"Rensia?"
Raon widened his eyes as he saw the girl walking out from behind the broken fountain. Her delicate features were accompanied by a determined gaze. Rensia, whom he had thought dead until just moments ago, was now approaching him.
'An illusion? No, this is real.'
Seeing the real Rensia, Raon felt as if he were in a dream, his body going limp. He thought he might collapse and faint right there.
"Rensia!"
"You're alive! Kid!"
"Ah..."
Burren, Martha, and Runaan also seemed surprised by Rensia's return, lowering their weapons and taking deep breaths.
-Huh? What?
Even Wrath gaped in shock, not expecting Rensia to be alive.
-H-how is that brat still alive?
He stumbled back as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Lord Raon!"
Rensia ran towards him, stumbling slightly, and threw herself into his arms. Her complexion was pale, and she seemed unsteady on her feet, indicating she wasn't fully healed.
"I'm so glad you returned safely! Really..."
She was still thinking of others first, not caring about her own condition.
"How did you..."
"I was lucky."
Roenn stood beside Rensia, letting out a sigh of relief.
"All the priests and healers remaining in Montiro refused to treat Lady Rensia, saying they couldn't save her. Just as we were about to move her elsewhere, fortunately, divine intervention arrived."
He raised his hand, pointing to Saintess Olga who was walking towards the fountain.
"The Saintess took time out of her busy schedule to use her holy power to heal Lady Rensia. Without her, it would have been much more difficult."
Roenn bowed his head, explaining that Rensia was able to survive thanks to Saintess Olga.
"S-Saintess! Thank you!"
Rensia, who had been unconscious and was seeing Olga for the first time, immediately bowed her head.
"It was touch and go for me too. It seems you weren't destined to die."
Olga smiled faintly as she patted Rensia's head. She also seemed quite exhausted, her fingers with black lines trembling slightly.
"...What happened to Chamber?"
Raon approached Olga, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart.
"I managed to save her, for now."
Olga nodded calmly. She started to reach for her tobacco but stopped when she saw Rensia, lowering her hand again.
"What do you mean by 'for now'..."
Raon moistened his dry lips as he listened to Olga's words.
"You saw it too. She had wounds exposing bones all over her body, and her mental injuries are far worse."
Olga shook her head, saying these weren't symptoms that could be easily healed even with holy power.
"We'll only know Chamber's condition when she wakes up."
She closed her eyes, saying that at this point, nothing could be certain either way.
"So, is it possible she might not be able to use magic?"
They had managed to change the balance of power among the Five Kings and Five Demons by destroying the Black Tower, but if Chamber were to step down, it would all be for nothing. Even Beast King Ogram had lost his power, so Chamber couldn't fall as well.
"The upper dantian of Transcendents is so thick and strong that it's difficult to forcibly break. Since cracks have formed there, healing Chamber won't be easy. However..."
Olga brushed back her blood-stained hair and shook her head.
"I'll do what I can, so wipe that sickly chicken-like expression off your face. It's disgustingly ugly."
She tilted her chin arrogantly, as if to say not to worry.
"That's very saintess-like of you."
Raon nodded with a smirk.
"Thank you. For coming here, and for saving everyone else. For everything."
He drew his Heavenly Drive and gave Olga a sword salute. He was grateful for everything she had done - bringing the holy knights and priests, saving Rensia despite her busy schedule, and not giving up on Chamber even with the demons and demon kings rampaging.
"Did you learn only cheesy lines while I wasn't looking? The Black Tower is our common enemy too. It's only natural to fight if we can."
Olga snorted and waved her hand dismissively.
"If anything, I should thank you for calling us. I never thought I'd see the Black Tower fall with my own eyes."
She smiled genuinely, as if just participating in this war was enough for her.
"Besides, what you've done for Suphren is far more than what we did today. Don't think I've forgotten."
Olga shook her head, saying that without him, the Suphren Holy Kingdom itself might have disappeared.
"Ah, that's cringeworthy. You stop with the embarrassing talk too. It's making me blush."
Raon rubbed his arms, throwing Olga's words right back at her.
"S-shut up! You're the one spouting cheesy lines. I just caught it from you! Damn!"
Olga's face turned as red as an autumn apple as she gritted her teeth.
"Uh..."
Rensia blinked in bewilderment, clearly not expecting the one called Saintess to use such crude language.
"Hey, kid."
Olga beckoned to Rensia, who wasn't much shorter than her.
"Come here. Looking at your complexion, I need to heal you a bit more."
"What? But I'm fine..."
"Shut up and come. I was too busy earlier to heal you completely. Besides, a young girl shouldn't have scars on her body."
She shook her head, saying she needed to erase even the remaining scars on her body.
"Ah, okay."
Rensia bowed to Raon as if she had no choice and approached Olga.
"Hey."
Olga looked at Raon with her arm around Rensia's shoulders.
"Consider this payback for you helping us today, alright? Don't say anything weird later."
She shouted that he didn't need to be grateful for today's events and entered the makeshift infirmary.
-That brat's tattoos have gotten darker.
Wrath frowned as he looked at Olga's arms and legs.
-Seeing how they've spread to her fingers, it seems she doesn't have much time left.
'I noticed that too.'
The black lines on Olga's body weren't tattoos, but her skin melting from forcibly drawing holy power. It seemed she was still using her lifespan and soul as payment to draw massive amounts of holy power to destroy evil and save people.
"She said we're even, but..."
Raon clenched his fist, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"I might be able to create a new debt, you know?"
At the time, he lacked the ability to even consider it, but now he felt he might be able to change Olga's misaligned constitution.
'Can you help?'
-Hmm...
Wrath stared at the infirmary Olga had entered for a moment before snorting.
-I could at least restore her balance.
He nodded without much hesitation, seeming to have taken a liking to Olga.
'You know, I've been thinking.'
Raon smiled as he stroked the bridge of Wrath's nose.
'The title of Demon King doesn't suit you.'
-That's an insult!
'Is it?'
Raon pushed Wrath's forehead as he struggled, heading towards the ice cream shop where Gluttony and Lust were waiting.
* * *
"Ugh..."
After finishing Rensia's treatment, Saintess Olga's fingertips, marked with black lines, trembled.
"S-Saintess? Are you alright?"
Rensia sat up with worried eyes.
"Don't get up."
Olga pressed her weakened fingers against Rensia's forehead.
"Worry about yourself before me. If I had been even a second later, you would have died."
This wasn't a joke. If she had arrived a few seconds later or hesitated, Rensia would have died. Her injuries had been that severe, making their current conversation nothing short of a miracle.
"But if you're in pain from healing me, Saintess..."
"Adults can handle being in pain."
Olga waved her hand dismissively, telling her to just sleep.
"Ah, I can't sleep yet because I haven't said thank you properly."
"Thank you? To whom?"
"To Lord Raon and everyone else."
Rensia licked her lips, seemingly regretting not having properly thanked Raon.
"They helped me so much. Without them, I would have died and never escaped the Black Tower's grasp."
She blinked, tears welling up in her emerald eyes as she said it still felt like a dream.
"How did they help you? I came in a hurry, so I don't know the exact situation."
Olga gestured for her to explain the circumstances if she couldn't sleep.
"Should I? When we first met, his name wasn't Raon. He came as a nouveau riche..."
Rensia clutched her blanket tightly as she happily recounted the events.
"...And that's how we were able to open the gate to the Black Tower. I don't know much after that because I was injured."
"I know what happened after that. That's enough."
Olga nodded, saying that was sufficient.
"Now that you've said everything, do you feel better?"
"Yes!"
Rensia nodded with a bright smile.
"Then sleep."
"What? But I haven't thanked... Oh."
As Olga placed her hand on Rensia's forehead, she fell asleep with a soft, steady breath.
"Phew..."
Olga exhaled deeply and looked towards the fountain where Raon had been.
"You haven't changed at all."
When she heard that Raon had become a Transcendent, she had wondered how he might have changed. She had worried whether the purity she had seen in him would remain, but it seemed he hadn't changed at all.
The young hero who had risked his life to save the Suphren Holy Kingdom, even though it wasn't his problem, was still standing there, wielding his sword for others.
'If only I hadn't changed either...'
Olga smiled bitterly as she looked at the black lines covering her arms and legs.
'I guess it's too late now.'
She had used a lot of holy power to restore the Holy Kingdom to its original state, and today she had used massive amounts again to defeat the demons and save Chamber. Seeing the black lines reaching the middle of her fingers and feeling chills throughout her body, she felt that her life was truly nearing its end.
'But I have no regrets.'
She had nurtured the indecisive Hoppen into a great Holy King and put the newly appointed holy knights and priests through hellish training to make them capable. She had even repaid her debt to Raon, which had been weighing on her mind. Now, she felt she could die without any lingering attachments.
'Still...'
Olga approached the bed where Chamber lay. Despite the headache from using her holy power, she couldn't stop yet.
'I have to save this person somehow.'
Chamber needed to live for them to maintain an advantage in the balance of the Five Kings and Five Demons. Even if she died, she had to save this person.
"Ah, I miss smoking."
Olga put a pen in her mouth instead of a cigarette and placed her hand on Chamber's head. In the damp infirmary, a warm light, like a winter cigarette ember, rose continuously.
* * *
After instructing the Light Wind Palace warriors to guard the perimeter, Raon headed to the bead ice cream shop near the fountain. Fortunately, there was no one in the shop, and Gluttony was devouring entire containers of ownerless bead ice cream. Judging by the empty containers rolling on the floor, it seemed there wasn't much left.
Meanwhile, Lust had placed a single bead ice cream on the table and was staring into space with an incomprehensible, eerie smile.
-W-wait a moment!
As Raon was about to open the door and enter the ice cream shop, Wrath blocked his way.
-Are you really going in? That stalker is in there!
Wrath shook his head as if telling him to reconsider.
'If we don't go in, Gluttony will eat your ice cream too, you know?'
-Uh...?
He swallowed hard as he watched Gluttony devouring even the ice cream containers.
'If you don't eat it now, you won't even get to see bead ice cream until support arrives from the family.'
Raon tapped Wrath's head, telling him to think carefully.
-Nnngh...
Wrath's jaw trembled as he alternated between looking at Lust, who seemed truly in love, and Gluttony, who was destroying the ice cream.
-This cursed world! Nothing ever goes right!
He clutched his head, unable to choose between his appetite and fear.
'I need to say thank you at least. I'm going in.'
As Raon was about to open the door to the ice cream shop, leaving Wrath who couldn't make a decision...
"W-wait a moment, please!"
Jayna came running from behind, calling out to him. Her expression was pale and rigid.
"What's the matter?"
Jayna had been tasked with reporting the situation here to the entire Owen. Seeing her so flustered meant there must be a problem with that task.
"I can't reach headquarters or Balkar."
She looked up at the still-dark sky with trembling eyes.
"I think there might be a problem with the other Kings!"
* * *
Owen's audience chamber exuded such an overwhelming pressure that it felt as if one's soul would be crushed just by entering. This grand place that would intimidate anyone was different from usual today. The massive chandelier, which seemed to have the word 'splendor' engraved on it, had fallen and shattered on the ground, and the red carpet was bubbling as it absorbed bright red blood.
The Lion Knights, who had sworn loyalty to the great king, lay dead with eyes revealing fear and despair, and the blood flowing from them opened a path to the throne instead of the carpet.
Even the throne erected in the audience chamber was split in half, and its owner, Silent Sword Master Lecross, was leaning against the cracked wall, coughing up dark blood.
The blue-robed man with silver hair stepped over the blood flowing from the knights and stood before the split throne. With a slight gesture of his slender hand, the Lion's throne, which hadn't shaken for hundreds of years, crumbled.
"Silent Sword Master. Was that name just an empty title? Or..."
Derus Robert, once ranked among the Six Kings alongside the Silent Sword Master, smiled coldly.
"Have I become stronger?"
He tilted his blood-soaked sword and stepped over the fallen throne, approaching Lecross.
"Derus Robert..."
Lecross painfully raised his shoulder, which was streaming with blood, and struggled to lift his sword.
"Why are you here?"
"You're attacking us, so I couldn't just sit idle, could I?"
Derus shrugged as if asking why he was asking such an obvious question. He seemed completely different from when he bore the title of Sky Sword Saint, as if his very soul had changed.
"When Chamber moved, a gap appeared in your communication network. We have some pretty decent magicians on our side too, so we were able to break through."
Derus Robert smiled cruelly, saying it seemed like a good idea to launch an identical attack rather than rescuing the Black Tower Master.
"Not a rescue, but revenge? How absurd."
Lecross twisted his lips as he met Derus's blue eyes. In truth, he had already predicted that the Five Demons might launch an attack. He had made preparations to fill Chamber's absence, ensuring not everyone went to the Black Tower.
'The problem is...'
Lecross furrowed his brow as he watched Derus approach with leisurely steps.
'This guy's martial prowess far exceeds my expectations.'
Derus Robert possessed power on a completely different level from when he was part of the Six Kings. Even using his full strength, Lecross found it difficult to properly block the other's sword.
'Was the difference this great?'
It hadn't been that long since Derus left the Six Kings. Seeing him become this strong in such a short time suggested he had been hiding his strength all along. It felt just like facing Glenn.
"If one Demon is gone, one King should go too. Soon it will be Five Kings and Four Demons."
Derus wagged his finger, treating the Black Tower's fall as a foregone conclusion.
"No, it will be Four Kings and Four Demons!"
As Derus flicked his finger, Lecross swung down the sword he had been holding up. The blue light imbued in the blade took the form of a lion, cleaving the heavens and earth. Lion King Sword Formation. The massive sword strike, as if clad in unbreakable iron, split the entire audience chamber and extended towards Derus Robert's core.
As Derus raised his sword, a white light rose and clashed head-on with the Lion King Sword Formation. An tremendous explosion occurred between the two sword strikes, causing the audience chamber and the royal castle itself to collapse.
'Did it work?'
Derus Robert's presence diminished rapidly. It would be good if he had killed him, but that probably wasn't the case. As he quickly tried to regain his breath and retreat, he felt a chilling sensation behind him.
Twisting his waist without even time to exhale, the blue trajectory had already touched his skin. Derus Robert's sword, who had somehow moved behind him, deeply pierced his shoulder.
"I was aiming for your heart, but you dodged well."
Derus Robert tilted his chin as if impressed.
"But it doesn't mean anything... Hm."
He stopped as he was about to drive the sword piercing the shoulder downward.
"I expected it, but it's faster than I thought."
Derus Robert turned around, letting out a breath. The dark clouds parted as crimson lightning spread across the sky, which seemed to roar in distortion. As the gray dust that had risen from the collapsing royal castle subsided fearfully, a swordsman with red eyes stood on the knights' blood.
"We finally meet."
Glenn Zieghart. The Destructive King of the North who earned the name of Lightning God. The continent's premier swordsman drew his beloved sword.
"Derus Robert."