episode_0261

Step, step, step.

Walking down the royal palace corridor.

The atmosphere here was quite different from the corridor I walked with Princess Emula.

Dark, eerie, and faintly, sounds like people screaming seem to be heard from outside the palace windows.

“….”

I entrusted the problem on that side to them.

So, I decided not to worry about the outside situation.

In the first place, considering the opponent that remains, it’s nonsense to even worry about the outside situation.

“Demon King….”

Lucy said.

That Ragna is not the current Ragna. That he’s been devoured by something that isn’t Ragna.

The Pope said.

Saint Vatory said that a great battle is coming soon.

Considering all of this, there is only one person left.

“The final, ultimate battle is with the Demon King….”

I will defeat the Demon King who is definitely entrenched here.

Right now, all I have to do is that one thing. I hurry my steps while thinking only of that.

And so, the place I was aiming for.

Someone was blocking the audience chamber right in front of me.

“Why are you here?”

“….”

A priestess with white hair and golden eyes.

A woman who was once a member of Leon’s party but decided to choose another hero.

“Noren.”

“Mr. Leon….”

She was blocking the door to the audience chamber.

“I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“…Mr. Leon…. You look healthy.”

Noren’s voice was slightly cracked.

No matter how kindly I put it, her complexion didn’t look good. Her face was pale, dark circles were faintly visible under her eyes, and her white hair was quite rough, giving her the feeling of a salaried worker exhausted from fatigue.

“Well, I’ve been doing well. But you seem to have had a rough time.”

She didn’t say anything to my words.

She lowered her head in silence.

I watched her for a moment and then said, taking out the holy sword from my inventory.

“Move.”

“….”

Even at the word “move,” she didn’t answer, only kept silent.

I watched her for a moment and took a step forward.

And at that moment, Noren opened her heavy mouth.

“We were…. quite struggling.”

“….”

“We left the Holy Kingdom as if running away…. and headed to Ms. Piria’s hometown. But…, we didn’t receive a very good welcome. Well, I guess that’s to be expected. The fact that Ms. Piria and I joined another hero’s party was a fact that everyone in the world knew.”

She’s probably not just trying to talk about her recent situation.

Actually, she continued speaking in a slightly detached manner, as if it were someone else’s story.

“Still, we tried hard. But Ms. Piria hardly ate anything because of the shock of that day…. And I couldn’t use divine power anymore…. It was very hard.”

“…So?”

At my question, she raised her head.

And in those eyes, I felt something like a deep emptiness.

“Why do we have to struggle like this?….”

“….”

“Well, that’s right…. Mr. Leon was called an incompetent hero back then…. That’s why I…, we were trying to protect you from the other heroes…. That’s all we were trying to do…. Everyone else was also cursing and ridiculing Mr. Leon as an incompetent hero, so why is it that we, who were trying to protect Mr. Leon!….”

“Stop.”

I lightly cut off Noren’s words that were about to continue.

“So? What do you want me to do.”

“….”

“That’s the path you chose. And it’s the price of the choice you made. You’re not a child, so you shouldn’t be whining now, right?”

“The choice I made….”

Noren mutters the words I said in a voice that sounds half-crazed.

“So move out of the way.”

“…I can’t do that. Yes, that’s right. This is a choice I made. So…. I have to go to the end, right?”

“….”

At that moment, a storm of massive magical energy erupts from Noren’s body.

Of course, with that level of power, she can’t push me back, so I stood confidently and fully endured the pressure.

“Hahaha…. Isn’t it amazing?…. I had to recite prayers to cultivate divine power, purify my body, and bind myself with all sorts of rules…. Only then could I barely gain a little power…. But now, power is overflowing.”

“Is that so.”

“Hero Ragna said. That if I helped him, I wouldn’t have to go through such a hellish life anymore….”

I knew it….

Ragna did it.

But how on earth did Ragna revive the Demon King? Is there something I don’t know?

Or….

“So I can’t move!! I don’t want to go back to that kind of life again!”

“Haa…. Let me ask you one thing. The undead commotion outside. Did you do it?”

“Yes, that’s right. I personally inscribed the seals.”

“Then let me ask you one more thing, if I kill you, will the undead disappear?”

At my words, Noren closed her mouth.

If she’s not particularly stupid, she’ll immediately realize what I’m trying to say.

“…No. Even if you kill me, the seals won’t disappear.”

“Is that so? That’s too bad. I was going to solve it with one stone two birds…. I guess I’ll have to leave that side to those guys.”

“Those guys, you mean…”

“You saw them in the Holy Kingdom too, right? My ‘party members’.”

As if scratched by my words, Noren writhes her body and glares at me.

Then, she immediately waves her hand and clumps black magical energy to draw a simple form of magic circle in the air.

“The usage of this magical energy is very similar to the usage of divine power. And if you utilize this well, you can use it in this way.”

“…Haa.”

I’ve already seen it.

The words almost came to my lips.

Instead of answering Noren’s confident words, I swung my sword once.

Swoosh! Clang!!

“!”

“So? Is that all you’re going to show me? If that’s all, just quietly move out of the way.”

Noren’s power is, after all, a lower version of Reviya, a lower version of Marie, and also a lower version of Tamiel.

Reviya, who has obtained the magical knowledge of a top-notch magician called a witch and utilizes it 100%, her holy magic is incomparable to the power of the crude magic that Noren shows.

And that’s the same for Marie.

Even a rotten crucian carp is still a crucian carp, she was a promising talent in the Magic Tower anyway.

Although she self-destructed because of her personality of being overly conscious of the gazes of those around her, her magical skills are extremely outstanding.

Tamiel is, well….

She’s like Reviya and Marie combined.

Of course, she’s in a situation where she can’t use her power properly right now.

“Eek!….”

“No ‘eek’s’….”

Even the Sword King’s Secret Art is too good for her.

So all she does is extremely simple sword ki.

I approach her in an instant and swing my sword.

Swaeek! Clang!!

The barrier of magical energy surrounding her blocks my sword, but it breaks down with a loud noise, as if it’s the limit with just one attack.

“It’s over.”

“St, stop!!”

“Would I stop?”

I swing my sword once more, completely severing Noren’s neck.

I swung my sword for that, but,

“Kyaa!”

“!”

At the consecutive screams, I quickly distanced myself.

Noren, who had truly faced death right before her eyes, breathed heavily and calmed her disheveled breathing.

I glanced at her and then turned my head in the direction where the scream was heard.

“He, Hero….”

“Princess Emula.”

“Ha…. Hahaha!….”

An undead soldier holding Princess Emula.

Is that what Noren was trusting in?

“A hostage…”

“Yes, that’s right. A hostage…. If you’ve defeated all the fragments of the Demon King, you won’t be able to win with a direct approach, so….”

“So? You’re going to use Princess Emula as a hostage to tie me down?”

That’s really….

Such a foolish thought.

“Hero…. I’m okay, so….”

Princess Emula said, changing her gaze.

As expected, she’s a cool woman who would coolly head to a brothel because she doesn’t like palace life.

She seems to have roughly guessed the flow of things from the environment she’s currently seeing.

“I’m alright.”

“Don’t move. If you do, I can’t guarantee her life.”

“…In the first place, this is my first time meeting her, what kind of idiot takes someone they just met as a hostage.”

Of course, I won’t let her die either.

[Space Severance]

“D, don’t move, I said!….”

I swing my sword.

Surpassing space and space, my slash accurately severed the limbs of the undead soldiers holding Princess Emula.

This [Space Severance] was useful at first, but later, like [Killer Spot], it didn’t work against enemies above a certain level, so it’s one of the skills I put aside.

“Ho, how?….”

“From the moment you ask that, you can’t beat me.”

A slash that transcends space.

I swung my sword, looking at Noren, who couldn’t help but be shocked by it.

Swish

“…Huh?”

“Marie could even block [Space Severance]. You’re worse than Marie.”

“What does that….”

…Ah, right. They still don’t know that Marie betrayed us.

“If you don’t know, that’s fine.”

I left the dying Noren behind and headed to the freed Princess Emula.

“Princess Emula.”

“Hero… Tha, thank you…. Suddenly there was a big loud noise…. I was trying to check what was going on…, but suddenly the undead….”

“Yes, I know. The Roman Kingdom is currently under attack by the Demon King.”

“De, Demon King?….”

At my words, Emula asked back as if she couldn’t understand.

“Didn’t we defeat all the Demon Kings?”

“We defeated all the ‘fragments’ of the Demon King.”

“That’s….”

“The cause is probably…, Ragna.”

Whether it’s shocking or embarrassing that her own flesh and blood summoned the Demon King, Emula trembled and lowered her head.

“Th, then…. What should I do….”

“The Demon King is inside the audience chamber.”

“The audience chamber, you mean….”

She, who lives in the royal palace, will know better than anyone.

That this is the entrance to the audience chamber, and that the king should originally be beyond the door in front of her.

The fact that such a Demon King is inside the audience chamber means….

“Father….”

“….”

“…What should I do.”

Her father might be dead.

Emula, who realized that fact, didn’t cry or grieve.

Instead, she asked what she should do.

…No matter how many times I see it, she’s a woman with a firm heart.

“The commotion happening in the royal capital will be resolved by my party members. So please don’t stray from my side.”

“Yes?….”

“I’m going to defeat the Demon King. So I don’t have time to guide the princess to a safe place. So please don’t stray from my side.”

“But then….”

“It’s okay.”

Yes, it’s okay.

If she’s in a place where I can’t see her, I can’t protect her, but if she’s in front of my eyes.

If she’s within the reach of my sword….

“The safest place in this world is right next to me.”