Emily accompanied Marianne as they followed the Black Knight and the Clergy who had come to their rescue. The fleeting desire to escape had long since vanished, replaced by a profound sense of despair. Yet, paradoxically, her thoughts had become remarkably clear.
Now that she was aware of her sins, a part of her craved punishment. It was a selfish wish to be blamed, to gain an opportunity for atonement. She pondered whether seeking this from others was merely another manifestation of her own weakness.
“…I wonder what Lord Dylan was thinking when he decided to do something like this…”
She muttered softly, driven by a desire to understand the reasons behind being used.
“The human heart is a complex thing. The underlying reasons are rarely singular. Among them, I know one… He could not have children. He secretly took many concubines, yet none bore him a child.”
Marianne spoke of concubines with an unsettling detachment that made Emily shiver. It was only when confronted with her own values that she began to grasp the weight of infidelity. Living in a nation that revered monogamy, she had nurtured a certain worldview deep within her. Lost in the intoxication of selfish love, she had never considered the feelings of those who would be harmed by her actions. Yet, imagining herself in their position made her feel ill. It was a painful realization of her own foolishness.
“Jiemeld has a history of being a bloodline that struggles to produce offspring. There are hardly any collateral relatives left. The fact that his proud lineage might end with him was unbearable for him…”
The intricacies of noble affairs and emotions were realms Emily could hardly fathom. The moment she realized she could not understand them, she felt the chasm of their worlds widen. She felt embarrassed for having once taken the prospect of becoming a noble so lightly.
With each acknowledgment of her actions and their nature, her sense of guilt grew, accompanied by an ever-deepening shame. Imagining that she would have to carry this disgrace for the rest of her life made her wish to disappear. But that was not an option. At this moment, Emily could not even forgive herself.
The towering pillar of the Undead loomed in the center, and the elite knights rose to their feet.
“…What is that…? The tip is moving; it has mutated into a dragon form…?”
“Are those people going to be okay? The enemy is far too large.”
Even during the northern expedition, they had never faced something of that size. Despite feeling crushed by their own powerlessness, the pride of a knight stirred within them.
“Hey, if it’s a medium-sized Undead, we might be able to help…”
“Stop it. We’re practically naked, without weapons or armor. Even if we sacrificed ourselves as bait, they wouldn’t spare our lives. That’s why we’d only be a hindrance.”
When one of their comrades admonished him, everyone bowed their heads and bit their lips. Lloyd was among them.
“…So it wasn’t just about defeating the Undead Slime…”
Lloyd grimaced, focusing on the only task assigned to them at that moment. The restrained Agreas appeared as if his soul had been drained, his expression blank and his eyes vacant.
“Isn’t this part of your calculations?”
“Unfortunately not. If we lose the people, the royal lineage loses its value as well… In the end, it seems that power was beyond human control.”
When asked, Agreas spoke surprisingly candidly.
“You too were one of those who succumbed to unexpected power, weren’t you?”
As he said this, a mix of exasperation, sarcasm, and sympathy for being in a similar position washed over him, prompting Agreas to laugh hollowly.
“Haha… Did you know? The feeling of shame is said to be the most painful for the human heart. More so than anger or regret… It would have been happier to die without knowing.”
Lloyd felt nauseated by Agreas’s self-destructive words. Anger surged within him at having been used without suspicion. Yet, he felt he had no right to blame Agreas, having set aside his own foolishness. As he directed his disgust inward, he shifted his gaze to find Elliott, who was similarly dazed.
“Elliott…”
“…Flora must have gone to that place with that man. I wonder if she’s safe.”
Elliott’s voice returned like a whisper. At that moment, he seemed pitiable to Lloyd, worrying about his ex-wife. Perhaps it was because he had witnessed the turmoil Elliott had endured up close. A part of that turmoil was his doing, and he had shared in the burden. Both Elliott and Lloyd appeared ridiculous, ugly, and pitiful in their own ways.
As they turned at the sound of multiple footsteps, they saw Crown Prince Alexis and Bishop Powell approaching with the King and the Prime Minister, flanked by the royal guards. The King, though not bound, seemed to carry himself like a captured prisoner, his head bowed. Behind them, Emily’s figure appeared alongside several Black Knights.
“……Emily.”
Elliott murmured softly. After their eyes met, words failed them, and silence enveloped them. Eventually, both averted their gazes awkwardly. Lloyd noticed the warmth that had existed between them just that morning had completely dissipated.
“Lloyd… Listen to me. Until just now, I had completely forgotten about her. I was only thinking about Flora. If she’s not right in front of me, her existence slips from my mind. That… that seems to be the essence of who I am. …How pathetic.”
Elliott spoke with a trembling voice laced with self-deprecation, as if confessing. Lloyd sensed that Elliott was punishing himself through his words. He found no comforting words to offer.
The King and the Prime Minister knelt on the ground, still bowed.
“I have gathered the Clergy here to minimize the burden on the Barrier while sending them to protect the people,” Crown Prince Alexis announced. He cast a glance at the restrained Agreas before turning his gaze to the King.
“Your Majesty, please see with your own eyes and understand. The prayers of the innocent people you deemed worthless, or who were placed in a future exposed to war with a single mistake…”
Though Alexis’s words were directed at the King, Elliott felt they were also aimed at him. In the heavy silence, everyone focused on the same point.
In the center of the arena stood a figure that now resembled a grotesque symbol of fear. In defiance, the earth woven by vines stretched forth, where someone was currently fighting.
Those who battled against the Undead monstrosity transformed their penance into prayers, hoping they would not lose their lives. It would not serve as atonement, but it was the only thing they could do at that moment.
Under the clear blue sky, small lightning-like lights flickered in the air. Eventually, a single large beam of light pierced through the scene before them.
The mass of Undead, which had morphed into a giant dragon’s head, began to lose its form and crumble. Within it stood a lone figure, a man whose battle axe radiated a dazzling light, deeply embedded in the disintegrating mass of Undead.
From the battle axe, countless bolts of lightning surged forth, racing through the gaps in the vines, spreading outwards.