**Epilogue: The End of the Journey**
And as dawn broke, peace returned to Desenador.
The townsfolk continued their lives, oblivious to the horrific schemes that had quietly unfolded and the impending doom that had been averted.
Now, there was a great uproar over the Mayor’s assassination, but a replacement would soon be appointed.
Once, Desenador had served as a frontline base against the Demon King. However, the fears etched into its history and the blood spilled upon its ground had, over the long years, faded into mere whispers of the past.
A person’s life is fleeting. No matter how much fear one harbors or how well one prepares, memories will eventually erode. This is a crucial point to heed when battling the ageless Anador.
Given the circumstances, it was clear that the Mayor had been deceived by one of the Void Shadow King’s minions, inadvertently aiding in the King’s resurrection. Yet, such a betrayal would have been unthinkable just after the war.
In a room within the town hall, the Master Beast, having heard the details from Rufuri, let out a suppressed chuckle.
“Heh heh… Without the Mayor leading the Vampire counter-strategy, it would eventually fade away…”
Countering the Vampires required substantial funds. Even diverting water demanded money, and gathering silver artifacts and effective holy crosses against Vampires was no simple task. Generally, the town’s defenses against Vampires were far from perfect.
Even with perfect preparations, there were countless ways for intruders to breach defenses—just as had happened this time.
While Rufuri and the others fought, the Master Beast had apparently been scouring the Mayor’s mansion and the town hall, gathering evidence. Utilizing the Order of the Final Knights’ might, it was not difficult to convey the events that had transpired in this town accurately. Memories and fears may fade, but step by step, the tales of short-lived people can be passed down.
The mercenaries who had accompanied Senri to the castle were also safe. They had fled upon witnessing the monster’s emergence, but they too would relay the fears of Anador.
Just how formidable the Dead King was and what methods he employed would be revealed.
“Is it true that man has perished?”
A sharp-eyed girl, Alba, stood near the Master Beast, glaring at Rufuri. Her gaze was piercing. It seemed she had once gained power through a curse, but even after it was lifted, her fighting spirit remained unchanged.
“Without a doubt, he—carried Senri to the town, bathed in sunlight, and turned to ash before the eyes of the town’s watchmen.”
“…Damn it.”
Nebira clicked her tongue in irritation. Her sharp eyes were filled with bloodlust, but no curses escaped her lips.
How could they? Even if the foe was Anador, to have helped Senri and then perished, how could they mock such a death when they had been unable to act at the critical moment?
It was evident from the battle against the Void Shadow King that Senri had not lost the power of Blessing. End-Balon—Yuan, the Lie-former—had remained human until the very end, despite being Anador.
He was an otherworldly Anador. And a terrifying one at that. The tale of that young man would be recounted for ages within the Order of the Final Knights.
“You seem dissatisfied.”
“…I don’t need examples! Damn it! This means that he will—remain in Senri’s heart.”
Nebira’s expression was one of uncontainable fury.
Rufuri and the others had been saved because they had heard the final words left by that Vampire, just as the guards arrived on patrol. Though not as much as Senri, Rufuri and the others had pushed their powers to the limit. Had they been left in that tainted land, swirling with the miasma unleashed by the Void Shadow King, who knows what fate would have befallen them?
If a Vampire appeared, they should be slain. However, there was no way to destroy a Vampire that had already perished. Even if a person retained their heart, if the Order of the Final Knights had killed them, they were enemies. But if they chose death to protect a person, what could the Order of the Final Knights possibly do?
That would signify a complete defeat.
There could be no exceptions. Vampires are cunning; there are those who have been deceived and killed by Vampires masquerading as humans. Even if one in a thousand Vampires possessed a human heart, all Rufuri and the others could do was purify them.
The Master Beast stroked his chin, narrowing his eyes as he spoke.
“Hmm… Then, it would be wise to remain by the princess’s side, wouldn’t it? It would be a shame to waste her aptitude.”
“She needs time.”
Having received treatment, Senri had somehow regained her life after a near-death experience, fully recovering her powers in a short time thanks to her innate Blessing. However, her heart was another matter. After hearing the circumstances from Rufuri, Senri simply muttered, “I see,” yet wore a dazed expression.
It seemed that Senri and End had managed to cope better than Rufuri and the others had anticipated. No matter what was said, Senri, lost in thought, was likely one of the reasons for Nebira’s irritation. Yet, there was no need for concern.
“Moreover, let me make this clear. Senri will not break.”
Senri Sylvis was strong and compassionate.
She would fight. Even if she was battered and bruised against the powerful dead. The Annihilation’s Epe had recommended her as a first-class candidate.
End’s death would have dealt a significant shock to Senri. She would never forget the young man who had saved her and perished in the heat of battle. Yet, no matter what tragic event befalls her, she already possessed the strength to continue fighting.
Senri Sylvis was a true Eclipse Knight. It was both a noble and a tragic fate.
And sadly, this world was not peaceful enough for her to avoid fighting.
At that moment, Rufuri’s expression changed. He looked at the Master Beast with serious eyes.
“The age of Darkness is upon us… Now is a turning point. Master Beast, you too will become busy.”
“Heh heh… I am not a warmonger.”
Indeed, eras rise and fall, and there are turning points in the battle against Darkness.
The Void Shadow King, once thought to be vanquished, had been resurrected, albeit imperfectly. The King of the Stakes continued to endure the fierce assaults of the Order of the Final Knights while steadily expanding his power. A rare Vampire with a human heart had perished.
And soon—the Master, who had once held the title of the Strongest Eclipse Knight—Annihilation’s Epe would likely meet his end.
He had seemingly sensed his own demise. He had been training his disciples.
Whether he wanted to or not, one could not help but feel the tides of change. Epe had been a deterrent. As his death approached, the powerful and intelligent Anador awaited the moment.
A great battle was about to unfold.
And it was unthinkable that the kindest girl of all would not be present at that scene.
“Let us return to headquarters. We cannot afford to linger in sorrow.”
“I will train anew. Next time, I won’t rely on the Vampires.”
At Rufuri’s words, Nebira declared fiercely, her eyes glinting with determination.
—
Ten days ago, from the place where the ancient castle had towered, everything had been lost.
The hill on which it stood had crumbled, engulfing the surrounding forest, leaving behind only a desolate wasteland, reminiscent of a disaster.
On the night of the new moon, a powerful miasma blanketed the area, silencing even the chirping of insects. Suddenly, dark figures descended from the sky.
They were bats. Several enormous bats, each measuring about thirty sen, gathered as if guided by some unseen will, clustering together and transforming.
“I never imagined it would come to this…”
A cold voice echoed through the silence.
The figure that emerged was a girl with hair as red as blood. Clad in a pitch-black mantle, she exuded an otherworldly aura, yet her expression was filled with deep disdain.
Seablue-Brandopein, a Vampire serving the King of the Stakes, advanced through the wasteland.
What lay ahead was a sword.
At the center of the desolate land, a single sword stood like a tombstone. Its hilt, guard, and blade, all carved from a massive crystal, emanated an indescribable aura of menace.
It was clearly no ordinary sword.
Yet, no one dared to retrieve the sword that was embedded in the ground. Not the soldiers who came for an investigation after the battle, nor the onlookers who arrived upon hearing of the castle’s collapse. Even the Eclipse Knights refrained from approaching.
The sword radiated a powerful curse. Even without knowledge, any living being would instinctively sense its danger.
A curse is a manifestation of emotion. It is an intense passion that disrupts the rules of the world.
And the curse that sword bore was cast by the Dead King.
It was an object born of a similarly potent curse, and even Seablue, who possessed strong resistance to curses, could not bring herself to touch it.
Seablue had not witnessed the moment of battle. She had not recovered her powers in time. Yet, she could guess what had transpired. She had already gathered information from Desenador.
“To clash with the ancient King is a terrifying man, End-Balon.”
The situation exceeded Seablue’s expectations.
All she had wanted was to separate End from that Eclipse Knight. To that end, she had employed the newly emerged Eclipse Knight. She had been aware that something was happening in Desenador, but it was of no concern to her.
Little did she know that the objective of the ritual being conducted was the resurrection of the Void Shadow King, and that End, who had exhibited such survival instincts, would vanish.
“The scouting mission has failed. However, I suppose I should consider it fortunate.”
End-Ba was beyond comprehension. Perhaps even the master of Seーブル could not control it.
Moreover, End was thoroughly infatuated with the Eclipse Knight. Under different circumstances, they might have found themselves fighting alongside the Order of the Final Knights.
Despite still being inexperienced, they had managed to defeat a fragment of Seーブル. If it meant becoming an enemy, it would be better to perish instead.
Before the sword lay a bouquet of flowers. It was likely placed there by that woman’s Eclipse Knight. A Vampire reduced to ashes. The evidence of battle served as a gravestone.
It was likely that years, perhaps decades, after the curse cast upon the sword had somewhat weakened, those who specialized in curses would come to retrieve it.
Looking down at the flowers, Seーブル sighed.
“Good grief, the Order has failed. I will surely be punished by the master…”
The signs of a great battle were already manifesting. There was a necessity to gather strength, no matter the means. The instinct to fight relentlessly, driven by the will to survive, could have become a powerful ally. Had they fought together, perhaps they could have even become friends.
In the end, Seーブル gazed at the sword and muttered softly.
“To gain eternal life and fall in love with a mortal… what a foolish thing to do. With such power… Oh, King. We shall move on ahead.”
Transforming their body into that of a bat, Seーブル melded their bones, flesh, and blood into a form of pure darkness. In an instant, they vanished into the moonless sky.
—
In a forest shrouded in darkness, two shadowy figures moved quietly. One was a towering shadow, easily exceeding two meters in height, while the other was a smaller shadow, just a head shorter. The sky bore no moon, and the surroundings were nearly pitch black, yet their steps were steady.
“So, what’s the situation?”
“Well, wait a moment. What year do you think this scent is from?”
The woman’s impatient voice was met with a hoarse man’s voice, tinged with exasperation. The larger shadow lowered its nose to the ground, crawling forward.
Then—suddenly, the path opened up.
What lay before them was a desolate wasteland. The sounds of insects and birds that had been faintly audible moments ago fell silent. In the center stood a sword, thrust into the earth, surrounded by a makeshift barrier of ropes—an improvised seal encircling it.
Not a single blade of grass grew on the ground, and according to information gathered in the city of DeSeN/ADoro, this was said to be the result of the sword’s curse.
The larger shadow cautiously surveyed the area, then turned to face the sword, its body shuddering slightly.
“…No way…”
“Come on, hurry up and go—”
A glance was enough to recognize the potent curse; even the curious would hesitate to touch it. Indeed, the sword was enveloped in a powerful curse, yet there seemed to be no victims. No one dared to approach it. The surrounding barrier was merely a precaution, and the absence of any guards was likely due to that.
However, the scent led toward the sword. The smaller shadow lightly kicked the larger shadow’s waist.
“Hey… why do I have to go?”
“With that big body of yours, you shouldn’t be so scared. A werewolf isn’t affected by a typical curse—”
“If that’s the case, it wouldn’t work on a demon either! Today, the moon is absent, so the power is diminished!”
The man, whose voice was surprisingly mournful for his imposing stature, was met with a sigh from the woman.
“I’m not at full strength either; my power has been drained, and I can’t recover at all—”
“Fine, fine… damn it, the scent is getting stronger—wait, could it be—ah, I can feel it…”
Crawling along the ground, he tore through the layered rope barrier with brute force, bringing his nose close to the earth where the sword was embedded, and cautiously extended his thick arm.
In a voice that seemed to float in the heat of excitement, he said, “There’s something… I can smell it, Monica. It took three years, but we finally made it. We’ve arrived…”
His voice trembled, and in the darkness, his shining eyes narrowed with fear and excitement. The beastly hand, covered in coarse fur, clawed at the earth.
“O-Oliver, be gentle, gently dig it out—”
“Yeah, I know. Damn it, I need to revert my transformation—”
Ragged breaths echoed as he dug, stopping after barely a meter.
“I found it…”
Carefully lifting it from the hole, he revealed an object the size of a fist. Its color evoked the essence of darkness—cold, soft, and undeniably pulsing in Oliver’s hand.
It was a heart. A heart that continued to live even when severed, embodying immortality.
“Three years. The rumors of its disappearance circulated three years ago. This is impossible.”
He had never expected to find it. Yet, here it was. A miracle. While Vampires possessed high immortality, it was unthinkable for one to survive buried beneath the earth, not even in a coffin.
However, he felt no power emanating from it, yet the heart was undeniably alive. It could not move, could not regenerate, reduced to a state where even a child could kill it—but had Oliver and his companion not arrived, it would have spent eternity in the depths of the earth.
His hand trembled. The cold gaze he had once encountered. The young ancestor who had slain Oliver’s master and single-handedly decimated the Rainer army.
That fear was deeply etched into Oliver, who had become a werewolf through the power of a Vampire.
“O-Okay, this is—really—”
“Shut up—”
Monica, who had once been drained of her power by that young man, hesitated not a moment to slice her own arm with a knife.
Blood, slightly darker than that of a human, poured down onto the heart.