WDEDLF-Chapter 133

“Well, look who it is! Isn’t this ‘Princess’ Anais?”

 

Sasha’s voice was soaked in premature triumph.

 

Anais bit her lip at the casual tone—no honorifics, no recognition of her status as the Crown Princess.

 

“You, the princess who should be a role model for the people, should be ashamed of yourself for borrowing the power of these demons!”

 

I don’t think I need to hear that from someone who sacrificed her own son’s soul to a demon.”

 

“Hahaha! A demon? It seems you haven’t heard the news yet. He is not a demon—he is a dragon who has descended upon this land for the first time in 500 years. And I am his contractor.”

 

Sasha’s eyes gleamed as she smiled seductively.

 

Then Courbet laughed.

 

“Ridiculous. A so-called ‘contractor’ without the dragon’s mark? Who are you trying to fool?”

 

Sasha’s eyebrows twitched at his words.

 

“Dragon’s mark?”

 

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re talking about being a contractor without even knowing that? A dragon’s contractor has a mark on their forehead. We can see it.”

 

Courbet tapped the center of his forehead and sneered.

 

Sasha, hearing about the contractor mark for the first time, frowned and shook her head.

 

“Those demons are talking nonsense.”

 

“Tsk tsk. Looks like that dragon didn’t even tell you the basics of the contract.”

 

That remark struck at Sasha’s long-held unease.

She had always felt that Malek was hiding something from her.

 

But it was too late to uncover the truth.

 

“Shut up! Knights! Defeat those demons!”

 

As soon as Sasha shouted, the knights who had been waiting all rushed forward with their swords drawn.

 

As the demons were tensing up and preparing to fight back, Elaine stepped forward.

 

“Please step back.”

 

It was a calm voice that did not match the urgent situation.

 

For a moment, the air around her seemed to expand, pressing against their ears.

 

Then—whoosh!

 

With a deafening sound, the armored knights were sent flying like fallen leaves.

 

“What just… happened…?”

 

Hubert’s mouth opened wide at the tremendous blast of magic.

 

To neutralize the divine shields that the Paladins had put up and send knights with strong auras flying, you had to have a tremendous amount of magical power.

 

However, as far as Hubert knew, Elaine did not know that there was a magical core inside her body, nor did she know how to use magic.

 

Hubert wasn’t the only one surprised.

 

“So, you were a witch too! You pretended to be docile, but now you’re finally revealing your true nature!”

 

Sasha had avoided injury since she was at the rear, but seeing the knights she had confidently led being struck down by a mere girl sent her into a frenzy.

 

Elaine’s eyes looking at Sasha like that were somehow miserable.

 

“You’re a witch too. So why are you treating another witch like a demon?”

 

“How dare you slander me! I am the Empress of this empire! Who are you calling a witch!”

 

“I heard everything you and Malek talked about.”

 

Elaine regained consciousness for a moment as she remembered everything she had forgotten as some of her magic power was drained away by the priests.

 

And she remembered clearly what Malek had said to Sasha.

 

“He said, ‘A girl who doesn’t even know how to use magic isn’t the same kind of witch as you.’ Then you must be a witch who knows how to use magic.”

 

Elaine looked down at her hand and swung it again at the rising knights.

 

Light shot from her empty palms, striking the ground right in front of the knights. The impact shattered the rocky terrain, sending dust and debris flying.

 

The knights, witnessing such terrifying power up close, hesitated and retreated.

 

“What are you doing! Can you really call yourself a brave knight of the empire, but retreat at this level?”

 

Sasha scolded them, but the knights were experienced enough to know when to back down.

 

How can you block that kind of magic with just a sword?

 

Realizing the knights were unwilling to fight, Sasha turned to the paladins instead.

 

“Use the power of the gods to suppress the demon’s magic! Quickly!”

 

But the paladins had already retreated before the imperial knights.

 

Because Elaine easily disabled the divine shield they had created to protect the Imperial Knights.

 

“This is not an ordinary power! It is difficult to stop it with our power alone!”

 

“The paladins, who stand against dragons themselves, are saying such pathetic things?!”

 

“That woman’s power is that strong.”

 

Hearing their discussion, Elaine chuckled.

 

“Paladins fighting dragons? Where did you hear such nonsense?”

 

Her words seemed to provoke them, and Elaine could sense the paladins summoning their divine energy.

 

But Elaine did not back down.

 

“Divine power is indeed unpleasant for dragons, but it cannot counteract a dragon’s magic. Or did Malek ever seem helpless against divine power?”

 

“Shut up!”

 

“You are also a dragon’s contractor, yet you call magic power the power of the devil. That’s ridiculous. You are nothing but a bundle of greedy contradictions.”

 

Elaine looked down at the magic blooming from her fingertips.

 

It felt as if she would lose her senses and commit murder if she made a single mistake in the flow of power that moved so freely.

 

‘But I never want to repeat that mistake again.’

 

When he had begged Rabes to burn down the village he had lived in, Lancer realized later what he had done.

 

‘I was so angry and resentful that I was tied to the stake without any crime, so I begged to kill everyone without hesitation, but I realized too late that “everyone” included innocent people like me.’

 

Babies who were barely born, innocent children, women who took pity on Lancer and occasionally gave him food, women who were forcibly dragged out to the witch-burning ceremony led by men and trembled at the unspoken threat that “if you do anything stupid, we’ll brand you a witch and kill you too”.

 

People who had suffered just as much as he had—perhaps even more—had died because of his thoughtless wish.

 

‘There must be people here who were forced to come here because of orders.’

 

Especially in the military, it is even more impossible to resist orders from superiors.

 

Elaine spread her magical powers wide and thin to create a large curtain, which she used to cover Sasha’s knights.

 

“W-What is this?!”

 

“I can’t see anything!”

 

As they flailed in confusion, Anais shouted at the Lindell servants, who were just staring blankly at Elaine.

 

“We must hurry and go to the palace!”

 

Hubert, who had only just come to his senses, supported Elaine, who was staggering as if she had lost all her strength from using too much magic power and took care of the other servants, Abel, and Anais.

 

“My master will only be at ease once he confirms the lady’s safety. We must go.”

 

“Butler…”

 

“Oh, of course, my master will win.”

 

Hubert half-joked to reassure Elaine, but her response was grim.

 

“Malek… took some of Rabes’ magic from me. That means…. he can seal Rabes.”

 

“What…?”

 

Hubert’s face turned pale.

 

For 500 years, he had played the role of a human, guarding the count’s estate, never knowing when—or if—Rabes would return.

 

He wanted to quit, but if his master came back and found him gone, the retribution would be terrifying.

 

Yet if he continued, how much longer would he be forced to live on a leash?

 

So when Rabes finally returned—after five hundred years—Hubert had been relieved. Even happy. He thought he could quietly slip away once the time was right.

 

But if his master, after only three short years, were to be sealed away again…

 

Hubert felt as if his eyes were going dark.

 

“We must stop him! At the very least, I need my master’s permission to resign!”

 

For the first time, his feet moved faster than when he had declared his loyalty to Rabes.

 

* * *

 

Crash-!

 

[Aaargh!]

 

[Ah, did I break your leg? That must hurt.]

 

Malek sneered down at Rabes, who lay writhing on the ground.

 

His horns had been severed, his wings tattered, his body covered in gashes. His leg—shattered. There was hardly any part of her body that wasn’t injured.

 

[I’m probably the only one who can make you like this. It feels pretty good to be the only one.]

 

Malek was so excited that the scales on his body stood out, feeling like he was finally the real protagonist.

 

A dragon, cast out from the middle realm after having 90% of his magic core destroyed, had managed to bring Rabes to the brink of death.

 

Who could have ever imagined such a thing?

 

[You… promised. You said you wouldn’t touch Elaine…]

 

[Ah, yes, yes. Well, once I finish you off, why would I care about some mere human? She’ll die on her own in a few decades anyway.]

 

Malek momentarily paused his assault, tilting his head.

 

[But why are you so obsessed with your contractor? What’s so special about your contractor?]

 

Sasha was running wild, claiming to be his contractor, but in reality, she wasn’t his real contractor.

 

No, it was extremely rare for a dragon to have a contractor.

 

A contractual relationship can be established only when a dragon is indebted to a human,— a nearly unheard–of occurrence.

 

So Malek was a little curious.

 

But Rabes had no intention of answering.

 

He was worried that if he told her how cute Elaine was, Malek would lock her in a cage.

 

* * *