Final Chapter – 3
“Huff!”
Margarita focused her spirit and swung her flail. The flail, filled with divine power, splattered the monster’s head into pieces, showering blood and flesh everywhere.
Dirty bodily fluids and flesh clung to her pure white armor. But Margarita didn’t care at all. If anything, she seemed to crave more blood, going even crazier.
It wasn’t just Margarita who felt this way. All the people of the Holy Kingdom ran towards monsters with fire in their eyes, eager to kill even one more with their own hands.
The competition was so fierce that humans appeared more ferocious than the monsters themselves.
“The Holy One is watching us! For the Sun! For the Moon!”
With Margarita’s encouragement, countless monsters were slaughtered, bursting and being sliced as they fulfilled that command.
Corpses piled up across the battlefield like a mountain, yet among them, human bodies were almost nonexistent.
The reason was simple. The Holy One had commanded them to prove their faith, and if they died, they couldn’t do that. So, they never fought recklessly with their lives on the line.
Those who were injured were quickly treated and sent back into battle. It was only natural since everyone left in the population of the Holy Kingdom took on the role of healers.
In fact, there were so many healers compared to the injured that they competed with each other to treat the wounded. For non-combatants, that was the only way to prove their faith.
“The light is weak! Is that all the faith and belief you possess?”
Margarita’s voice echoed through the battlefield. Hearing her, the Battle Nuns and Holy Knights released even brighter and purer divine power from their bodies.
This was also the reason the Holy Kingdom had transformed into such zealotry.
Since Delta had caused a miracle with the Sun and Moon rising in the blood-red sky, all the citizens of the Holy Kingdom had increased their divine power at least one level.
Their faith had grown purer, their belief steadier, and they were witnessing the miracle, experiencing its effects in real-time, so they couldn’t help but be moved and go wild.
Of course, the real miracle was thanks to Eclipse, but no one in the Holy Kingdom knew the truth.
“Where did you get hurt?”
“My arm is broken.”
Having been sent to the rear for a moment after leading the charge against the monsters, Margarita calmly raised one arm to show it.
She had blocked a monster’s attack with her shield on her left arm, but the impact was so great that she couldn’t absorb it completely, and her bone had broken despite using the shield.
“Understood.”
Two nuns quickly approached and skillfully removed her gauntlet. The broken bone protruded, tearing through the flesh, and the surrounding area was drenched in blood.
For an ordinary person, it would be a sight to frown upon, but no one here was surprised. They had seen too many injuries to be shocked by a broken bone.
Margarita calmly kneeled on the ground and began to pray. In tandem, a nun recited a sacred spell over the broken bone. Golden light enveloped the fractured arm.
Having returned after hundreds of years trapped in hell, Margarita had adapted quite quickly to the current Holy Kingdom.
Her abilities were recognized, and she had climbed to quite a high rank within the Holy Knight Order, regaining much of her former power, though not entirely.
‘The one who saved me was the Holy One… Perhaps my time in hell was the Sun’s great will for me to assist the Holy One in her holy war.’
What a grand delusion.
The incident where Delta had been dragged to hell along with Kaiquilia had been twisted through people’s mouths into a tale that he had left on a holy mission to purify hell with the wielder of the Holy Sword.
Margarita had become one of the witnesses to a divine blessing, having been directly saved by the Holy One.
The hundreds of years she had spent in hell were now considered a vision of the Sun and Moon’s insight to aid the Holy One.
Although there were one or two strange points about the notion of actually going to purify hell, Margarita had splendidly restored her faith, ignoring those ‘minor’ feelings of unease.
“It’s over.”
The nun withdrew the light. After moving her healed arm a few times, Margarita donned her armor again and stood up.
“Why are the enemy numbers still the same? Is this all the strength of your faith?!”
“No!”
And with that, she shouted and jumped back into the battlefield.
Watching the scene of the Holy Kingdom was a pair of silver eyes.
Nix, dizzy, clutched her head and stopped the view-sharing. Minerva also ordered her clones to check the Empire more thoroughly since the Holy Kingdom was taken care of and then cut off the view-sharing.
“Should I have offered assistance? Turns out that was a needless worry.”
“With their momentum, they could push through to the ends of the continent without help.”
“…What kind of deeds has that child done?”
Minerva leaned back in her seat unknowingly. Answers were not forthcoming, but she hadn’t exactly asked the question expecting an answer; it just felt close.
What on earth had he done to transform the calm and gentle folks of the Holy Kingdom into such a frenzied state?
“Child, do you know why the monsters have changed like this?”
“I have a guess. It’s not certain, though.”
“A guess will suffice. Please tell me.”
“It’s probably because of that dragon. The one that even the goddess came down to warn us was coming in great haste.”
Beyond that, there was no other reason. Furthermore, if that beast was responsible for mutating the monsters, the timeline fit shockingly well.
“Still, something feels off.”
“Off? What do you mean?”
“If that beast truly conducted such an act, it wouldn’t simply stop at mutating monsters.”
Nix had heard a few things from the goddess regarding the creature that devoured the world while reconstructing its body. Summarizing those, the creature was not the type to merely enhance monsters and call it a day.
As Minerva frowned, about to ask something, a black orb materialized before Nix.
“It’s a summons from the Empress. It seems she’s already prepared to move to the next stage. She’s moving much faster than I am; it’s truly insane.”
Nix clicked her tongue. The speed at which she adapted to her memories was increasing. While it was a very positive development, it strangely left her with an unsettling feeling.
“I need to go help Delta as soon as possible, so I’ll take my leave. What about you, Minerva?”
“I’ll stay here. My body isn’t fully recovered, and since the child said something felt off, I should monitor the Empire a bit longer.”
“Understood.”
Nix returned promptly to the room and first checked on Kaiquilia and the papal sisters.
Kaiquilia was leaning against the sofa, catching her breath, and the papal sisters were quite similar except for the fact that they were holding hands. The rest were still unconscious.
“Have you recovered already? Impressive.”
“…Be quiet. Just move on to the next.”
“Next, huh…”
Nix pondered for a moment. If it was Kaiquilia, perhaps they could begin real memory sharing instead of just teasing. It seemed quite possible that they could start now.
“You’re deep in thought, lone girl.”
Kaiquilia had precisely read Nix’s mind. Her golden pupils shone ominously. Even after relinquishing the position of Empress, she was still very much Kaiquilia.
“I’m contemplating whether I can accept true death. If I hadn’t, I would have injected new memories just as I’ve always done. Am I wrong?”
“…You’re right.”
Nix sighed softly. Since she had been found out, hiding was pointless.
“Your adaptation speed exceeds my imagination. Honestly, I see a fair chance of success even if we start now. Of course, it’s about prioritizing life, so we must be cautious—”
“Then do it. Right now.”
Kaiquilia strode up and locked eyes with her. The difference in height was substantial, so naturally, Kaiquilia looked down while Nix looked up.
“The fact that such contemplation is possible is akin to proving my capability. Delta is still fighting against it even now. I can no longer waste time on futile endeavors. Do you understand?”
Futile endeavors, Nix forced a smile. What a reckless attitude when a single mistake could damage the soul itself.
“Fine. If that’s what you wish.”
“…We ask for this too.”
Another voice chimed in from the side. It was Floretta and Luna. The two of them had also managed to stand on their own now, albeit a bit slower than Kaiquilia. Their adaptation speed was astonishing.
“Are you really okay with this, Your Holiness?”
“Yes. I am prepared.”
Floretta and Luna nodded resolutely. Nix gazed quietly at the remaining six, who were still lost in the memories, and calmly prepared her magic.
“This time, it’ll be different. It’ll continue infinitely until the soul realizes its essence, so there’s no such thing as barely holding on this time. I’ll probably finish before fully reading all the memories, but… I can’t guarantee that due to individual differences.”
She then warned in a calm voice. It could very well be the last voice those three hear.
“So hold on tight.”
Kaiquilia stood somewhere in the mountains. It was a mountainous area where grass, trees, and rocks were appropriately mixed.
“…!!!!!!”
Before she could even ascertain where she was, a brutish hand grasped her head. A thumb-like appendage plunged into her right eye.
The finger penetrated the lens in an instant, stirring the vitreous body within, and it embedded deep into her skull. Kaiquilia let out a soundless scream.
The hand flailing in the air gripped the arm holding her head. She struggled to push the arm away with all her might, but the grip didn’t budge.
This wasn’t Kaiquilia’s behavior. Since the attack commenced and lasting until the moment of her death, she was merely mimicking the struggles Delta had undergone.
Of course, as could be gleaned from it being stored as a memory of death, this was a futile action. This time, her right thigh was seized. Her knee joint bent backward, shattering.
—Crack!
Immediately afterward, a dreadful pain surged as the flesh from her side was torn away. Kaiquilia looked down with her remaining eye.
A monster was munching on her side.
Kaiquilia’s struggles, or rather, Delta’s struggles continued until her abdomen was almost completely consumed. Eventually, as her upper and lower halves separated, the struggles ceased as well.
But death was not the end.
