[Wooooo!]
The black flames that had been burning Malek began to be consumed by the red light that emanated from his body with a terrifying force.
His golden eyes turned bright red, and the red scales that covered his body became hideously distorted.
[This is so wonderful! Why have I been afraid of this all this time?]
Malek, who had turned into a demon, muttered with a creepy laugh.
The results of absorbing all the ether in the human world were enormous.
Not only had his broken and torn body instantly healed, but even Rabes’ black flames—said to burn endlessly until their target was completely reduced to ashes—were snuffed out without resistance.
A power incomparable to the magical power he had previously possessed swirled with terrifying force within Malek’s magical core.
Malek could feel it. Victory was his.
[Hahahaha! I win! I’ll end you and become the god of this land!]
[Hubert! Run away with Elaine! Quickly!]
Rabes, gathering the last of his remaining magic, shouted desperately at Hubert.
But at that moment—
[Ugh, krrgh….]
Malek, who seemed ready to rush in to strangle Rabes at any moment, suddenly began to stagger while clutching his heart.
[Why is it like that?]
Rabes frowned as he blocked the area where Elaine was.
A huge red light was emanating from the center of Malek’s chest.
The light was so bright that even Rabes could clearly see what was happening inside Malek’s skin.
[His magic core… is starting to crack…!]
[Uhuk! Ah, no…! I just restored it… my core—!]
Malek’s body shook violently.
At that moment, Rabes unleashed a powerful shockwave at him and immediately cast a protective spell.
[Kuaaaah!]
–Boom!
There was a terrible scream, and the sound of something huge exploding, and then bright red blood poured down like a shower on the protective shield that had spread out like an umbrella in front of Rabes.
[Ugh…..]
“Oh my god.…”
Everyone inside the shield was speechless at the horrific sight.
However, within moments, the blood that had drenched the surroundings, along with the torn flesh, scattered wings, and shards of bone, began to dissolve into tiny, rain-like particles.
It shimmered in the late afternoon sunlight. It was rather a surprisingly beautiful sight.
As the halo of light spread far and wide across the vast sky, the ground where Malek had once stood was left completely empty.
It was as if the dragon Malek had never existed in the first place.
[Well, that was… unexpected.]
Rabes, who had been blankly staring at the sky, muttered with a slightly deflated expression.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a dragon disappear.”
Hubert said, placing a hand over his still-beating heart, sounding shaken.
Rabes, who had come to his senses, looked at Elaine, who was still looking up at the sky, and then transformed into Sergey.
There were wounds all over his humanized body because the area where he was hit by Malek had not completely healed.
He approached Elaine, limping slightly.
“Hey…. are you okay?”
Elaine, noticing Sergey’s uncharacteristically hesitant demeanor, gave a small smile and nodded.
When Sergey hesitated and could not say anything more, Hubert and Courbet couldn’t stand it anymore and intervened.
“Miss Elaine. What on earth did you do just now? The dragon suddenly fell down right after you recited the spell.”
“That’s right. We were so scared that we thought our master would be sealed away without being able to move.”
Elaine opened and closed her empty hand, then replied,
“I reclaimed his magic core. But I don’t know how it was possible. Strictly speaking, that core wasn’t even mine—it belonged to Rabes….”
“You recited a spell to reclaim the magic core?”
“Yes. He taught me this before. If I betray him, he will recite that spell and retrieve his magic core in one go…..”
At those words, everyone turned to Sergey with looks of pure disdain.
“W-Wait! That was—j-just a joke!”
“A joke? Threatening to kill someone?”
“He always says things like that to us, too. He always says he will eat us, or rip out our hearts…”
“To put it nicely, I say he is a very consistent person.”
As the servants continued their sarcastic remarks, Sergey started sweating nervously—then suddenly froze.
“Wait. You….”
Elaine was staring at Sergey quietly, as if she already knew what he was going to say.
“You, have you regained your memories? I mean, other than Elaine’s memories…..”
“Memories of Lancer Aquinal?”
Elaine smiled with sad eyes.
“It’s been a long time, Master Rabes. No, should I call you Master Sergey now?”
“What are you talking about? Just call me Sergey. Is using weird honorifics really your hobby?”
Sergey’s voice trembled.
“You know, I heard something weird from that damn dragon earlier. He said you didn’t betray me. He just tricked you.”
Elaine’s smile remained tinged with sadness.
Sergey swallowed dryly, took a deep breath, and asked,
“Did you really… love me? Did you truly want to be with me forever?”
Now, it was time for him to finally hear Lancer’s true feelings—the ones he had been curious about for the past five hundred years while he was sealed away.
* * *
While Elaine and her group made their way to Rabes, Anais and Abel were working to restore the imperial palace alongside the nobles who had been freed from the underground prison.
At first, the entire palace knight order raised their spears and bows against Anais, claiming that the ‘Empress’ had ordered them to kill her.
However, they hesitated.
Just yesterday, Sasha had been nothing more than the emperor’s mistress, and now she was calling herself empress. At the same time, she had ordered the execution of Anais, who had been the Crown Princess until yesterday. Who could accept such an order so easily?
Besides, Abel was next to Anais.
“If Marquise Sasha Haberon is the empress, then I am the crown prince. As the crown prince, I command. Open the door!”
“But, Your Highness—”
“If you try to kill my sister, I will become a hostage. Are you truly willing to endanger my life?”
Sasha had claimed she would rule until Abel came of age, but without Abel, not only would Sasha’s power be meaningless, but Anais would automatically reclaim her position as crown princess.
Eventually, the Knights had no choice but to open the gates.
Anais and Abel entered the palace and headed straight to the Emperor’s room, leading the imperial knights and the nobles they had brought with them.
There, they found Sasha and her followers, who had rushed back to the palace, holding the emperor—now little more than a puppet.
“Father! Can you hear me? Father!”
Anais shouted at the Emperor, who was sitting blankly next to Sasha.
However, he still looked quite haggard and absent-minded, just like he had at the nobles’ meeting.
Sasha, seemingly unprepared for Anais to break through the knight order, looked shocked and shouted,
“How dare these traitors…! Knights, what are you waiting for? Kill them!”
Then Abel stepped forward again.
“This is something I have allowed as the crown prince.”
“Abel! Come here right now.”
Sasha gritted her teeth, calling for Abel, but Abel shook his head and supported Anais, who was trembling slightly.
“Abel! Father is strange. Do you know why he acts like that?”
When Anais asked urgently, Abel answered with a miserable face.
“After my mother tempted His Majesty with her magic, she continued to feed him a poison that destroys the human mind. Perhaps….. it will be difficult for him to return to normal.”
“What….?”
Anais’s face turned pale.
The fact that her father was poisoned after her mother, and that she was blaming her father without even knowing it, brought about both anger and guilt.
“How could this happen! How—!”
At that moment—
[Kuaaaaah-!]
The dragon’s roar, which had been echoing above them, grew louder, followed by a loud explosion that shook the entire palace.
Everyone was startled and lowered their bodies, and Abel, who had been supporting Anais, fell down.
“Abel!”
At first, Anais thought he had simply lost his balance due to the tremor, but then she saw his face—completely drained of color.
She held him and gently tapped his cheek.
“Abel! Are you okay? Abel!”
“Ugh…”
“No, Abel! Stay with me!”
To Anais, who had just realized that even her father no longer recognized her, Abel was the only family she had left.
With her mother dead and her father’s mind destroyed, if she lost her younger brother too… She wasn’t sure she could hold herself together.
If she had no one left to rely on in this storm of chaos…..
“Sister…”
“Abel? Abel!”
“I….. I’m not going anywhere.”
Breathing heavily, Abel weakly lifted his trembling hand and placed it over Anais’s.
“That demon…. has completely disappeared.”
“The demon….? You mean the dragon?”
“Yes….. I think he disappeared.”
Although he felt dizzy as his soul was suddenly freed, Abel was overwhelmed with joy and relief.
“Sister, I… I’m Abel. The real Abel.”
Tears welled in Anais’s eyes as she embraced him tightly, celebrating the liberation of her poor brother—who had never once been the true master of his own body since the day his mother sacrificed his soul to the dragon.
Meanwhile, Sasha’s face turned deathly pale.
She too felt that Malek’s power, which had supported her magic, had disappeared.
“Oh, no! This can’t be happening! Malek! Malek!”
Pushing aside those who had been protecting her, Sasha shouted Malek’s name into the air, but there was no answer.
And as Anais watched Sasha like that, an unprecedented anger rose in her eyes.
* * *
