On the way back to the Empire from the Wirend Kingdom, nothing obstructed their path again.
The border zone was the same. Princess Brigitte, the Emperor of Astes, had certainly taken measures.
Duke Yuma returned to the Astes Empire with his party.
Since the Wirend Kingdom had maintained an alliance for years, the probability of further friction was significantly low.
Yuma prioritized creating an environment for Yulicia, the Holy Maiden of the now-collapsed Evil God Piggero, to stabilize after the death of the Evil God Malphas.
“……”
He carefully watched Yulicia, a woman with long silver hair.
Her heartbeat and pulse were steady. Now, all they could do was wait for her to regain consciousness.
Then, clunk!
The door to the room where Yulicia lay suddenly opened.
A girl with short silver hair and bright yellow eyes emerged.
It was Yulian, Yulicia’s younger sister, who looked just like her.
Yulian had returned safely to the Empire thanks to the troops that Princess Brigitte had sent.
“Sister.”
Yulian gazed blankly.
Yuma sent the others out and sat beside Yulian, who was staring at the unconscious Yulicia.
Yulian kept her anxious eyes fixed on Yulicia.
Yuma turned to Yulian and spoke.
“Yulicia’s actions were… she said they were for you. It’s to prepare for the likelihood that you’d get embroiled in her affairs later. And mostly, it was for her benefactor, Maien, the first Holy Maiden of Piggero.”
Yulian slowly nodded.
She raised herself and bowed to Yuma.
“Thank you for freeing my sister.”
Yuma shook his head slowly at Yulian’s gratitude.
“It’s a debt I owe. Yulicia helped me.”
Yuma stepped outside.
Princess Brigitte was approaching him.
“Welcome back, Yuma.”
“Yeah, Brigitte.”
Brigitte placed her right hand on Yuma’s black coat.
“Fortunately, you weren’t hurt.”
“There was no room for injury.”
“You successfully halved the Evil Gods.”
“Indeed.”
Yuma recalled the words of the Goddess of Earth and Eternity, Leah, with whom he had been communicating.
She had said that if the number of Evil Gods was halved, the balance of the Divine Realm, which was currently tilted toward the main gods, would be restored, allowing him entry into the Divine Realm.
And just yesterday, by killing the “Vicious God of Sacrifice,” Malphas, he had effectively taken down four of the Evil Gods.
“It seems we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see what happens next.”
Now, the notification windows that had popped up every time he killed a god were nowhere to be seen.
In a situation where even the lamp couldn’t be seen,
Duke Yuma was simply guessing that Malphas’ death would cause a huge upheaval in the Intermediate World and the Divine Realm.
*
Bell tied her blue hair up.
In front of her was a mirror.
“Uh.”
Bell let out a light sigh.
Nothing was coming together easily.
Not her martial arts. Not Yuma.
“… Always too far ahead.”
The world had flipped upside down.
Not just once, but several times. Now she had become a Grand Sword Master and an Apostle of the God of War, yet everything felt meaningless in front of Yuma who had transcended to become a god.
Bell shifted her pink-hued gaze towards the wall. A sword was leaning against it. She fiddled with the scabbard.
Finally, a sense of mental stability had somewhat returned.
She knew what Yuma was going to do now.
Eradicate all the remaining deities of the Divine Realm and their remnants so that no one could invade the Intermediate World.
Bell still felt that those remaining tasks were daunting.
‘It must really be tough.’
The sense of helplessness wouldn’t be much different from Yuma’s position either.
She didn’t want to keep managing this anxious feeling alone.
Thud thud
Bell quickened her steps.
The direction she headed was the training hall. She didn’t think it would be empty. After all, there were many people living in the royal palace who were also filled with the desire to grow strong, just like her.
‘As expected.’
Bell chuckled softly.
Her lips curled up at the sight that matched her expectations.
A Cat-Folk Swordsman with orange hair and cat ears gritted her teeth and swung her sword, sweat dripping from her forehead.
“Hestia!”
Hestia looked at Bell, who called out to her with her green eyes.
“Yeah, Bell.”
Bell picked up a wooden sword displayed in the training hall with her right hand and handed it over.
Hestia grasped the hilt of the wooden sword.
Hestia was still at the advanced level of Sword Expert.
In just one year.
Not making it to Master wasn’t that pessimistic of a reality.
Because this was a level that most swordsmen couldn’t even reach.
And most who achieved the advanced level often stagnated there without progressing further.
Hestia didn’t feel disappointed.
On the contrary, she considered it a blessing that she was slowly climbing up. If she had completely stagnated, she would have fallen into despair, but since there was definite progress, she didn’t feel hopelessly frustrated.
Bell smiled brightly.
“Let’s have a spar after a long time.”
Hestia grinned. Her formerly droopy orange cat ears perked up.
“Sure.”
Two swordsmen swung their wooden swords at each other. The disparity in strength was significant, but from the perspective of a swordsman not using combat energy, this duel was a valuable training opportunity for both Hestia and Bell.
Right now, the important thing wasn’t the help; it was just about getting some physical activity to clear their minds.
*
Cloney raised her staff into the air.
Layers of red circles appeared in front of the staff.
Falling leaves in a crimson color floated forth from the red circles.
“Wow…!”
A girl standing next to her exclaimed. It was Yulian, Yulicia’s younger sister, along with Garoon, the younger brother of the second holy maiden of Piggero, Elfin.
Cloney looked at the floating leaves with a wry smile.
“This is really a pointless spell, isn’t it?”
Yulian shook her head. Her gaze alternated between the lush green trees and the red leaves created by Cloney.
“No, I don’t think it’s pointless. It’s pretty!”
The brown-haired boy, Garoon, nodded slowly.
“Yes, it seems useful.”
Cloney blushed at the compliments from the two.
“Thanks for the praise! This is the first spell I created, and I was wondering whether to show it or not since I thought it might be useless.”
Yulian’s yellow eyes widened.
“…You created a spell?”
“Yes.”
Although Yulian asked in surprise, Cloney continued to reply calmly.
“Now that I’m a 7th circle mage, I can create various types of magic. The basic foundation of this is illusion magic. With just a little twist to the incantation, I can turn it into attack or defense magic!”
Garoon chuckled.
“They say a 7th circle mage transcends imagination, and it really is true.”
Cloney blinked.
“I thought creating this magic was pretty awesome, but everything around me became so unreal that I didn’t think much about it even after creating it.”
“It’s beautiful.”
That voice wasn’t Garoon or Yulian’s. It was Duke Yuma’s voice.
Yuma observed the illusion magic that Cloney had cast intently. The crimson leaves were flowing with a red current inside.
“You did well, Cloney.”
Yuma placed his right hand on Cloney’s shoulder. Ultimately, the one who suffered the most was Cloney. You could say she had risked her life infiltrating the enemy territory.
Thanks to Cloney, they were able to defeat Malphas and cut down the evil god’s strength by half.
“Yes, my lord Yuma.”
Yuma’s gaze shifted. He looked back and forth between Garoon, brother of Elfin, the holy maiden of Piggero, and Yulian, Yulicia’s younger sister.
I exchanged glances with them.
Garoon and Yulian stood frozen like statues. This was the typical reaction of most people from the Astes Empire when they saw Duke Yuma.
It was as if they had encountered a Medusa, halting completely or suddenly bowing down. Their actions fell into one of these two categories.
They had no idea what sort of trouble they were in.
In the end, both could be said to be associated with whatever mess they had gotten into.
“You two could say you owe me a debt. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the Empire. I’ll support you in doing what you want. If you don’t have anything particular in mind, I could even look for a job related to the royal family for you.”
Garoon and Yulian’s eyes widened.
Then they bowed deeply.
It was the declaration of the Grand Duke of the Astes Empire, an unnameable existence.
Garoon hesitated for a moment before speaking up.
“Can we become knights? I mean, knights of the Empire.”
It seemed Garoon had a desire to become a knight.
Yuma replied nonchalantly.
“Sure, that’s also something related to the royal family, so it’s possible.”
Garoon smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
When Yuma looked at Yulian, she awkwardly smiled.
“I think… I won’t be able to do anything until my sister wakes up.”
Yuma had no intention of rushing her.
“Right, that’s understandable. I’m sorry. That’s just how it is.”
Yulian shook her head.
“Thank you for caring.”
Cloney, who had been silent until then, finally spoke.
“You mentioned you have a talent for magical engineering, right? You might be able to conduct more in-depth research here in the Empire than in the Wirrend Kingdom. Once the situation stabilizes, I’ll try to make an opportunity for you.”
Yulian’s yellow eyes widened at Cloney’s words.
“Oh, did you hear from my sister that I was studying magical engineering?”
Cloney smiled.
“Yes, we had quite a few conversations. Lady Yulicia is a strong and remarkable person in every way, so she’ll definitely recover.”
“Yes, she will. She’s amazing.”
Yulian couldn’t believe her sister would leave this world just like that.
Yuma felt the noisy world gradually settling down.
He gazed at the setting sun.
‘Show me the results of killing Malphas quickly, Leah.’
Yuma waited for the voice of the Goddess of the Earth and Eternity, Leah, to resonate in his mind. He needed to get his bearings right.
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