Ch.281Side Story: End of War – 2

After Nika and I calmly adjusted our clothing, the Sword Saint cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to dispel the charged atmosphere and lingering scent that filled the room.

“…Since I’m well aware of your relationship, I won’t try to stop you, but I’d appreciate some restraint within the imperial palace. Or perhaps you could find somewhere more secluded?”

I supposed I should be grateful he wasn’t telling us to stop altogether. I was about to give a noncommittal acknowledgment when Nika jumped in with a mischievous expression.

“But people eat meals in the imperial palace too. For a succubus, energy absorption is the same concept as eating for humans. Telling us not to do it in the palace seems rather harsh, don’t you think?”

She was deliberately making a sophistic argument. She seemed equally confident here as she was on Earth. Here, she was the Succubus Queen and Demon Lord; on Earth, she was Hunter Kang Ra-hye’s superior.

“…A human’s meal is quite different from a succubus’s energy absorption. I hope you won’t misunderstand.”

“Isn’t it the same concept of consuming something to gain life energy? Actually, from that perspective, when the Sword Saint eats meals, couldn’t that also be considered a form of—”

“Anyway, the Emperor’s decree has arrived.”

The Sword Saint deliberately cut her off. His cheeks flushed slightly, but he didn’t try to stop her further. He seemed to have given up.

“I see he won’t be meeting me in person. Even though I am a Demon Lord.”

“He’s already spent considerable time personally celebrating your master’s birthday. He’s quite busy, as you know. As you mentioned, he needs to establish countermeasures for the S-rank gate that has appeared in the demon realm.”

“Well, if he’s busy, it can’t be helped. So what was his answer?”

Nika was just being polite; she didn’t seem particularly concerned.

“This will tell you.”

The Sword Saint pulled something from his sleeve. It was an object made of pure gold and adorned with the finest jewels, radiating a brilliant light.

It was the Emperor’s crown, split in half.

“…”

For once, even Nika couldn’t hide her surprise. Her mouth fell open.

I was equally shocked. Who could have imagined that the symbol of the Empire’s Emperor would arrive split in two? It meant the Emperor was taking this matter extremely seriously.

“The answer was positive. He stated that as long as demons don’t attack humans, humans won’t attack demons either. This crown is the proof of that.”

“I suppose I keep half, and the other half remains with him. If he’s going this far, he must be truly sincere.”

Nika pondered with a somewhat serious expression.

“Since I’ve received something significant, I should give something in return, but I don’t want to part with anything from my body… Ah.”

After contemplating for a while, Nika drew out her demon sword as if she’d thought of a good solution. The Sword Saint flinched reflexively at the sight of the ominous red-glowing blade.

Her gloved hand split the demon sword in two—the blade portion and the part with the crossguard and handle. Nika handed the crossguard and handle to the Sword Saint.

“Tell the Emperor this: as long as humans hold the handle, the blade will never be swung against them.”

“…I will. I’ll convey that message well.”

The Sword Saint stared down at the stone tentacle-like crossguard and rough handle of the demon sword he’d received. All sorts of complex emotions flashed through his single sky-blue eye.

In contrast, Nika casually tossed her half of the broken demon sword somewhere into a dimensional gate.

—M-my sword that I made! That wretched girl!

—The sword itself is still intact, sister! Please calm down!

Voices echoed in my head.

The Demon God was jumping up and down in protest about breaking a perfectly good sword, while the Celestial God was trying to restrain her sister. Judging by that reaction, perhaps I should have split the holy sword instead of the demon sword to offer in exchange for the Emperor’s crown.

“When do you plan to make the announcement?” I asked.

“I believe it will happen after confirming that all demons have withdrawn.”

The Sword Saint answered my question while glancing at Nika. She raised her chin confidently, as if telling him not to worry.

“I already issued the withdrawal order before coming here. I figured there was no chance of rejection anyway.”

“I’ve already heard from the Royal Guard. The demons at the front lines are retreating one by one. Whether the remaining soldiers and other people will accept this is another matter.”

Most soldiers would rejoice at the end of the war, and most people would feel the same. But we couldn’t say there would be no opposition.

The Empire was full of people who had lost lovers, family, friends, children, parents, and comrades to demons.

Yet we couldn’t give up. Now that the demons had made the first concession through Nika, this was our only chance to end the war. This was simply the inevitable moment that had finally arrived.

The war couldn’t continue forever.

—Sword Saint, do you have a moment?

Just as the sword fragment disappeared into his sleeve, Valera’s voice came through. She sounded somewhat urgent. The Sword Saint pulled out a communication crystal from his other pocket.

“Yes, I do. What’s the matter?”

—…That thing that appeared on the demons’ battlefield seems to be showing signs of appearing here too. I’d like to request your help.

When we arrived at the location after Valera’s call, purple energy was surging everywhere.

Neither the blue of mana, the gold and white of divine power, nor the red or dark red of demonic energy—but an ominously purple energy that was swirling against a magical barrier.

The barrier containing the purple energy soared impossibly high. It must have been at least a hundred meters tall, at the very least.

“You’ve come. Tsk. Now I can breathe a little easier.”

Valera, who had been pouring mana into the magical barrier, greeted us with a strained smile.

It wasn’t just Valera. All the Empire’s prominent mages had gathered to reinforce the barrier. Yet their expressions were uniformly grim, indicating the severity of the situation.

“I think I need to know what’s happening. Can you give me a brief explanation?”

The Sword Saint glanced at the purple energy as he drew his sword. Valera took a small breath before speaking.

“There’s not much to explain. We heard a new gate had appeared, so I sent someone to investigate. They reported back that it was unusual, and when I arrived, it turned out to be exactly what the Succubus Queen had described.”

The timing was fortunate. Without Nika’s warning, a dungeon break might have occurred while we were still trying to assess how dangerous it was. I whispered quietly to Nika beside me.

“That’s the same thing we saw in the demon realm, right?”

“Yes. It’s not just similar—it’s practically identical. In our realm, it also surged with that purple color before it burst.”

Shortly after, another dimensional gate opened, and Leona and Rosaria appeared.

Their faces turned pale at the sight of the purple energy filling their vision, but upon seeing me, they rushed over with expressions of relief.

“Mira! What is that? A gate?!”

“It looks similar to what Nika described…”

“That’s right. It’s similar to that thing. You should be ready to bring out your divine spear if necessary. Leona, you should draw your holy sword too.”

“O-okay.”

“Got it.”

Rosaria nodded hurriedly. Leona drew her holy sword. Just then, a thunderous voice echoed.

“Dungeon break!”

Along with the term “dungeon break”—which had become fully established in this world thanks to Saint Rosaria—the gate surging with purple energy exploded and began to spew something from within.

It could only be described as a monster. Its face looked like dozens of deep-sea fish species had been cut up and roughly stitched together, and its entire body was covered in scales. Something resembling tentacles protruded from its back.

The creature surveyed its surroundings with eight eyes and let out a small growl. A wave spread out in a circle. The purple energy fluctuated and penetrated through the magical barrier, spreading in all directions.

“AAAAARGH!”

“M-my head! AAAGH!”

The mages who heard the growl collectively covered their ears and screamed in pain. Their bodies seemed to gradually collapse, and something transparent appeared to be trying to escape from their heads.

I looked around. The Sword Saint’s face was tense as if resisting something, and Rosaria and Leona were also grimacing. The Celestial God and Demon God were wailing from the divine spear.

My judgment was swift. As the mint-colored light of soul purification enveloped the area, the mages writhing in pain regained their senses.

True to her reputation as an archmage, Valera strengthened the barrier as soon as she recovered. The other mages also lent their strength one by one, looking at me with eyes full of admiration.

—Crack! Crackle!

But even that didn’t seem like it would hold for long.

“…What was that just now, Mira? Do you know that thing?”

“No. I’ve never seen this creature before, but I remember seeing that kind of attack.”

“From the first world?”

“Yes.”

It was a madman who extracted human souls through howling, imprisoned them in its body to torture them, and gained power from their agonized screams. The soulless bodies were then possessed by wraiths that went on rampages.

“I don’t know why we’re seeing it here too.”

When its declaration of war failed, the creature rolled its eyes around, scanning the surroundings. It seemed to be looking for the weakest spot.

—I think I know why.

The Celestial God’s voice echoed in my head.

“You think you know?”

—Yes. I believe it’s because we, and this world, have been influenced by you, causing concepts to become mixed.

She added a brief consolation that this was something that would inevitably happen someday, so I shouldn’t blame myself. It seemed we had to deal with it one way or another.

I gave Rosaria a signal. Understanding my meaning, she closed her eyes. Golden light began to flow out and envelop my body. Though not strictly necessary, she needed to fulfill her role as a saint.

The monster’s head rotated. All eight eyes focused on me simultaneously. It had instinctively realized that if it tried to break through the weakest point, I would take its head.

I drew Eternity. Golden divine power condensed on the blue blade, creating a dreamlike silhouette. Leona approached my side and pointed her holy sword at the monster.

“…This brings back memories.”

I had thought I would never encounter such things again.

“If it brings back memories, isn’t that a good thing?”

“How is that good?”

“Because in the end, you killed them all.”

“…”

I suppose that’s one way to look at it.