The dim dawn before sunrise. Cold morning air flowed over the austere land where Holy Knights in silver armor and Priests in blue ceremonial robes stood in formation. With measured steps, Holy King Hoppen ascended the platform supported by white columns like a temple, bearing the gaze of all the Holy Knights and Priests.
Without saying a word, he stood straight on the platform and looked down at the assembled people.
With a thunderous rumble, Hoppen drew the sword from his waist and thrust it into the platform. The blade, infused with his aura, shook not only the platform but the entire earth supporting it.
"..."
Despite the trembling ground, the Holy Knights and Priests didn't utter a single groan, their eyes fixed only on Hoppen, their king.
"The time has come."
Hoppen's solemn gaze fell upon the Holy Knights and Priests lined up below the platform.
"The time has come to thrust the blade of vengeance against the witch who suddenly appeared, stole our land, and bewitched our comrades!"
At his cold yet majestic cry, the spirits of the Holy Knights and Priests flared up dramatically.
"Though the witch's power was so strong that we suffered the humiliation of raising walls with Holy Power and establishing illusory barriers to hide from outsiders' eyes, now there is no need for that!"
Hoppen raised the dagger received from Saintess Olga, pointing it toward the sky.
"God has given us the sword and courage to defeat the witch, so only victory lies ahead for Suphren!"
As he shouted the word "victory," a faint light began to bloom over the dark sky of the Suphren Kingdom. With a sweeping rush, the golden sun rose over the rugged eastern ridge. Standing beneath the brilliantly blooming sun's heat, the eyes of the Holy Knights and Priests blazed with intense fervor.
"To victory!"
Saintess Olga, who had been standing behind Hoppen, stepped forward and clasped her hands together. Her holy power rose like lightning, scattering magnificent light across the sky with a brilliant flash.
The Holy Knights drew their silver swords while receiving that light with their entire bodies. Above their shoulders, holy power so vivid it was visible to the naked eye began to blaze and burn.
With a deep resonance, the Priests clasped their hands and recited prayers, causing letter-shaped holy power to rise from the ground beneath their feet, forming protective magic that shielded everyone present.
"To victory!"
After completing their war preparations, the Holy Knights and Priests followed Saintess Olga in roaring until their throats nearly burst.
"Begin!"
Seemingly satisfied with the cries of the Holy Knights and Priests, Hoppen nodded and gestured behind him. With a powerful hum, the Priests behind him clasped their hands, causing the hazy mist wavering before their eyes to vanish, revealing a barrier of holy power that rose higher than the castle walls. The barrier flared with blinding radiance.
Inside the holy power wall, pink currents rose like billowing clouds. At a glance, they seemed somewhat tender, yet also pitiful in some way.
"Hmm!"
"Such an enormous aura..."
"Is there still such power remaining?"
The Holy Knights and Priests swallowed dryly in apparent confusion as they watched the pink currents that seemed to be pushing against the holy power wall.
"Th-there!"
At the gesture of the Holy Knights on the right, everyone's gaze turned toward the inside of the wall. With a rush of air, the figures of armored Holy Knights and Priests could be seen inside the pink currents. They were drooling with dazed eyes, as if bewitched by something.
"La, Lafen..."
"Sirean? Sirean!"
"M-my colleague is in there!"
The Holy Knights and Priests trembled as they called out the names of their colleagues trapped within the pink currents.
"If you want to save your friends, lovers, your people—then fight."
Olga stamped her foot and approached the wall erected with holy power.
"I will support you from behind."
She shouted that now was the time to fight and thrust her fist toward the holy power wall. With a tremendous crash, dozens of cracks spread from where Olga's fist touched the holy power wall, exploding with a thunderous sound. A powerful gust rushed through the opening.
As soon as the wall broke, the pink currents that had been trapped inside rose like a wave, attempting to engulf the entire Suphren Holy Kingdom.
"How dare you!"
Olga did not panic at the sight of the pink currents pouring toward her, and instead clasped her hands together.
"Be contained!"
Her shout extended into white light as the shattered holy power wall fixed itself in midair, solidifying the pink currents like plaster.
"Now!"
Olga single-handedly blocked the pink currents that seemed enough to cover the entire Suphren Kingdom and shouted for them to enter.
"Uooooooh!"
Just as the Holy Knights were shouting battle cries and trying to enter the pink currents, there was a grinding sound. Holy Knights and Priests with vacant eyes appeared from within the pink currents and blocked their path. A rush of movement followed.
The bewitched forces of the Suphren Kingdom, despite their hazy eyes, moved with lightning speed as they lunged forward and thrust their swords at the charging Holy Knights.
With a resounding clash! Powerful sword strikes and fluid footwork. The Holy Knights consumed by the pink currents attacked their comrades with skills surpassing their original martial prowess.
"M-move aside!"
"Billiel! It's me! Your brother!"
"Please! Don't do this!"
The Holy Knights pleaded with their colleagues who stood in their way, but naturally, their words had no effect on those brainwashed by the pink currents.
"Th-this guy's strength is different from before."
"He's become unbelievably strong..."
"It's d-difficult to hold out..."
Instead, the Holy Knights and Priests who had gone to rescue them were pushed back by the power of the brainwashed ones.
"How do we..."
"Do not retreat!"
As Holy King Hoppen stepped forward and raised his dagger, a pure blue light burst from the thin, elongated blade and pushed back the pink currents. With a powerful resonance, the magnificently rising blue light did not stop at erasing the pink currents, but also drained the energy from the Holy Knights and Priests who had been bewitched by that smoke, causing them to fall into sleep.
"Ugh..."
"Aah..."
The Holy Knights and Priests who had been consumed by the pink currents and wielded weapons against their comrades began to collapse on the spot with groans.
"Now!"
As Olga shouted to execute the plan, the Holy Knights and Priests surrounded the pink currents with their bodies, forming a circle. When they clasped their hands and offered prayers, a pillar of sacred light descended from the blue sky. With a tremendous crash!
That magnificent light, empowered by Hoppen's dagger, emitted increasingly stronger aura as it completely erased the pink currents covering the northern center.
With a powerful rush, only one person existed in the space where the pink currents had been erased. The brainwashing witch wrapped in a black robe. Despite all the pink currents being dispersed, she paid no attention, lost in thought as she stared at the bead ice cream shop before her.
"He definitely came here. I can smell him..."
The witch in the black robe wandered around the bead ice cream shop, constantly muttering that she must find him.
"Now's the time while the witch is distracted! Everyone, release your holy power!"
At Hoppen's command, the Holy Knights shot forth the holy power imbued in their swords, and the Priests struck down with the holy attack magic, Hammer of Repentance. With an earth-shattering boom! Thanks to the formation amplifying holy power, an immense force exploded and crushed the ground where the black-robed witch had been standing.
"Is she dead?"
When Olga waved her hand to create wind, the smoke cleared, revealing the land where the massive holy power had fallen. With a rushing gust! Despite the tremendous explosion of holy power that had erased most buildings and land, the bead ice cream shop where the black-robed witch had been standing remained intact.
"I..."
The witch's gaze turned toward Olga.
"I told you not to interfere until I find him!"
Her eyes, emerging from within the black robe, flashed eerily.
"Him, my ass! Don't look for him in someone else's home, crawl out and search elsewhere!"
Olga charged toward the black-robed witch, baring her white teeth.
"Help the Saintess strike the witch!"
Hoppen too, clutching both his holy sword and dagger, followed behind Olga as they rushed toward the black witch. With a powerful resonance, the Priests' blessings poured over the shoulders of the two, and white light covered heaven and earth.
"Haah..."
The black-robed witch frowned as if displeased and raised her hand. The aura that bloomed from her fingertips collided head-on with the holy power. With a thunderous crash!
***
"Haah."
Raon let out a hollow laugh as he watched the black-robed witch—no, the Monarch of Lust.
'I wondered why she was here...'
Was she trying to find traces of Wrath? That area is where Wrath ate bead ice cream with Gluttony after fighting Greed. Lust seemed to have come to the Suphren Holy Kingdom to occupy this place after detecting Wrath's very faintly remaining presence.
-She truly is an insufferable stalker...
Wrath trembled his shoulders, saying that Lust was on the same level as Evelyn.
'How strange.'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he watched Lust evade Olga's attacks and lightly block Hoppen's sword.
-Wh-what do you mean?
Wrath asked while turning his head away, as if he didn't even want to think about Lust.
'How can she detect your presence that even I can barely sense, yet fail to find where you actually are?'
He couldn't understand how she could find Wrath's traces—which were so old they could hardly be called faint anymore—yet fail to locate Zieghart, from whom anger openly emanated.
-I told you already! She has no sense of direction!
Wrath shook his head as if asking how many times he needed to say it.
-Even when given complete directions and sent north, she somehow ends up at the southern seashore! She's utterly hopeless!
He furrowed his brow, saying he still couldn't understand how she had become a demon king.
'That's true.'
Thinking about it, Raon understood—Lust was such a directionally-challenged person that even with Evelyn sticking by her side giving directions, she'd still wander off somewhere else, and if you walked alongside her and turned around, you'd find her going in the opposite direction.
-Forget it, let's leave this place quickly!
Wrath waved both hands, urging escape from Lust.
-If that stalker discovers you, there'll be no escape!
He thumped his shoulder firmly, saying one stalker like Evelyn was more than enough.
-Isn't she even controlling her power by herself now!
Wrath smacked his lips as he watched Lust fending off Olga and Hoppen using only her innate power without drawing on demonic energy.
-Not a single person will die!
'Indeed, she's using neither killing intent nor demonic energy.'
Raon nodded as he watched Lust only defending with pink currents.
'Is she remembering and following my words?'
Right now, Lust was focusing solely on defense using only her authority of Lust. When they had traveled together before, he had asked her not to kill humans unless her life was in danger, and now she seemed to remember those words from that time and was refraining from killing people.
'So that's why she brainwashed people inside the holy wall.'
With Lust's true martial prowess, she could have destroyed the holy power wall that confined her with just one finger. But it seemed she had deliberately remained trapped and only searched for Wrath's traces to avoid killing people.
"Uaaaaah!"
"Everyone attack!"
"Brainwashing no longer works!"
Hoppen, Olga, and the Holy Knights mobilized all their strength to capture Lust, raining down holy power. With a powerful rush! Lust truly only defended herself and the ice cream shop, never launching a strong counterattack. She was clearly faithfully following his request.
'Lust...'
Honestly, he had spoken casually without expecting her to comply, so he felt both grateful and sorry that she was following his words so faithfully.
"Raon. Aren't you going to help?"
Evelyn tilted her head as if asking why he was just standing there.
-Don't even think about helping, just run away quickly!
Wrath grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back, saying there was no time.
"It's not time yet.'
Confident that Lust wouldn't kill people, he lowered his posture while suppressing his presence.
"An opportunity will come soon."
To achieve the purpose of coming here to the fullest, it seemed better to wait a little longer than to act now.
"You bastard!"
Olga, seemingly enraged that not even one of her punches had landed on Lust, charged at her while wrapped in the greatest holy power yet. With a resounding clash! Lust twisted her hand to lightly deflect the holy power Olga had fired.
It was a perfect defense, but the impact of the holy power she deflected shattered the floor of the ice cream shop where Wrath had sat.
"Ah..."
Lust trembled her lips as she sensed the sudden disappearance of Wrath's traces.
"I... was just looking at his traces, how dare you..."
As if forgetting her promise to herself, she exuded intense killing intent and drew forth the demon king's demonic energy that had been submerged beneath her soul. With a thunderous roar! As Lust's power was unleashed, a pink typhoon rose up, and the sky darkened completely.
"R-retreat!"
"Fall back!"
Faced with the tremendous aura powerful enough to change the weather, not only the Holy Knights but even Olga and Hoppen stepped backward.
"I was wrong..."
Olga bit her lip as she looked at her dagger, which had not just turned black but had completely corroded beyond use.
"That's not some witch using brainwashing. That's one of the Five Kings and Three Demons. Or a demon king-level monster from Devildom!"
She bit her lip, saying the worst situation had arrived.
"Everyone fall back! Raise the holy power wall. Evacuate the residents!"
While issuing retreat orders, Hoppen himself advanced forward.
"I'll kill you."
Just as Lust, openly displaying her anger, was about to reach out toward Olga. With a blazing flash! Golden flames erupted between Lust and Olga, creating distance between the two.
"Step back."
Raon made eye contact with Olga, Hoppen, and Lust in turn as he descended onto the ground that was turning pink.
"Raon Zieghart?"
"Th-the Sword Emperor? It's the Sword Emperor!"
The Suphren Holy Kingdom's battle formation faltered.
"Wrath! It's Wrath!"
Lust, upon seeing Raon's face, immediately relaxed her hardened expression and broke into a bright smile.
"From now on..."
Raon arrogantly raised his chin as he looked at Olga and Lust, each expecting him to take their side.
"I will handle this."
-Wait, who?
Wrath let out an exasperated breath, as if dumbfounded.
-They're both on your side! Are you crazy?!
'That's right. I am crazy.'
Raon calmly smiled and nodded.
'To put on a good show, one needs to be a little crazy.'