The Male S*ave of the Count Sianella Family

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Swallowing a groan from the pain starting in my heart, I buried my face in Shione’s back, desperately trying to hold onto my sanity. Just a glance to the side confirmed that Arael Fortress was in chaos.

As a result of cultists, who had been tormenting us while siding with demons, swarming here, our battle had no choice but to revolve around Arael Fortress.

“Hanelrn, Theia, Dorothy.”

I saw the three commanders of the Baron Family, leading our family’s troops and shouting something as they surrounded Shione and me.

Just like how the Gluttony Demon had gazed at me with an eager appetite, it seemed to already know what kind of power I possessed. Was it preparing me for when it devoured a dragon? The fighting around me was especially fierce against the fanatics.

The three squads worked diligently to block the demon attacks, just like my spirits had done.

“Aria Alenarr.”

The Frost Wind Heavy Cavalry was still in motion. They were relentlessly chasing the injured Gluttony Demon, making it quite bothersome.

Seeing their spears embed into its body, it looked like they were successfully continuing their fight.

“The Royal Regular Army—”

They were seasoned.

The forces swiftly divided into two. Half of them were protecting the corpses of slain dragons alongside the exhausted Dragon Hunters, while the other half focused on killing the dragons and cultists.

“Evan Kalia too.”

Even though the Marquis Assassin Squad was surrounded by the elite knights of the Royal Regular Army, they were achieving significantly better feats.

Especially, covered in blood and with a face twisted in fury like a demonic fiend, the sight of Evan Kalia rolling on the ground, despite his wounds, only fueled the fierceness of their attacks. This was not an unsatisfactory sight either.

With that, Shione followed deeper into the heart of the battlefield where the dragon and fortress were fighting.

“Ray… just hold on a little longer!”

Her call became a small lifeline in the fading awareness surrounding me.

I squeezed out my voice, forcibly clutching onto my fading sanity, “Telling me to hold on while we’ve stepped deeper into the battlefield…?”

“I had no choice! Monsters and cultists were attacking from the eastern side of the fortress! The way back is blocked, and it’s strange how the enemies are focusing on you…!”

Seems like the situation was far worse than I’d imagined.

Clicking my tongue inwardly, Shione continued.

“Soon, I’ll leave you to the commander of your family’s Knights’ Order. Our Special Mission Team Rangers will clear a path for you to enter the fortress. You just have to hold on a little longer.”

“So, what about you, Princess—”

“I have to stay here. Lady Diolia fell behind due to injury, and the Deputy Commander is in this state. I’m the only one left to properly lead the Special Mission Team. Besides—”

Shione’s bow pointed out ahead.

“My exhausted mother is holding off the demons all by herself.”

The moment her unique magic was infused into the arrowhead, the shot struck in the middle of the battlefield, driving back the magical forces.

Following the arrow’s path, I looked up to see the battlefield was brutal.

The ground was already flowing with the dragon’s blood. Ainel and Gluttony Demon were locked in battle.

They hadn’t swallowed much, but it seemed enough flesh had been torn for the now-empowered demon fight that Ainel was struggling to resolve alone. I had to speak.

“Commander! Please protect the Baron!”

“Leave it to me. I will ensure the Baron’s safe transport to the fortress, risking my own life.”

“That’s the sweetest thing I’ve heard. Since the commander trusted you, I’ll trust you too.”

Riding on Hanelrn’s words, I started to turn away from Shione. As I felt the fortress coming closer, my barely-held awareness began to fade once more.

The sounds that repeatedly pounded my ears and jostled my reason blended like a small stone dropping into still water. The clattering of Hanelrn’s iron armor felt like a soft bed beneath me.

Just when I was at the brink of only being able to close my eyes and breathe heavily, I heard a piercing scream.

“Mother!”

At Shione’s anguished cry, I opened my eyes and saw Gluttony Demon closing in, while Ainel struggled to hold it back. I could feel Hanelrn’s heart racing wildly.

‘Ainel, she’s going to die at this rate.’

Even in the haziness pulling me into a deep abyss, I could grasp that fact.

Turning my back to me, the knight barely holding a sword toward Gluttony’s unnaturally wide-open mouth had already fought fiercely against the dragon, pouring everything into stalling for time. She appeared to be recklessly pushing herself despite that, even more than I, who had handled spirits.

Ainel was preparing a technique she could never unleash now.

‘Was she originally prepared to die for this?’

The knight, driven solely by willpower, stood against the gluttonous attack, fully aware she’d lose her life. Yet, she intended to leave a mark no demon could erase with whatever spoils it devoured.

‘If that would make Shione a real person, I’d at least get a reward for it. To think someone who was so cautious to draw her sword would doubt me.’

Memory gaps from the intermittent fading awareness rendered any understanding of the battlefield.

So, I could not fathom why a noble like Ainel would choose to face death in such a situation, thrusting toward uncertain victory.

‘Especially since Shione is screaming for her.’

I had to prevent Ainel from meeting a glorious death just like that.

Moreover, given how annoying Gluttony had been as the sole entity bothering me all this time, I gathered my power gained from the Demonic Realm.

「The power I’ve reclaimed to defy death is far too insignificant.」

「Searching for the conditions for forced casting.」

「I lack the divine power necessary for supplementation.」

I thought I’d close my eyes in the worst of circumstances.

「Would you like to use the faith contained within the blessings of the World Tree, Eriantina?」

As my eyelids felt heavy, I sensed how dire my situation was.

‘Let’s see how you feel about it.’

That miserable creature was going to die here.

*

The demon turned out to be less formidable than I anticipated.

With two spirits significantly draining its life force, and countless knights thrusting their swords, I thought I could somehow win against such a weakened foe.

“What a strange mindset to try and take the prey we worked hard to capture.”

So amidst the chaotic battle filled with cultist hordes, I stomped down to face the demon that had finally made it through our knights and mages to stand before the dragon.

Even if my body creaked from the heavy shocks and excessive fighting, it didn’t matter. Having lived my life with a sword, I was confident in my swordsmanship.

“You vile demon, how dare you torment my daughter and the Baron!”

I had found my people, almost as if drawn from afar.

The weary face of Shione, who was late to join the fight leading the Special Mission Team, and especially the Baron, breathing heavily, occasionally opening his eyes to scan the battlefield, looked grim from a distance.

Fueled by burning rage, my sword descended upon the demon.

However—

“I got you—!”

In an instant, amidst the unease that enveloped me, the demon, which should have fallen with its front limbs severed, twisted unnaturally to evade my strike.

“Where do you think you’re going—!”

Chasing from behind, Ainel was startled as she managed to sever one of its back legs.

‘It should have clearly lost both legs.’

Yet, as I grew uneasy, my weary body shook, and in a flash, I could only manage to slice one of its legs, realizing what I had felt before was true.

Unjust violence.

Even if I poured every ounce of strength I possessed, it was uncertain how much damage I could inflict on the demon.

Facing the demon head-on, the more my attacks struck it, the more injuries I inflicted, yet fatigue only compounded.

‘Your Highness, the Princess…!’

For some reason, Adelehaight, battered and bruised, appeared just in time to aid me against the demon.

Finally, sensing the demon’s bizarre power had reached its limit, I realized—

“What the…!”

The demon, squeezing its disproportionate strength, proudly stood atop the dragon’s corpse.

“Ah—”

The demon, now glutted with the dragon’s flesh and blood, exuded a distinctly different power.

Ainel tightened her grip on her sword, thinking, ‘Have Shione and Ray dealt with such monsters all along?’

The two who fought at the Great Forest and Marquis Kalia had indeed achieved noteworthy feats as my daughter and the Baron, reminding me of how foolish it was to think I could have accomplished what they had.

‘I must kill this demon before it devours the dragon any further!’

With this resolve firming in my heart, I knew I was the only one capable of standing up against the demon now fattened by the Old Dragon’s flesh.

‘If I fail to kill it here, my daughter and the Baron will inevitably step onto this battlefield, whether by choice or by force.’

That demon, with its excessive greed, posed an overwhelming calamity.

The knights of the kingdom would be at risk, and ultimately, so would Shione and the Baron.

‘It’s my duty as the Head of the Count’s House to protect it.’

To Ainel, the Count’s House was a place rich with memories of her deceased wife, and it was a site where her three children, their legacy, resided.

She couldn’t allow her weakness to destroy what she hoped could one day return to its former state through healing the rift caused by her miserable past.

“…Who do you think you’re targeting?”

Rather than gluttonously feasting on the dragon any further, the demon’s gaze, filled with obsession, turned toward the Baron as he retreated.

The Baron had once saved my second child, who had crumbled due to her past mistakes. Now, he had become an integral part of the Count’s House’s family.

Chasing after the demon that charged with a thundering stampede, I shouted,

“Baron! I’ll provide cover! Just run forward!”

Adelehaight’s magic began incinerating all nearby demons to ashes.

However, her makeshift magic had limitations and could not fully bind the demon’s steps imbued with the force of calamity.

“How dare you attempt to kill someone…!”

Devouring our knights and mages as it surged forward, the living calamity sought to reach the Baron. But I succeeded in halting its advance.

Yet, my body was too worn to confront a demon that had feasted on a dragon.

While exchanging blows with the demon, thoughts scrolled through my mind slowly.

‘Her Highness the Princess vowed with her life.’

In the midst of her dirt-smeared face, which now bore a hint of rage unlike her usual self, she spoke back.

If I could throw my life away to inflict a fatal wound, surely the royal family, and I, would utterly eliminate the demon right there.

‘If I lose my life, Shione will—’

My eldest daughter, Siabel.

Unlike her deceased husband, she was a gem of a daughter who grew splendidly under my strict and scrutinizing gaze.

Having already prepared to become the matriarch, I was well aware of her capabilities.

So the Count’s House would continue without worry.

‘The connection between sisters that only Shione understands.’

The youngest, who had awakened divine power.

Sion Shianella had recently grown closer to Shione again.

One day, she would build connection bridges among the sisters, bringing laughter back into a space that had grown too tense with only women.

‘By their side would be the Baron and Lady Diolia.’

The two trusted figures would always stand by their children, offering constant counsel.

‘With the Baron, my second daughter would surely tread forward.’

Bravely advancing, she would one day shine brightly, leading the Count’s House.

‘Siabel said that we should live our lives forever repaying Shione for the favor she had shown us.’

Amidst battling the Gluttony Demon, I recalled that phrase and mustered my strength.

‘May saving the Baron be my form of atonement for my daughter.’

The seventh son held captive in iron bars. How Ray had first stood up to Shione and why he later risked his life to protect her.

Ainel didn’t truly know the reason. She had never asked him, for a mere slave was merely an object to control, not someone whose heart one might share.

However—

—In this moment, I pray you never ignore or disregard Lady Shione. Can’t we at least exchange greetings among family?

I had once worried endlessly that my neck might end up on the chopping block.

“Are you trying to give me advice right now?”

“No, it’s counsel. I just want what’s best for Shione.”

My thoughts drifted even as the winds of change began to stir.

Together, we had sworn to shield Shianella from any harm.

“How dare a demon think it can conquer the Count’s House, huh!”

With a growl, I taunted the demon clenching my sword.

As the demon lunged again, I intercepted its attack, launching it skyward. The exposed vital points flashed before me.

But I didn’t care.

At this point, I would offer my body as a launching pad for a fatal blow against the demon.

With all the strength left in my broken body, I pressed my final attack to the limit.

It felt as if the most important thing had shattered.

However.

“…!”

Before my intention could reach the demon, its retaliatory strike arrived unexpectedly fast, tearing through my armor and ripping into me.

‘Discomfort?’

That unreasonable strength emanating from the demon enveloped me.

Screech—!

As the demon’s claws grazed my chest piece, I felt it clearly.

Someone had aided me; without that help, I would surely have met my end.

“Aha…!”

What should have severed my body in two twisted reality.

Though the demon’s attack had undoubtedly cut through armor and skin, its claw failed to pierce my racing heart, leaving a gruesome wound while granting me a chance to react.

Standing unsteadily on my two legs even with those grave injuries, Ainel, unable to contain herself, laughed maniacally as she shouted,

“Is this what they call the morning star…!”

Ray Karpel.

The mad guide who would once again bring miracles upon the Count’s House while on the verge of dying.

Swish!

So Ainel’s sword made a quick cut through Gluttony, cleaving it in two.

Kicking its still-attached torso, I shouted,

“Your Highness the Princess!”

Ainel Shianella, who had collapsed like a rag doll, looked as if she could faint any second, yet forced her eyes open, glaring at the demon.

The demon, now furiously lunging toward living beings in mid-air, suddenly lost its recovery, head striking the ground.

“…How dare you not only bring alive demons but also corpses into our kingdom…!”

Adelehaight’s magic engulfed the demon in fury.

Boom—!

Shione’s arrow pierced its head as well.