ALL NOVEL Chapter 149
One day, I asked that person.
“You’re too reckless. What kind of resolve do you have to be so desperate?”
The sight of that person leaping into the perilous battlefield without hesitation, saving countless people, was shocking enough to send chills down my spine.
“It was just luck.”
But how long can that bad luck continue?
Even so, that person headed toward danger with more courage and daring than anyone else.
The honor of victory wasn’t important. Glory and pride were mere fleeting vanity.
They accepted the disaster of war to end the war that swallowed innocent lives. The noble sacrifice, risking becoming a cursed existence to save nameless people, should have been recognized by the compassionate Creator Deity.
“The Creator Deity? I doubt that lady is even recognizing anyone while leisurely enjoying her tea time right now.”
“That’s, that’s blasphemous! The merciful Creator Deity is always watching over us!”
Bam!
The King’s staff of the holy night smashed down on that person’s head.
That person rubbed their head and voiced their displeasure.
“No matter how much I pray, the Earth Mother doesn’t listen.”
“That can’t be true! Didn’t she send down the oracle to save the crowds caught in the disaster? It’s thanks to the oracle of the Holy Kingdom that we all came together like this.”
“To be precise, it was because a girl who received the miracle of the Saintess established a reverse harem at the Imperial Academy. The Earth Mother probably didn’t help.”
“Re-reverse harem?! It’s not like that!”
Bam!
The staff struck down again.
A bump swelled up on that person’s head, having been hit twice in the same spot.
“You dare speak such blasphemy before the second Saintess of the Holy Kingdom?! Repent now!”
“You’re right, reverse harem Saintess.”
The hero. The Sword Saint. The Mercenary King. The Sage.
The greedy Saintess dating four of the world’s greatest heroes simultaneously.
How impressive!
How did she manage to captivate those four men at once?
If you want to witness the art of relationship management, behold the second Saintess of the Holy Kingdom. Beatrice will gladly share her strategies for capturing handsome youths with her pure charm.
That person shrugged and continually teased.
“No! No way! That’s not it!”
“I get it, I get it. So just put down that cursed weapon already.”
As I threatened, gripping the King’s staff like a baseball bat, that person looked horrified and waved their hands.
It was almost a reflex.
Just how many times had they gotten hit to react with such terror at the sight of the staff?
“When will the war finally end?”
“Can I really defeat the Demon King?”
Can a simple country girl like me truly end the war?
I had never doubted the sacred trust.
But every time I recalled the oracle from the Creator Deity promising I would become the savior to save everyone, my doubts surfaced.
Despite having achieved many victories, the Demon King’s army and the cultist forces remained formidable. No matter how hard I fought on the front lines, it felt like I was blocked by a dense storm cloud with no signs of hope, making me voice my anxiety like a child throwing a tantrum.
“It will end.”
“What makes you so sure every time? Even if the Earth Mother has spoken….”
“I don’t believe in the Earth Mother’s oracle. I believe in you.”
“I’m just an endlessly weak and cowardly girl. My hands tremble whenever I recall the cruel sights of the battlefield.”
“I’m scared.”
And I was afraid.
Death was beckoning.
Every time I participated in the battlefield, I was threatened by that death.
The miracle of the Saintess and the oracle from the Creator Deity only masked my cowardice. I harbored a fear of wanting to throw away my heavy fate and run away from reality.
“Can I ever repay the favor of the Earth Mother?”
“Can I live up to the expectations and trust of countless believers?”
Every time suspicion and disbelief piled up, I felt like my whole self might break. When faced with the believers hoping for a miracle of salvation, I felt a deep humiliation regarding my own helplessness.
“I feel the same. I keep talking about confidence, but it’s nothing more than a façade.”
“That’s an excessive understatement. Edanant has saved over tens of thousands of people until now. How can you call that a façade?”
“It’s a façade. It’s just reckless struggles. Until now, I’ve just been lucky.”
“…….”
That couldn’t be true.
Edanant was undoubtedly different from someone like me.
I bit my lip, forcing down a pessimistic response.
Fear is contagious, after all.
I was terrified that fear would reach Edanant, so I had no choice but to swallow my anxiety.
“You’re doing great.”
“…What?”
“You’re doing well.”
Hearing the words I most wanted to hear from the one I trusted most made tears well up in my eyes.
Even though I knew it was just empty words trying to encourage me.
Did they see the dark fear coiling in my heart? Like someone with foresight into the future, they acted without hesitation, so it must have been obvious.
“No matter how scared, no matter how terrified, you never run away. You always prioritize your duty as the Saintess and have saved so many people. You’re far more amazing than the Creator Deity who simply watches from the heavens.”
“Uh…!”
That person smiled brightly and spoke.
With the kind reassurance that followed the smile, my face heated up.
I didn’t know how to respond.
Because it hit me harder since it was the genuine encouragement from someone who usually showed a mischievous side.
It became hard to meet their gaze. So, I quickly turned my head to hide my flushed face, making a sound like the kettle boiling over the fire.
“To think you’d target Bea while I stepped away for just a moment!”
“Edanant…! You heartbreaker! If you dare to charm innocent girls in the village, especially Bea, I will never let it slide, even for the sake of the Magic Tower’s reputation!”
When I was chatting with that person while looking at the campfire, our comrades came back.
It was the Mercenary King Felix and the Sage Madbay.
As the Hero and Sword Saint returned, the heavy atmosphere instantly transformed into lively chatter.
Felix and Madbay grabbed Edanant by the shoulders and forcibly pulled him away. Maximilian and Regnas exchanged subtle smiles while watching the raucous scene.
*
Though tormented by the brutal war, the fleeting memories of happiness, thanks to the comrades who always stood by my side, quickly flashed.
A passing light.
The echoes of the past granted to the deceased.
The consciousness of Beatrice, thoroughly consumed by the disaster of death, faded along with a faint smile. A new personality took control of the body.
“Edan… Edanant.”
I repeated the name of that person, whom I felt sorry for and grateful to at the same time.
At the same time, the witch with snow-white hair stepped forth, shattering the seal formed from the chill of death.
Slosh.
Slosh. Slosh. Slosh!!
Beatrice no longer exists.
Neither does the necessary evil summoned for the disaster of death.
A third persona. An aberration born from the forced merging of the miracle of the Saintess and the divine status of death.
The darkened cold winds surged, rattling the Demon King’s castle. In response, the cursed members of the Saintess party, now fallen, let out sharp roars.
“…You’ve come.”
As a new divine status born from the Creator Deity and the Disaster God announced its arrival—
A whirlwind of magical power surged.
It was definitely not far from the Demon King’s castle.
The beings of the mortal realm used long-range teleportation magic to raid the demon realm. As the surge of magical power struck around, demons and magical beasts liberated from the gray of the apocalypse converged like clouds.
“Defend it. Insects.”
The demons and magical beasts gathered to defend the Demon King’s castle.
But to the newly born Demon King of Death, such actions were nothing but pesky interruptions.
Edanant.
I must meet that person.
Those who stand in the way of my clearly vivid reunion with him are all obstacles regardless of their strength or kind. Thus, I decided to annihilate all the forces of the demon realm gathered around the Demon King’s castle.
“Twist and distort.”
The witch with flowing white hair stretched forth her hand.
Her grasp firmly aimed at the seal of the Holy Sword, thoroughly surrounding the Demon King’s castle.
Crack!
A thunderous sound rang, like lightning striking.
The sharp storm transformed the frigid winds into battering rams against the seal of the Holy Sword. However, the sanctity contained within the Sword, along with her own vitality, squeezed out in a desperate trance, refused to budge.
It could never be broken from within.
It would surely take hundreds of years for the seal to exhaust its power.
The Demon King of Death, realizing this, cursed the owner of the Holy Sword as he gnashed his teeth.
“Maximilian…!”
The ice-bound witch’s eyes glinted fiercely.
Her left eye blazed with pure white, symbolizing the miracle of the Saintess, while her right eye burned with blackness, manifesting the disaster of death.