It was clearly daytime, yet everything around was shrouded in darkness.
Here and there, a red hue lingered; it didn’t obstruct the view, but the ominous red light was unsettling.
Standing in front of the altar, Damian lightly snapped his fingers.
– Grrgghhh…
With a sound like the ground splitting, a massive throne emerged.
The backrest was unusually high, so much so that one could probably lie down on it instead of just sitting.
But that throne was not made of wood or anything ordinary.
“That’s just plain crazy…”
Yona muttered as she gazed at the throne.
It was no ordinary throne made of wood, stone, gold, or precious metal; instead, it was filled with a transparent liquid of a deep red.
The liquid sloshing inside the throne was undoubtedly blood, and just looking at it made her feel uneasy.
“Yona…!”
“…Are you okay?”
Priest Vigrind approached Yona, having finished healing the injured knights of the cathedral.
The magic that Yona conjured and the golden light radiating from Vigrind crackled as they clashed against each other, but the two saints seemed undeterred and stood face to face.
“I’m fine. But the Hero, the Hero was consumed by that black giant.”
“…Tsk.”
What a loser. What the heck is he doing as a hero?
Those thoughts flashed through her mind, but she couldn’t voice them out loud.
Yet Yona wasn’t overly worried about the black giant or anything. Vervaria would handle that black giant without breaking a sweat—
– Kooowwaaaang—!
Startled by the sudden roar, Yona looked ahead.
The black giant was towering, and on the ground lay Vervaria, rolling around.
Originally a serpent, Vervaria’s body was long, and now it was struggling to stabilize itself on the ground.
Upon closer inspection, a massive spear was lodged deep into its body, and each roll only drove the spear in deeper.
“…Ve, Vervaria—?!”
Yona’s eyes widened.
At that moment, the black giant lunged at Vervaria, who was still rolling on the ground, unable to regain its balance.
The black giant grabbed Vervaria, who was rolling on the ground.
【Grrruuuuuuu!!】
With a bizarre sound, Vervaria screamed.
It was a situation utterly incomprehensible, but it was happening right before their eyes.
Crimson magic began to swirl around Yona.
The magic, wilder and fiercer than Priest Vigrind’s divine power, began to swirl around her.
As Vigrind took a few steps back, unable to withstand that magical storm, Yona glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
“…Vig, take care of the knights. I’ll handle Vervaria.”
When you break it down, divine power and magic have the same origin.
It’s the blessing that the gods have given.
The only difference is which god granted it.
And the difference in how that god is perceived by humans.
In the realm blessed by the heavenly gods, it’s divine power,
while in the demon realm blessed by evil gods, it manifests as magic.
Yona’s magic has beneficial effects for the residents of the demon realm, but it’s not entirely good for the residents of the human realm.
Vigrind’s divinity may be beneficial for the human realm’s residents, but it’s not entirely good for those from the demon realm either.
It’s just a matter of such distinctions.
That’s why Yona couldn’t heal those knights in the cathedral.
She could heal them, but if they ended up being healed by her, they would become a body that could only be healed through magic, which would feel like a curse for them.
The magic flowing from Yona’s body turned into a powerful gust of wind heading towards Vervaria.
As Vervaria, trapped by the black giant, let out painful screams, the magic seeped into her.
Then, the black blood leaking from her body began to stop, and the wounds inflicted by the black giant were healing quickly.
Damian quietly observed this scene.
His expression was either gloomy, blank, or oddly smiling.
But now, there was a hint of surprise flickering across Damian’s face.
“—They call you a saint, and you’re not half bad.”
As Damian said this or not, Yona took a few steps closer to him.
Yona’s goal was to subjugate the demon archdukes.
And the one in front of her, Damian, was one of those demon archdukes, a peculiar being who had become a demon archduke in a human body.
In reverse, it meant he was a remarkably strong human.
It also meant this.
So Yona tried to subdue Damian without killing him as much as possible.
“I won’t say much. Obey me.”
Magic sprang from Yona’s entire being.
Magic oozed from her lips, rising like smoke.
While constantly sending out magic to Verbaria, Yona glared at Damian.
Damian, sitting on his throne, met her gaze head-on, crossing his legs with a smile.
“I’ve lived for hundreds of years. I’ve lived through ages that might defy counting. During all that time, I’ve only wished for death. And now, this inexperienced little brat who has just become a Saint wants me to obey—what a laughable thing.”
Still seated, Damian slowly raised his right hand.
With a snap of his fingers, a red circle appeared on the pitch-black ground—
From that spot, an unknown black shadow began to crawl upward.
“A king does not fight directly. Those who serve the king fight for him. Do you want to try? It will suffice for entertainment.”
Damian whispered to Yona with a smile.
If it had just been Yona and Vigrind, they would have been in trouble already.
And indeed, they would have.
Vigrind, with no fighting power of his own, and Yona, who could fight using Verbaria’s strength.
But even Yona’s power was useless before Damian, who was far stronger than Verbaria.
Yona had no choice but to protect Verbaria, and Vigrind had to support the Holy Knight Brigade.
“Scatter and defend—!”
“The Saint is with us! Defend!”
“Don’t get pushed back!”
“Push them back! Push them out—!”
The Holy Knight Brigade was fighting well.
Over the heads of the brigade, various spells, including fireballs, were raining down, cast by none other than Ceres.
‘Just wasting time unnecessarily… It would be better to end this quickly.’
Ceres tried hard to suppress the irritation bubbling inside, maintaining her expression.
Her fingers ceaselessly traced power circuits, while her other hand struck down into the center of the circuit to activate it.
With each gesture, red fireballs and deep violet lightning scattered, turning the dead into ash.
‘This has gotten bigger than I thought.’
“It’s all grown up.”
Yona barging in like this is unexpected.
Ceres thought Yona would have already headed to the Kingdom of Lukasia and planned to deal with the Saint in the meantime.
Without Yona, there’s no one to stop Damian.
The foolish hero, unaware of what Damian’s followers truly are, has already been devoured by them. The Saint, unable to fight alone, would surely meet her end by the hands of Damian.
And if Damian, who had devoured the Saint, dies, and if Yona can’t absorb him, Yona wouldn’t become the proper Saint of the Demon Realm.
And that’s exactly what Ceres is aiming for.
A Saint endlessly close to the Celestial God yet just one step away.
That was Ceres’s true objective.
She was just trying to please those seven worthless dukes for that single purpose.
But at this rate, Yona might end up dying at Damian’s hands.
That’s not what Ceres intended.
“Alebians…!”
She waited, but there was no word from Alebians.
Ceres’s plan, which required the cooperation of Alebians, was falling apart because Alebians didn’t inform her that Yona was returning to Evian. Ceres certainly didn’t think Yona would show up here.
“What should I do… Should I retreat Damian?”
Yona must not die here.
Even if the balance has already tipped after being neglected for so long, the reason the Demon Realm doesn’t completely cover the human world is thanks to the Celestial God struggling to keep it in check.
And it’s because of that the Celestial God hasn’t shown up for quite some time, appearing briefly in Marlen and Evian to appoint the hero and the Saint before disappearing again.
With the Celestial God not showing themselves, the Church of the Celestial God has started to decay, splitting apart.
If the Saint dies and the hero perishes, and yet the Celestial God continues to remain unseen, then the human world will surely face self-destruction at the end of this decay.
“If only Yona wasn’t here…”
Ceres bit her lip.
Frustrated by Yona, who stands in the way of Damian despite being unable to fight herself, Ceres glared at Yona’s back.
Unbeknownst to her, Sister Aege was watching all of it unfold closely.
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