In an instant, Yona was momentarily dazed.
Even though magic was pouring out, she never thought anything more surprising would happen.
Yona’s trembling hand brushed through Alex’s luscious hair.
The sensation that touched her fingers confirmed it was indeed hair.
“…This is not the time.”
Only then did Yona become aware of her surroundings.
She was still in the enemy’s camp, and now she had practically become the enemy of the entire Church of the Celestial God, so she couldn’t be dazed like this.
“Kaiyak.”
“I’ve been waiting.”
From the shadow concealed by her magic, Kaiyak appeared.
From the beginning, Yona’s request to Kaiyak had been to retrieve Alex.
Knowing she couldn’t properly move Alex by herself, she had sneaked in with Kaiyak hidden in her shadow.
“The necklace works well.”
“Yeah, it does. No doubt about it.”
Kaiyak nodded while fiddling with the necklace around her neck.
Normally, a human would never be able to withstand this magic, and it was no different for a Lizardman.
But now, the necklace personally crafted by Yona, who had become the saint of the demon realm, served to protect her from the influence of magic.
Thanks to that, Kaiyak could remain unharmed even within the magic.
“Kaiyak.”
Kaiyak, who had been approaching to retrieve Alex, glanced at Yona.
Unable to meet Kaiyak’s gaze, Yona lowered her eyes.
“I don’t intend to force you to sacrifice yourself. If you want to leave me, now’s the time. I promise I won’t harm you.”
Kaiyak had no obligation to do this much.
With her fist tightly clenched, Yona awaited Kaiyak’s answer.
An answer that would suggest, “This is it” or “I suppose it’s time to part.”
“You’re saying pointless things. A saved life is repaid with your life, Yona.”
But the response she heard was quite different.
“My life already belongs to you, Yona. I owe the lives of my entire clan to you, so to say that’s not enough would be appropriate. The day you die is the day I die. So don’t worry about it. I don’t care if you’re a demon or whatever.”
Kaiyak raised her hand to wipe her nose.
Then she turned her steps away from Alex and approached Yona.
Amidst the fierce, dark magic flames, Kaiyak seemed unfazed.
The swirling magic parted as if to clear Kaiyak’s path.
As Kaiyak approached, she raised her hand and patted Yona on the shoulder.
“I’m serving the Great Lady. I have no connection with the humans’ gods.”
“…Right.”
Yona watched as Kaiyak picked up Alex and melted back into the magic.
Then, with her glimmering gaze, she surveyed her surroundings.
The first thing she saw was a small girl—
With red hair and a petite build.
A girl dressed in holy robes that were practically tattered.
She had thought the girl would have fainted and been swept away by the hero,
Yet here she stood, sweating profusely once again.
“Yona…!”
Yona stared blankly at the girl.
The radiant and dazzling, once so holy and beautiful light that she had once admired.
The brilliant and sacred light, which she had once pursued.
In that light, a girl named Vigrind sparkled.
With Vigrind in the middle, the Pope and Ludvik were aiming their weapons at each other.
On either side, dozens of cathedral knights were also brandishing their weapons, glaring at Yona as if they were ready to kill her.
“Nun Yona of the Church of the Celestial God, surrender now.”
The solemn voice of Pope Akzel IV echoed.
“Though you too are human, you have strayed from the mercy of the Celestial God and fallen prey to the temptations of a demon. It is indeed a grave sin, but if you surrender now—”
“If I surrender.”
Pope Akzel IV’s face hardened.
Decades spent living as a pope.
No one had ever cut him off so blatantly.
But Yona stood her ground.
The only difference was the god they served.
Even though Yona still knew nothing about the god she worshipped, she was fundamentally the saint of the ‘Demon Realm.’
Regardless, she was in no way inferior compared to the pope.
“The Pope of the Church of the Celestial God, Akzel IV, and the saint of the Church of the Celestial God, Vigrind.”
Yona quietly closed her eyes.
She could still feel the palpable hostility around her.
Only the murderous intent aimed at her surrounded her.
The raging magic was calming down.
Like a lie, the mere fact that she had retrieved Alex filled her heart with an unmatchable calm.
Everything else seemed unimportant.
“You are already my enemies. Just as I am yours, we have become people who cannot stand under the same sky. Yet you ask me to surrender—aren’t you a bit too shameless?”
“I do not understand what you are saying, heretic. You are merely a spawn of evil who has fallen for the temptations of a demon. What kindness should we show to someone like you?”
“I never asked for kindness. I just wanted to live peacefully. Yes, peacefully.”
Yona opened her eyes and glared at Pope Akzel IV.
The pope, Akzel IV.
He had never directly harmed Yona.
But she had witnessed everything too clearly.
Alex, desperately trying to protect a dazed Yona from the sudden explosion of magic.
Alex, who had pleaded for a chance to fulfill his calling to the pope.
But what had he done?
Now he says—
“That’s just laughable… really. You are all so shameless. Absolutely shameless. It’s truly pathetic. Only now, after everything, you have so much to say.”
The longer the words went on, the more Yona’s anger flared up again.
One by one, the reasons behind how it had all come to this.
In all of those reasons, had Yona and Alex done anything wrong?
No.
They had done not a single thing wrong.
Vervaria descended upon Kapatia Port, and they had stopped it.
They helped Ceres and prevented the troubles of Semek.
That was all.
And—
Oh.
Suddenly, Yona’s thoughts came to a halt.
Kapatia Port.
Vervaria.
—Rubina.
“…Where is Rubina?”
Rubina.
The girl with black hair.
Small and cute, she was a girl who adored her older sister.
A Girl in Pursuit.
Finally, Yona managed to remember Rubina.
*
Amid the sudden commotion, Rubina was trembling in a corner, quaking in fear.
Although the hymn had ended and the crowd exited, right behind the courtroom was the waiting room concealed by curtains.
There, Rubina, surrounded by a jumble of children, was feeling an inexplicable chill.
And then she heard a familiar voice.
Though it sounded like he was in pain, it was undeniably Alex’s voice.
Rubina wanted to immediately pull back the curtain and rush out to check.
Why was big brother Alex here, and where had big sister Yona gone?
But she lacked the courage, hugging her knees and shaking all over.
Then came the collapse, unmistakably Yona’s voice following that.
Then, Scarlett’s heartbreaking scream echoed—
Rubina wanted to cover her ears from it all.
But she couldn’t do that.
Because she could hear the voice of the sister she adored, she couldn’t.
So Rubina just held back her tears, hidden among the thick curtains as the rod crashed down in the chaos.
“—Where is Rubina?”
At last, she heard big sister Yona’s voice.
Yet, Rubina couldn’t step forward to shout that she was there.
Instinctive terror and dread.
If she pulled aside the curtain covering her, the Yona that Rubina remembered would vanish forever.
Rubina instinctively understood that.
“Isn’t it Rubina… the girl from the choir? Then, behind that curtain…”
She heard Ceres’s voice.
She would have preferred if Ceres had just pretended not to recognize her, but Rubina, in her childlike impulsiveness, yanked the curtain down.
And suddenly, bright—golden, radiant light and the scene of the courtroom mixed with red and black magic.
Standing in the midst was Yona.
Her left sleeve had disappeared, revealing a dark tattoo on Yona’s arm.
Yona radiated a frightening aura of pure black and red.
“Yona… sister?”
Rubina recoiled at the sight.
She called Yona’s name in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Rubina…!”
Yona was approaching her.
With arms wide open, at least her face looked as it always had—
Rubina instinctively spread her arms, wanting to run towards Yona.
But something was even faster.
Faster than Rubina could run.
Faster than Yona could approach.
The face of the Holy Knight, who snatched Rubina up before either of them could react.
“…You, your name was definitely Luis.”
The leader of the Holy Knight Brigade, Luis, who had been with her during the funeral flood in Cemetery Village Semek.
He had grabbed Rubina and held a dagger to her throat.
“Surrender, heretic!”
“…What?”
Yona’s eyes flared fiercely.
She couldn’t calmly process the situation unfolding before her.
I couldn’t accept it as it was.
“Lord Luis! Stop it! What the hell are you doing!”
“Stop it right now! What are you doing to the child?”
“Lord Luis!”
The voice of Pope Akzel IV trying to intervene,
the ridiculous voice of Ceres,
the scolding voice of Priest Vigrind,
and even the voice of Ludvik telling him to stop.
None of it could be heard.
Not a single sound.
“If that heretic surrenders, everything will be resolved! Even the Celestial will forgive—”
“Uuuaaaaaaaah!!!!!”
Yona’s scream erupted.
Along with it, magic began to swirl into a storm once more.
Again—again.
That despicable crowd even took Rubina hostage.
I couldn’t even understand why it had to come to this,
but once again, again, again—
Yona’s rage ignited like never before.
Holy Knight Brigade leader or whatever, who cares whether that thing is human—
The magic began to blaze from Yona, whose eyes were bloodshot in furious madness.
“Su-surrender! Then, th-then this child—!”
“Shut uuuuuuuuuup!!!!!”
Yona’s roar reverberated.
The storm of magic transformed into something beyond a mere storm.
Even the Radiant Incantations that Vigrind had set up started to twist in that storm,
and the courtroom began to collapse more violently within the tempest of magic.
“Why, why are you going this far, this far—! What on earth is the reason for this—!!!”
The magic turned into flames and became snakes.
Several pitch-black snakes rose and charged at Luis, who was aiming a dagger at Rubina’s throat.
In the blink of an eye, the snakes that lunged at Luis ensnared his limbs, crushing his armor and breaking his bones.
Ultimately, it even snapped his cervical vertebra, causing Luis to collapse grotesquely, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle, eyes rolled back in shock.
Yona no longer spoke.
Even Luis’s corpse was incinerated by the magic’s fury, as Yona approached and lifted Rubina into her arms.
Even without a blessing, the magic didn’t dare touch Rubina.
Though it meant that this magic was now under Yona’s will, Yona paid it no mind.
Holding Rubina tightly, Yona looked up at the sky.
The full moon shone brightly.
Staring up at that full moon, Yona shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Vervaria—!!!”
The full moon began to stain with blood.
Suddenly, the blood-red clouds obscured the moon, and within them, the shadow of a massive serpent began to emerge.
The gigantic serpent appeared to be descending.
Its nine heads came together into one gigantic head,
and it opened its mouth wide—
– Kuquaaan!!!!
With a thunderous roar, Vervaria descended upon the courtroom.
As a result, the courtroom began to collapse entirely,
and the destruction continued on for a considerable time.
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