“You’re going in person too?” Beatrice’s expression was filled with surprise, “You don’t know what could happen there.”
“Are you worried something might go wrong if I meet my old comrade?”
“Of course I am,” She let out a sigh, “We still don’t even know what that one’s true objective is. Instead of moving directly—”
“If we want to cover up the fact that we abducted Neville, we need to make the others distrust Yuru.”
“Didn’t she already lose everyone’s trust the moment she kidnapped him?”
“I’m not talking about that kind of trust.”
Everyone must have realized by now that Yuru was no longer a hero of mankind.
But that didn’t necessarily mean everything she said would automatically be deemed a lie.
“We have to make sure no one believes a single word that comes out of her mouth.”
“What are you—”
Beatrice started to respond, but stopped.
Because in that moment, something clicked in her mind.
“I see…” She let out a long breath, “So that’s why you want to show yourself.”
“More precisely, not me as an undead—but me, alive.”
Clay, the real Clay, whose soul was intact and body very much alive.
“Are you sure you won’t waver?”
To Beatrice’s question, Clay replied with a blank expression.
“She already distrusted me and killed me. The dead don’t come back to life. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“…Yeah. That’s true.”
His body might have returned, but the Hero Clay had died that day. No matter what Yuru said now, it no longer concerned him.
They weren’t comrades anymore.
“Fine. Let’s go together.”
Beatrice’s expression lightened a little.
“Now I’m curious how this all ends.”
♧
“What a joke.”
Sssss—
Like holy water sizzling on demonic flesh, steam laced with heat rose from Yuru’s body.
“You cast magic on me?”
Her cold gaze turned to Neville, who was collapsed on the ground.
“Huff… Huff…”
He gasped for breath, looking down at himself.
“I did it…”
He had successfully drawn divine power through prayer and fired a counter spell.
His eyes scanned the surroundings.
The charging wraiths had vanished. As the caster lost focus, the gate through which they’d emerged had closed.
“That power was meant to be used against demons,” Yuru wiped the blood trickling from her mouth, a side effect of the disrupted spell, “Not for something like this.”
“You’re no better than demon itself,” Neville steadied his trembling body and spoke, “My divine power was used as it should have been.”
“Neville,” Yuru straightened her hunched posture, “I’m just trying to restore everything to the way it was.”
She began to draw another magic circle in the air.
“You owe him your life. You have a responsibility to repay that debt.”
“That’s not what he gave his life for!” Neville gritted his teeth, “If you were going to go this far, you should’ve acted before he died—!”
“Shut up.” Yuru’s eyes glinted with chilling frost, “Even if I had, Clay would’ve still died.”
“You should have at least denied it.”
“…What?”
“You didn’t even try to believe him.”
Yuru’s body stiffened at Neville’s words. Her lips trembled, as if wanting to protest.
“All the evidence pointed to the Hero.” In the end, she revealed her lingering distrust, “So this is partly his fault too.”
“Then…”
“But,” Yuru’s pupils trembled, “I want to see him.”
She clenched her fists tightly, “So I shouldn’t have cared about heresy or whatever. I should’ve just become a sinner with Clay. If I was going to crumble like this.”
“…You’re pathetic,” Neville frowned, “He would’ve wanted you to believe he wasn’t a sinner.”
“Shut up,” Yuru raised her hand and drew another spell circle, “I didn’t ask for your judgment. Just do your damn job.”
“Tower Master!”
“Recurrent!”
Boom!
The spell she had just cast was fired again without any additional process.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As knocking sounds echoed from somewhere, Neville swallowed dryly.
‘This is the end…’
Though he had stalled with his divine-powered spell, he couldn’t cast another.
‘This lunatic woman…’
The moment he launched his counter spell, Yuru instinctively parried with a defensive spell to reduce the damage, and simultaneously cast her own counterattack.
Because of that, Neville could no longer move his legs.
‘Healing’s useless.’
She had cast a gravity spell on the ground beneath him. Since it wasn’t cast directly on his body and wasn’t a curse, his blessing wouldn’t trigger.
The earth simply pulled at him with greater force, making it impossible for him to stand.
‘It’s really over now…’
He let out a small sigh as the wraiths began emerging again—
『Return.』
—Kiiiaaaa!
With a sudden roar that shook the air, the wraiths were expelled.
♧
A red dragon.
A being ranked just below the Demon King among the demons.
One of the Four Generals, Beatrice.
The remnants of the wraiths scattered like dust with the flap of her wings.
“That’s…”
Neville’s pupils widened as he looked up at the dragon in terror.
“Beatrice…?”
The most powerful asset of the Demon King’s army had just appeared.
“How…?”
The Demon King’s army had already collapsed. The Hero’s party and the holy knights had nearly annihilated them. Now, only scattered remnants remained.
Most of the Four Generals had fallen to the Hero’s party, and only Beatrice had disappeared without a conclusive outcome.
Rumors had spread that she’d died of fatal injuries in that battle, but clearly, that wasn’t true. Moreover—
This was Yaphenon.
A barbaric land under the Holy Alliance.
There was no way a General could freely enter here.
“Beatrice…”
Yuru turned to the newly arrived General, eyes wide.
“You’re still alive?”
『A foolish question. I was never dead to begin with.』
Beatrice’s wings flapped slowly as she mocked her.
『Coming from someone who just summoned actual dead souls… how ironic.』
Yuru’s face twisted.
“Shut up.”
She glared at Beatrice.
“Showing up suddenly to interfere is one thing, but now you’re spouting nonsense too?”
『I suppose I came here looking for a place to die.』
Beatrice let out a soft laugh.
『No one else came looking, so I had no choice but to move myself.』
“Get lost.”
Yuru snapped sharply.
“If you’re looking to die, crawl into some other hole nearby. The Holy Alliance will be more than happy to grant your wish.”
『You’ve grown quite crude since last I saw you, child of the Tower.』
“Don’t call me that!”
Crackle!
Her left eye turned red and began to shine like a star. A rune inscribed directly into her eye activated to cast magic instantaneously.
Boom!
An explosion erupted exactly where she had set her gaze.
『!』
An explosion struck Beatrice’s right wing.
Staggering for a moment, Beatrice flapped her wings and began circling around Yuru.
Boom! Boom!
The rune continued to trigger explosive spells as she chased after Beatrice, who was trying to dodge.
『Still flaunting your ridiculous power, I see.』
With overwhelming mana output, she cast spell after spell without pause.
An ordinary mage would’ve run dry long ago.
Boom!
The explosion hit squarely inside Beatrice’s wing. As her altitude dropped, Yuru ran toward her.
Crackle!
This time, her right eye lit up.
If her left eye was for offense, the right was for defense.
With the glowing blue rune activated, she instantly donned armor forged from mana.
A brilliant blue light enveloped her entire body.
Boom!
But she didn’t use it for defense.
Instead, she hardened her fists and aimed them at Beatrice, who had just landed.
Leaping high, she slammed her fist into Beatrice’s cheek.
The blow made Beatrice stagger briefly, but then her eyes refocused.
『Is that all?』
“!”
『It did hurt. But still…』
Beatrice’s tail whipped through the air like a lash and struck Yuru.
Thwack!
Yuru flew like a ragdoll, bouncing and rolling across the ground before coming to a stop.
『If you want to take me down, you’ll need one of your signature grand spells at the very least.』
“Guh!”
Coughing up dust, Yuru lifted her upper body.
“Damn witch…”
Her face twisted with unmistakable rage.
But her gaze shifted from Beatrice to something else.
Beatrice followed her eyes.
What stood there was none other than Crown Prince Neville.
Tap!
Yuru got to her feet and dashed toward him.
『That won’t do.』
Fwoooosh!
Breath.
Flames from the legendary dragon halted Yuru in her tracks.
The blaze soared up like a wall, separating her from Neville.
『Step away from the Crown Prince.』
Beatrice’s voice rang with finality.
『I don’t know why you abducted him, but if you push this any further, you’ll never return to your Tower again.』
“I don’t intend to go back.”
Yuru clenched her jaw.
“Why the hell are you interfering now? That bastard is Krata’s Crown Prince. He’s your enemy.”
『The war is over.』
“…Are you joking?”
Yuru’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Demons and humans are eternal enemies. Especially with the Holy Alliance. What kind of bullshit are you spewing here?”
『Does it matter? By your logic, I’m your enemy too.』
“…Exactly.”
A magic circle began to form beneath Yuru’s feet.
“Then I’ll treat you accordingly.”
Zzzzz—
A magic circle was drawn, and another layered over it, then another.
Overlapping. Condensing. Fusing.
Beatrice watched as Yuru began stacking multiple spell circles, and she too gathered flames in her mouth.
『Do you think I’ll sit idle while you prepare a grand spell?』
Fwoooosh!
Her breath roared forth.
Yuru stomped the ground.
Boom!
A wall of earth rose to block the flames.
But it was only a temporary measure.
The breath scorched the earth to dust. Yuru abandoned the spell formation and rolled to the side.
A perfectly scorched line marred the ground.
Beatrice turned to her again.
Yuru bit her lip.
Without a party, she couldn’t unleash her full strength.
But she had no intention of backing down.
She needed the Crown Prince.
Only his body could anchor Clay’s soul.
“Just go away already! I—”
It was then.
“Yuru.”
A voice she should not have heard rang out.
“Haven’t seen you since I died.”
Yuru froze in shock, breath catching in her throat.
And there he was.
Clay.
Stepping off Beatrice’s back and onto the earth.
(End of Chapter)