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Chapter 440: The Fall of Usher (2)  

The Ushers' mansion was indeed a fortress.

Whereas Tochka was a natural fortress created by the natural environment, Usher's mansion was a man-made fortress filled with all sorts of bizarre traps.

Frames of books and paintings that sometimes collapsed, curtains that fluttered even when there was no wind, the cogs of a slow-moving clock, statues that suddenly burst into laughter, plants that withered and died in pots, stuffed animals, brick walls that were stacked on top of each other, chandeliers that were overly grandiose, and so on... were all traps filled with malice toward intruders.

But Bianca, who was born the owner of the mansion and has lived in it all her life, was able to tear through them all and get inside.

"The only time it's safe to walk through the halls is when the bookshelves collapse and the books on them fall, but only for ghost stories, not for other genres. Only when books titled 'The Masque of the Red Death,' 'The Black Cat,' 'The Cask of Amontillado,' 'The Jumping Frog, or Eight Orangutans in Chains,' 'The Heart of Treachery,' and 'The Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym' fall to the floor."

"Whenever the curtains flutter even a little, you must get low to the floor. It doesn't matter if the wind is blowing or not."

"When the bell rings, the secret door between the hallways opens. Of course, you can't go in right away. You have to wait exactly five minutes before opening it, otherwise you might end up in a door that leads to a completely different place."

"When that statue laughs, you have to be careful around the whole area, because while it doesn't trigger any traps... it likes to think that an intruder is about to die a miserable death."

"If you see a plant in a pot and it's shriveled up and dead, don't walk past it. We don't grow any plants in our family."

"Stuffed animals are okay to walk past. But some of them have moving eyeballs, and if I see one of those, always cover your ears and run fast."

"If you see a red brick wall, make sure you never touch it, but if you do, run away from it immediately, and don't turn around if someone calls your name from behind."

"Under no circumstances should you pass under a chandelier. But if you must, never look at the chandelier. Instead, keep your eyes on the shadow of the chandelier on the floor."

Bianca continued through the many traps and labyrinths into the depths of the mansion.

Tudor, following close behind, said in a low voice.

" ...I see why your personality is so twisted."

"What, you bastard?"

Bianca squeezed Tudor's head once, then turned her head away.

"Heh, well. It's a little far from the usual."

She added in a tiny whisper at the end.

"... Thanks for following me here, though."

"What?"

"I didn't say anything. Let's go."

Bianca dragged Tudor along.

Soon, Bianca and Tudor were standing in front of patriarch Roderick Usher's bedroom.

This room, too, was thick with the red death.

An unbearable level of poisonous venom spreads through the mansion, along with the watery mist that pours in.

It was like a clown, a dancing demon, spinning and jumping through the empty corridors.

Bianca and Tudor felt a surge of nausea even though they drank the saint's tears produced by Dolores.

Then the door to the bedroom opened.

kkigigigigig-

The rusted hinges let out a dying groan.

The sight inside the slowly opening door made Bianca and Tudor's eyes widen.

"Father!"

Bianca exclaimed uncontrollably.

Seated in a chair in an awkward position is unmistakably Roderick, Bianca's father and current head of the Usher family.

He was pale enough to be a corpse at first glance, with a mummified complexion and a skeleton as thin as a mummy, but his eyes were wide and alive.

"...."

But he didn't seem to be in any condition to speak.

A black tongue moved a few times inside his parched and shriveled lips, but nothing came out of his charred throat but the sound of a broken clockwork.

"...Father, in such a horrible state!" Bianca stroked Roderick's cheeks in disbelief.

But when she looked into his eyes, there was nothing in them.

Just dull, cloudy whites, with creepy flesh embedded in the center, fixed straight ahead.

Tudor bit his lip as he watched Roderick's condition.

" ...It's the same condition as my father's."

Just as Cervantes, the Spear King, had died of the Red Death, leaving him a wasted man, Roderick was in the same condition.

Just as Cervantes, the Spear King, suffered the Red Death and died in a state of ruin, Roderick was also in the same state.

"The Red Death is spreading through the mist inside the mansion, and the demon must have released its poison into the swamp, for the mansion was built on swampy ground, and the entire place has been gradually poisoned."

After assessing the situation, Tudor pulled firecrackers from his arms.

Red and black firecrackers.

'Determine whether Roderick, patriarch of the Usher family, is alive or dead, and if he is alive and able to escape with you, set off the red firecracker; if he is dead, or if he is alive but unable to move, set off the black firecracker.'

Vikir had said this before entering the Usher's mansion.

Tudor's eyes dropped to his hands, and he bit his lip in thought.

"He's alive. Roderick is alive."

Tudor's choice was a red firecracker.

Tudor is about to take it to the window.

Then.

...teoeog!

A hand snatched Tudor's wrist.

It was Bianca.

"...Are you crazy?"

She snatched the red firecracker from Tudor's hand and tossed it into the swamp outside the window.

"Are you going to kill all the other kids?"

"No! Roderick is alive!"

"Don't you remember what Vikir said? My father... My father can't move anymore."

Bianca lowered her head and trembled.

If anyone wanted to light a red firecracker more than anyone else at this moment, it was her.

Tudor could only look at her and bow his head in awe.

Just then.

"Hohohoho- Aren't you giving up too soon?"

A voice caught Bianca and Tudor's attention.

Turning their heads, they saw a woman with the same pale complexion as a corpse standing there in a casual manner.

Usher Poe Madeline. Roderick's sister and current acting head of family.

A shadowy figure who practically wielded the power of the Usher family.

"The same father, the same daughter. Even though your blood relatives are still alive, you are hastily treating them as dead."

Madeline glared at Bianca with her corpse-like eyes.

Then she spoke, her voice filled with mockery.

"Are you going to bury your father alive too? Just like your father did to me."

Madeline suffered from severe fever when she was young.

And Rodrik buried her under the ground, with both her heartbeat and complexion changed to that of a corpse.

But somehow, some way, Madeline was alive.

After she was buried alive, she broke open the coffin, dug through the soil, and emerged through the center of the tomb.

Roderick was haunted for the rest of his life by the guilt of almost burying his sickly sister alive.

He would do anything she asked of him, and he would risk anything for her.

eudeug-

Bianca gritted her teeth.

"You've been a demon from the start, haven't you, taking the body of my Aunt Madeline, who died of a fever, and deceiving my father all this time?"

"Hohoho- Well, I don't know. When did I really become a demon? When I was buried alive, or when I was born, or, I mean, was I ever a demon in the first place?" Madeline had been closing the distance between her and Bianca.

Then. A line was drawn between Bianca and Madeline.

"Do not cross the line."

Tudor. His unwavering gaze held Madeline at bay.

Madeline's eyes narrowed at the sight of Gungnir in his lone arm and the leather hanging down the hilt of his spear.

"Skinning the flesh of Pasamonte and using it to decorate your spear? Playing with the corpse of your uncle, whom you defeated in a contest for the throne, seems a bit grotesque for a knight of Don Quixote's reputation for justice and virtue."

Despite Madeline's scowl, Tudor did not lose sight of his original purpose.

teog-

Grabbing Bianca's hand, Tudor turned and started running.

"Come on, Bianca, we have to get out of here!"

But Tudor and Bianca's efforts were in vain.

Madeline reached out her hand and the world around her froze, then a thick wall of ice rose up and blocked the window.

"Kuagh!"

Tudor stopped in his tracks for a moment.

And then Madeline's seductive voice whispered softly in his ear.

"I see you wish to leave the mansion, but not without my permission."

"...."

"Hohoho- Would you stop looking at me so scary?"

Madeline covered her mouth with her hand and smiled gracefully.

Then, as if in good faith, she continued.

"Well, actually, it's not too difficult to get you out of the mansion, if you can pass my test."

"Throw away the thought of deceiving me with your tongue."

Tudor turned his back to the ice wall and held his spear tightly.

But the words that came out of Madeline's mouth were unexpected.

"Seriously, if you can pass one very simple test, I'll let you out of here."

"...?"

Tudor's brow furrowed, and Madeline continued.

"All you have to do is prove to me that you are brave enough to pass my test. Don Quixote's knights are said to be very brave, so you won't be afraid, will you?"

It was a cheap provocation made blatantly, but Tudor had no choice.

Then, Madeline said.

"'Where is the person who can kill me?' If you can get those words out of your mouth three times, I will recognize your bravery. I'll even open the doors of my mansion for you."

It was an easy deal. There are no ambushes here now, except for Madeline's.

Tudor and Bianca stared at each other, their expressions stony.

Their gazes crossed quickly in the air.

Then, once Tudor was sure there was no danger around them, he opened his mouth.

"Where is the person who can kill me? Where is the person who can kill me? Where is the person who can kill me?"

Tudor's words were spoken with unwavering faith.

There was nothing that could harm him, except the demon right in front of him.

It was an obvious truth.

...But.

Madeline's eyes softened at the sound of Tudor's voice.

The moment Tudor sheds a drop of cold sweat in front of that ominous line.

"... It is here."

A voice that seemed to be possessed by something came from right behind Tudor, right in his ear.