Ch.339Chapter 339 Epilogue – What Are These Things?

Well, the Demon Realm has fallen.

“Hehe…”

Shizu, who had been peacefully sleeping on my back, had awakened at some point and was now letting out a soft laugh, finally able to walk on her own two legs.

“I never thought I’d live to see the Demon Realm collapse.”

My sister’s reflective moment ended as she watched the remnants of the obsidian palace sink into the ground and disappear beneath the earth.

Now we just needed to go a bit further, meet up with the forces who had participated in the assault on the Demon Realm, and return to Night Haven to conclude everything.

“…”

“…”

Surprisingly, just as we were about to join the Demon Realm assault team, two restrained captives caught my eye, momentarily halting our progress.

“What’s this about?”

I turned to my sister with a questioning look.

“One was captured after failing to escape during battle. The other was caught by Excel while trying to flee as the Demon Realm was collapsing.”

She shrugged her shoulders and explained why these guys were restrained in the same flat tone one might use to describe the evening menu. I turned my gaze back to the two captives.

“…”

There was Pale Sanguin, who seemed extremely embarrassed to make eye contact with me and had completely turned his head away.

…I felt this bastard trying to flee like lightning when I was carrying Shizu out of here. How did he get caught?

“It’s so unfair… lightning from a cloudless sky…”

Judging by Pale Sanguin’s confession in a voice barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz, as if he’d read the message in my gaze without even meeting my eyes—

It seems he tried to run away in a hurry after Desire disappeared, only to be properly caught by Excel.

The burn marks all over him from direct lightning strikes confirmed it.

I slightly turned my head to look at Excel, who was reciting his heroic exploits with Keraunos resting on his shoulder beside my sister—or more precisely, at the lightning spear on his shoulder that had reduced Sanguin to this state.

Crack-!! Crackle-!!

Though diminished in quantity, the lightning energy gathered in Keraunos, which seemed capable of tearing the sky apart, still flickered at the tip of the spear blade.

Even though the situation was clearly ending, as evidenced by the collapsed Demon Realm, the spear hadn’t withdrawn its power, following Excel’s will to remain vigilant.

It had fulfilled its duty of capturing suspicious and powerful beings like Sanguin who had sensed the end and tried to secretly escape.

“Do you know how fired up I was when I came out feeling like I was about to collapse from exhaustion? I struck with fury, zapped him, did it all.”

Excel’s proud voice came from behind me as he noticed my gaze lingering on Sanguin.

Despite what must have been severe physical exhaustion from the forced march from Night Haven to the Demon Realm followed by an intense battle with Adorator, his voice was overflowing with energy.

“Good work.”

“Ah, Sister. It’s not hard work—just doing what needed to be done.”

“In official settings, call me Commander.”

“Yes! Commander Sister!”

“…”

…I guarantee that even if he were mortally wounded and dying, hearing my sister’s voice would probably revive him.

As Excel’s energetic voice grew louder, Sanguin’s head sank deeper in dejection.

He must understand what his capture means as the leader responsible for the Night Clan who rebelled against the Solarium Empire’s policy of tolerance toward different races and sided with the Demon Realm.

He probably won’t die, but he’s in for a rough time. Perhaps there’s some possibility if he changes his attitude and abandons his hostile actions.

“Grrrr!!”

As I was lost in these thoughts while looking at the restrained Sanguin, a fierce growl disrupted my thinking, drawing my attention.

“Release me…!! Right now…!!”

Unlike Sanguin, who had completely lost his will to resist, I could see another prisoner thrashing about and making a fuss.

Unlike Sanguin, I only had vague memories of this one since I’d rarely encountered him before my regression.

In terms of power and ability, it was surprising to see him restrained like this, given his strength.

The one who had interfered with my pleasant date with Shizu not long ago… ahem, that’s not the point.

It was Lust, the great demon who once served as Desire’s agent and gained notoriety.

He was thrashing about as if he might break his restraints with sheer force at any moment.

“Such a tantrum.”

As my sister watched him dispassionately, she casually swung her right hand from left to right, more lightly than the weight of her gaze.

Whack-!!

With a crisp sound like a proper flick to the head of a misbehaving child—

“Ugh!!”

A short cry escaped from Lust’s mouth as his head sank down, despite his bloodshot eyes and aggressive behavior just moments before.

Lowering my gaze slightly to look at Lust with his head down, I could see he had fainted with foam at the corners of his mouth.

To think that a great demon who had been so determined to make a fuss would be knocked unconscious by my sister’s formless sword strike to the crown of his head.

The formless sword’s performance is certainly impressive.

If Fafnir had seen this, he would have marveled at how she had used the formless sword—difficult to handle precisely because it’s invisible—to subdue an opponent so exquisitely.

But from my perspective, I was more concerned about my sister’s physical condition, using the formless sword in such a way despite it having power comparable to a divine artifact even without being forged from sacred ultra-metal.

“…Is it okay to use the formless sword like that?”

I expressed my concern about my sister’s obvious overexertion, but—

“If I hadn’t done it, Excel would have had to use his lightning spear on him. If the lightning were used incorrectly, we’d end up with demon barbecue, and we can’t have that.”

“…Indeed.”

Her logical justification for using the formless sword left me unable to counter.

Not only was her argument appropriate, but the fact that she showed no sign of fatigue while speaking took away any words I might have had.

Well, since what she said was correct, pursuing the matter further would be meaningless. I was scratching my head and about to consider what to do with these two bound captives when—

“…RAAAAH!!”

Lust quickly regained consciousness despite taking a direct hit from my sister’s formless sword and let out a terrible scream, preventing me from continuing my thoughts.

Ah, this guy is tougher than I expected. To regain consciousness so quickly after being hit by my sister’s formless sword intended to knock him out.

“…Tsk.”

My sister clicked her tongue as she looked at Lust and raised her right hand again, preparing to swing the formless sword.

Her raised right arm gained an unbelievable firmness for a mere lifting motion.

The resolve emanating from my sister with her raised arm was even more determined than the arm itself—if knocking him out once wasn’t enough, she would swing the formless sword until he stayed down.

It was an admirable sight of my sister’s diligence, willing to ignore her own fatigue when there was work to be done.

Though it was a sight worthy of bowing my head in admiration—

I didn’t want my sister to suffer for something so trivial when she would already be swamped with reports about the Demon Realm’s collapse upon returning to Night Haven.

“I’ll handle it.”

I stood in front of my sister, who was about to swing her right arm, stopping her from wasting her strength unnecessarily.

If it had been someone else, especially Excel with his powerful but imprecise control, she would have definitely stopped them, but perhaps because she had often observed my skills up close—

“I’ll leave it to you.”

My sister gently lowered her right arm, entrusting me with subduing Lust.

She stepped back easily, confident that with me stepping forward, I would lead the noisy demon into a swamp of silence without her intervention.

With such expectations, it was only natural to live up to them.

I drew my dragon sword from my waist, still in its scabbard.

There was no need to unsheathe it.

Since the goal was to take this great demon—the embodiment of excess who infiltrated human society to plant luxury, pleasure, and desire in human minds—alive rather than killing him.

I just needed to swing the sword in its scabbard like a club.

It was the moment to begin a clubbing session that wouldn’t stop even if he begged for mercy, only ending when he passed out from the pain.

Since this was an extension of official duty, personal feelings shouldn’t be involved.

Step-

I simply took a step forward with an expressionless face, holding the sheathed dragon sword in my right hand.

…I kept reminding myself that my current steps toward knocking him out and the imminent clubbing were not fueled by anger toward the villain who had disrupted my pleasant date with Shizu.

“I said release me!! Hurry up and untie me!!”

Regardless of my approaching footsteps, Lust’s attitude remained unchanged as he continued to make a fuss and struggle to break his restraints.

His behavior suggested I wasn’t even on his radar, which wounded my pride.

In the past, I might have immediately unsheathed my dragon sword and taken his head, regardless of subduing or knocking him out.

But now I was performing a sacred official duty(?), so rather than acting on such personal feelings, it would be more effective to rapidly gather my fighting spirit and intimidate him.

I was about to release the light fighting spirit accumulated through extreme utilization of the Prikasa breathing technique, but—

My thoughts and actions were interrupted by someone who stood in front of Lust before I could.

Flowing, beautiful long golden hair visible even from behind.

A strong, clear light fighting spirit that would be difficult to face even by my significantly improved standards.

“…You.”

And Shizu’s clear, beautiful voice turned cold, easily recognizable even from a distance.

Woong-!!

She had already summoned her holy sword, which emitted a resonant hum as she brandished its gleaming blade.

“The villain who ruined our important date.”

Unlike her usual self who always prioritized official duties when wielding the holy sword, she now expressed her personal anger, grinding out her words with fury.

She seemed much more agitated than when she delivered the final strike to Desire who had left me in tatters, suggesting the memory of having our date interrupted was particularly infuriating.

While I was happy to see Shizu valuing our time together so much—

I also thought that at this rate, the head of this valuable prisoner might separate from his body, so unfortunately(?) I needed to stop her.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem about to swing her sword immediately, so I carefully approached Shizu while observing Lust’s condition.

“…”

He stared at Shizu, silent as if he’d never been struggling to break his restraints, wearing an expression filled with fear I’d never seen before, even when I executed him on Desire’s orders before my regression.

It makes sense to be afraid of a holy sword that can reduce beings tainted by demonic energy to ashes in one strike, with few exceptions.

And so, before my sister could step in, before I could take action, Lust accepted his restraints as meekly as a lamb without even fainting.

There are rumors that I had to rush behind Shizu, putting my sheathed dragon sword back at my waist, and struggle to stop her from immediately beheading him.

But I thought that even if a historian were present, such scenes would probably not be recorded in the history books.