Sion halted his thoughts and quickly leaped up as the evil god’s arm attacked the spot where he had been, causing a dent in the ground.
As he leaped, Sion aimed his sword directly at the evil god’s torso.
Thus began his “second” battle with the evil god.
Unfortunately, or rather, unquestionably unfortunate, his second battle with the Demon God was no better than the first.
Once again, Sion fought for a full month, and during that time, he suffered countless times from having his limbs and other body parts cut off and crushed—
[Kaaaah!]
Finally, he sacrificed his heart and sealed the evil god into the Abyss.
“Damn it.”
Half a day after giving his life and sealing the evil god, Sion was resurrected and immediately took the reins of his horse.
There was something he wanted to check out. As soon as possible.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
“L-Lady Laila is not in this castle! She disappeared four years ago!”
Arriving at the marquisate of Hildegarde on horseback, passing no countries on the way.
Sion had searched for Laila Hildegarde first, but he unexpectedly heard unsettling news.
“What?”
“I-I swear! We haven’t heard anything about the lady since then. I swear to the gods…”
Sion released the trembling servant of Marquis Hildegarde as if flicking him away.
‘Disappeared?’
A strange sense of certainty seized him.
No.
That was wrong.
Laila Hildegarde did not disappear.
She’s…….
Finding Laila, who ‘disappeared’ four years ago, would not be easy.
“Laila Hildegarde.”
But it was not an impossible task.
Sion found her in a rural estate of a small kingdom across the mountains.
He did not hesitate to point his sword at Laila, who froze at the sight of him as if she had seen a ghost.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Thunk, thunk.
In a dim, moving space, Sion opened his eyes with a languid body and concluded.
‘It’s her.’
Laila Hildegarde was the one responsible for turning back time and sending him to the past.
Sion had two reasons to make such a firm conclusion.
First.
Laila had left the Marquisate of Hildegarde early on, hiding her name and identity, living in secrecy.
As if she knew in advance that Sion would later appear at the Marquis of Hildegarde’s estate and kill everyone…
Second.
He woke up in the past as soon as he cut Laila.
The second reason was the most devastating of all.
Looking back, he had beheaded Laila just before returning to the past.
In her bedroom.
As Sion recalled that moment, his expression hardened.
The sense of urgency he’d felt as Laila rolled off the bed.
Was that sense of danger a prophecy for the current situation?
Sion gritted his teeth.
His weakened body, due to inadequate nutrition and the hardships of the past few days, easily broke under the strong force, but Sion paid no attention to whether it shattered or not.
‘Could she possibly have the ability to turn back time…’
Laila’s face flashed through Sion’s mind.
He realized that harming her would bring him back roughly ten years.
Now, what should he do?
To prevent returning to this dreadful past, should he spare Laila’s life?
‘No, absolutely not.’
Zion immediately swore to himself, too afraid to even voice the question to the gods.
‘I dare say to the gods right here, right now, that no matter what Laila Hildegarde does, he will never in his lifetime spare her, the child of his enemy.’
Unless every last drop of Hildegarde’s blood is drained from Laila’s body…
In Sion’s dark eyes, intense resentment and hatred mingled.
[You insolent humans! This will be your last defiance……]
After sealing the evil god for the third time.
Sion, who died and came back to life, suddenly realized.
His condition was far from normal.
‘Why is this happening?’
His heart was pounding too fast.
Was that the only issue?
His nerves were on edge, and his stomach felt hot and tight, as if he’d swallowed a volcano.
Simply put, he felt like he might go…
……Crazy.
The word hit him like a ton of bricks, and he felt a rush of anxiety.
He didn’t want to be crazy.
Because if he did, he couldn’t predict what his crazy self might do.
For instance, what if he went to the past in a deranged state and didn’t obediently follow Duke Hildegarde’s orders?
If that puts Cecile’s life in danger…
Sion immediately mounted his horse.
He rode without eating or sleeping.
When his horse grew tired and could go no further, he would switch horses, travelling from place to place, until he reached the Marquisate of Hildegarde in only ten days and-
“Ack!”
“Argh!”
In just half a day, he had annihilated the people in the marquisate.
For the record, Laila was already gone.
Laila’s absence did not at all alarm Sion. He expected it.
In fact, he might have been surprised if she had been there.
In any case, Sion had turned the Marquisate of Hildegarde into a graveyard of the dead in a single day, and-
“Damn.”
He was devastated by his condition, which showed no improvement.
Excessively rapid heartbeats, agitated nerves, intense heat, and stifling feelings—all the symptoms Sion recognized as his own issues persisted.
It was a lost cause. He’d thought he’d feel better after taking his anger out on something.
‘What should I do now…’
At that moment, one person flashed in Sion’s mind.
The reason he didn’t want to go mad.
Someone he had to protect.
The only family he had.
“Sion!”
It took an extra two days of horseback riding—not eating and not sleeping—to reach Cecile’s estate from the Marquisate of Hildegarde.
The Cecile he saw after a decade had changed beyond recognition.
She had grown significantly taller, and, Sion might add, her features had matured to the point where traces of her childhood were nearly indistinguishable.
And her posture.
Call it countess-like, but the straightness of her posture, from head to foot, exuded a gracefulness that had been unthinkable in the past.
Regardless of the extent and nature of the changes, Cecile was Cecile.
The moment Sion saw his only sister’s face, he thought,
‘I’m glad I came to see her.’
His choice, thankfully, was the right one.
After meeting with Cecile, he felt the symptoms that had been making him anxious finally improve noticeably.
His jagged nerves had softened, and his heart began to beat at a normal pace. The volcano of emotions had been extinguished.
Sion was overcome with feelings of joy, relief, and comfort.
But then.
“Did you really do it?”
Was Sion the only one who viewed this reunion positively?
His eyes momentarily blinded by the relief of not going crazy, he realized that Cecile’s expression was not particularly cheerful as they sat face to face in the parlor.
“What’s wrong?”
“The Marquis of Hildegarde.”
“…….”
“They say no one survived, even the dog in the kitchen.”
“…….”
“Someone …… said they saw you come out of the mansion. Did you really kill them all?”
“No.”
Cecile’s face brightened for a moment at Sion’s answer.
For a moment, really.
“I didn’t kill the dog. It was never there to begin with.”
“You……!”
Cecile stared at Sion, her face drained of color and pale.
Sion stared at her as if he couldn’t understand her and then remembered that there was something he hadn’t told Cecile.
“Cecile, the Marquis of Hildegarde is our enemy. Ten years ago…”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Yes. I’ve been looking into it since I became a countess.”
Cecile said, biting her red lips, the only color left on her face.
“But there wasn’t just Marquis Hildegarde in that mansion; there were hundreds of innocent people—no, more than that…….”
“What do you mean?”
“What?”
“There were no innocent people in the Marquisate, Cecile.”
Sion spoke calmly, as if correcting a fact.
“There were only sinners there.”
