Chapter 168: Great Demon (4)

With a sound like an eggshell cracking, the black dome split open and collapsed in an instant, without giving birth to any new life.

The black dome vanished without raising even a speck of dust, and our attention turned to the empty field where it had stood moments ago.

The dome’s destruction meant either the demon’s power had weakened to the point it couldn’t maintain its domain, or a victor had emerged.

The barren land was empty, and we were too far away to see who had won.

Or rather, no one dared to check.

Considering the potential consequences, none of us, myself included, volunteered to investigate.

“…I’ll go check.”

“No, you can’t!! If the demon won, you’ll be its next target, Your Highness!!”

When I mustered the courage to offer, Nana intervened, saying she’d go instead.

Demons are sensitive to others’ presence, especially magical surveillance.

If it was the demon standing there instead of Ian, I’d surely be next.

But even so, this was something I had to do.

Ian had risked his life for me. It wouldn’t be right to hesitate now, and I wouldn’t be able to face him later if I did.

“It’s okay. If it’s Ian, I’m sure he’s fine…”

Believing in him, I activated a primitive magic spell and set out to search for Ian in the vast, empty field.

As I projected my vision into the sky to survey the area, anxiety made my entire body break out in cold sweat.

‘Please…!! Please be alive, Ian…!!’

As if my first-ever prayer had been answered, about halfway through my search, I spotted what looked like the demon’s corpse and Ian nearby, wearing a somewhat dazed expression.

The area around Ian and the demon was stained with what I assumed was the demon’s black blood. Judging by the damage to the demon’s body and the amount of blood, it was easy to imagine how fierce the battle had been.

“I-I found Ian!! He’s okay!!”

Following my words, Headmaster Marina also scanned the field with her magic, nodded, and then teleported us to Ian’s location.

“Ian!!”

When Ian saw us, he still wore that nonchalant expression. He looked at his sword, stained with the demon’s blood, and scratched his head.

“…Ian?”

“Hm? Oh… You’re awake? I was worried you might not wake up.”

“Y-yeah. But are you okay? You fought that incredibly strong demon…”

At first, I was too shocked to notice, but all the blood on Ian’s body belonged to the demon. Aside from a small scratch on his face, Ian was uninjured.

I knew Ian was strong, but was his power enough to completely defeat a demon?

I wasn’t the only one who found this strange. Nana and Headmaster Marina also looked puzzled as they questioned Ian.

“A demon capable of creating a domain must have been quite a powerful greater demon. How did you manage to defeat it without a scratch…?”

“…Did something happen?”

Noticing our skeptical looks, Ian kept scratching his head and mumbled that he wasn’t sure how to explain it.

Honhuld, the demon of strife that had been sleeping inside me, was clearly a warrior several levels above Ian.

The way Ian defeated such a demon was somewhat, no, quite absurd. It was essentially the demon’s self-destruction.

“Honhuld’s power as the demon of strife was to seal any means used for combat. It used that power to seal my Baldo techniques.”

“Sealing techniques? How on earth…”

“Sealing concepts… What a terrifying ability. So what did you do?”

“What could I do? I just fought with a sword in each hand, thinking I’d at least go down swinging.”

But perhaps due to the backlash from using such a technique, the demon couldn’t exert much power after sealing Ian’s Baldo techniques.

The fight was one-sided. Throughout the battle, the demon couldn’t land a single effective hit on Ian and was torn to shreds, meeting a miserable end.

“Its downfall was underestimating the power of Baldo techniques and rashly sealing them. It weakened itself by using too much power to seal my techniques.”

“But that’s…”

“That’s what?”

Nana looked like she wanted to say something, but after mulling it over for a while, she swallowed her words.

“It’s nothing. If it hadn’t done that, it might have lasted a bit longer, as you said.”

“Right? If it hadn’t sealed my Baldo techniques, it might have won.”

“…You’re right.”

“Hah… I was so worried you might be possessed by the demon since you seemed too fine.”

“Why would a demon want to possess my bo–!!”

Ian, who had been laughing and speaking cheerfully, suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed forward.

His face was as pale as if all the blood had been drained from his body.

“Ian!! Ian!!! Why suddenly…?!”

I slapped his cheeks, trying desperately to wake him up. Ian opened his eyes with great effort and murmured softly.

“Urgh…!! It’s… it’s so ridiculous that I forgot about the side effects.”

With those final words, Ian closed his eyes peacefully, as if entering an eternal sleep.

As his body grew colder and his face became as pale as a corpse, I couldn’t accept the reality unfolding before my eyes. My own eyes closed, as if following Ian.

“Ian!!! Your Highness!!”

——

“……”

Unlike when I first lost consciousness, my mind was clear, and I remembered everything from before I fainted.

I opened my eyes and slowly sat up, as if I had just woken from a normal sleep, without panicking or flailing about like before.

My movements were so quiet that Nana, who had been watching over me, didn’t react immediately. She only realized I was awake a moment later.

“Your Highness. You’re awake.”

“…Yes, where are we?”

“We’re in Ian’s mansion. After you and Ian collapsed, we brought him here for treatment. The priest and Headmaster Marina are currently treating…”

Without waiting for Nana to finish, I got out of bed and rushed out of the room, pushing the door open.

As I left the room, I saw two figures in the dimly lit corridor, which was still shrouded in night’s darkness.

One was Miss Hori. For some reason, both her cheeks were very swollen, and she was leaning against the wall, rubbing them.

The other, Lady Jessica, was crouched in front of what I assumed was Ian’s room, her face hidden from view.

However, her slightly trembling body and wet sleeves made it clear she had been crying, even without seeing her face.

“Oh? Prince… no, um… Princess? You’re awake?”

Miss Hori, noticing me, approached with her usual bright smile.

It was the same smile as always, but it felt out of place given the current situation, which was disconcerting.

Regardless, she came up to me, looked me over carefully, and then said with sparkling eyes:

“Wow, you really are a woman? It feels so fresh, since I didn’t see you when you were brought in.”

“Oh, yes…. But what about Ian?”

“Ah, Ian is being treated in that room right now! The priest and the headmaster went in a little while ago, so they should be out soon, right?”

Seeing her cheerful smile, I guessed that Ian’s condition wasn’t too bad and let out a sigh of relief.

“How is Ian’s condition? I’ve been so worried since he coughed up so much blood…”

“Well, I’m not sure? But I only gave him medicine that wouldn’t kill me if I took it, so he should be fine, right?”

“…Huh?”

“This has happened before, and he was fine after resting for a few days, so he should be okay this time too!”

I realized she was just voicing irresponsible and optimistic thoughts.

Just because he was okay before, he’ll be okay this time?

Hearing those words, even though I knew I shouldn’t say anything as I was partly responsible for Ian’s condition, I couldn’t help but shout at her.

“W-what if something goes wrong when you say things like that?!”

“Oh… Well, then I’ll just die too, I guess.”

“…What did you say?”

“Without Ian, there’s no one to use my medicines… And if he died from side effects, it would partly be my fault too, so I’d have to atone with my life. Not that it would bring Ian back, though.”

“…Ah.”

As I stood there, mouth agape, not knowing how to respond to her words that were so far beyond my comprehension, the door that had been tightly shut until now opened, and the priest and Headmaster Marina emerged from the room.

“Headmaster!! How’s Ian…? Is he alright?!”

Lady Jessica, who had been crouching in front of the door, asked urgently. The priest, standing next to the headmaster, answered with a kind smile.

“Yes, he’s fine. He’s so robust that even such internal injuries didn’t faze him much. If we let him rest for a few days, he should be back to normal.”

Lady Jessica nodded repeatedly to the priest, then hurriedly entered the room, almost pushing past the two of them.

She then sat down next to the bed, where Ian lay with his eyes closed as if in a deep sleep.

“……”

I wanted to go into that room and check on Ian’s condition too, but somehow, it felt like that room was a space just for those two. I couldn’t bring myself to step in.

“Your Highness. Aren’t you going in?”

“…I’ll pass for now. Ian needs to rest, and I have something I need to do.”

“Something you need to do?”

Something I need to do, or more accurately, clean up.

It’s time to deal with the aftermath of this body that can no longer transform into a man, to settle the karmic debt I should have paid long ago.