Chapter 68 : Worst Warrior (7)

Van Cread.

A member of the hero party that once united to defeat the Demon King.

While the Saintess was the party’s nominal leader, the one who led the group on the battlefield was none other than Van Cread.

In a time when the concept of knights didn’t exist, he was known as the Great Warrior and was considered the epitome of modern knighthood.

It was Van who first joined the Saintess and stood by her side.

He genuinely worried about the future of humanity and the potential resurrection of the Demon King.

In secret meetings with the heroes, he helped devise the system that exists today—to rise and fight again should the Demon King return.

It was a path filled with hardship, but they vowed to fight until the day they could witness true peace and finally find rest.

But the current situation was far from what he had intended.

Van, outwardly calm, couldn’t suppress the sense of devastation within.

“We sacrificed even our eternal rest for the world, only to become puppets of power. And we placed such a heavy price to prevent this.”

Van was an idealist, but he wasn’t so blinded by ideals that he ignored reality.

He knew the power of heroes could easily be misused by those in power.

He had witnessed numerous examples of this greed.

The avarice of rulers often surpassed imagination.

Even with the great evil of the Demon King before them, they still betrayed each other.

Despite the heavy price they had imposed to prevent such misuse, a monstrous manipulator had emerged.

But Van couldn’t help but question:

“What is your true purpose?”

“It is to save the kingdom,” Jeanne replied.

“Don’t give me such hollow words. Tell me your real goal.”

Unlike other rulers Van had encountered, Jeanne didn’t seem motivated by greed.

So, what was her reason for going to such lengths?

Jeanne answered directly:

“A great threat looms over the kingdom. If they truly desired peace, would they have attacked and killed a dormant hero?”

“No, they wouldn’t.”

“Exactly. We’ve already been subjected to a preemptive strike. Yet, the kingdom remains divided. In this state, we cannot respond effectively.”

Van couldn’t deny her words.

If the enemy had a legitimate goal, they wouldn’t have unsealed a hero only to take their life.

But that didn’t mean Van fully believed Jeanne’s sincerity.

He could sense her underlying emotions: overwhelming fear and a touch of fanaticism.

“Half of it is fear, and the other half is something fanatical. It’s not brainwashing—more like she’s possessed by something.”

“Well, she’s the Saintess of that cursed goddess. This is the natural conclusion.”

Van and the Saintess he followed had once served a different goddess, one who was deposed before the current goddess rose to power.

Their goddess had guided them on the righteous path, allowing them to barely defeat the great evil of the Demon King.

But everything changed.

Their goddess had been dethroned by a traitorous usurper who now ruled as the current goddess.

The first thing a usurper does is erase traces of their predecessor and install their own followers.

It was no surprise that the position of Saintess had changed so easily.

Now, Van understood Jeanne’s intentions—or, more accurately, the intentions of the so-called goddess Jeanne served.

Ten years ago, the exiled Saintess had returned, not only alive but more powerful than ever, capable of easily killing heroes.

To the goddess Jeanne worshiped, this must have been a terrifying threat.

But fear alone couldn’t fully explain the overwhelming terror Jeanne felt.

“Is this all I can figure out for now?”

Van decided not to rush.

He needed to match her pace and gather information gradually.

“A hasty move could ruin everything.”

In celebration of the successful operation, which saw no casualties, a small feast was planned.

However, it was abruptly canceled due to an urgent message from Crown Prince Zaide, summoning Wolfgang to the palace immediately.

“I’ll go to the palace myself.”

“It’s dangerous, Captain. What if—”

“Zaide wouldn’t have contacted me without reason. To get there quickly, I need to go alone.”

The journey from the Frost Duchy to the royal palace would take a long time.

While traveling alone would save time, going as a group would only slow her down.

Wolfgang leaped out the window, flames bursting from her legs.

The intense power from her flames increased as her vision began to blur.

“Damn it, this started after I killed the Shadow Hero.”

Killing a powerful being only strengthened her flames.

Ever since she destroyed the Winter King, controlling her flames had become increasingly difficult, leading her to seal them.

Now, with the addition of the Shadow Hero’s power, her once-stable flames were beginning to burn out of control again.

It was like pouring fuel on an already raging fire.

Not all the power of those she defeated was absorbed by her flames—at most, around 40%.

Even so, the strength she gained was immense.

“If I defeat the remaining three heroes and absorb their power, will the seal even hold?”

She pushed aside her concerns and pressed onward.

Flying at full speed, Wolfgang reached the royal palace in less than 30 minutes.

She was greeted by Crown Prince Zaide upon her arrival.

“Leonhardt! Over here!”

“Your Highness, what is the matter?”

“My brother and the Saintess have lost their minds.”

Zaide explained the recent events to Wolfgang in detail.

To summarize, the kingdom had a legend:

“If a great threat arises, the royal family, with the Saintess’s consent, can awaken the heroes sleeping beneath the palace.”

Zaide had dismissed this as an old myth.

Even if it were true, he believed it wasn’t the right time to use such a strategy.

However, the Saintess had acted independently and awakened them.

Hearing this, Wolfgang sighed.

“It does seem sudden.”

But Wolfgang suspected the reason.

She had personally eliminated one of the four heroes.

If the heroes were connected in some way, they might have sensed the loss.

If the Saintess had a system to detect such an event, her actions made sense.

“The heroes were enemies I intended to deal with eventually. With four of them united, even I would struggle.”

“Whether it happened sooner or later, this was inevitable.”

“Did Your Highness know about the heroes of the Mines Kingdom?”

“I only knew of them as myths. Perhaps in a time of great peril, we could rely on such legends. But not now.”

“And yet, the Saintess awakened them.”

“It’s sudden, and even the nobles of the Saintess faction seem surprised. It seems she acted alone.”

“So, the Saintess made this decision herself.”

As Wolfgang considered the implications, she didn’t stop walking.

Her questions would be answered directly soon enough.