Ch.379Chapter 379 – Everyone’s Enemy

After Christina’s condition changed, some time passed.

Beatrice entered a relatively secluded place carrying the container with the Saint’s brain, lost in thought.

‘…I hope she’ll be alright.’

Beatrice recalled the scene she had witnessed before temporarily parting from her companions.

Christina had turned pale and was muttering incoherently after seeing the Saint’s portrait inside the pendant. To care for her, Kay and Eve had supported Christina, and they moved with Kara and the Holy Knights to find a place where she could lie down. By the end, Christina was practically being carried, clinging to Kay.

‘She must have been relying on Helmet that much.’

Likely, as she fell into panic, she instinctively reached out to the person she trusted most.

‘Her mother, huh.’

Beatrice recalled the moment when Christina had started acting strangely. It was clearly when the pendant fell to the ground. More precisely, it was what Christina had muttered while looking at Platina’s portrait inside the pendant Diana had given her.

‘Thinking about it now, I should have considered the possibility.’

Given how similar Kara and Christina looked, she should have suspected some blood relation between them. Of course, Beatrice thought she would have assumed they were sisters separated in childhood at most.

They did look remarkably alike, but who could have imagined that Christina was the daughter of the previous Saint of the Emiris Order, and Kara was a clone of that same Saint?

‘Though I don’t know how that orphaned nun recognized her mother’s face…’

Still, she wasn’t the type to lie. Unlike herself, Christina was a good person.

She had been through various experiences, so perhaps she had somehow had the opportunity to see her parents’ faces through some method unknown even to herself.

Beatrice thought that perhaps Christina had shared some secrets with Kay.

‘I’ll have to leave the nun in Helmet’s care.’

Of course, she and the others wouldn’t abandon Christina, but since Chris relied on Kay the most, he would be the most suitable person. And Kay wouldn’t shy away from that role.

“Then I should do what I need to do.”

Beatrice said quietly.

It was certain that he was preparing something. And the biggest obstacles to his plan were her companions.

Especially Somnus, who had shown sharp reactions to Kay and Chris.

‘He might be extremely wary of the power of the Dragon and the power of the newly born god.’

The Dragon’s power was by no means weak, and Chris’s divine power was genuinely a god’s divine power. On top of that, it had been revealed that the King of Demons was on their side.

Either way, from Somnus’s—no, Emiris’s—perspective, these were powers that couldn’t be overlooked.

Their side had the potential to ruin his future plans. Their unexpected involvement might have already ruined many of his plans.

But so far, it had been Emiris initiating things, and their side responding by solving or preventing problems.

That’s why now was important.

Even if they were currently just struggling to keep up, they needed to eventually get ahead of him.

Only then could they…

“Get revenge on him.”

Beatrice quietly burned with vengeance against Somnus.

Of course, revenge against Somnus was no longer hers alone.

Still, there was no reason to kill her desire for revenge against Somnus.

‘I can’t just let him be.’

For that, she needed information first. She needed to know what he was trying to do and what he had prepared. Within that, she also needed to find a way to stabilize Kay’s body and learn about dimensional research.

In the end, all hope lay within the Saint’s mind.

“…Well then, Saint. Please grant me your knowledge.”

Beatrice said softly. Then she directed her hand, glowing with a magic circle, toward the Saint’s brain.

“…For your revenge and for your daughter’s future. Please help me.”

As she slowly began extracting memories from the Saint’s brain, Beatrice spoke quietly.

+

Chris fell asleep as if she had fainted. After realizing the shocking truth, she had apparently been unable to endure and passed out like she was fainting. She must have been tired from the dangerous moments during battle as well.

Still, I had never seen Chris with such a pale face before. With mixed feelings, I quietly held her hand tightly.

“Do you think Christina will be alright?”

“She’ll be fine.”

I quietly answered Eve’s question.

“She’s mentally stronger than she looks… She’ll be okay.”

“You believe in Christina.”

I nodded slightly at Eve’s words. For a moment, Eve’s gaze turned to my hand holding Chris’s, but soon she smiled.

“…Kay has cute sides too.”

“Cute?”

Eve didn’t answer and just smiled. Soon she sat down quietly beside me and said:

“You must be tired, why don’t you rest?”

“I’m fine.”

I said quietly, watching Chris.

“…I can rest properly later.”

At my words, Eve’s face became concerned. As I felt Eve’s body press against my shoulder, I quietly looked down at Chris.

‘…It was when we first released Evgenia’s seal.’

At that time, Chris had opened up about what happened when she received her divine power.

And she told me about the conversations we had with Kara, whom we first met in Chris’s inner mental world.

‘She said she saw her mother’s face in her unconscious memories.’

At the time, it was just a casual mention of what happened and the conversations there. But thanks to being able to see her unconscious memories, Chris said she had been able to see her mother’s face.

She came to know the existence of her mother, whose face she would otherwise never have known, and that became the cause of Chris’s current suffering.

If she hadn’t known the face, she wouldn’t have known that Platina was her mother.

‘…But Chris probably wouldn’t want that, so this is just me venting…’

For someone who didn’t even know her parents’ faces, learning at least what they looked like must have been a great comfort.

…And at this moment, no one could have predicted that Chris would see Platina’s portrait.

In the end, it was just a selfish thought, nothing more than venting.

As I thought this and unconsciously tightened my grip, I felt a force squeezing my hand back.

Chris had unconsciously gripped my hand tightly.

‘…I need to stay by her side.’

At least until Chris could somewhat overcome this miserable truth, I needed to be there for her.

Without realizing it, I stroked Chris’s face. And quietly, with killing intent in my voice, I said:

“…I will never forgive that bastard.”

“You mean Emiris.”

“We could also call him Somnus.”

I said quietly to Eve.

“Too many people have had their lives ruined because of him.”

The first person who came to mind was Beatrice. The princess of Firenchena had lost her family because of Somnus and became an avenger.

Next was Sera. Even now, Sera was being targeted by Somnus because of the Philosopher’s Stone, but judging from Rudger’s testimony and the note left by Sera’s grandmother, the reason Sera’s grandmother went into hiding with Sera also seemed to be because of Somnus.

And now it was Chris.

Because Somnus took the life of Saint Platina, she became an orphan and grew up as a nun in the declining Evgenia Order.

This meant that if it weren’t for Somnus, Christina might have lived as the daughter of a Saint, lacking nothing in life. Chris had literally had her life stolen from her.

“…Kay too, because of Somnus…”

Eve said quietly.

Come to think of it, I was also someone whose life had been ruined because of him.

At least Sia and Eve didn’t seem to be directly involved, but Eve had experienced dangerous situations by becoming involved with us, and Sia, though she hadn’t told us, seemed to have some connection.

In fact, Somnus was practically the enemy of me and all my companions.

Beyond that, there were also other victims like Eina, another test subject, Princess Gabriella, Beatrice’s sister, and Diana, Saint Platina’s mother.

Just around me, there were this many victims. If the scope was widened, it was unimaginable.

“Kay.”

“…I know.”

I nodded, looking at the worried Eve. Even if I wanted revenge against Somnus, I needed to solve my lifespan problem first. If I couldn’t strengthen my fading flame of life, I would collapse before even reaching him.

“I hope the Saint has helpful information.”

“…Beatrice will succeed.”

Eve said quietly, burying her head against my chest. Without resisting, I felt Eve’s warmth and quietly clenched my fist.

‘But for now…’

I looked down at Chris. Right now, Chris’s recovery was the priority.

“…Overcome this, Chris.”

I spoke quietly to Chris, who had her eyes closed. As Eve buried her head deeper, I stroked her hair while looking at Chris’s face.

“…That person has incredible luck with women.”

“So envious…”

I decided to ignore the unnecessary comments from the Holy Knights outside the door.

+

Around the time Kay’s group was cleaning up after battling Somnus at the New Kingdom’s research facility…

Gabriella, newly crowned as the Queen of Firenchena, was looking ahead with a tense face. Archery stood one step forward, blocking the throne as if to protect Gabriella, while Gigas and Vanilla stood in front of him.

This was because of a woman—no, a demon—who had suddenly visited the palace the day before.

“How dare you crawl in here?”

“I’m truly glad to see you’re healthy, Vanilla.”

Serious said, covering her mouth with a fan. Even as Vanilla immediately summoned ice chunks around herself and Gigas entered a battle stance, Serious maintained her unconcerned attitude.

“What is your purpose? Demon.”

“Would you believe me if I said I came to surrender?”

Serious said with a smile. Facing her, Archery spoke quietly:

“You’re being disrespectful before Her Majesty, demon.”

Archery narrowed his eyes and said:

“Many people—courtiers who were in the castle during the previous battle and captured civilians—say they owe their lives to you, which is why we didn’t attack you without question. But if you show such an attitude before a nation’s monarch, you might regret being allowed to come here alone.”

Serious was smiling at Archery’s words. But her response was firm:

“If you’re asking me to kneel, I’m afraid I must refuse.”

“What you just said…”

“The only time I would kneel is when I serve the king I serve. The Queen of Firenchena is not the one I serve.”

Saying this, Serious slightly lifted the hem of her skirt and continued:

“I apologize for causing displeasure. But please remember that a retainer kneeling before just anyone is not courtesy but an act that could diminish the honor of their king.”

Archery, seeming somewhat angered, glared at Serious even more coldly. Then Gabriella restrained Archery and said:

“State your business, demon.”

“Before I properly speak, I have a gift first, Queen Gabriella.”

Serious snapped her fingers. A small wooden box appeared in front of her. Simultaneously, four bats appeared and slowly transported the box toward Gigas, who picked it up with one hand and carefully examined the contents. He frowned and looked at Archery.

“You’d better come down here, prepared for what you’ll see.”

“……”

Archery went to Gigas’s side. He checked the contents of the box and, likewise frowning deeply, said:

“…It’s General Regis’s head.”

Various expressions crossed Archery’s face. It was the head of the resistance leader who had once been an ally-like enemy for political reasons, and who had now become an enemy for the same political reasons.

The man who had subtly pressured Gabriella during the resistance days and had covertly maneuvered to win subsequent power struggles was now reduced to just a head.

“I thought you might need this, so I brought it.”

Serious smiled, looking at Gabriella. Then, Archery, eyeing her warily, asked:

“How did you get this?”

“It took some effort. I’ll skip the details, but I had already finished preparations by the time you were attacking the palace.”

Serious said, covering her mouth with her fan. Even seeing Archery place his hand on the sword at his waist, Serious didn’t lose her composure.

“Then shall we begin the proper negotiations?”

“Without your king’s permission, you act on your own?”

“I should be clear about that.”

Serious folded her fan in response to Gabriella’s question. Her face was serious.

“Not for a single moment have I ever acknowledged that Demon Lord as my king.”

Serious said with a resolute face.