○○○○○
Huff!!
“Haah!”
Gold and darkness clashed.
The gigantic sword dance, spreading endlessly as if measuring each other’s strength, created massive waves that seemed to cut through the world.
The Demon King’s colossal great sword struck Menelapie’s delicate sword, but the golden rose blooming from Menelapie’s weapon flowed elegantly, deflecting the Demon King’s attack.
The Demon King was flustered.
He was taken aback by the fact that the hero was still alive. It was another shock to discover that a hero who looked far more fragile and weak than him could face him head-on.
Bang!
The Demon King, who had tormented humanity for thousands of years.
Cunning and cruel, it was the Demon King who had orchestrated every trick to divide and fracture humanity.
However, he never expected that the hero, whom he thought had been dealt with long ago, would reappear before him alive and even stronger than expected.
After all, they were merely humans.
No matter how hard the hero tried, he had assumed that he, a being destined to extinguish the malicious entities and the living that deserved to die, could never be defeated.
Crash!!
Both the Demon King and the Emperor stomped the ground simultaneously.
Every step they took shattered the walls and floors.
The dark yet grand castle of the Demon King crumbled in an instant like a ruined castle.
Huff…!
In the blink of an eye, a dozen sword strikes were exchanged.
In that fleeting moment, they both landed lethal blows while parrying each other’s attacks. Menelapie’s rose cracked the Demon King’s armor, while the strike imbued with the Demon King’s dark essence grazed Menelapie’s cheek and neck, drawing a line of blood.
[Severing – Gold] [Dismemberment]
When the enormous sword energy collided, the shock alone could dismantle an ordinary human’s body.
“Haah, haah, haah…..!”
However, 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.
If she trained harder, if she became stronger, perhaps she could.
But in her current state, she lacked experience and strength compared to the Demon King.
Get up.
Blocking the Demon King’s punches and striking back, several of her toes had already been crushed.
Her cheek was torn, blood flowed, and her wrist ached as if it had been struck with gold.
The splendid jewels of the Emperor had long since been torn away, and it seemed that neither her fingers nor ribs were unscathed.
[We’re just tiring each other out.]
However, unlike Menelapie, the Demon King’s body was immediately restored.
[Do you have any idea how many lives I’ve taken while wrestling with you insects for thousands of years?]
“…..”
[The lives I personally took, and those killed by my creatures and demon race. All of them are the source of my power.]
The armor the Demon King had just shattered was quickly restored.
The vicious, dark aura within the great sword grew even stronger this time.
‘I can’t win.’
[That’s right, you can’t win. Even the disgusting remnants of the gods can’t come here, and I’ve killed the detestable Black Witch.]
So what if it’s true.
Menelapie grasped her sword once more.
She tore her cloak to wrap it around her hand.
Tightly, so it wouldn’t fall off.
[I told you can’t win!]
Bang!
“Ugh…Ugh!!”
As the enraged Demon King swung his great sword, Menelapie gritted her teeth and tried to strike it down, but her right arm was severed.
Menelapie hurriedly pulled back and pressed her aura against the severed end.
Fortunately, before her arm was cut off, she had managed to grip her sword with her left hand so she wouldn’t drop it.
“…Haah, haah….Ugh….Haah…”
The pain from continuous injuries was beyond imagination.
She couldn’t win.
The power gap, the pain, the injuries were all grave.
But despite this, Menelapie staggered and glared at the Demon King.
[Disgusting.]
“……”
[You can’t win. It’s impossible. It’s meaningless. No matter how much I tell you, you idiots refuse to listen and always squirm around like bugs!]
“…That’s what’s beautiful.”
[What?]
Letting out a sigh, Menelapie looked at the Demon King with a smirk.
“Do you know how beautiful it is to stand up and keep trying despite the impossibility?”
Ah, poor thing.
Only then did Menelapie feel like she understood the kind of creature the Demon King was.
“Fall, surrender, suffer, and suffer again, but humans rise again.”
[………]
“If you’re so strong, if humans mean nothing to you… then why couldn’t you defeat us after thousands of years?”
The golden rose bloomed again.
Despite having lost an arm, despite the overwhelming colors of defeat, the rose shone brighter than ever.
“Oh, how foolish you are, Demon King.”
[…..!]
“Foolish. Naïve. I thought of you as the embodiment of evil, yet… you’re simply a pathetic creature driven mad by jealousy without any noble beliefs or goals.”
Who is laughing?
Menelapie looked at the Demon King as if she felt pity.
At her gaze, the Demon King visibly began to seethe with rage.
[You bitch!!!]
And he charged.
As the Demon King’s tremendous force approached like a massive wave, Menelapie raised her lips slightly.
Yes, good.
Let’s see how you perform till the very end.
CRUNCH!!!
Ugh!? My body…!
At that moment, the Demon King, who had charged at Menelapie, suddenly stopped and began twisting in a bizarre direction.
“…Thread?”
It looked like blood-stained, dark red thread.
“Y-you bastard… it hurts so much…!!”
With a sharp voice, Menelapie turned her head.
Thread covered all around.
From the broken stone floor of the Demon King’s castle, threads were pulled out.
Threads also emerged from the castle doors and the ground the Demon King stood upon.
“I… I swear… how long did I have to deal with your shit just to kill you?!”
Menelapie’s eyes widened as she saw a familiar face jumping out from the debris.
Of course, it wasn’t that she could just greet her casually. Unlike Shia, there was no familiarity between them.
Teresa.
Teresa Kaitlyn.
Her body was absorbing or wrapping around the threads coming out from her surroundings, swiftly recovering her damaged areas.
[Wh-How are you alive?]
“Did you really think I wouldn’t be prepared for a belly stab from your ass? That title of the worst black witch in human history wasn’t given for nothing!”
With those words, Teresa opened her dress, revealing the area where she had been stabbed by the Demon King’s great sword.
Where she had been pierced, instead of flesh, cracked porcelain-like white skin was revealed, resembling dolls.
Teresa had already modified parts of her body into dolls.
“Thanks to that, I’ve lost twelve lives all at once.”
[Hah, are you really just adding absurdities now?]
“Shut the hell up! My life got ruined because of you!”
CRUNCH!
Clink, clink!
As Teresa clenched her fist, the pressure on the threads restraining the Demon King intensified, contorting his body grotesquely.
However, even before that could happen, the Demon King unleashed a wave of dark energy, cutting the threads and then directing that energy towards Teresa like a dragon’s breath.
Though Teresa hadn’t fully recovered, she couldn’t evade it, but in an instant, Menelapie, spreading her golden rose, shielded Teresa.
“…Haah, haah. Damn… I was going to snap his neck.”
“That bastard won’t die from that.”
“My eyes weren’t deceived. I saw the bastard die, damn it.”
“Hey, how crass. If you’re a noble lady, watch your words.”
“Don’t mess with me. That lady is the one who damned my family…”
It was the first time Menelapie and Teresa faced each other.
Of course, grudges lingered.
In any case, it had been Menelapie who issued the instruction to kill Teresa’s parents.
Conversely, from Menelapie’s perspective, the Catherine family had to be eliminated for researching the Demon King’s sorcery, and she hadn’t known until recently that Teresa was a black witch who had betrayed.
There was a lot to unpack, a lot to resolve, but that wasn’t important for the two right now.
CRACK!
Ugh…!
“Hold on.”
Clenching her hand, Teresa forcibly reattached Menelapie’s right arm to the severed end.
It wasn’t healing.
It was forcibly sewn together with Teresa’s magical threads.
Every muscle, blood vessel, and even the bones connected one by one, causing pain, but she could still move.
And then, as the darkness cleared, the Demon King reappeared.
He looked much more sinister than before.
The dark armor was now covered with countless spiky wings. While his mouth had been visible earlier, now there was only darkness filling his face.
“We can’t kill that bastard together.”
“Hah, really…?”
“Shia just needs to come.”
“Shia? Have you gotten that close already?”
“What are you saying, jealous?”
“Jealous? Don’t make me laugh. By the way, do you think that weak little black witch can keep up with me? Or will she just hinder us?”
“Hah! Stfu.”
Teresa wrapped threads around her body.
She was a black witch, a master of dolls.
Strengthening herself with magical threads, treating herself like a doll, and manipulating her in battle wouldn’t be too difficult.
At that spectacle, Menelapie raised her lips and held her sword towards the Demon King.
“So we just have to hold on till Shia comes, right?”
“The Castle of Emptiness has been taken. We don’t know when Shia will come.”
“You have little faith. I have faith that Shia will come without a doubt!”
“I believe too, but damn it… I just don’t know.”
[It is meaningless. Unnecessary. Insignificant and futile. You insignificant, insignificant creatures, you are so annoying.]
The pressure released from the Demon King made their skin prickle.
However, neither Menelapie nor Teresa stepped back.
Before tearing out that bastard’s heart, before Shia returns, they wouldn’t stop.
“She’s coming.”
“I know, damn it…!”
And once again, a massive shock erupted within the Demon King’s castle.
●●●●●●●●
One day, two people were injured.
They refused healing, saying they were fine.
Three days later, five people were severely wounded in an attack from the abominable slaves.
The injuries were life-threatening, and Shia used her great healing.
A week later, the number of monsters grew significantly.
It was incomprehensible where such a number emerged.
Now, those hateful creatures started appearing in numbers exceeding at least 10,000.
Fifteen days later, the monsters emerged once a day, sometimes three times.
Fortunately, there was enough combat food for the soldiers to eat.
If it really got urgent, they would have to feast on the suddenly overflowing monster corpses…
Three weeks later, they were hungry.
The monster attacks continued.
But they were hungry…
I ate those bastards.
I definitely ate them.
But for some reason, the malice within me wasn’t quenched.
The hunger wouldn’t subside at all.
Could they be like dolls?
Is it possible for monsters without malice to exist…?
I don’t know.
I was extremely, desperately hungry.
The next day, the attacks intensified.
Even when I tried to fend off the monsters alone, they prioritized attacking the knights, trying to break through the dimensional rift.
I somehow stopped them.
I managed to defend.
In one month, the first victim appeared.
I knew that knight’s name.
Kelem Harting, the youngest son of a noble family who had bravely stepped into the battlefield.
The smile on his face when he enlisted in the special forces, saying he could join me, was quite cute.
I immediately tried to use a miracle to bring him back.
If he hadn’t been dead for long… if his body hadn’t been obliterated, I could have somehow pieced him together.
But the knights opposed it.
That death was a glorious death, and Harting’s last wish was not to waste my power trying to revive him.
They all realized my divine power was gradually diminishing.
Even with a life right in front of me, I couldn’t bring him back.
That day, I sobbed silently.
I will remember.
I will remember.
I will remember…
And another month and a week passed, ten more died.
I couldn’t bring them back.
And since coming to the Castle of Emptiness, my divine power wouldn’t naturally recover.
The more I used it, the more it was drained. Hunger was gnawing at me.
It seemed like the Demon King had specifically made this Castle of Emptiness to target me.
Even after eating monsters, my hunger wouldn’t be satisfied, and their forces kept attacking us without rest.
The next day, thirty people died.
As I presumed they were dead, the Lich Officers appeared directly.
When the Lich Officers’ sudden curse flew at me, several knights pushed me aside and took the curse instead.
The knights immediately fell victim to the decomposition curse, agonizingly passing away.
Why did you do that?
I could endure that curse.
Of course, I can’t say I’m 100% certain.
I was already weakened, tormented by hunger.
But still… You guys dying is worse than me…!
I killed the Lich Officers while crying.
I don’t even remember what kind of mindset I fought with.
When I came to my senses, the knights were trying to stop me, and I was grinding the bones of the Lich Officers into powder.
In the second month, I was hungry.
Very…
I was extremely hungry.
The knights started dying slowly.
I couldn’t even heal their wounds.
Although I begged them to allow me to heal them, they rejected my healing, begging me not to.
One day… I became very angry.
Because Yulia, who served as my aide and attendant in the special forces, told me to eat her.
I got angry.
Are you crazy?
What are you doing?
Don’t say such things, even in jest.
I left my place, furious, claiming I would find the remaining monsters.
The funny thing is… that proposal momentarily tempted even me… and I felt so disgusted.
○○○○
“…..”
“……”
Ugh…
Silence.
No, it wasn’t silence.
Numerous knights moaning in agony due to injuries, fatigue, hunger, and exhaustion were around.
They had come to terms with the fact they might die by participating in war.
Yet the pain and fear gradually wore down the spirit of humanity.
Nevertheless, the knights managed to hold on thanks to the existence of the Mangja Seongnyeo Shia.
“…..Saintess, you’re such a fool, aren’t you?”
“…Why so suddenly blasphemous?”
“..You were crying and making a fuss trying to heal me before my arm was cut off. I said I was fine, but you cried even harder.”
“Fufu, I remember…. Wasn’t that three weeks after coming here?”
“To be honest, it was quite entertaining to see you cry, Saintess.”
“You madman…”
“Oh, I wanted to hug the Saintess tightly before I died, but now that I have no arm, I can’t do that.”
“If His Majesty finds out, you’ll receive quite a beating!”
“Haha, true… better be careful about that.”
At one knight’s joke, others began to chuckle.
It was fortunate that Mangja Seongnyeo wasn’t here at this moment.
“……”
“…….”
Silence returned.
“Everyone…”
It was Yulia’s voice.
Excluding Shia, she was the highest-ranking person present.
Did the previous jokes bother her a bit?
“I’m sorry, Yulia. I wasn’t in my right mind due to the pain…”
“No, honestly, even as a woman, it seemed… that hugging Shia would feel really pleasant.”
Pft… Yulia, did you think the same?
The knights, surprised that the usually stiff secretary was also thinking this way, burst into laughter.
Puhahaha…
Hahaha…
Hehe…
“Oh, Shia’s so lovely….”
“Watch your tongue, you bastard…”
Fufu…
What was once over a hundred had now dwindled to a number easily counted by eyes.
After a while, the knights and Yulia grew quiet again.
“……Everyone, it won’t matter at this rate. It has been three days since we ran out of food. No, it’s truly a miracle we’ve lasted this long…”
“…….”
“Without meaning, we will die. Capturing Saintess, yet having no means…”
“…That’s true.”
“I’d rather avoid a worthless death.”
“I don’t want to die meaningless either.”
Having said that, Yulia drew her sword.
“…Already, dead souls… Spending a bit more meaningfully for that foolish, gluttonous Saintess isn’t so bad, is it?”
Yulia raised a bandaged leg.
The place where her foot should have been was completely empty.
She had cut off her leg below the left ankle to block the curse of the Lich Officer.
She was alive for now, but Shia was now battling solely with physical strength against hunger, with nearly depleted divine power.
In such a situation, she felt she was nothing but a burden, slowly decaying and dying.
So before it was too late…
“…I will dedicate myself to the Saintess. To Shia.”
“………”
They had all become knights, prepared for death.
They weren’t afraid of dying.
If their deaths could open a path for the next generation, then that would be the most honorable death.
“To die meaninglessly… I can’t stand it…”
“No, Yulia, are you trying to do something heroic?”
Another knight drew his sword.
“Anyway, if we die like this, it’s the same for us too, right?”
“Haha, I guess I’m no different.”
“……..”
Yulia and the knights all knew.
They had come with a special mission to escort the Mangja Seongnyeo Shia, knowing that Shia could regain divine power by consuming malice.
They also realized that eating not only monsters… but also humans would bring the same effect.
They knew that this would inflict a deep wound on Shia.
Perhaps she might resent them.
They who had been by the side of the Mangja Seongnyeo knew well how fragile she was.
She’d certainly cry.
She’d be saddened.
Yet this was right.
If they continued as they were, they would die without meaning.
What Shia needed was to resolve her hunger.
To replenish her lost divine power.
Creating a hole big enough to destroy the Castle of Emptiness would be possible…
“Saintess. Please live a long time.”
“Remember us~”
“Harting, the youngest, said that too?”
“You know, it’s quite nice to have someone say they want to be remembered.”
“Haha, indeed.”
“Damn, if I knew this would happen, I would’ve confessed my feelings one time before dying.”
The knights laughed.
From now on, those who wish to cry will cry separately; they laughed.
Yulia also laughed.
Everyone laughed, expressing apologies to the absent Saintess.
“We will willingly become sacrifices.”
○○○○
I’ve returned.
There were indeed no monsters.
What a relief.
Why is everyone gathered here?
Over there, you should rest comfortably without stopping..
[We’re fine.]
[Please eat us.]
“Yulia, are you going to say that again and get me mad?”
Ah, ah.
Haha, don’t joke.
Ah, no.
Get up. Hurry.
You never know when monsters might come!
Get away, no, you don’t even need to fight.
I can protect you.
[We’re fine.]
Shia saw.
A multitude of writings stained with blood.
We’re fine.
Hang in there.
You may feel sad, but there’s no need to be sad.
You don’t need to be sad.
We loved the Saintess so much.
We’re glad we died serving the Saintess.
The chest of the Saintess is enormous!
Shia, please remember us.
That’s enough for us.
They faced each other, backs touching, eyes closed.
All had peaceful expressions.
As if trying to gather the blood flowing from their wrists, they held hands.
“Ah, ah… aaaaah……”
Shia collapsed.
Why, why is this happening?
Why… why is this happening…!
This can’t be happening…
“Ah, aaaaah… Aaaaah!!!!”
Shia cried.
Screamed.
Cried. And cried.
She wailed until her voice was hoarse.
“Aaaaah!!!”
●●●●●●●●●●●
Crash!!!
“Hyuk!? What the hell!”
[…!]
The space shattered.
The Demon King, caught off guard, turned from confronting the Emperor and the Witch, staring at the shattered space like glass.
Ah, yes.
The Mangja Seongnyeo.
A fragment of a god.
You chose.
The Castle of Emptiness that the Demon King had built was fundamentally meant to disperse humanity’s power, but that was merely a secondary effect.
The true purpose was to break the Mangja Seongnyeo.
It would be fine if they collapsed while blocking the tide of monsters charging towards the capital.
The Demon King thought it would be easy to defeat the lone Mangja Seongnyeo left over after eliminating humanity’s main forces.
And if, perhaps, the Mangja Seongnyeo couldn’t endure and resorted to eating humans to escape, that too would be fine.
Just one more like him would be born.
If she broke the taboo of consuming human flesh by her own will, she would become a malicious entity herself.
Once the line was crossed, the human soul itself was lost.
At first, it wouldn’t be easy; afterward, it would be simple.
A pierced hole would gradually widen, and in the end, the Mangja Seongnyeo would become just like the Demon King himself.
The fragment of a god would finally become equal to him, filled with insatiable hunger.
Click
Click
The Mangja Seongnyeo staggered, drenched in blood, crossing beyond dimensions.
“…Shia…?”
“………..”
[Ah, I’m later than I thought. Have you lost your mind after crossing the taboo?]
That’s fine…
Boom!
At that moment, the Demon King was horrified by the pressure crushing him down.
What is it?
What the hell is happening?
Am I kneeling on one knee?
Why can’t I stand even when I’m exerting myself?
[Ugh, ggh…!]
“Yulia, Harting, Malice, Plata, Arhen, Glen, Dylan, Millia….”
“I will remember! I will remember… I will remember all…”
“Ah… ah…”
Why, if she crossed the taboo with her own hands…!
To live, should she not have become a malicious entity for eating the bodies of other humans driven by desire?
I did that!
Anyone would have!
Why, then, does she still have human eyes, Mangja Seongnyeo!
And the Demon King realized.
If she hadn’t crossed the taboo by herself,
If the Mangja Seongnyeo hadn’t voluntarily eaten humans…
The humans who fell with her into the Castle of Emptiness dedicated their bodies to the Mangja Seongnyeo of their own free will!
[These useless human bastards!!]
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
Shia cried tears of blood.
To remember them all within her,
To engrave the names of those on her soul’s tombstone.
And in a maddened state,
With the most emotional and human-like expression,
Shia glared at the Demon King, refusing to fall as a malicious entity.
“I will kill you!!!!!”
○○○○
“And the Demon King was eliminated in a single punch from Shia, and thus he died, and peace was restored to the world. Good for him. Clap clap clap.”
Clap.
With a tiny applause, Shia shrugged her shoulders, as if it were nothing but an old tale.
However, Choi Bomi, the director, could say nothing.
Knowing through thoughts that the past was true.
“……..”
“Hello? Choi Bomi? Did I bore you to death?”
“…I’m sorry, Shia.”
Choi Bomi felt a tinge of resentment toward her own ability.
Too deeply imbued.
She shared unwanted emotions, feeling those memories as if they were her own.
“…..”
“…..”
Thus, the Ethics Review Room maintained a short silence for a time.
It was extremely quiet.
After a while, Shia received the news that her third ethics review had passed unanimously with the observers and auditors.
“Hehe, it’s been a while since I had my ID card.”
On the way back with Shia, Yeonhwa didn’t call for a car.
Walking slowly along the neon-lit streets with Shia, she seemed to feel strange as she looked at her ID card, which had her photo instead of a temporary registration or temporary hunter’s license.
“…..”
“Why do you look like that, Yeonhwa?”
It was quiet. Really quiet.
Although there were many people and cars around, why did it feel so quiet?
Yeonhwa quietly held Shia’s hand.
With a faint smile, Shia, giggling, held on to Yeonhwa’s hand without shaking it off.
“Hehe….”
“Unnie.”
“….Yeah, ah. Did you call?”
Yeonhwa pulled out a card.
Tonight was the night for drinking.
“I think we should go eat until we’re stuffed?”
I don’t know if Shia will get drunk, but she’ll probably get tipsy if she drinks a lot.
At Yeonhwa’s words, Shia hesitated for a moment but then nodded.
“Yeah, sounds good!”
