Chapter 102: Since we’ve started, let’s go all the way to the boss Part 4

Berna glares at me as if she’s ready to kill.

“Shut up!”

Quite a sensitive reaction.

The puzzle pieces fall into place.

This woman killed Eldakrad that day and regretted it.

She knew she had done wrong, but she refused to admit it.

Admitting it would mean denying her love.

So, she escaped reality and worshipped a being that could hardly even be called a living creature—the Demon King.

Even now, when she barely has the strength to fight me, she still won’t admit her mistake.

Thud!

Oh wow.

Looks like she got mad and shoved me.

As expected of one of the Four Heavenly Kings—she has some strength.

And now, she’s trying to use black magic again.

“Didn’t I tell you? You think you can fight me with magic? A mere fallen saint?”

She ignores my words and waves her hand through the air.

Fssssss—

Before I know it, a new army has formed behind her.

No, they’re not monsters.

They’re humans.

Bound tightly, they look at me with desperate eyes.

“You keep calling me a fallen saint. But didn’t you say I was the Empire’s saint? Then, can you kill these people?”

How ridiculous.

“Please, save us!”

“Miss, please help us!”

“Waaah! Mommy!”

At a glance, they seem like ordinary people.

But they’re already corrupted.

The terrifying thing about the power of corruption is that it’s absolute.

Once corrupted, they can’t return unless the spellcaster releases them.

“What a joke.”

‘Can I kill them? What kind of stupid question is that?’

Crackle!

I blew them all up.

It was already too late for them.

“I told you, it’s impossible.”

“I’m not some foolish hero who insists on saving things that can’t be saved, making battles harder for no reason.”

“I’m no saint either.”

They were all just actors playing a role—young, old, male, female, it didn’t matter.

If I hadn’t killed them, those desperate expressions would have soon twisted into murderous intent.

They were just waiting for an opening to kill me.

“You crazy bitch. Do you feel nothing for the victims?”

Berna, now airborne with her wings spread wide, glares at me as she speaks.

She really has the nerve to say that herself. Unreal.

“Like you said, the Empire’s Goddess Church has no foundation. In kingdoms or holy nations, the saints are expected to sacrifice themselves for humanity and fight against evil to protect the people. Some cliché nonsense like that. But the Empire’s church? It’s not like that.”

Even the High Priest goes around embracing middle-aged nuns.

‘Why should I be any different?’

It’s basically just a military academy.

“You’re not him. You’re not the Lord!”

“Did you lose your mind mid-fight? Now you’re equating me with my grandfather?”

‘Or maybe she’s trying to find a new lord to serve.’

‘Is that why she’s testing me?’

“If it were the Lord, he would’ve tried to save them no matter what.”

“And that’s what led to my grandfather’s death?”

I teleported again and threw a punch.

Smack!

And another.

“Kyaaah!”

Berna went flying, utterly powerless.

‘She still hasn’t come to her senses after getting hit multiple times in the air?’

It’s time to rip those wings off.

“Honestly, Eldakrad’s memories are fragmented, so I don’t know the full details. But no matter how I look at it, it doesn’t make sense that Eldakrad would die so easily against you and Seto.”

The Eldakrad I remember wouldn’t have gone down without at least dragging one of them with him.

That means this woman must have used the corrupted humans to survive.

“So what? Some fake is pretending to be the Lord. I have to kill you no matter what.”

Her big mouth is her own downfall.

I don’t even need to kill her in combat.

Just talking to Olivia, Eldakrad’s bloodline, is enough to make her crumble.

“Enough of that. First of all, stop flying around. It’s annoying.”

“What do you—Kyaaaah!”

I grabbed Berna’s wings and ripped them off.

“They’re made of magic, so don’t act like it hurts.”

The fight was already over.

‘Should I just kill her?’

‘Is there any reason to let her live?’

The Demon King is already dead.

The Four Heavenly Kings aren’t any different.

It’s annoying.

I want to kill them all.

I hesitated for a moment.

‘Not now. There’s no reason to think like this.’

Eldakrad’s revenge is important, but I’m not sure if killing the Four Heavenly Kings is the right move.

So, I’ll drag this out.

I’ll beat her down until she’s too injured to recover.

“Kh…!”

“Running away now?”

“The only one who can kill me is the Lord! If you’re not him, I have no reason to die!”

Berna mustered the last of her strength to create a black rift in the air.

Her face was a mess, yet she still tried to escape.

So much for her devotion to the Lord.

She was willing to abandon the castle in the end.

Looks like she finally came to her senses after getting beaten.

Crazy people only snap out of it after a good beating.

By now, the Third Corps should be in ruins, and Crad Castle should be wrecked again.

Either way, Ashtar has won.

‘Should I let her escape?’

“Oh.”

While I was thinking, Berna vanished.

A space-warping technique unique to the Four Heavenly Kings.

What a pain. I should’ve grabbed her and smashed her head into the ground.

I always regret acting too late.

“Does it even matter?”

Now that I think about it, it was the same with Noah.

I just beat them up and let them go.

All the Four Heavenly Kings were like that.

It was just hard to meet them again.

She barely had any strength left, so I guess she just ran away.

Still, seeing her in that state, I can’t help but feel regret for not landing the final blow.

Eldakrad had asked me—Noah—to avenge him.

It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

But there was someone watching me this whole time.

“Saint, isn’t that the direction where Syria is?”

It was Casey.

She had been secretly observing the battle and now pointed west.

Sure enough, beyond the castle walls, I could still see that black rift from earlier.

She didn’t run far.

Wait—

“Is she after Syria?”

Damn.

That must be it.

Syria’s bear is currently massacring the corrupted army.

If Berna is heading that way, then she’s targeting Syria.

“We’ve studied the Four Heavenly Kings as well. In the worst-case scenario, they themselves can succumb to corruption. Shouldn’t we pursue her now?”

Berna fled in order to turn the tide of battle.

To do that, she needs allies.

Right now, the best candidate for corruption is Syria.

She must think that if Syria falls, even I would hesitate to fight.

To corrupt someone, Berna needs to make physical contact.

“Oh, that’s not something to worry about.”

It’s annoying that she’s heading toward Syria, but I’m not worried.

I cursed for a different reason.

“What?”

“Think about it. That girl is the next Tower Master. Her bear isn’t her only strength.”

Lately, I’d started recalling things more clearly.

I don’t know if this is another side effect of becoming Olivia, but—

I had seen it at the Magic Tower.

Syria’s power didn’t come from just the bear.

“To corrupt Syria, Berna has to get close to her.”

She has to make physical contact.

‘If she really tries to corrupt Syria…’

It would be the worst possible outcome for me.

Really.

For many reasons.

“Because that girl—”

***

Berna had escaped from Crad Castle.

That Ashtar girl was stronger than she expected.

At this rate, she would surely be caught.

But despite being covered in blood, Berna had found a way to turn the tide.

She would corrupt Syria, who was slaughtering the demons pouring out of Crad.

If she could harness the power of Syria’s bear, she could escape safely.

She had encountered Syria a few times before and had gauged her strength.

Syria came into view.

Now, she just had to strike from behind.

‘Yes. If I corrupt her, I can change the battlefield!’

A woman who relies entirely on her bear should be easy to corrupt.

Someone harboring an unattainable love is always vulnerable to corruption.

That’s what she thought—

Until her own head was grabbed by Syria instead.

Crunch—

“Tsk. Got you.”

“Huh?”

Syria was grinning from ear to ear.

Of course.

Olivia had promised her anything if she caught Berna.

“With this, I get to marry Olivia!”

Before Berna could even process what had happened, Syria gripped her head and slammed it into the ground.

CRACK!

Berna’s head shattered the demonic earth like broken glass.

“I’m a Battle Mage.”

The strongest kind.

“A Battle Mage?”

“Well, not exactly in the usual sense. Syria can’t use elemental magic or summoning spells. Her mana isn’t compatible with them at all.”

Elemental and summoning magic—no matter how much she tried, she could never master them.

She had immense mana reserves, but that actually made casting spells harder.

It didn’t matter if she used grimoires or chanted incantations perfectly.

The only thing she could do was fight.

Unlike normal Battle Mages who studied at academies or trained under royal magicians, Syria had no proper teacher.

The ancient grimoires and training manuals left behind by great mages were useless to her.

Her mana was simply too different.

Even if she used up all her mana, she would naturally replenish it through the environment.

She followed a completely different path.

So, she took the simplest approach.

She just coated herself in mana and fought like a brute.

That’s why she wasn’t acknowledged in magical society.

She abandoned the so-called honor of a Battle Mage.

She poured all her excess mana into her bears.

She didn’t even care how those things worked internally.

She just kept feeding them mana, letting nature replenish her, then feeding them more.

And those bears weren’t just for defense.

She could use them as trump cards.

By absorbing the mana she had stored inside them, she could temporarily enter a state of mana fusion.

For those few dozen seconds, no one could beat her in close combat.

So—

The moment Berna got close, she was doomed.

She was already weakened.

Hopefully, Syria wouldn’t kill her outright.

***

“When did you get here?”

“About thirty minutes ago. There were people underground as well, but three nuns were severely injured.”

So, that place had been corrupted too.

The fallen citizens must have sacrificed themselves to empower Berna.

That meant it was all over now.

“They were corrupted, then. Have you finished securing the castle?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

This place was finished.

Once we step outside, Syria will be there, waiting with Berna’s neck in her grasp.