Clang!

Yelena swung her bow, and Valuel raised both arms to block it with his armor.

Craaaack!

The shock made Valuel stagger backward. Seizing the moment, Yelena drew her bowstring from a single step away and formed a magical arrow.

“!”

Valuel immediately turned his head. The arrow loosed from Yelena’s bowstring grazed his helmet.

Only after seeing the black scorch mark left on the helmet did Cadis snap back to his senses.

“Valuel!”

Cadis drew his sword.

“Step back!”

His sword, now fused with liquefied sacred armaments and glowing golden, slashed toward Yelena.

Clang!

A magical arrow flew in from somewhere and struck his sword, altering its path.

At the same time, Yelena twisted her body gracefully and quickly withdrew to the side.

“What is this...”

As Cadis checked the direction the arrow had come from, he noticed several elves had entered the hall.

As if one shot weren’t enough, each of them had raised their bows and drawn their strings.

“I shall state our demands.”

Their leader, Yelena, spoke.

“Relinquish the sacred armaments. All of them in this place.”

It was an outrageous demand.

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

They were being told to disgorge what they had just absorbed into their bodies, as well as surrender the remaining sacred armaments. It was unthinkable.

“This is nothing short of a direct challenge to the Holy Alliance.”

“So it was that one who ordered this.”

Yelena spoke as if she weren’t the least bit surprised.

“It doesn’t seem like this was coordinated with other nations. If the Guardian Knights were merely ordered to ‘arm themselves’ to fight the Demon King, I suppose that would be the best-case scenario.”

“What are you implying?”

“I’m wondering if the Demon King is the only enemy Lutan has in mind.”

Her cold gaze shifted from Cadis to Valuel.

“Will you yield?”

“…Such impudence.”

Valuel’s eyes gleamed from within his helmet.

“You truly believe you can face the Guardian Knights alone now that even the Hero is gone?”

“Do I look alone to you?”

“Surely you’re not counting the number of elves behind you.”

He sighed.

“I don’t count those hangers-on who trail after you as worthy opponents.”

“Is that so?” Yelena’s green eyes locked onto Valuel, “Then let’s find out who’s truly being impudent.”

At her signal, the elves all loosed their arrows simultaneously.

“Valuel!”

Cadis swung his sword toward the incoming arrows.

Boom!

“!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A tremendous force erupted.

Each arrow detonated with a power far surpassing ordinary magical arrows, forcing Cadis backward.

“Urgh?!”

As he staggered, Yelena charged at Valuel again.

“I won’t fall for it twice.”

Valuel raised his sword high.

“You picked the wrong place.”

No matter how spacious this hall was, it wasn’t the outdoors. In this indoor environment, where the elves couldn’t properly utilize their signature agility and had no place to hide, close combat favored him overwhelmingly.

“Or.”

A manifestation of sacred power unlike blue aura—this was sacred energy fused with the power of the sacred armaments.

Valuel swung his golden sword at Yelena.

Clang!

Yelena quickly raised her bow to block the sword.

“How foolish.”

No matter how it was crafted from a branch of the World Tree, it couldn’t possibly withstand the power of the sacred armaments. Valuel aimed to cut through her along with her bow—

“What!”

A golden light surged through Yelena’s bow.

“Did you think I entered this place unprepared?”

The remaining liquefied sacred armaments that hadn’t yet bonded with Valuel or Cadis were now being absorbed into Yelena.

“I should thank you, actually.”

“Thank us?”

“My affinity with nature is strong, but it only extends to things that react like living beings.”

That meant she had no power to interfere with ordinary ownership over inanimate objects—ordinarily, that is.

“But didn’t you endow the sacred armaments with such properties?”

Their composition had been altered to behave like organic tissue, allowing them to attach and fuse to the human body.

“In that case, I can draw them toward myself just as well.”

“Ridiculous.” Valuel was aghast, “The sacred armaments exist solely for the armament of the Guardian Knights—limited to the Three Seats!”

Those without the proper qualifications couldn’t draw in the sacred armaments to begin with.

“I’ve already obtained the qualification.”

At Yelena’s words, Valuel instinctively turned his gaze.

To Ravi, standing there frozen like a stone monument, unable to move or speak.

Only now did Valuel notice one of her eyes was closed as if missing. He flinched.

“No… don’t tell me…”

“Yes.”

As if speaking of something trivial, Yelena muttered coldly.

“You had embedded the qualification in her eye, so I plucked it out and swallowed it.”

The activation core required to form the armament had been implanted somewhere in the bodies of the First, Second, and Third Seats. Just keeping it in contact with their body was enough.

But Yelena had forcefully taken it.

Literally eaten it.

“You’ve fallen.”

“No.” Yelena’s eyes widened, “It was to atone.”

She had clung to a false image and lost what was most precious. And it had all begun with her.

“I was the one who said it.”

She was the last of the party to confirm the Demon King hadn’t died. As space collapsed around them, she had no choice but to escape. And she told a Guardian Knight she encountered nearby.

Valuel—standing right before her.

“You were the one who spread the word that Clay didn’t kill the Demon King intentionally.”

All subsequent evidence was published to fit that narrative exactly.

“I was wrong.”

Yelena whispered.

“I was wrong. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have said anything. By revealing it, I made Clay into what he is now. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong.”

“You lunatic!”

Valuel shoved her bow aside with his sword.

“You will be judged! Just like the Demon King now!”

His blade carved a shining arc. Yelena retreated. Valuel pursued her.

The arrows fired by the elves flew toward Valuel—

Boom...!

As expected, they weren’t ordinary magical arrows. Valuel realized that the lunatic in front of him was commanding the elves like her own limbs.

“You’ve gone as far as soul-binding?!”

To claim ownership over those who offered up their very souls—

It was the kind of atrocity once committed by dark elves who had abandoned their kin. And now, Yelena, a former member of the Hero’s party, had done it.

“I’ll eradicate you here and now!”

Two wings sprouted from Valuel’s back—a manifestation of sacred power befitting one who claimed to be an apostle of the gods. The power of the sacred armaments was fully imbued into his sword.

“Wait—!”

Just as Cadis moved in shock, realizing Valuel was about to tear open space itself, one of the elves threw the half-dead Ravi toward him.

“Ugh!”

Cadis caught her and fell to the ground with her in his arms.

“Ahaha! Ahahahahahaha!”

Yelena let out a burst of manic laughter.

“Yes, go ahead and blow it all away, Valuel! Take those sacred armaments and bury yourself with them for eternity!”

She drew her bowstring, compressing her mana into an arrow to its very limit. Force against force—a reckless charge to be entombed alongside the collapsed sanctuary, heedless of death.

“Sto—!”

Just as Cadis reached out toward them—

KWA-A-A-A-A-A-BOOM!

An explosion of light engulfed them.

♧

“Are we really traveling like this?”

Having emerged from the labyrinth, Clay’s group had decided to camp nearby.

Late at night, with a single campfire burning and a rough cloth draped around his shoulders, Clay turned his gaze to Naiad, who had asked the question.

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean?”

Naiad, sitting beside Clay, pouted as she stared at the flickering flames.

“We’ve got nothing but a campfire. That’s it.”

“You and Syltanaro are here, aren’t you?”

“Ugh, don’t joke around!” Naiad slapped the ground with her small hands, “There should at least be something to eat! Something! Why didn’t you bring any food?!”

Clay had brought a few pieces of jerky and a waterskin, but nothing beyond that.

“…Syltanaro doesn’t need food or water while in sword form. And you once said you could survive just on dew.”

“That was ages ago! When I was trying to act all modest in front of you—no, I mean, when I was joking! I’m hungry! Even elementals eat things, you know!”

“You’re louder every time I see you.”

When Clay first met her, Naiad had acted with the dignified grace befitting a Spirit King.

She had even been reluctant to lend him her power. He didn’t know when she’d become so outspoken.

“Relationships always change over time.” Naiad raised her chin with a smug look, “You’re not disappointed in how I turned out, are you?”

“There’s no reason to be.”

“Well I am!” Naiad rolled around on the ground, “I’m hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry!”

『It seems this harsh environment has damaged the Water Spirit.』

Desert terrain was neither physically nor mentally ideal for a water spirit. Her irritability was somewhat expected.

『But Demon King, if I may… there’s something I too wish to ask.』

Syltanaro’s tone was concerned.

『I can manage, of course, but you must take better care of yourself. Even being served is an important task.』

“You may be right.”

『Then…』

“But don’t worry.”

Clay said softly.

“Cardin.”

At his call, Cardin emerged from somewhere and knelt on the ground.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Wah!”

Naiad, who had been rolling around, shouted in surprise.

“Wh-What the heck!”

“That’s Cardin.”

“No! That’s not what I was asking!”

Naiad let out a sigh of disbelief at Clay’s reply.

“He was near us this whole time? And even hid his presence?!”

“Yes.”

Clay turned his gaze to Cardin.

“Did you bring it?”

“Yes, my lord.”

Cardin unpacked the load from his back and took out some skewers of meat.

“Please wait a moment.”

Naiad stared blankly at Cardin as he began roasting the skewers.

“What is this…?”

『Are you keeping them following us as escorts now?』

“There were too many problems with just us moving alone. We needed someone to carry the supplies.”

Crackle, crackle.

In the now quiet space, only the sound of the fire burning echoed.

“…And there’s more than one.”

Naiad gave a dry laugh as other dark-cloaked demons revealed themselves nearby.

The Darkmoon Knights.

They had all followed them.

“If you really thought we were traveling alone, I apologize.”

Clay glanced once at the Darkmoon Knights, clad in the stealthwear tailored by the slime tailor, then accepted a skewer from Cardin.

“I’ve no intention of living in squalor anymore.”

As if burying the memories of when his party scraped and stumbled through the wilds, Clay looked up at the black night sky.

The stars were especially bright that night.

(End of Chapter)

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