“Clay…?”
Nael muttered without realizing it.
“How…?”
As she whispered in disbelief, her expression twisted into one of rage.
She bit her lip and jerked her head sharply.
As if trying desperately to deny the figure in front of her.
“Beatrice!”
She scanned the area, her face flushed with fury.
“Come out right now!”
What stood before her wasn’t Clay. It was merely a puppet animated with the corpse of the dead.
Just looking at it threatened to break her mind.
Fueled by desperation, she chased the lingering scent.
“There you are…!”
Behind a rock. The air was thick with the smell of something burnt.
She sprinted forward. That was all she could do now.
“Nael.”
But as she ran, the puppet Clay stepped into her path.
“That’s not where you should be headed.”
“!”
Shraaak!
Nael’s feet skidded to a halt on the ground.
“Get out of my way!”
Her pupils trembled, unfocused.
“You’re not Clay!”
“Then who am I?”
“You’re just a shell!”
The husk of the dead.
Nothing more than that.
“You’re just Beatrice’s puppet!”
“And yet you’re having a rather serious conversation with such a puppet.”
Flinch.
Nael’s entire body jolted violently.
“If I were just a shell, you should’ve attacked me first.”
A distraction that disturbed her mind, something that should’ve been dealt with immediately for her to focus on the real fight.
“So why do you keep aiming elsewhere?”
“Shut up…!”
Nael forced the words from her throat.
“That body is also something I have to recover. You know that too, Beatrice.”
“You’re wrong.”
He spoke in a low voice.
“That’s not my name.”
The one moving this body now was no puppeteer.
“If you insist on believing that…”
Clay charged at her with his sword drawn.
“What?!”
Nael flinched and quickly stepped back.
Shhhk!
A sword slash carved through the space where she had just stood.
“Kh!”
Staggering, Nael barely evaded a second and third strike.
Though she dodged them all, her expression darkened with each attack.
“This can’t be…”
His physical capabilities were indeed weaker than before. But one thing was unmistakable—
That familiar swordplay.
“C-Clay?”
Using the lingering abilities of the corpse in an undead puppet wasn’t impossible. But this was different.
This was the swordplay Clay used when he deliberately held back against her.
A puppet couldn’t wield that level of nuance. There was more than just memory—there was will behind it.
“I-It can’t be…”
Her face twisted in disbelief.
Clay was dead. She had believed that without question.
“Clay…”
Even now, she couldn’t easily accept that the real Clay stood before her.
Yet, she couldn’t throw away the tiny sliver of hope that had appeared.
“Is it really you?”
“A foolish question.”
Clay replied quietly.
“I was never a fake to begin with.”
He had lived as a Hero, died as a traitor, and now stood here—alive once more, aiming to become the Demon King.
Every step of that journey had truly been his own.
“Nael.”
He pointed his sword at her again.
“I only hesitated to show you who this blade is truly aimed at. But I won’t do that anymore.”
“W-What are you saying…?”
Nael looked dazed as she spoke.
“We’re comrades…”
“I was waiting for you to say that.”
Shhkk!
Clay’s sword sliced past her cheek.
“Kh?!”
“A true comrade should have unshakable faith. Did you have that, Nael?”
Clay kept advancing, slashing again and again as she only dodged.
“Did you ever protest the fate they handed me? Did you ever declare that you believed in me?”
“I…!”
“Then give it up.”
Clay’s eyes gleamed with a chilling glint.
“I won’t acknowledge your regrets.”
Regret.
Nael hadn’t even gotten the chance to express it yet.
She was still trying to process the fact that the Clay before her was real, replaying his words over and over.
Yet, she found herself murmuring reflexively.
“I…”
She was never quick to think.
“What do I have to do?”
So she asked.
“If I want to bring you back, what do I have to do?”
“Die.”
Clay’s voice was merciless.
“That’s all you can offer me.”
What had gone wrong?
Clay was never the kind to speak so carelessly.
He had been the Hero of Light. Untouched by darkness, he had brought hope from the depths of despair.
That was who he was.
So—
“You’re lying.”
The current Clay couldn’t be the real one.
“You’re lying!”
She turned her gaze around.
“Beatrice! Let go of Clay’s consciousness!”
She had seen him act in ways only possible with a will of his own. But that didn’t mean he was free.
It was possible that only a part of his consciousness was being manipulated.
“Release the brainwashing!”
After all the torture, Clay might’ve become susceptible to mental manipulation.
And if anyone could do it, it was Beatrice—the strongest among the Four Generals of the Demon King’s Army.
“I said let him go!”
But no one responded.
Fwoosh!
No—that wasn’t quite true.
“Nael, it’s not brainwashing. Use your full strength.”
Clay’s blade still sought her.
“Clay!”
She could still dodge. But his attacks were sharp, persistent.
Nael clenched her teeth.
“…Fine. You leave me no choice.”
If Beatrice wouldn’t show herself, she would just have to overpower Clay and take him back by force.
“I’ll save you. Even if I have to drag you back and undo it myself!”
BOOM!
Just as Nael slammed the ground and took a step forward—
“Do you really think you can?”
Startled, Nael turned to the voice.
There, now visible in her human form, stood Beatrice.
♧
“You’re being reckless.”
Before confronting Nael, Clay had shared the plan with Beatrice.
“What if she hurts you?”
Beatrice had frowned with concern.
Clay said he would handle Nael himself. That hadn’t sat well with her.
“I’m counting on you.”
Though she had spoken out of worry, Clay had answered calmly.
“You’re counting on me?”
“Nael won’t actually try to hurt me. If she came all the way here alone, it means she came to recover my body.”
If she hadn’t cared about his corpse, she would’ve marched here with an army instead.
“She didn’t come to fight the Demon King’s army.”
Clay had seen through her.
“She’s clinging to my corpse out of guilt.”
“Hmph. Guilt, huh?” Beatrice tapped her chin with one finger, “Why are your former party members suddenly so eager to claim your corpse?”
It was laughable.
Just because the dead couldn’t speak, did they think they could use him however they pleased?
“Pathetic.”
She could tell Clay thought the same. That’s why he is here now.
“Beatrice, can you do it?”
Clay asked dryly. Beatrice nodded slightly.
“If you can keep her distracted, I’ll keep aiming for her blind spots. But on one condition.”
She held up a finger.
“If you’re really sure she won’t try to kill you.”
“I’m sure.” Clay smirked.
“You remember when Tia tried to retrieve my corpse through her subordinates, right? If Nael showed up this quickly, she must’ve gotten that info from Tia. That means their goals align.”
Guilt. Their own self-justified emotions.
“They probably want my corpse to remain intact… so they can sleep at night.”
♧
“Khgh!”
Nael barely pulled away after Beatrice’s dagger grazed her back.
“Bea… trice…!”
Drip.
It wasn’t a fatal wound.
She had narrowly avoided disaster, her beastkin reflexes saving her while she focused all her attention on Clay.
“You really are fast.”
Beatrice stood with her dagger, flames flickering along its edge.
“I even brought a dragon-forged fire dagger to finish this in one blow. A little disappointed, honestly.”
“You bitch!” Nael bared her fangs, snarling like a beast, “What did you do to Clay?!”
“What did I do?”
“You brainwashed him!” Nael clenched her fists, “Clay was alive! He clawed his way out of that grave! He survived! And what gave you the right to use him like this?!”
“Hmph.” Beatrice let out an exasperated sigh, “Then maybe you should’ve done better before he died.”
“…What?”
“You could’ve tried stopping him from going to the execution stage, couldn’t you?”
Beatrice’s crimson eyes pierced into Nael.
Even in her rage, Nael felt a flicker of fear.
She didn’t know why—but she could tell the words were sincere.
“Clay trusted all of you, right up to the noose. But it wasn’t the gallows that killed him.”
Her voice turned deathly cold.
“It was all of you.”
“Shut uuuuuup!”
Nael finally screamed like a wild beast.
“What do you know, Beatrice?! I’ll kill you right here and take Clay back!”
“Go ahead.”
Beatrice met her fury without flinching.
“Without Clay, you’re not the Hero’s party anymore.”
“Beatriiiiice!”
Nael kicked off the ground.
Shhwack!
Her foot reached Beatrice’s face in an instant.
“!”
Beatrice reflexively bent backward.
Nael’s kick narrowly swept past where her head had just been.
Shhhk!
Nael landed smoothly, spun, and charged again.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
She closed in fast—her kicks sliced through the air like frostwind.
Beatrice parried with the top of her foot, retreating, but Nael was already within a hand’s reach.
BAM!
A direct punch.
Nael grounded herself and threw a punch into Beatrice’s abdomen.
“Guh?!”
Beatrice’s body flew back.
No—she was launched.
She crashed into a boulder, half her body embedded in the rock.
“RAAAHHHH!”
Nael rushed in and began pummeling her.
BAM! BAM BAM BAM! BOOM!
“Let go of Clay! LET HIM GO!”
Fists rained down like hail.
It looked like a one-sided assault.
“…Are you finished?”
Then Beatrice, having blocked with her arms, peeked through the blows.
“I’ve got more grit than that, you know.”
Drip.
Wiping away a stream of blood from her nose, she swung her arm—now covered in dragon scales—straight at Nael.
(End of Chapter)