Chapter 137

Not only that.

Firex raised his head, gritted his teeth, and adjusted the command of the magic cannon. The barrage that had been bombarding the throne’s high platform suddenly shifted direction in midair, pouring down toward Sheffy like a waterfall.

Thus, she was besieged from three sides.

Uh... Sheffy thought to herself...

——Was this really necessary?

In the end, wasn’t she just a passerby trying to mediate?

And yet they actually tried to gang up on a weak peacemaker—did they have no humanity at all!

The way things unfolded, she even suspected that today’s events were deliberately orchestrated against her.

As the threefold attack rushed toward her, time in Sheffy’s eyes slowed. The space around her seemed to lose its color.

That was her mind working on a countermeasure.

The attack range was a bit too wide.

If she directly used the same 【Reflection】 she had employed earlier to block the Reflection Demon Crystals, there was over a ninety percent chance that it would cause heavy casualties among the spectators.

And if she simply retaliated with magic equal to—or stronger than—the magic cannon...

It would no longer be a matter of heavy casualties. The innocent would be reduced to nothing but ashes and dust.

Defense would not do, and counterattack would be even worse.

Other absorption-type magics required time to activate, so they were out of the question.

Hmm... this was a bit troublesome.

Sheffy was not afraid of seeing death, but she did not want unrelated people to die because of her.

——That was the same reason why she had left the battlefield.

Well, so be it.

After all, they were the ones who had first shown killing intent and sought to take her life, right? And now they still expected her to weigh the consequences carefully—wasn’t that far too unreasonable?

Still, Sheffy would do her best, using precise magical control to preserve as many spectators as possible.

She also wished them good luck—that they might dodge in time.

Staying to watch without fleeing was unwise.

Time’s flow returned to normal.

Just as Sheffy dispelled 【Reflection】, preparing to take on the threefold magic head-on with her bare hands and hurl it skyward...

Two familiar and pleasant voices suddenly surrounded her.

“Sheffy!”

“Royal Sister...! Over here!”

The Tenth-Rank magic ambush from behind was cleanly sliced in two by Xiarette, who had teleported over with the Holy Sword in her hand.

The five Reflection Demon Crystals from the front were all shattered into pieces by Belith, who had leapt down from the Demon Clan’s platform and cut them apart with her blade of magic.

With no more spells reflecting toward the stands, only the torrent of magic cannon fire rained down from the sky.

Sheffy raised her barrier and pushed it back with ease, with no more concerns.

The colossal magic was forced high into the sky before exploding.

It burst into a magnificent firework, illuminating the eyes of everyone present.

Sheffy felt the firm support at her back—Xiarette’s back pressed against hers.

Likewise, Belith, who was standing in front of her, turned her head back. In her eyes burned an ever-stronger desire to protect her Royal Sister.

Oh ho...

So I had reinforcements too!

“Sheffy, are you alright...? Sorry, it took me a little while to finish off that Tenth-Rank old hag.”

“Now then, swift strike!”

“Not following Father and Mother back really was the right choice. Royal Sister, I just came back and already caught you stirring up trouble again!”

Golden and violet magic particles swirled around Sheffy from front and back, warming her heart.

You two, honestly...

Even if you hadn’t come, I still wouldn’t have been in danger.

——But I might have felt really cold inside.

So, you arrived just in time...

Hehe, now I’m happy—I’ve got reinforcements too. Firex, doesn’t this make you mad!

The three of us working together, united as one, our strength would cut through iron. We would surely be invincible and...!

“Tch... damn busty blonde woman... Does Royal Sister really need your help? Know your place!”

“Hm...? Just now I thought I heard some annoying noise. Must’ve been some kind of animal that bites! Sheffy, did you hear it?”

“You’re both wrong. I didn’t bark, nor do I bite.”

““We weren’t talking about you!!””

“......”

We... we were supposed to be invincible... unbeatable...?

First of all, please stop quarreling.

This makes my reinforcements look silly.

---

49. Extreme Dark Nova (4K)

The bombardment of the magic cannon came to a stop.

Far away in the depths of the forest, the barrel of the magic cannon had already been burned red-hot by overloaded magic. It could no longer function.

The magic cannon strike had not shattered the heavens as expected. The Kingdom’s Knight Order had already reached the charred high platform, escorting all the royal family members off it. Every member of the royal family was safe and sound.

The Second Prince, Milh, had just awakened from the brief faint caused by the magic storm that had flung him away.

He turned back to see the royal family being escorted away from the battlefield, while in front of him stood the silent back of Firex.

His heart gave a violent jolt. Milh scrambled and stumbled to Firex’s side, only to raise his head and be startled again.

——The two Demon Princesses and the Kingdom’s Hero were right across from them, as if they could strike to kill at any moment!

“Firex...! What do we do now... you still have a way, don’t you... I know you always have ways! Hurry, tell me, what should we do now! Father and the others have already begun retreating. This is our only chance, we absolutely cannot let them escape...! Especially that Livra... that one must die! You must have another card to play, right! You—”

“Can you stop shouting? You sound like a stray dog that’s lost its home. It’s disgusting.”

“You...! What did you just say?!”

“Oh no, I’m wrong... The stray dog should actually be me, shouldn’t it?”

The sky was gray and heavy.

Firex lifted his head, staring at that suffocating sky. As his mood willed, a fine drizzle began to fall.

He could not be bothered to tell the useless prince behind him—there was nothing left they could do.

Look at the exalted Pope’s high platform.

At some unknown moment, the Pope had already vanished, leaving behind only an empty stage, without a care for Firex’s life or death.

There was no need for resentment.

After all, the lofty Pope had never needed to care about the life of a mere dog. His departure was only natural.

What the Pope left behind was a Magic Amplification Crystal that fell to the ground. With a dull echoing voice, it spread across every corner of the arena. The experts of the Holy Theocracy of Coreia who had been scattered across the place heard it and quickly took the chance to withdraw from battle and retreat from the grounds.

They knew—they should not remain here any longer.

There was no point in staying.

【A solemn decree to all citizens of the Holy Theocracy of Coreia: regardless of whether you came here willingly or were deceived and misled by traitors such as Firex, you are ordered to immediately withdraw from the Kingdom of Aurus. So long as you are believers of Coreia, you must obey my command. Any who disobey shall never again step foot into Coreian lands for the rest of their lives.】

As the chaos began to settle, the royal family was escorted to safety, and the Knight Order focused their strength on evacuating the spectators.

The grand festival came to an end, hurried and hollow like a fleeting play.

Through 【Visual Magic】, Sheffy spread her sight far into the distance. It seemed the Pope had already set up 【Teleportation Magic】 outside the borders of Aurus, and the moment he realized things had failed, he had swiftly fled.

At first, Sheffy had no patience left to keep conversing with such a traitorous mastermind.

But as she gazed at the night sky, now growing desolate with drizzle, and at Firex, staring blankly upward with hollow eyes...

She pressed her hands down gently, signaling Xiarette and Belith to stay their attacks for now.

There was no rush to kill him.

For what Firex had done today, he could not escape death.

The gloomy rain had already pronounced his sentence.

But there was no need to hasten it in this brief instant.

Killing had never been something worth rushing.

“Looks like your Pope has abandoned you,” Sheffy said with scorn, listening as the Amplification Crystal played the same false decree a second time. “And you’ve become his complete scapegoat. Hmph... though you were never a good dog yourself, the Theocracy’s ability to cast off all responsibility so cleanly is indeed impressive. Don’t you intend to defend yourself with a few words? Although, even if you did, you’d still die all the same.”

“Heh... forgive the shame, Princess. His Holiness has always been like this. Power struggles have always worked that way.”

“Do you hate me?”

“No. It was nothing more than my own doing.”

Xiarette and Belith exchanged a glance. They seemed not to fully understand the meaning of this conversation.

No, in truth, it was only Xiarette who did not understand.

Belith met her gaze purely because she wanted to laugh at her for being a fool.

This was Royal Sister’s final mercy before carrying out slaughter...

Royal Sister was strong, cold-blooded.

But she was also gentle, fragile.

Like a butterfly brushing its wings, knocking dewdrops off the flowers, she, too, once turned back to see if the tiny drops shed tears.

Yet alas, dewdrops were tears by nature—joy or sorrow could not be told from them.

Even so... Royal Sister still wished that every living being who died because of her would land upon the earth with a sound that carried weight.

Firex sank to the ground where he stood, let out a heavy sigh with a bitter smile, and in his eyes there flickered a trace of gratitude.

The power of the Demon Clan Princess far exceeded his expectations. But his failure was not truly because of her.

His defeat had, in fact, been fated long ago.

When had it begun...?

Too far back—so far that he could barely remember.

All that lingered was the memory of a great fire, and a ground covered in blood.

The family Firex had been born into was one of the great noble houses of Coreia. They stood as pillars of the Theocracy, resplendent in power and prestige, executing the Pope’s decrees with unmatched glory.

And yet, even such a seemingly unassailable house was utterly destroyed over a trivial matter.

Merely because a small mishap occurred in the process of transporting war supplies to the Kingdom, the Pope issued the order under the charge of embezzlement—wiping out Firex’s family, sparing only Firex, then just in his twenties, and a handful of his brothers.

Everyone knew that such a minor issue should never have led to the annihilation of an entire house.

But they also knew the truth—that the Pope’s decree had nothing to do with war supplies.

Their family’s rapid rise had threatened the Pope’s authority. Blood had to be spilled to reaffirm power.

On that night of massacre, Firex stared dumbly at the countless severed heads scattered across the ground. For the first time, beyond the intoxication of power, he came to understand one thing.

Above power... there existed absolute power.

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