ALL NOVEL Chapter 440
The demon has been annihilated.
Not a single corpse was left behind, hiding its existence from the world.
Yet the battlefield, still heated and restless, showed no signs of cooling down.
“The demon is dead!”
“It’s not over yet! These crazy fools are charging at us instead of fleeing, even after their demon has fallen!”
“Dragon! Protect the fallen dragon! These bastards still have something left!”
Despite the death of the demon that was supposed to be the object of their faith, they continued to fervently follow something and pursue martyrdom.
“Listen, Royal Regular Army! The foul beast of the cult was not just a disgusting creature hiding in our kingdom! You must ensure that not even a single scale of it escapes our grasp!”
With demons attempting to exploit the rift created by the demise of the demon, the knights, fueled by determination to survive, began to clash with them.
Led by the aged headmaster of the Academy, the royal sorcerers swept through the battlefield. Amid the cold, the once-mighty dragon now cold and lifeless, they erected a barrier.
“Royal Knights Order and priests, rescue the Count immediately!”
Those given orders by the special mission team and Adelhaite hurried towards Ainel.
Upon the arrival of Shione, she was horrified by Ainel’s dire condition.
‘What should I do…!’
The knight who had been brandishing his sword so violently against demons was now nowhere to be found.
Kneeling with her head bowed, Ainel Shianella was pouring blood as if she could die at any moment.
Her already pale skin turned a sickly shade, and her eyes, always gleaming, were growing dim—showing clearly that she was withering away like a dying candle hanging by a thread.
Shione urgently cried out.
“Priest…! The priest of the special mission team, stay near my mother!”
The priests who arrived late were fervent, drenched in sweat, treating her, not wanting to lose their parent right before their eyes, despite being in a precarious state themselves.
Warm energy enveloped her body, blessing her, gradually returning one foot teetering on the threshold of death back toward the living.
Slowly, Ainel lifted her head, confirming her daughter’s figure through her foggy vision.
“…Did you manage to kill the demon?”
“Not a speck of dust remains! Your sword struck the demon down…!”
“That’s wonderful news. Having killed a dragon and a demon in a single day, the Count’s House will once again be the envy of everyone.”
“That’s an achievement my mother brought about; you must see it for yourself! For now, let’s focus on stabilizing ourselves with mana rather than overextending. Here, take my mana potion—”
“It’s alright; you should drink that yourself. Your face is pale; you’ve been through a lot too.”
“No, I insist….”
“In any case, I can’t handle mana now.”
“……?”
“It seems I’ve sustained a major fracture in the vessel that holds mana. No matter how much one is a master, if they push their limits, their body will inevitably break. Trying to force mana in this state means it will just leak out through the cracks.”
For Shione, who had longed to become like her mother, accepting that her idol’s brilliant wings had been clipped was an unbearable reality.
As Shione opened and closed her mouth repeatedly without being able to utter a word, Ainel simply smiled faintly and continued.
“Shione, there’s something I want to brag about, and I hope you’ll listen.”
“…….”
“Somehow, it feels like I’ve faced that bright star you saw. Thanks to that, I was able to deal the final blow to the demon and stay alive enough to speak like this. You know what’s funny? The one who showed me that bright star was the guide who could barely move. It seems like someone who can’t even keep themselves together is worrying about someone else.”
“Head of the Family, moving now might reopen your wounds…!”
Ainel slowly dragged her body towards Shione, who was kneeling before her.
Despite the warning from the priest about the wound reopening and the pain that gripped her heart and twisted her insides, Ainel didn’t stop moving as she continued to speak.
“And after seeing that bright star, I realized something. Shione, I understand just how heavy the burdens you must carry are. It crossed my mind that I’ve treated you so terribly, being so ignorant of the weight you bear.”
“Mother, you mustn’t move…!”
Ainel embraced Shione.
It couldn’t exactly be called a hug since her broken body was limp and couldn’t muster any strength.
“…What am I doing to elicit such a pained expression from you? I’m sorry; when you were little, I neglected you. I showed you neither affection nor even interest. Even beasts cherish their young. I was less than a beast.”
“…….”
“As Siabel said. I suppose I’ll have to spend my whole life atoning for what I’ve done to you. And… even now, thinking back on what happened, I feel that what I sent you as my first gift isn’t sufficient to atone for my wrongs.”
She weakly held Shione, resting her head on her daughter’s shoulder, whispering.
“The guide saved my life, so I wish to stand proudly before you again after overcoming this crisis. You don’t have to forgive me. However, I will always stand by your side. Even if belatedly, as your mother, I will do my utmost. I cannot die in a place like this.”
“…….”
“So, even if the Baron and I fall into slumber and don’t wake up for a while, you must wait patiently.”
“…I will wait patiently, just as you say, Mother.”
“Now I feel just a little relieved.”
At the end of her fading voice, she said.
“I love you, Shione.”
Ainel, for the first time, let her second daughter know that she loved her, then lost consciousness.
Soon Ainel was transported to Arael Fortress along with the royal knights’ escort and many priests for urgent treatment.
After healing her wounds, Diolia returned to the battlefield, observing the sight of the war that was finally beginning to clear.
“Princess Shione, you don’t look well.”
“Lady Diolia.”
“I am listening.”
“Can a shattered vessel be restored?”
“…It’s difficult.”
“…….”
“But… it isn’t impossible.”
“What do you mean?”
“If it’s a treasure brimming with vitality, they say it can restore the vessel and create new possibilities. And fortunately, the elves of the Great Forest possess that treasure.”
After the miracle invoked by the spirit of the special mission team’s deputy commander had ended.
The sharp cold of the northern winds returned to the battlefield.
“I see. Then that’s good.”
Shione sighed softly.
As her breath puffed up and covered her face, when it cleared, her previously obscured face reappeared.
“Then let’s hurry up and clean this up. We’re left with nothing but a ragtag bunch without a demon.”
Shione’s eyes gleamed sharply.
*
The war at Arael Fortress entered a lull.
Adelhaite spoke.
“Lady, the demon that was said to handle corpses has appeared in the empire. Its power manifested without any premonition, having killed all the monsters in the north and created an army of lions, and it seems it plans to invade the east of Arael Fortress.”
Arriving later than planned at Arael Fortress was to incinerate all those corpses to eliminate the threat.
“If it’s the demon of corpses… I’ve experienced its power in the Great Forest as well.”
“It was a bizarre power. We must clearly understand why a force that should be consuming the empire is extending into the Great Forest and kingdom.”
Thus, even after killing the demon of gluttony, they couldn’t hastily declare an end to the war or victory.
The threat was still present.
Days later, as they launched a fierce counterattack against the cultists who had disappeared from the central fortress and the eastern fortress, they began to catch them.
“The cultists who infiltrated the kingdom’s north. We now know where their roots originate.”
“What do you mean?”
“They are a faction of zealots deeply rooted in the empire. Among the demon-worshippers, those who were discarded for not being chosen by the original demon. I believe those we faced this time seduced by the demon, conjured schemes using the kingdom as a stage.”
“So, the corpses faced by Your Highness the Princess—”
“Are either the desperate struggles of discarded shamans still holding faith in the corpses or some selected individuals who secretly crossed over from the empire, plotting to plunder the remains of the dragon. That’s how it appears.”
“That’s cruel.”
“Indeed. Therefore, we will first eliminate all cultists hiding in the north before announcing our victory.”
The northern enemies were these interlopers from the empire.
Their influence reached into the kingdom, and the number of soldiers who had died senselessly due to them and the demons was beyond counting. The northern eradication operation was ongoing.
“…Have the Count and Baron still not awoken?”
Even during such turmoil, there were still those who hadn’t awakened.
The two knights who had pushed their bodies too hard had yet to regain consciousness.
The physician who routinely checked on them at Adelhaite’s command reported.
“The Count’s condition has improved considerably. He should be able to rise shortly, having regained his vitality.”
“And what of Baron Ray Karpel?”
“…It seems the Baron has also regained his condition and vitality, but he still shows no signs of waking. We may need to wait a bit longer.”
Upon hearing the physician’s words, Adelhaite swallowed a sigh and whispered.
“Lady Shianella must be deeply troubled.”
Leading a diminishing special mission team, Shione Shianella took the initiative in hunting down the cultists, tirelessly remaining beside the Count and Baron after the difficult battle without resting.
As the worries of everyone concerning both of them grew larger and larger.
“It seems Count Shianella has finally opened his eyes!”
Finally, Ainel opened her eyes.
Not long after, the Baron also opened his eyes.
Rising from a long slumber, Ray was compelled to feel startled as he thrusted awake.
It wasn’t so easy to dismiss what felt too painfully vivid, the existence and conversations shared with them too clear to be a mere dream.
Before he could wrap up his feelings about it, he began to notice Ainel quietly watching over him.
“Oh, has my son-in-law awoken?”
“…Count, are you feeling alright?”
“Hah, caring about me so soon after waking up. Just call me mother-in-law from now on.”
“…That’s so sudden. What do you—”
“When I first woke up and saw Shione by my side, holding your hand affectionately like a lover, you can imagine just how stunned I was.”
His mind was still in a fog, finding it too difficult to accept the situation.
“Baron, can this really be true?”
“…Is that true?”
“Well, assuming I’m not blind in both body and mind, I must be seeing what I saw.”
Thinking this must be a dream, he laid back down, closing his eyes again.
“Baron, that’s quite enough; it’s time to get up.”
Ainel refused to allow him to do so.