For Eliza, it had been a nightmarish week.
Thirteen Night Blades had been slaughtered one by one, and finally, her father had become one of the missing. The assets of the Dacuaican family were seized one after another under the pretext of an investigation, and eventually, they were even evicted from their mansion.
Eliza felt the people and money around her were leaving her with each passing day.
"You've got to be kidding me! "
Eliza shouted at her temporary residence.
She slammed the half-empty glass against the wall, glaring with anger.
"All those years of flattery and servility, and now…!"
Why did she have to go through this? If things continued this way, they would likely lose the trial as well. Many nobles had already distanced themselves from the Dacuaican family.
"It's not over yet; it's not over yet…"
But not all the nobles had abandoned them.
The other House members of the Night Blades were like their sworn family, and their bond was unbreakable.
Even though they were also in a difficult time, having lost their head, and facing an investigation.
"Let's gather the next generation of Night Blades… This isn't over, not at all!"
It would be fine; they held the knights' weaknesses and the judge's weaknesses.
If the next generation of Night Blades united and applied pressure, the situation would easily reverse. Eliza believed in that.
"Let's gather the Thirteen Night Blades and hold a meeting! Get people to assemble!"
Eliza called out to her subordinates who should have been waiting in the adjacent room.
However, no one appeared despite the time passing.
"Is anyone there? Is there no one?"
She opened the door to the adjacent room with a puzzled expression.
There was no one there.
Only the window was wide open, letting in the cold night air.
"Did everyone went to the bathroom…? I'll punish them later."
She said with a cruel smile.
At that moment, there was a strange sound of footsteps behind her.
"You're here, aren't you…?"
Eliza's voice stopped as she turned around.
There stood a blood soaked clown.
"Ah, ahh… Jack the Ripper…!"
Dumbfounded, Eliza retreated.
The blood soaked clown closed the distance with a clattering sound.
"Hi… Don't come!"
She threw whatever she could find in her vicinity,
but it was futile. Eliza was cornered against the wall.
"Uh, I'm sorry… I apologize, so what are your demands?"
Eliza groveled with a twisted smile.
"Hey, what are your demands? I'll listen to anything…"
With an upward glance, she spoke with a sweet voice.
Casually, she loosened her thin negligee, revealing her white skin.
Jack the Ripper gazed at her.
Seeing his reaction, Eliza further loosened her negligee.
"Hehe…"
Her gaze dropped to her white cleavage.
There, a knife was embedded.
"Ah…"
Red blood dripped from her pure skin.
"Yaaahhh!! How dare you do this!"
Eliza punched Jack the Ripper with all her strength and then fell to the ground, clutching her chest wound.
"How could you…!"
She spat blood while glaring at Jack the Ripper.
Then, Eliza swallowed hard.
"Oh, it's you… Why…"
Jack the Ripper's mask had come off.
It must have come off when Eliza struck him. The mask lay on the nearby floor.
"Why are you…!"
Jack the Ripper's face was that of a student Eliza knew.
"Why, Christina…!"
It was Christina Hope.
She looked down at Eliza with a cruel gaze.
"Ugh… You, Jack the Ripper… I can't believe it…"
Eliza said in surprise.
Her blood dripped from her chest and spread on the floor, swallowing the mask.
"Wrong."
She picked up the mask and said.
"Why, what do you mean?"
"I just inherited his role."
"Role, inherited…?"
"Yes. He appeared before me. I finally understood the meaning."
"Huh…"
"He showed me his mission, the blood-soaked path."
"What are you talking about?"
"This country is rotten. Blade of justice are useless. To cut down evil, more evil is needed. He asked if I had the resolve for it."
And with a twisted smile, Christina put on the clown's mask.
"That's what I've been waiting for."
Saying that, she gripped the knife embedded in Eliza's chest.
"St…stop…"
Eliza gasped for breath.
With a twist, Christina twisted the knife and then pulled it out in one go.
A large spray of blood danced.
"Guuh… Gooh…"
Looking down at Eliza, who was growing cold, Christina pulled out a single playing card.
She twisted it into Eliza's chest wound.
"My name is Jack the Ripper… The one who cuts evil with the blade of evil…"
\\ illustration in comment \\