Chapter 69 : We Shall Willingly Become Sacrifices 2
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[Huff!!]
"Haaa!"
Gold and darkness collided.
The enormous sword dance that unfolded ceaselessly, as if measuring each other's moves, caused a massive wave that seemed to split the world.
The Demon King's gigantic greatsword struck Menelapie's delicate sword, but Menelapie's sword, blooming with the golden rose, gracefully deflected the Demon King's attack.
The Demon King was bewildered.
He was shocked that the Hero was still alive.
And again, surprised by the fact that the Hero, who appeared much more fragile and weaker than him, could engage him head-on.
Boom!
The Demon King had ravaged humanity for thousands of years.
Cunning and vicious, it was the Demon King who used every trick to divide and fracture humanity.
Yet, he hadn't anticipated that the Hero he thought he had dealt with long ago would be alive before his eyes, and more so, this powerful.
At best, she was human.
No matter how hard she struggled, he believed that no human could defeat him, the embodiment of malevolence and the one destined to bring about the destruction of all living beings.
Boom!!
The Demon King and the Empress, who had both retreated, simultaneously stomped the ground.
Every step they took shattered walls and floors.
The once dark but majestic Demon King's castle instantly crumbled into ruins like a devastated fortress.
[Huff…!]
In less than a blink of an eye, dozens of sword strikes had been exchanged.
In that fleeting moment, they simultaneously launched deadly strikes at each other while deflecting each other's attacks.
Menelapie's rose carved into the Demon King's armor, and the Demon King's sword strike, imbued with dark energy, grazed Menelapie's cheek and neck, drawing a line of blood.
[Severance—Gold]
[Disassemble]
When the giant sword strikes collided, the sheer impact would be enough to disintegrate an ordinary human.
"Haa, haa, haa….!"
But it was Menelapie who first reached her limit.
No matter how much of a Hero she was, she couldn't defeat the Demon King alone.
Perhaps if she trained more, if she grew stronger, it might be possible.
But Menelapie, as she was now, lacked both the experience and strength compared to the Demon King.
'Stand up.'
Blocking the Demon King's punch and counterattacking, several of her toes had already been broken.
Her cheek was torn, blood flowing, and her wrist throbbed as if it had cracked.
The Emperor's grand jewelry had long since been shattered somewhere. Her fingers and ribs didn't seem to be in good shape either.
[We're both just tired, aren't we?]
But unlike Menelapie, the Demon King's body recovered instantly.
[Do you have any idea how many lives I've taken over the millennia, fighting you worms?]
"….."
[The ones I killed directly. And the ones my demons and monsters killed. All of them are the source of my power.]
The Demon King's armor, which had been shattered, quickly regenerated.
His massive greatsword, now more ominously filled with dark energy, grew even more powerful than before.
'We can't win.'
[That's right, you can't win. The wretched fragments of that god can't reach here, and I've killed that pesky black witch too.]
So what?
Menelapie gripped her sword again.
She tore her cloak and wrapped it tightly around her hand.
So that it wouldn't fall.
[Can't you hear me when I say you can't win?!]
Boom!
"Ugh…!"
As the enraged Demon King swung his greatsword, Menelapie gritted her teeth, trying to block it, but her right arm was severed.
She quickly retreated, using her aura to seal the stump of her arm.
Fortunately, before her arm was severed, she had wrapped the sword in her left hand, so she hadn't dropped it.
"…Haa, haa… damn….haa…"
The continuous accumulation of injuries made the pain unimaginable.
They couldn't win.
The difference in strength, the pain, and the wounds were too severe.
But even so, Menelapie staggered, still glaring at the Demon King.
[Disgusting.]
"..."
[No matter how many times I tell you, no matter how many times I say it's impossible, meaningless, you fools never accept it. Like worms, you always squirm and struggle!]
"…That's what makes it great."
[What?]
Menelapie, sighing, looked at the Demon King as if mocking him.
"Do you know how beautiful the back of someone who stands up and tries, even when it's impossible, is?"
Ah, poor thing.
Menelapie finally started to understand a little about what kind of creature the Demon King was.
"Even when they fall, submit, feel pain, and suffer, humans get back up again."
[...…]
"If you're so strong, if humans are so meaningless, why haven't you been able to crush us in the thousands of years that have passed?"
The golden rose bloomed again.
Despite her severed arm and the obvious signs of defeat, the rose shone more brilliantly than ever before.
"Oh, how young you are, Demon King."
[…..!]
"How young. How foolish. I thought you were an incarnation of pure evil, but you're just a stupid, jealous brat without any noble conviction or purpose."
Who is it that's laughing?
Menelapie looked at the Demon King with what seemed like pity.
That look seemed to hit a nerve, and the Demon King visibly grew enraged.
[You wretched woman!!!]
And he charged.
Like a massive wave crashing down, the Demon King's momentum surged toward Menelapie, who raised the corners of her mouth.
Yeah, that's it.
Let's dance till the end.
Crack!!!
[Wha-?! My body…!]
In that moment, the Demon King, who was charging at Menelapie, suddenly stopped, and his body began to twist in strange directions.
"…Threads?"
It was a deep, blood-red thread, as if soaked in blood.
"Th-this, damn it… it hurts like hell!!"
Hearing the sharp voice, Menelapie turned her head.
Threads covered the surroundings.
Threads sprouted from the cracked stone floor of the destroyed Demon King's castle.
Threads also emerged from the castle's gate and the ground where the Demon King had been standing.
"Do you have any idea how long I've been struggling like hell to kill you, you bastard?!"
Menelapie's eyes widened as she saw the familiar face bursting out of the wreckage.
Of course, it wasn't as if she could be purely glad to see her. She wasn't particularly close to Shia, either.
Teresa.
Teresa Katrin.
Threads from the surroundings were being absorbed into her body or wrapping around her, instantly healing her damaged areas.
[How… how are you still alive?]
"You think I didn't prepare for getting stabbed in the gut by you, you bastard? You think I got the title of the worst black witch in human history for nothing?!"
As she spoke, Teresa lifted her dress, revealing the spot where she had been stabbed by the greatsword.
Instead of flesh, there was skin that was cracked like a doll's porcelain surface.
Teresa had already modified part of her body into that of a doll.
"Thanks to you, I've lost 12 lives all at once."
[Hah, now there's really no end to this nonsense…!]
"Screw you, bastard!! My life's been ruined because of you!"
Crack!
Crunch, crunch!
As Teresa clenched her hand, the threads that had been binding the Demon King tightened, twisting his body in grotesque directions.
But before long, the Demon King emitted a dark aura from his entire body, cutting through the threads and blasting that energy toward Teresa like a dragon's breath.
Teresa, who had yet to fully recover her body, couldn't dodge in time, but Menelapie quickly flew in front of her, shielding her with the golden rose.
"…Haa, haa. Damn it… I was trying to snap his neck."
"He won't die that easily."
"I'm not blind. I saw it too, damn it."
"Oh, how uncouth. A noble lady should speak more gracefully."
"Screw off. The one who wiped out my noble family is telling me to speak nicely, huh…"
It was the first time Menelapie and Teresa had come face to face.
Naturally, there was still some resentment between them.
Even though they had never been close, Teresa had been given the order for her parents' death by Menelapie herself.
On the other hand, from Menelapie's perspective, the Katrin family had deserved to die for researching the Demon King's magic, and it hadn't been that long since she learned that Teresa had sided with the Demon King as a black witch.
There was a lot to resolve, but none of that mattered to either of them right now.
Snap!
"Ugh…!"
"Endure it."
As Teresa clenched her hand, Menelapie's right arm was forcibly reattached to the severed stump.
It wasn't healing.
Teresa had stitched the muscles, blood vessels, and even the bones together with her magical threads.
Though the pain was intense, it allowed her to move her arm.
And as the darkness receded, the Demon King reappeared.
He looked more grotesque than before.
His black armor was now covered with countless spiky wings. Earlier, his face had at least been visible, but now, it was completely shrouded in darkness.
"The two of us can't kill that bastard."
"Ha, is that so…?"
"Shia just needs to come."
"Shia? Have you two gotten that close already?"
"What are you talking about, damn it, are you jealous?"
"Jealous? You say the most laughable things. But do you think a frail witch cooped up in her room can keep up with me? Won't she just get in the way?"
"Ha! Bullshit."
Teresa wrapped herself in her threads.
She was a black witch and a witch of dolls.
It wasn't difficult for her to wrap herself in her magical threads, strengthening herself and controlling her body like a puppet to fight.
Seeing this, Menelapie raised the corners of her mouth and lifted her sword toward the Demon King.
"Then we just need to hold out until Shia arrives."
"The Void Palace has been taken by that bastard. We don't know when she'll get here."
"Your faith is weak. I have no doubt Shia will come."
"I do believe it too, but damn it… I don't know."
[It's pointless. Unnecessary. It's meaningless and useless. You, all of you, are so, so irritating.]
The overwhelming killing intent and darkness stung their skin.
Yet neither Menelapie nor Teresa backed down.
Not until they ripped out that bastard's heart, not until Shia returned, would they stop.
"He's coming."
"I know, damn it…!"
And once again, a massive shockwave struck the Demon King's castle.
●●●●●●●●
One day, two people were injured.
They refused healing, saying they were fine.
On the third day, five people were seriously injured by an attack from the ghoul slaves.
The injuries were so severe that Shia used Great Healing.
After a week, the number of monsters increased significantly.
It was impossible to understand where such numbers were coming from.
Now, those detestable creatures began appearing in numbers no less than ten thousand.
After a fortnight, the monsters appeared once a day, sometimes even three times a day, bursting from the shadows.
Fortunately, there was enough combat food for the soldiers to eat.
When things became desperate, they had to make do with whatever they could tear off from the overflowing monster corpses.
Three weeks passed, and I felt hungry.
The monster attacks continued.
But I was hungry…
I ate those creatures.
I definitely ate them.
But somehow, the malevolent energy within me wasn't being replenished.
The hunger wasn't subsiding at all.
Were they like puppets?
Could monsters without malevolent energy even exist?
I didn't know.
But I was starving—really, really starving.
The next day, the attacks intensified.
Even when I tried to stop the monsters by myself, they increasingly avoided me, prioritizing the knights, attempting to cross through the dimensional gap.
Somehow, I managed to stop them.
I could hold them back.
A month passed, and the first casualty occurred.
I knew the knight's name.
Kellem Harting, the youngest son of a noble family, a brave young boy who had come to the battlefield.
His smile when he enlisted in the special unit to be with me was quite adorable.
I immediately tried to use a miracle to revive him.
He had only just died… If his body hadn't been destroyed, I could have pieced him back together and brought him back.
But the knights opposed it.
His death was an honorable one, they said, and Harting's last words had been for me not to waste my power reviving him.
Everyone had noticed that my holy power was gradually waning.
Even though a life I could save was right in front of me, I couldn't save him.
That day, I cried silently.
I will remember you.
I will remember you.
I will remember you…
Another month and a week passed, and ten more died.
I couldn't save them.
And ever since coming to the Void Palace, my holy power no longer naturally replenished.
Each time I used it, it was consumed completely. And the hunger gnawed at me more and more.
It seemed the Demon King had created the Void Palace specifically to target me.
Even when I devoured the monsters, my hunger wasn't sated, and the waves of monsters relentlessly attacked us.
The next day, thirty more died.
The lich commanders, whom we thought were dead, appeared in person.
When a sudden curse from one of the lich commanders flew toward me, several knights pushed me aside and took the curse instead.
The knights died painfully, afflicted by a curse that caused their flesh to rot and disintegrate.
Why did you do that?
I could have endured that curse.
Of course, I wasn't 100 percent sure.
I was already weakened, tormented by hunger.
But still… it would have been better than you dying…!
I wept as I killed the lich commanders.
I don't even remember how I fought.
When I came to my senses, the knights were restraining me, and I was smashing the bones of the lich commander into powder.
At two months, I was starving.
Really… really starving.
The knights slowly began to die.
I couldn't heal their wounds.
I pleaded with them, begged them to let me heal them, but they also begged me, imploring me not to heal them.
One day… I became very angry.
Because Yulia, who had been serving as my aide and attendant in the special unit, told me to eat her.
I got angry.
Are you crazy?
What are you doing?
Even as a joke, don't say things like that.
I was so angry that I stormed off, saying I'd go look for the remaining monsters.
The funny thing is… the fact that, for a brief moment, I was tempted by that suggestion… disgusted me beyond words.
○○○○
"….."
"..."
"..Ugh…"
Silence.
No, it wasn't quite silence.
Because there were more than a few knights groaning in pain, plagued by injuries, exhaustion, hunger, and fatigue.
Once you go to war, you have to be prepared to die.
But pain and fear gradually erode a person's spirit.
Even so, the reason the knights could hold on was because of the presence of the Saintess of the Dead, Shia.
"…..Saintess, you know you're too kind, right?"
"….Why are you suddenly being so disrespectful?"
"..Before I lost my arm, you cried and insisted on healing me. Even when I said I was fine and tried to look cool, calling it an honor, you cried even harder."
"Pfft, I remember… was it around the third week after we got here?"
"To be honest, seeing you cry was strangely hot."
"You crazy bastard…"
"Ah, before I die, I wanted to hug you tight, Saintess, but I can't because I don't have my arm."
"If Her Majesty finds out, she'll beat you to a pulp, you know?"
"Kekeke, you're right… I'll have to be careful."
At the knight's joke, the other knights chuckled as well.
Good thing the Saintess of the Dead wasn't here to hear this.
"..."
"...."
Silence returned.
"Everyone…."
It was Yulia speaking.
Aside from Shia, she held the highest rank here.
Perhaps the joke had rubbed her the wrong way.
"Lady Yulia, I'm sorry. The pain is making me lose my mind a bit…"
"No, honestly, as a woman myself… I also thought it would feel amazing to be held by Lady Shia."
"Pfft… Did you really think that, Lady Yulia?"
The knights burst out laughing, surprised that even Yulia, who was usually the no-nonsense type, would think something like that.
"Puhuh… Haha…"
"Hahaha…"
"Kik…"
"Ah, Lady Shia is so damn hot…"
"Watch your mouth, you brat…"
"Pfft…"
There were originally over a hundred of us, but now… it's a number that's easy to count at a glance.
The knights and Yulia, who had been laughing for a while, fell silent once again.
"...Everyone, we…. can't go on like this. We ran out of food three days ago. No, the fact that we've lasted this long is a miracle…."
"...."
"We'll die meaninglessly. Dragging down Lady Shia, with no solution….."
"….That's true."
"I'm not dying a dog's death."
"I refuse to die a dog's death too…"
After saying this, Yulia drew her sword.
"…We're already as good as dead… So, wouldn't it be better to use our lives in a way that's meaningful, for that foolish, gluttonous Saintess?"
Yulia raised her leg, the one wrapped in bandages.
Where her foot should have been was an empty space.
She had cut off her left foot below the ankle to stop the curse from the Lich Commander.
She survived for now, but Shia was already almost out of holy power, fighting off hunger and holding back the monsters with just the strength of her body.
In that state, she was no longer able to fight, so Yulia had become a burden. She would slowly rot and die.
So before it's too late…
"…I'm going to offer myself… to Lady Shia."
"...…"
As knights, they were prepared to die.
Death was not frightening.
If the death of one of them could illuminate the life of someone in the future, there was no more honorable way to die.
"I can't stand the idea of dying for nothing…"
"Hey, are you trying to be the only cool one, Yulia?"
Another knight drew his sword.
"We're going to die just like you if we keep going like this."
"Hahaha, I'm no different."
"....."
Yulia and the knights…
They all knew.
Those who had been tasked with bringing the Saintess of the Dead, Shia, under the Emperor's command knew that she could replenish her holy power and ease her hunger by consuming malevolent energy.
And they also knew that it wasn't just monsters… consuming humans would have the same effect.
They knew this would cause Shia great pain.
She might even come to resent them.
Those who had accompanied the Saintess of the Dead, Shia, knew just how gentle a person she was.
She would surely cry.
She would be sad.
But this was the right thing to do.
If they kept going like this, they would all die meaninglessly.
What Shia needed was to solve her hunger.
To replenish her depleted holy power.
If they could create a hole large enough to destroy the Void Palace…
"Saintess, live a long life."
"Remember us~"
"Didn't young Harting say the same thing?"
"It's nice when people ask to be remembered, huh?"
"Haha, yeah."
"Damn, if I had known it would come to this, I would've confessed, even if I was going to be turned down."
The knights laughed.
They laughed because there would be someone else to cry from now on.
Yulia laughed too.
They all laughed, apologizing to the absent Saintess.
"We will gladly become sacrifices."
○○○○
I'm back.
As expected, there were no monsters.
That's a relief.
Why is everyone gathered here?
Why aren't you all resting over there?
[It's okay.]
[Please, eat us.]
Yulia, if you say something like that again, I'll get mad.
Ah, ah.
Hahaha, stop joking.
No, get up. Come on.
We don't know when the monsters might come, right?
Hurry, get out of here, or… it's okay, you don't have to fight.
I'll protect you.
[It's okay.]
Shia saw it.
The countless words written in blood.
It's okay.
Stay strong.
You'll be sad, but you don't have to be.
You don't have to be sad.
We loved you so much, Saintess.
We're glad we died serving you, Saintess.
The Saintess has such a big chest!
Shia, please remember us.
That's enough for us.
They were all sitting together, their backs against each other, eyes closed.
Their faces were peaceful.
It was as if they were all holding hands, trying to gather the blood flowing from their wrists.
"Ah, ah… Ahhh…"
Shia collapsed to her knees.
Why… why did it come to this?
Why… why did it have to come to this…!!
This wasn't how it was supposed to be…
"Ah, ah… Aaaahhhhh!!!!"
Shia wept.
She screamed.
She cried, and cried again.
She cried until her voice was hoarse.
"Aaaaaaah!!!"
●●●●●●●●●●●
Boom!!!
"Hyak!? What the hell?!"
[…!]
The space was shattered.
The Demon King, caught off guard while fighting the Empress and the Witch, turned to look at the other side of the space, which had shattered like broken glass.
Ha, I see.
The Saintess of the Dead.
A shard of the divine.
You've made your choice.
The Void Palace, created by the Demon King, was originally intended to divide the forces of humanity, but that was merely a side effect.
The real purpose was to break the Saintess of the Dead.
If she collapsed from exhaustion, trying to stop the waves of monsters charging toward the capital, that would be fine.
If she held out until the Demon King defeated the Empress and the main forces of humanity, that would be fine too.
If the Saintess of the Dead, left all alone after everything had been taken care of, could not resist and consumed human flesh to escape, that would be good as well.
Because another being like the Demon King would be born.
Once she broke the taboo of consuming human flesh of her own will, she would turn into malevolence herself.
Once the line was crossed, a human soul would break.
The first time is difficult, but after that, it becomes easy.
A crack once made will only grow larger and larger.
In the end, the Saintess of the Dead would become just like the Demon King.
The never-ending hunger and emptiness would finally make the divine shard equal to him.
Click.
Click.
The Saintess of the Dead, drenched in blood, staggered across the broken space.
"…Shia?"
"...….."
[Ha, you're later than I expected. Did breaking the taboo destroy your mind?]
That would be good too…
Thud!
At that moment, the Demon King was shocked by the pressure weighing down on him.
What is this?
What the hell is happening?
Am I kneeling on one knee?
Why can't I get up, no matter how hard I try?
[Kh… Kh….!]
"Yulia, Harting, Malis, Plata, Arhen, Glen, Dillon, Milia…."
"I'll remember you, I'll remember you… I'll remember all of you…"
"Ah… Ahhh…"
Why?
If she broke the taboo herself…
To survive, or out of desire, she should have consumed the other humans, becoming malevolent!
That's how it happened to me.
That's how it would have been for anyone!
So why does she still have the eyes of a human, Saintess of the Dead?!
And then the Demon King realized.
If she hadn't broken the taboo by her own hand,
If the Saintess of the Dead hadn't willingly eaten the humans…
It wasn't that the Saintess of the Dead crossed the line to consume human flesh.
The humans who fell into the Void Palace with her had voluntarily offered their bodies to her!
[You useless human scum!!]
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
Shia was crying tears of blood.
She was remembering all of them within her,
Their names carved into the gravestone of her soul.
And with a look of fury,
With the most emotional, the most human expression,
Shia glared at the Demon King as if she would kill him without falling into malevolence.
"I'll kill you!!!!!"
○○○○
"And then the Demon King was finished off with one punch from Shia. The Demon King died, and the world found peace. How nice. Clap, clap, clap."
Clap.
Shia clapped lightly, as if telling an old, unimportant story, and shrugged her shoulders.
But Chief Choi Bomi couldn't say a word.
Because they were connected through Thought Well, she knew the story from the past was true.
"....."
"Hello? Chief Choi Bomi? Was my story that boring?"
"…I'm sorry, Shia."
Chief Choi Bomi couldn't help but resent her own ability a little.
It gets too deeply ingrained.
You end up sharing unwanted emotions, and the memories from back then feel like your own.
"….."
"….."
For a moment, a small silence filled the Ethics Department.
It was incredibly quiet.
Soon after, Shia learned that her third ethics review had passed with unanimous agreement from the observers and auditors.
"Hehe, it's been a while since I had my resident registration card."
On the way back with Shia.
Yeonhwa didn't call for a car.
Instead, they walked slowly together through the neon-lit streets, illuminated by the bright lights of the night.
Looking at her ID card with her picture on it—not a temporary registration or a temporary hunter ID—Shia made a strange expression, as if she was feeling something odd.
"….."
"What's wrong, Yeonhwa?"
Quiet.
It was really quiet.
Even with so many people and cars around, why did it feel so quiet?
Yeonhwa quietly took Shia's hand.
Shia, who was grinning and chuckling with a soft smile as usual, didn't pull away but held her hand in return.
"Hehe…."
"Unnie."
"…Huh, did you call me?"
Yeonhwa pulled out a card.
Tonight is a night that calls for some drinks.
"Shall we go have a feast?"
I don't know if Unnie will get drunk, but if we drink enough, she should get tipsy.
After a brief hesitation, Shia nodded at Yeonhwa's suggestion.
"Yeah, let's do it!"