Ch.9797. The Sun for the Saint

The blazing white flames rush toward Stella.

Holy power is lethal to demons. It would be the same for Stella, who has now merged with a demon.

The carriage had long since come to a stop.

The nuns knelt in prayer, tears streaming down their faces before the white flames.

Findenai and the Dark Spiritmaster just stared blankly at it.

“Well, that’s why I told you to run first?”

Findenai glances at me while catching his breath, thinking it’s all over now.

The Dark Spiritmaster also nods and claps, impressed.

[I didn’t expect you to use the grace the souls received from the Saintess.]

“I didn’t use them.”

I correct him since the Dark Spiritmaster, being a necromancer himself, tends to think of souls as consumables, which is evident in his choice of words.

“I gave them an opportunity.”

I look up at Stella burning without any screams or struggle.

“In the end, what she built up has proven its worth.”

What Stella wanted was death.

That’s why I respected her and granted it to her.

I wanted to fulfill her wish because she had given me a brief moment to set down my burden, offering comfort and encouragement that touched me deeply.

I granted her wish.

I’ve repaid her kindness.

Now it was time to move according to my will.

“Stella, now I will deny your wish.”

Though Stella couldn’t hear my voice, I declared it as if steadying myself.

Because she feared rest after death.

Because she was afraid of demons waiting eagerly for her death, she wanted complete annihilation?

Unfortunately, that’s no happy ending.

It was merely the lesser evil to avoid the worst.

“A false happy ending.”

That’s what she wanted, and I respected it.

But for the very end, I intended to twist it clearly.

I roll up my sleeves.

Forcibly squeezing out my depleted mana, the iron chains that had bound the greater demon wrap around my right hand.

The greater demon had already been completely annihilated in the battle with Stella.

[W-what are you trying to do?]

The Dark Spiritmaster is startled to see me moving again. He showed signs of not wanting me to do anything more.

“I’m going to save Stella.”

[Y-you already saved her! What she wanted was annihilation! Isn’t it over now? You granted her wish!]

“No, that’s just the lesser evil.”

Stella’s death is unavoidable.

If she doesn’t die, the discomfort and pain of her physical body would only continue to strangle her.

I had no intention of forcibly keeping her in this life anymore.

But after death.

As a necromancer, there was clearly something I could do.

I wrap the created chains around my waist. Being made of mana, they didn’t feel tight or heavy.

I handed the end to Findenai.

“Pull when I give the signal.”

“You’re going in there?”

Findenai points at the massive white flames in disbelief. I nod without hesitation and take a deep breath.

It’s not real fire anyway, just a manifestation of holy power.

Of course, if I jumped in there with my bare body, I’d suffer quite a bit of damage.

Still, I had to go.

“You’re crazy.”

Findenai laughs dryly, grabs the chain firmly, and answers resolutely.

“Five minutes. I’ll definitely pull you out right before you die. Do whatever you need to do within that time.”

“That’s enough.”

As I take a deep breath and prepare to enter, a thin layer of mana forms around my skin.

The Mother Superior, watching me, kneels with tears streaming down her face, pressing her forehead to the ground.

“You’re still fighting for the Saintess, aren’t you?”

“…”

“I’m so sorry we couldn’t do more for you.”

The other nuns likewise cast spells on me, then press their foreheads to the ground, pleading with me.

“Yes.”

It was unexpected help, but it would surely allow me to endure a little longer.

I jumped into the white flames where the woman was burning, carrying the nuns’ hopes.

“Kugh!”

A numbing heat pressed down on my entire body. Though I wasn’t getting burned, I could clearly feel my body rejecting it.

Too much purity becomes poison to humans.

Holy power was exactly that kind of thing.

I close my mouth and eyes to minimally block the heat from rushing into my body.

I reach out and begin climbing up her burning spider legs.

I already knew where she was. Though I sometimes missed a step or my hand grasped at empty air, nevertheless.

I approached Stella without stopping.

The greater demon’s left hand had completely burned away, and with her remaining right hand, she clutched the rosary of Goddess Hertia that she always carried.

“Thank you.”

She bids her final farewell with her eyes calmly closed.

“I’m sorry.”

Though she couldn’t hear my voice, words of apology flowed from my tongue.

“Because I am a necromancer.”

In truth, I had wished she could live a life. I thought it might be possible using Professor Per Petra’s prosthetic body.

But Stella refused.

And at that point, I was certain.

That Stella wasn’t living, but dying.

That she had no more attachments to this life.

“I can only intervene after death.”

I watch over her final moments.

The flames of holy power surged not just on her skin but through her internal organs as well.

Without the nuns’ support, I might have already lost consciousness here.

Even holy power, which I thought wasn’t that physically powerful, couldn’t be underestimated when gathered in such vast quantities.

“Goodbye.”

And through the gaps came Stella’s last words.

It was the end.

Stella died like that, and her soul, having lost its physical body, began to be annihilated by the holy power, but.

I quickly snatched her soul.

“If you call avoiding the worst evil a happy ending.”

Stella, startled, opens her eyes and looks at me. Her original eyes, not the demon’s, were truly beautiful.

“I will not let you go.”

Now a soul that can see, Stella looks at me with a shocked expression.

As if wondering why I was here.

I wanted to give her a gentle smile, but it could only be distorted due to the pain.

[L-let go of this! I, I want to be annihilated like this!]

“No, I cannot allow that. Disappearing like this is absolutely not a happy ending for you.”

[I, I want it! I want to forget everything and be completely annihilated!]

“I’m sorry, but.”

Chwarruruk.

Another thin chain appears at my fingertips. Due to lack of mana, it could only be short, but it was enough to connect our wrists like a thread.

“You are already dead.”

And a necromancer is one who deals with such dead.

“You belong to me, the necromancer.”

[…!]

I pulled my hand, and due to the chain connected to her wrist, she fell into my arms.

With my other hand firmly around her back, I shouted toward the sky.

“Findenai!”

Chwarrururuk!

The chain around my waist was pulled as if he had been waiting. Afraid of losing Stella, I held her tightly in my arms and applied strong force.

Stella and I were instantly pulled out of the holy flames and rolled on the ground.

Kung! Kung!

“Did, did I pull too hard?”

The heat of the flames I felt inside disappeared, and I felt my body cooling down. But there was no time to enjoy the afterglow.

I had successfully rescued her soul from her corpse, but holy flames still remained on her spiritual body.

I hurriedly took out the Lemegeton to stabilize her soul.

Though she had become semi-transparent, Stella’s soul clearly had not been annihilated.

Understanding the situation, she stared at me with her mouth wide open.

I was surprised to see such an expression from Stella, who always wore a composed smile.

[Y-y-y-you!]

Flustered and stammering, Stella hurriedly gets up and rushes toward me.

[What have you done! You’ve ruined the end that Vellica and I created!]

“That wasn’t right.”

[This won’t work! Soon…!]

Kiaaaak!

Kyarruk! Kyarruk!

In the dawn sky, like birds rising early to find insects, the screams of demons begin to spread. Chillingly long, tearing demonic laughter.

The demons who had watched Stella’s death were approaching like grim reapers to claim her soul.

In that situation, I stared at Stella and answered.

“So you had such eyes.”

Usually, after death, wounds remain on the soul.

In fact, it was a kind of illusion. The embodiment of trauma. That’s why souls could wander around with distorted or strange appearances.

Anyway, Stella’s entire body was in pristine condition.

It was another example of how strong her mental fortitude was.

[W-what?]

Confused, Stella hurriedly brings both hands to her eyes. Then she’s startled to see her left hand still attached.

“They suit you better than I had imagined.”

[N-no! This isn’t the time for that!]

With her face turning red from embarrassment, Stella quickly turns her gaze to the sky.

Demons approaching like a flock of crows.

I embraced her and answered.

“It’s alright, I won’t send you anywhere.”

Soul connects with soul.

Though I was a necromancer who didn’t possess souls, I intended to make an exception this time.

Stella’s soul would become mine.

[Ah.]

And it was strongly connected through the Lemegeton so that it could never be separated.

I caught my breath and answered.

“As long as I’m alive, there’s no way for demons to take your soul.”

And it was connected through the Lemegeton, a legacy of the greater demon. Essentially, unless they killed me and destroyed it, it was impossible to take Stella away.

[But! But you’re in danger!]

“I won’t die.”

I slowly look up at the sky, making promises without guarantee. But I was genuinely confident.

I had no intention of surrendering my neck and her to mere demons.

The demons might rush at me in disappointment right now. Or they might consider waiting for my death as another form of entertainment.

But whatever they do, they would first have to break through the beings already spread across the sky.

“Having obtained the Saintess’s soul, I should benefit from it.”

White flames once again illuminate the dark night sky.

The remaining souls form constellations in the sky, becoming flames of holy power.

[Ah.]

Looking up at those who were burning their souls to protect her, Stella’s eyes welled up with tears from the overwhelming emotion.

“I know it was hard.”

I gently embrace her and look up at the sky with her.

The demons who were rushing to claim Stella’s soul rage at the sight of the holy flames burning themselves, but.

Naturally, those who were prepared for annihilation wouldn’t back down.

Tormenting the Saintess’s soul was entertainment, but no demon had enough sense of mission to risk injury and life.

The holy flames, prepared for annihilation, rush forward, and the demons merely click their tongues and flee rather than confront them.

[Ah, aah.]

Stella looks up at the sky with tears. Though the sun hadn’t risen yet, just as she had become their sun.

To drive away the nightmare-like darkness that had tormented Stella every night.

They became the sun for the Saintess.