothecary’ infectious outbreak plus your antidotes.”

“After each meeting ended, you could kill one person.”

“But even if you wanted to keep me and Rosvitha until the end…”

“There was no need to kill A-Guang first, right?”

“If I were you, I would’ve killed Senior Claudia directly.”

“Because if she lived into the late game, she’d still be a huge threat to you.”

Hearing that, Isha spread her hands helplessly.

“I can’t choose a specific target.”

“You can’t choose?”

“Yeah.”

“Players who eat my secret antidote will get killed after each meeting ends.”

“But the kill is random.”

“I can’t control it.”

Isha said.

“If we explain it using the item card’s wording—”

“Everyone’s resistance to poison is different.”

“So the time when the poison takes effect is different too.”

“So that’s how it is…”

“But you really are smart, Leon.”

“To be able to deduce my killing method in such a tense situation.”

Isha didn’t hold back her praise for her brother-in-law.

“And when you were proving your innocence, you said you’d stockpile your kill cards.”

“And only when you had enough would you start killing people.”

“I listened to your advice too.”

“That’s why I planned to end the game in this round.”

“Oh, right—your luck is also really good.”

“You actually didn’t get randomly killed.”

If Leon had dropped dead in one of those “random post-meeting kills,” then Isha would probably have already won by now.

“I will never die to your random kill.”

Leon said steadily, with absolute certainty.

Isha lifted a brow, intrigued.

“Why?”

“Because after the infectious disease broke out, I didn’t eat your antidote to remove the negative effect.”

“I used the ‘Mint Iced Tea’ Rosvitha gave me earlier.”

“Oh.”

“So you were that cautious from the start.”

“Then I really do accept this loss completely.”

Isha smiled.

“Congratulations, brother-in-law.”

“You’ve finally won one back against your big sister here.”

Leon lowered his head and looked at the cake in his hand.

There was still a faint lipstick mark left by Rosvitha on it.

After a moment, he said quietly,

“But if I’d noticed earlier…”

“Maybe Rosvitha wouldn’t have needed to do it this way.”

Isha tilted her head and spoke again.

“Brother-in-law, I have one last question.”

“Mm. Ask away, Big Sis.”

“Xiao-Luo ate the poisonous cake in front of you.”

“Then her ‘corpse’ should also appear in front of you.”

“So you could’ve directly called a ‘temporary meeting’ right there.”

“And then teamed up with Noya to vote me out.”

“Why did you still use ‘Avenger’?”

At this point in the game, Noya had also pieced together, little by little, from all the clues she’d gathered, that Aunt Isha’s identity was abnormal.

Not to mention Auntie had just been “hunting” her all the way here.

So if Leon had called a temporary meeting beside Rosvitha’s “corpse,” there was no doubt—

Noya would vote for Isha.

But Leon didn’t call one.

Instead, he chose to use Avenger.

Because of that, Isha guessed her brother-in-law might’ve been considering multiple possibilities.

For example, maybe he wasn’t sure whether she had some other unknown-effect item card—

Something that could block a vote, or redirect votes, or the like.

Or maybe he worried Noya might hesitate—

Because when Leon rushed here, he didn’t know Noya was being “hunted” by Isha.

So… what reason could possibly make her brother-in-law—who had flipped the table in a desperate comeback—not call a temporary meeting?

The answer was—

“Because it looks cool.”

Isha: “……”

Noya: Right. That’s my dad. I even suspect he was hiding behind that door for ages, just waiting to open it at the last second.

Isha laughed helplessly, thinking to herself: So you really can’t get two different kinds of people from the same blanket.

If it had been Leon self-killing instead, she figured Xiao-Luo would’ve made the same choice as him:

No meeting.

Just go straight for Isha and blow her up.

After the recap ended, the staff member who had already been waiting nearby also took Isha by the arm.

Isha looked at Leon and Noya.

“Alright then—you beat me.”

“Next is the duel between you two, father and daughter.”

“I’m going to the observation room to watch the drama~”

“A-Guang, Mu’en—Auntie’s coming~”

Isha was escorted away by the staff.

In the top-floor corridor of the castle, only Leon and Noya remained.

After staring at Dad’s face for a few seconds, the little overachiever took several cautious steps backward.

Leon froze, then asked with a smile,

“What’s wrong?”

“If you were on the good side…”

“Then after Aunt Isha was killed, the game should’ve ended and declared it.”

“Unless…”

“You’re the last wolf.”

By this point, Leon really didn’t need to hide it anymore.

“Mm, yeah.”

“But I don’t have any kill cards left.”

However, Leon still had a Super Influence card that could change his vote count from 1 to 5.

And the only surviving players on the field were just him and his eldest daughter.

Which meant—

If Leon triggered a temporary meeting beside Isha’s “corpse” right now, he could win this entire game with a crushing 5-to-1 voting advantage.

But he had already promised Rosvitha that he would let Noya win.

There was absolutely no way he would use Super Influence.

And Leon also knew his daughter’s personality—

She definitely wouldn’t accept a victory handed to her on a platter.

So now Leon wanted to see how his precious eldest daughter would make this final, do-or-die move.

“Finally…”

“Dad.”

“It’s just you and me left.”

Noya’s voice was very serious.

But inside that seriousness, there was also a faint hint of anticipation.

“What?”

This tone. This expression.

W-wait—does she want to fight?

Huh?

Me fighting Noya?

Come on, I can’t even beat A-Guang, and I’m supposed to fight Noya?—

The inner wail of a doting father.

Noya slowly pulled an item card from her pocket.

“‘Reincarnation’s Dead End.’”

“When there are only two players left on the field, it can force a 1v1 mini-game.”

“The person who wins that mini-game becomes the winner of the entire game.”

“So, Dad—”

“Come duel me.”

“Just you and me.”

…

Footnotes:

1. shén bīng tiān jiàng

   Literally “divine soldiers descend from the heavens”; means someone arrives dramatically at the perfect moment to save the situation.

2. zì dāo

   Internet slang meaning “self-kill / self-eliminate,” usually for strategy, comedy, or to trigger a mechanic.

3. xīn fú kǒu fú

   Idiom meaning “to accept defeat wholeheartedly,” both emotionally and rationally—no grudges, no excuses.

4. yì gè bèi wō shuì bù chū liǎng zhǒng rén

   Saying meaning “you can’t sleep under the same quilt and be two completely different kinds of people”; implies couples resemble each other in thinking/behavior.

5. juǎn wáng

   Modern slang meaning “overachiever / hardcore grinder,” someone who competes intensely and pushes themselves (and sometimes others) hard.

6. fān pán

   Slang meaning “comeback / reversing the situation,” often used in games when someone turns a losing position into a win.