I’m tired.
I’m suffering.
I just want to stop now.
“Saintess! There are injured people over here!”
“…..Yes. I’ll be there right away.”
With a weary expression, Iris finished treating the injured person in front of her. But without a moment’s rest, she immediately rose and rushed to the next patient.
Not long after, she came across a soldier who had sustained critical injuries, with one arm and leg barely attached.
Ghh…!
“Please bear with it a bit longer..!”
She placed her hands over his body, praying to ease his pain, and slowly began to heal him.
“Hah… Phew… Thank you… Saintess..”
As the pain faded, fatigue swept over the soldier, and he quickly fell asleep.
After finishing her duties with him, Iris wiped the cold sweat from her brow and gazed blankly at the sky.
“…..This is tough.”
It had been a week since the Demon King was vanquished.
Even though she, the source of all evil, had disappeared, peace still did not come.
As the calamity of invincible forces collapsed, the shards spread everywhere, nurturing seeds of misfortune.
What should have ended with the Demon King’s demise — the war was anything but over.
Awakened monsters of catastrophic proportions, previously suppressed by the Demon King, now stirred to life everywhere.
The demon race and followers of the Demon King, along with dark sorcerers, relentlessly attacked in the name of revenge.
From minor threats to great disasters, this had become the new norm.
But above all, if one was to point out the reason this war persisted, they would all say the same thing.
1st Legion Commander, the Dark Knight Tyrus.
An enigmatic knight clad in black armor.
His strength far surpassed everyone’s expectations.
In the Demon Realm, now that the Demon King had fallen, the Emperor seized the opportunity to send imperial soldiers along with elf archers and beastmen warriors to eliminate the remnants of the demon race.
A massive offensive executed by formidable warriors from all races.
The Emperor believed beyond doubt that they would sweep away the remnants of the demon race.
But what returned was a horrendous defeat.
The collected forces that had marched with such pride lost their lives to a single knight.
Of course, there were other demons and forces by his side, but it was clear that he was the decisive factor in this devastating loss.
If one were to compare sheer power, he could stand alongside the Demon King.
His mere presence maintained the balance of this war.
The hero party lost their lives.
The swordsman vanished like the wind.
And now, at the mercy of the worst lich, Melrum, the Great Sage’s life was hanging by a thread.
There was no one who could face him.
Except for one.
“Are you truly out of your mind?!”
The great Emperor of the Karaz Empire, Valre de Magstitia.
As he shouted furiously and slammed his hand down, everyone around him was drenched in cold sweat and tensed up.
But one person.
The woman standing before him merely looked at him with an indifferent expression.
“If you catch that monster, the war will end! So why do you refuse my command?!”
“I told you before, didn’t I? If you want to move me, bring an appropriate price.”
“Every day, numerous citizens of the empire are dying! Do you feel no guilt?”
The Emperor’s anger reached its peak as he glared at her resentfully, but the woman simply chuckled.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“What did you…?”
The woman looked at the Emperor with a puzzled expression as if she truly didn’t understand.
“Why are you blaming me for them being weak and dying?”
“You… you bitch!”
Finally unable to hold back his rage, the Emperor raised his voice and screamed.
But the woman spoke in an indifferent tone, as if the Emperor were inconsequential to her.
“I heard that in the temple, there’s the Tear of the Goddess. They say it’s quite beautiful?”
A vein popped on the Emperor’s forehead in response to her calm words.
“You fool! To get that, we would need to go against the temple! Do you not realize how precious the Saintess is in this situation?!”
The Emperor’s words were cut short.
A golden sword glimmered menacingly right in front of his throat.
“Wouldn’t it be better than going against me?”
“Do you know who you dare to point a sword at?”
“A senile old man?”
Valre, no longer wanting to hear her, barked orders loudly at his guards.
“Get this woman out of my sight immediately!”
But despite the absolute order from the Emperor of the Empire, none dared to move.
They all understood what kind of monster stood before them.
The woman with golden hair flowing like a river. The strongest in the empire. The invincible one.
Athena looked down at the Emperor with an intrigued smile, as if something had sparked her interest.
“Now that I think about it… if I become the Empress, all the treasures of the royal family will belong to me.”
At her chilling remark, the Emperor involuntarily shuddered.
“…Are you plotting rebellion?”
“I’ve been living without much thought for fear that the hero might become a nuisance.”
Feeling the fierce flame burning in Athena’s eyes, Bordin felt as if he was being suffocated.
“Now that hero is dead?”
“………”
Athena observed the Emperor’s terrified expression as he lay helpless, drenched in cold sweat, before she let out a mocking laughter.
“Pfft. Why are you so scared?”
Only after her malice diminished was Valre able to breathe normally again.
“Anyway, bring me the Tear of the Goddess. If you want to find peace for the empire.”
Finishing her remarks, Athena turned without any lingering attachments.
Just before she left the room, she glanced at the Emperor’s crown and muttered to herself.
“Well, if I get tired of playing with jewels… maybe playing king wouldn’t be so bad.”
In the long corridors of the Imperial Palace.
Running to the medical room to treat the next wounded soldier, Iris encountered a familiar face.
With shining eyes and overwhelming presence, there she was.
“Athena…”
“Iris, is it?”
Upon seeing her, Iris had no choice but to stop in her tracks.
Athena. Once a person she admired greatly.
But now, someone she resented immensely.
“Will you just watch from the sidelines again this time?”
If she had only helped,
the Empire might have been enjoying peace right now.
Perhaps her allies wouldn’t have died.
…Maybe she wouldn’t have to struggle this much.
But despite possessing such immense power, she offered no help at all.
Like a mere spectator, she merely observed as people died in every battle.
As though their deaths meant nothing to her.
Iris reproached her with a voice full of accusations, but Athena simply shrugged and approached her.
“Well, it’s not really my concern, is it?”
“How can you be like this…-”
“Iris.”
As if she wouldn’t listen any longer, Athena spoke in a low voice, leaving Iris speechless.
Athena looked down emotionlessly at Iris, trembling beneath her.
“I don’t like humans very much. They’re weak beings that possess a baseless greed.”
“But you’re also human.”
“Well, that’s true. But listen, Iris.”
Athena smiled faintly and continued.
“I’m strong. Unlike others, I’m not a weakling who relies on the help of others.”
“…….”
“Live a little for yourself. What do you get back for trying so hard for others?”
Athena patted Iris’s shoulder lightly before turning to walk away. As she suppressed her whirlwind of emotions, Iris gazed at the spot where Athena had stood with tears brimming in her eyes.
“Poor soul. If you had understood what love is, things wouldn’t have gone so wrong.”
Thud-
Athena’s footsteps abruptly came to a halt.
Slowly, she turned her head back to look at Iris.
“Pfft..! Hahaha!”
A laugh previously unseen erupted from Athena.
After a while, as Iris’s expression turned sour from her boisterous laughter, Athena approached her again.
“Ha.. Iris.”
She reached out and grabbed Iris by the neck.
“Gah?”
Iris reflexively struggled as her breath was suddenly cut off.
But Athena effortlessly lifted her off the ground.
“Love?”
“Grrk… Hah…”
“Iris, listen carefully.”
As Iris flailed her legs desperately for breath, Athena spoke without concern.
“The fantasy of love I once wished for was shattered when my father cheated and my mother went mad for money, abandoning her child.”
“Cough… Hah….”
Iris’s pale face, devoid of blood, slowly turned red.
Eventually, as if all strength had drained from her, Iris’s resistance began to weaken. Athena then tossed her sideways.
Crash-
With a resounding impact, Iris fell to the ground. Athena continued to look down at her with an emotionless gaze.
“Huff..! Ack… Hah…!”
“I’ll make it clear, Iris.”
Athena placed her foot on Iris’s chin, tilting her head up to force her to look.
“What I feel for anyone will never emerge as love. Even if I were to die and be reborn.”
Absolutely.
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