Victory?
No—far from it!
Serena could feel it herself. The sword had pierced through her chest, but it wasn’t a fatal blow. After all, the Shadow was currently using that vampire noblewoman’s body—it wasn’t going to be that easy to kill her.
But Serena had completed her task. At the very least, she had seriously wounded the enemy. Now, all she could do was trust in Irene, and in the rest of their companions!
The next moment, Lilisah charged forward. Her entire body burned with magical energy, like a blazing comet, and she slammed into the Shadow with a full-body Iron Mountain crash.
The impact was tremendous. And with no shield to defend herself, the Shadow took an enormous amount of damage.
Blood sprayed from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose—
She was sent flying a great distance, but even then, she shouted toward Lilisah:
“That’s not enough! That won’t kill me, Lilisah!!!”
Yes, the Shadow believed she would be the final victor. That last attack had already been the best they could muster. Neither Lilisah, nor that swordswoman, nor the mage had any energy left for further attacks. But the vampire’s powerful vitality had allowed her to survive this round of concentrated fire.
The injuries looked serious, but give her just a few minutes and she’d be good as new.
“No… the battle is already over.”
Huh?
A voice from behind, from the place where she had landed, drew the Shadow’s attention.
The speaker was Irene, barely standing as she leaned against a crumbling wall—and beside her…
A priestess surrounded by radiant holy light. But unlike before, this priestess gave off an entirely different impression!
“Release your true self, Roswithe!”
“Shut up, you old hag! You bunch of losers really left the final blow to the healer? I should bash your heads in, I swear!”
Roswithe was no longer the shy, quiet cleric. She was cursing furiously, having shed her priestly cap and outer robe, even sticking her ever-present staff into the ground. Her fists, now glowing with dazzling holy light, were clenched and ready.
This was the side of Roswithe that only Irene knew. And how did she know?
Well, it had been on a dark, moonless night when Irene had snuck in through Roswithe’s window, hoping to do something a little unspeakable.
But Roswithe had noticed—and instead of being on top like she’d planned, Irene had spent the entire night underneath. It was a bitter and unforgettable memory.
Even her best friend, Reigelif, didn’t know about this Roswithe.
When she planted her staff into the ground, she could switch from healer mode… to Heretic Inquisitor Mode!
Vampires had strong regeneration—but holy light was their natural nemesis!
The Shadow finally realized something was wrong. She needed to defend herself immediately. Luckily, her spellcasting was fast—even with most of her bones crushed from Lilisah’s earlier charge, she only needed to move her mouth to cast. But then—
An arrow shimmering with cold light flew from a distance and struck her right in the throat—and wouldn’t you know it—it was silver-tipped. Especially lethal to vampires!!
Eyes wide with horror, the Shadow turned toward the direction the arrow had come from. On a rooftop stood a blue-haired girl dressed like a maid, her bowstring still vibrating from the shot.
Layla had been drawn over by the noise of the battle long ago, but she was too weak to intervene directly at this level of combat.
As an assassin, she could only wait for her moment… and do what she could do!
This shot silenced the Shadow physically, cutting off her spell.
“Go to hell, you damn hag!!”
A punch filled with divine power pierced through Shadow’s chest. The sheer purity of that holy energy instantly destroyed the vampire’s regenerative cells!
Shadow’s body began to burn in the holy light, gradually turning to ashes.
However, right after being struck, Shadow’s eyes flew open wide. This divine power was too pure! Could a human even possess such a level of holy energy?
In a daze, Shadow saw a familiar figure reflected in Rosweisse.
It was the one person she hated most in this world.
‘It’s you! The woman who killed my sister!!!’
Shadow screamed from the depths of her soul.
The blast of holy light whipped Rosweisse’s pale golden hair into a frenzy. Her aquamarine eyes stared straight at Shadow, filled with compassion.
“…How could I have killed her? I only fulfilled her wish.”
Rosweisse spoke as if she had heard the cry in Shadow’s heart.
Under Shadow’s confused gaze, Rosweisse let out a small sigh and whispered, “You don’t actually believe your illness suddenly got better, or that you just so happened to awaken a unique incarnation ability, all by coincidence… do you?”
“You died because of the curse’s backlash, not the illness. Get that through your head!”
In that instant, a light flashed through Shadow’s eyes—one so intense it seemed to shake her very soul.
‘Don’t tell me…?!’
“You were the reason she became a king… but in the end, you betrayed everything she did for you.”
At that moment, holy light surged like a raging river, engulfing Shadow’s body entirely.
Yet within that ocean of light, a wisp of bluish soul energy managed to escape, fleeing toward the distant sky.
Having exhausted all her divine power with that punch, Rosweisse collapsed to her knees and spat, “Damn it, that woman still got away.”
Eileen stepped forward, leaning on her Crimson Flame Staff. She stared at the vanishing soul light and sighed. “…Just surviving a battle with her is already an achievement. But you were amazing, Rosweisse. None of our attacks worked on her—only you managed to truly hurt her.”
As for Froya, the vessel who died a miserable death?
Eileen wasn’t about to play the saint. That woman had burned bridges and even tried to kill her!
Rosweisse, however, looked a bit flustered. After gripping her sacred staff, she seemed to return to her usual shy and silent self, muttering softly, “…It was just the ‘other me’ who’s strong… and it was elemental advantage. Nothing special.”
Eileen accepted the explanation. As Rosweisse said, holy light was a natural counter to vampires. If Shadow had possessed a body other than a vampire’s, the outcome might’ve been completely different.
They had won the battle. Having survived, Eileen suddenly felt a wave of dizziness. Luckily, Lilisah reacted quickly and caught her before she collapsed.
Eileen glanced at her former companions. Though they had temporarily allied to defeat a formidable enemy, she hadn’t forgotten what they did to her—nor did she have any intention of forgiving them.
Her face instantly turned cold again. Supported by Lilisah, she turned and walked away.
The Law Codex had already been exposed as a lie. What was there left to cling to here? She’d be better off retreating to the borderlands and living life flat on her back!
But she had only taken a few steps when Serena’s voice called out behind her.
“Wait, Eileen!”
Serena rushed over, her fiery red ponytail swaying in the morning sun. She blocked Eileen’s path and said firmly:
“Eileen, come back to the team.”