Chapter 262
The Holy Saint’s comrades, friends, and family called out to her until their voices broke. But none of their calls reached her.
She was deaf and blind. Her unfocused, empty eyes seemed to reflect nothing.
“……”
Meanwhile, the one most shocked in this place. Tesillid couldn’t bring himself to call out to her.
Bewildered, he even forgot that he needed to resist the dungeon’s rules.
In that gap, countless spectral hands were dragging his body into the Demon Realm’s junkyard.
If the Holy Sword plunged into the ground hadn’t acted as a brake, he would have been swallowed by the black, deep swamp long ago.
“Ail…”
Aillet had fallen.
Immediately after he resolved to save her and the world in a good way.
His god was always like this.
The next moment, Tesillid gritted his teeth. Otherwise, a miserable wail would echo through the sky and perhaps amuse his god.
Rumble, rumble, Holy Sword Libra trembled minutely, resonating with its owner’s intense emotions and impulses. He struggled not to despair.
Around that time, Reed’s voice, filled with intimidation, ignored the distance and echoed in everyone’s ears.
“I don’t know what everyone’s doing. Not paying respects to the Queen.”
Intense killing intent replaced the threat that everyone would die if they didn’t submit. It was practically a declaration of war.
The one who made a decision fastest among the subjugation force was Saintess Muriel.
She shouted so that everyone could hear.
“I am Muriel Philise! As the 8th Divine Power Tier Saintess of the Elfenheim Holy Theocracy and God’s ‘Sole and Unique’ Proxy, I inform everyone.”
“……”
“From now on, we engage in subjugation! Our enemies are the Black Demonic Swordsman! And Aillet Rodelain!”
“……!”
At the last name, unrest spread among the allies like a plague.
On the contrary, Reed, the enemy, did not hide his joy. He brought his beautifully curved lips to Aillet’s ear.
“Look. The whole world hates us.”
“……”
“So, let’s kill them all, Aillet.”
“……”
Her unfocused eyes, staring into the void, slowly blinked.
Muriel urged the subjugation force again.
“My will as the Saintess is the will of ‘Strict Order and Goodness’! Assume battle formation immediately! We must execute ‘Demon King Aillet’!”
Some Holy Knights were persuaded by the Saintess’s authority.
Swoosh, someone deliberately drew their sword with a flourish, setting the tone.
“The opponent is no longer the Holy Saint! Prepare for battle!”
The clang of drawn swords made the knights react instinctively.
Everyone, regardless of their will to fight, drew their swords or gripped their hilts.
Amidst the shifting atmosphere, Duke Hispenril shouted.
“Saintess Muriel, this is arbitrary!”
“It is God’s will.”
“Saintess Muriel!”
“If we allow the ‘Demon King’ to make the first move, we might all die!”
Muriel, raising her voice, looked back at the other powerful individuals.
Duke Hispenril, of course, wouldn’t be able to make a decisive move against his own granddaughter, making him strategically meaningless.
The other two aura users, Romina Lekandro and Fliegel Knight, were wary but showed no sign of actively moving. They were hesitating.
Muriel wanted to fire the first shot of war before the tension spreading through the subjugation force subsided.
Then, for her, with not a second to lose, there was only one option.
“Chimera researcher, Moriphis Marcelion.”
“Huh? Why are you calling me?”
“As the sole Saintess of the Elfenheim Holy Theocracy, I promise. If you engage in battle, I will restore your personal freedom. This is the will of the Pontifical Palace, and the will of God.”
“……R-really?”
The Collar of Obedience Aillet had placed around Moriphis’s neck was insufficient to completely tame an 8th Circle Archmage. Moriphis became a dog that bit its owner.
Soon, the aura of mana agitated widely by Moriphis. Those with good senses felt this and tensed.
It is said that the harbinger signaling the start of war must be ostentatious.
Muriel deliberately ordered Moriphis to cast a spectacular spell.
Countless fireballs generated in the black sky. A barrage of fire rained down on the pair of man and woman in the center of the amphitheater.
Boom, boom, boom!
The figures of the Newly Born Chaos Evil and the Newly Born Demon King were buried in the gigantic explosion.
However, a moment later, they reappeared in the light of the fire, unharmed.
The demonic energy emanating from Aillet instantly swallowed the mana’s aura.
“My goodness……”
Muriel’s intention completely backfired.
For the enemy’s appearance, without even a scratch, caused the morale of their allies to plummet.
Reed chuckled, his throat rumbling. He turned to Aillet by his side again and spoke.
“It’s not bad, sharing the hatred.”
“……”
“It’s all thanks to you, Aillet.”
His gaze upon her deepened.
Meanwhile, Aillet’s system window continued to stream rapidly processed information even as she lost her will. [
[
……he whispered.
“Now, let’s pay them back.”
Currently, the only voice that could reach Aillet was Reed’s.
And even without his words, Aillet’s instincts as a Demon King were powerfully at play. Reacting to human hostility was natural.
Aillet raised one hand. With that trivial gesture alone, the fear held by all humans present trembled. [
[
Shadows of dark, murky, wicked, and ominous things poured out, forming a legion.
They grew stronger and larger under the waning moon.
“Reed!”
Just then, a furious shout, as if about to explode, came from the audience.
Tesillid propped himself up with his Holy Sword and glared at his self from another iteration.
“Don’t use her hand for what you’re trying to do! Don’t pin your sins on her!”
What returned was a threadbare sneer.
“Deceptive words.”
“……”
“You would have done the same.”
“……!”
No, absolutely not.
However, the 117th iteration couldn’t bring himself to deny his 100th iteration self.
For the 100th iteration was the timeline that formed his very foundation.
And so, into that gap where he couldn’t refute and froze, Reed sharply burrowed.
“Come to think of it, we couldn’t finish our conversation back at the magic tower then.”
“……”
“To provoke me so much and then run away, that was too much.”
This is revenge.
For making him jealous with such a petty heart.
“You were so happy in front of me, saying you bought my affection with pity, what a shame.”
“……!”
Reed gently cupped Aillet’s cheek with one hand and pulled her towards him. As if to show off.
Aillet, while scattering the Demon King’s intimidating aura everywhere, showed no sign of resistance, as if she had granted Reed everything.
Tesillid, with a suffocating expression, gasped out words instead of breath.
“Stop it, Reed.”
“……”
Fervent pleas find no way to be fulfilled. Reed turned his eyes, which had been observing Tesillid, towards Aillet.
The object of Tesillid’s plea changed.
“No, Ail.”
“……”
“I’m here. Look this way.”
“……”
“It’s not him. It’s me.”
“……”
It was a futile call.
Tesillid’s voice could not reach her, who had become a Demon King. Reed pulled the corner of his mouth into a smile and gently closed his eyes.
It was at that moment, just as Reed was about to savor the profound moment of appreciation.
Tesillid’s tone completely changed its texture.
“Turn this way, Ail.”
A voice closer to a command than a plea.
It had the power to instantly stimulate the listener’s nerves and threaten them.
‘Taunt Skill?’
It was the moment Reed saw through it.
CRASH!
“……!”
Aillet, who had been seemingly surrendering everything to Reed’s side just moments ago, suddenly kicked off the ground with both feet.
Tesillid stood at the end of her charge, Holy Scythe Librilly held upright. Fierce hostility and killing intent poured towards him. But Tesillid showed no sign of panic.
“Yes, Ail. Come to me.”
Only then did Reed realize his intention.
Currently, Aillet’s instincts as a Demon King were greatly amplified.
If a Taunt Skill is activated, a conditioned reflex can be reliably induced.
True to someone hated by the entire world from the beginning, Tesillid was unmatched in his ability to taunt bosses.
Furthermore, thanks to the Taunt Skill ‘Usurper’s Prestige’ he obtained after defeating Anaksia, that ability was further strengthened.
“Ha, treating Aillet Rodelain like a demonic beast.”
As he was dumbfounded, Aillet’s Demonic Scythe Librilly and Tesillid’s Holy Sword Libra collided with a roar.
“Ail.”
“……”
Blade and scythe-blade scraped, their faces close.
His sea-blue eyes deepened, as if even her murky red eyes, full of killing intent, were lovely.
Then, at a certain moment.
Slish.
“……!”
Tesillid reverse-summoned his Holy Sword.
Even the mindless Aillet flinched for a moment at the sudden situation.
Then Tesillid extended his bare hand towards her. He grabbed the scythe pole and pushed, narrowing the distance between them to its limit.
The Holy Scythe Librilly, held together, trembled, slowly breaking the balance of power.
Tesillid, who had invaded her space without any sign of backing off.
Aillet’s eyes, deeming him annoying, flashed.
The next moment, Holy Scythe Librilly’s vertical axis elongated. The sharp tip of the flexible blade flew like a snake towards Tesillid’s chest.
It was an instinctive attack, meant to make him release his hand from Holy Scythe Librilly and evade.
But Tesillid’s choice was different.
CRUNCH!
The sound of ribs breaking echoed through the air. Simultaneously, a shadow fell across Aillet’s vision.
At that moment, the handsome man, who had invaded her space to an unfocused distance, stole her lips.
The moment the frozen Aillet reflexively parted her lips slightly, something passed over.
Soon, as if having completed his task, Tesillid slid down.
Bleeding from his chest, he left his last words to her.
“Ail.”
“……”
“Thank you for coming to me……”