Chapter 44: Borrowing Lady Selis for a Moment

The torrential rain ceased, the raging winds died down, and Teresa let go of the nearly exhausted Divine Grace, collapsing heavily onto the ground.

Her pale blue hair spread out like a flower, and the intense exhaustion slowly closed her eyes. Just before slipping into unconsciousness, she whispered softly,

“…Did we win?”

“We did.”

Leanna’s reply comforted her as she peacefully fell asleep.

Meanwhile, the latter, equally exhausted, slumped down onto the ground, gasping for breath.

Lifting her head, damp strands clung to her forehead, droplets sliding down her cheeks—whether rain or sweat, she couldn’t tell.

Through her blurred vision, the dark clouds shrouding Sand Fortress were now pierced by dazzling sunlight.

Day had broken.

“We… did it.”

Leanna murmured as she reached out toward the sunlight, but weariness overcame her mind, forcing her to collapse backward, sinking into sleep like Teresa.

……

Inside the military camp, after witnessing the Dragonkin Demon being struck down by a lightning arrow, Mars couldn’t contain his excitement and stood up, punching the air.

Cassiu rose alongside him, but his expression was the complete opposite.

Covering his head with both hands, eyes wide, he stared at the image reflected in the Eye of Divine Sight.

“Impossible! This can’t be! This, this has to be a trick—a deception!”

Mars snorted coldly, not sparing Cassiu even an ounce of respect.

“A trick? Cassiu, this happened right before all our eyes. If it were a trick, someone would have caught it by now, wouldn’t they?”

“Nonsense! Mars! You don’t deserve to be a commander!”

Taking two steps back, Cassiu shook his head frantically.

Upon seeing a new demon appear in the image, he clung to that as a lifeline and shouted,

“We haven’t lost yet! I haven’t lost! There are still other demons in the fortress. Just because those young Rose Knights handled that one demon doesn’t mean they can handle the rest!”

The onlookers cast pitying glances at Cassiu.

At this point, everyone knew that the Rose Knights had succeeded in their mission to purge Sand Fortress.

Even if they couldn’t handle the remaining demons now, they could always retreat, rest properly, and then return to finish the job.

There were no enemies left as formidable as the Dragonkin Demon.

Unfortunately, Cassiu couldn’t accept defeat. The harsh truth shattered his reason, driving him to madness and making him babble nonsense.

Soon, as the young knights regained their strength, they resumed patrolling the fortress, rooting out hidden demons and killing them one by one.

After more than a day of relentless cleansing, 132 demons were reduced to just over thirty.

At this number, the demons posed no real threat.

Kneeling on the ground, Cassiu murmured in despair, “Impossible… why… why did they win…”

Isavel glanced at him coolly, resting her cheek on her palm. “The wager… it seems I won.”

“N-no…”

At this point, he had no words left to refute.

Losing the bet meant losing the Emperor’s favor, perhaps even being outright abandoned.

When that happened, all those he’d crossed would come to finish him off.

Those he had helped would stand idly by.

He understood perfectly well that the empire’s nobles shared only in prosperity, not hardship.

His fate would be miserable… and it was the Saintess before him and her Rose Knights who had caused this!

They deserved to die!

Staring fiercely at Isavel, Cassiu plunged into his final madness.

“You won, yes, you won. But what then? These demons were just the vanguard. The Abyssal Seal is weakening. Soon, the Abyssal Magic will trigger the Monster Catacombs to erupt.”

“Low-rank demons? Hmph, the ones crawling out of the Abyss will be mid-rank, high-rank demons. These knights will surely die by their hands. The world’s destruction is only a matter of time.”

“Yes, that’s right. It must be so. It must!”

As if to convince himself, he repeated those last words over and over, before blood rushed to his head.

After spitting out a mouthful of blood, he fainted in full view of everyone.

Seeing this, his guards hurriedly carried him away.

Isavel shrugged; she didn’t even entertain the thought of striking him down.

Their statuses were too far apart. To her, Cassiu’s madness was nothing but the bluster of an insignificant ant.

Since the demon purge was nearing its end, she had lost any reason to remain there. Just as she was about to leave, Mars caught up with her.

“Saintess! There will be a victory banquet after the liberation of Sand Fortress. May I ask if you’ll be attending?”

“The other Saintess will be there as well.”

With that, she vanished into the camp.

……

Sand Fortress was finally freed.

After the Rose Knights withdrew, Mars’s Third Army and the Private Noble Armies entered the city, rescuing survivors and hunting down remaining demons.

Many demons disguised themselves as survivors, attempting to escape, but none succeeded thanks to the Eye of Divine Sight.

On the fifth day after the Rose Knights left the fortress, all demons inside were exterminated, and all survivors rescued.

The victory banquet was held that evening. Cassiu’s faction of the empire did not attend.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“It’s what we’re meant to do.”

Saintess Selis tilted her head with a smile, showing concern for the Rose Knights, but Leanna shook her head modestly, implying there was nothing to mention.

At the banquet, the young knights had dressed up a bit, fluttering like butterflies wherever they went, instantly becoming the center of attention.

Of course, the true focus remained Saintess Selis.

With her beauty, even standing there without effort, most eyes couldn’t stray from her.

Especially Duchess Nola.

“Captain? May I borrow Lady Selis for a moment?”

Meilin stepped forward and grabbed Selis’s wrist. Leanna watched, puzzled, as they moved to a secluded corner on the second-floor balcony.

Here, no one would notice them.

“What is it, Meilin?”

Selis blinked, noticing a trace of fear on Meilin’s face.

And indeed, it was so.

One hand resting on her chest, Meilin bowed her head, her voice trembling with a hint of sobbing:

“Lady Selis, do you know? When I went back with the captain to face that demon, I—I thought I’d never see you again.”

Recalling that moment, Selis stepped forward and embraced her, gently patting her back in comfort.

“Don’t be afraid. I have always been by your side.”

These girls were barely twenty on average. Facing the choice between friendship and life or death, fear was only natural.

What Selis needed to do now was to comfort Meilin well.

The next moment, Meilin in her arms looked up like a startled fawn and whispered,

“I… I have a secret to tell you.”

“Hm?”

Before Selis could react, moist lips pressed softly to her cheek.

Covering her cheek, Meilin giggled mischievously, spinning free from her embrace.

Her skirt flared, tracing a beautiful arc under the night sky.

“Hehe, I was just teasing. Actually, I wasn’t scared at all then.”

“Because I knew you were always out there, watching over us, right?”