“It’s the Sword Saint…!”
“Her Royal Highness… Her Royal Highness is here!”
“But who is the girl beside her…?”
As the sky brightened, Lian and Vera dropped into the Shadow Mire before the Magus amidst the surprised cries of the people.
Their synchronized strikes had indeed torn through the shadows the Magus had pulled in front of her for protection — but they had failed to cut through her body.
“Everyone, fall back. Otherwise, you will die.”
The moment they landed, Vera issued an order to the soldiers and citizens present.
Her voice was as cold and majestic as ever. Under the urgency of this command, the people felt the overwhelming pressure that had rendered them immobile begin to weaken.
“We follow Your Highness’s command.”
“You heard her! Fall back, quickly!”
The soldiers allocated the largest number of men to the Duke and the Princess.
They formed a tight iron-clad formation to protect the two of them, then escorted them and the citizens as they slowly retreated.
This left only the Magus, whose arms were severed, facing off against Lian and Vera. Frost and flames slowly rose from their respective swords.
The radiating Magic Power dispersed the shadows gathering around them, revealing the original ground.
“Lian En. Is she really the person you mentioned?”
“Yes. I’m certain… We never saw her during the Great War. Furthermore, Laide, Kui Yin, and the others didn’t have any information related to her either… All we knew was that she had been missing since before the war started. She and the people of the Shadow Demon Realm never responded to the Demon King’s call to war.”
Lian answered Vera’s question while staring intently at the Shadow Magus before her — also known as Feiyin.
“She is too strong,” Vera evaluated bluntly.
“Although I don’t know exactly how strong the Demon King you fought that day was, she is far stronger than the three Magus I once faced… No, the three of them combined could never have won against her.”
Lian knew Vera was right. From the moment she had traded blows with Feiyin in the Duke’s Household, Lian understood that her strength was incredibly high.
And the pressure she exuded now was actually approaching that of the Demon King, who had unfurled her wings toward her and her companions under the gray sky that day.
“I don’t really want to fight you. Because what I needed to do is already finished — though if I say that, you probably won’t accept it, right?”
Neither the voice nor the tone was the same as Feiyin’s… but Lian was absolutely certain that the person before her was her.
Thus, she shouted at Feiyin:
“No matter what you’re planning, it’s over now. Surrender obediently… and turn me back!”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that. Your request is beyond the scope of my abilities.”
“Then I’ll just have to beat you until you’re willing to listen…!”
Lian charged toward Feiyin, wreathed in crimson flames.
The moment she moved, countless vine-like tentacles surged from the shadows covering the ground, attempting to intercept her.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Vera swung a wave of Sword Qi with her empty right hand, cutting down every tentacle that struck at Lian.
The reason she didn’t use her sword was that she had thrust it into the ground.
With her sword as the origin, a thin layer of frost had silently spread over the shadows covering the entire arena.
This was something she and Lian had agreed upon beforehand. To prevent Feiyin from leaving via Shadow Shift, she would use her own Magic Power to create restrictions on the field.
Under Vera’s cover, Lian reached Feiyin in the blink of an eye. Her blade, burning with hellfire, slammed into Feiyin’s regenerated arms.
Flames and shadows clashed against each other… The fire pushed back the shadows with overwhelming dominance.
Lian pushed her sword forward relentlessly, while Feiyin retreated one step at a time.
“You… didn’t you promise me?!”
“I didn’t break my word. Look, everyone present is unharmed.”
Despite being at a clear disadvantage, Feiyin’s voice still held a fair amount of composure.
A red Hexagram of Covenant lit up on the backs of both their hands — representing that the vow’s efficacy was still ongoing.
Lian was stunned for a moment… because she realized there were indeed no casualties among the crowd.
The only two exceptions were Milin, who was surrounded by guards, and Bert, who was groaning on a stretcher by the side of the arena.
“I’m fine… I told you to stop surrounding me like this, I’m going over there!”
“You cannot! Princess… it’s too dangerous!”
“Ouch… it hurts so much… how could that person hit so hard…?”
“Don’t move, and don’t speak. I am already using Healing Magic. Your ribs are only partially cracked. If you move around and a fragment pierces your lung, things will get very bad.”
Lian’s enhanced hearing and perception clearly detected the current state of the two.
Milin was anxiously trying to run back to the martial arts arena, but the guards crowded around her, forming a human wall and refusing to give way.
Meanwhile, Bert was groaning under the glow of the Healing Magic released by an Elf maid… but hearing the strength in his voice, he shouldn’t be in any major danger.
She was starting to lose track of Feiyin’s purpose.
She could sense that Milin’s body was emitting Magic Power far greater than in the past, and she also heard Meliya’s calm voice from the guest seats, directing the guards and soldiers to arrange an orderly evacuation of the citizens.
Meliya’s breathing and heartbeat were quite stable; she didn’t seem injured at all.
The only difference between the residents now and before the festival was probably that they were currently gripped by blatant fear and total loathing for the Demon Race.
“Then what about this girl?! You brought her here to cause trouble… leaving everyone in a panic! You blew up the mansion before, causing all those casualties… do you really want to start a war again?”
But then Lian saw the Shadow Demon girl lying on the ground — she recognized her instantly. This was the girl who had fought Milin in the mansion that day.
Although the girl was now unconscious… she actually possessed a massive Magic Power no weaker than Milin’s.
It was easy for Lian to deduce that the mess on the field was surely the handiwork of this girl.
“I want to start a war? No, I have no interest in such things. Otherwise, we would have met on the battlefield sixteen years ago.”
Feiyin still didn’t reveal her face, but she turned her head toward the fallen Luc and said, “Besides, you probably don’t know, do you? This girl… she is Jill’s daughter.”
“What did you say… Jill’s daughter?!”
Feiyin’s words caused Lian’s entire body to shake.
The shadows around Feiyin seized this opening, surging forward to form a barrier against the fire’s encroachment.
The reduced pressure allowed Feiyin to stop her retreat.
“…How could she have a daughter? She didn’t even have a husband… no, she shouldn’t have even had a wife! Wait… why do you know that name?!”
The shock of this information nearly made Lian lose her grip on her sword.
The name Feiyin had spoken was one that had long been forgotten by her and her companions.
During the first half of that journey, the scouts for the party included the Ranger Iyue from the Elf race, and the thief they encountered while adventuring in the Southern Autonomous Cities Union — Jill.
She had once been Lian’s best partner and closest friend… until the party reached the Border Mountains at the junction of the human and demon realms.
Only then did she reveal her true self before everyone.
‘I am the person you are looking for, Lian En. Come with me… Together, you and I can take the whole world into our hands. Not just this Empire — but the even vaster and more distant world beyond as well.’
‘Let me reintroduce myself. I am your fated rival, the monarch of the Demon Race — Kira Salxius. But if you are willing to call me Jill as before, I won’t mind.’
Lian stared blankly at the Shadow Demon girl slumped on the ground…
Her image gradually overlapped with the black-clothed girl who had stood beneath the dark clouds that day, extending an invitation to her.
“You’re talking nonsense! How do you even know that name…?! Since when have you been spying on us?!”
The Demon King had once been a member of the Brave’s Party — this was a story once buried by Lian and her companions, unknown to the world.
Because before her exposure, Jill almost never appeared in public with them.
Suppressing her shock and rage, Lian pressed down with her longsword.
The supreme Magic Power and high-temperature flames caused the sword in her hand to begin melting, unable to withstand the pressure.
The swords she and Vera were using now were borrowed from the Mage Corps that had found them in the pine forest earlier.
Only equipment used by mages could possibly withstand their output.
Yet even such a weapon could not carry Lian’s full power. The flames had already reached Feiyin’s cheek.
The shadows covering her face receded slightly due to the heat, revealing silver hair and fair skin.
“I wasn’t spying on you. You wrote about all these things in your letters to the Duchess, didn’t you?”
Lian saw that even in such a desperate situation, she was still smiling.
Even if Lian pushed her sword just a bit further and cut into her neck, she still wore a smile that suggested she knew everything and controlled everything.
“You’re full of lies…! Kira didn’t have a wife at all, so how could she have a daughter… and you actually read the letters I wrote to Meliya?!”
“…You have only known her for half a year. Do you think you know Kira better than I, a fellow member of the Demon Race? As for the letters you wrote to the Duchess, she personally brought them for me to see.”
“Impossible…! What exactly do you want…!”
“I told you. This is an opportunity, an opportunity to realize both of our wishes. No one cares about my wish. But your wish… is to stay by your family’s side forever, isn’t it?”
“Does anything you’ve done have even a shred of connection to that?!”
“Of course it does. Because the one playing with you in the palm of their hand is neither me nor the Demon Race… but fate itself.”
Feiyin’s smile grew even wider. She leaned into Lian’s sword, allowing the flames to burn her Magic Power and sear her body.
Lian was stunned by her inexplicable actions. She saw Feiyin spread her arms, embracing her like a dear friend.
‘Three days later, please go to the Flower Court in the Youlin Courtyard. In that small pavilion where you met the Duchess. The method to turn you back, and the truth you wish to know… are all there.’
She heard Feiyin whisper those words into her ear. Then, her body slowly melted into a shadow and vanished under the burning flames.
As she dissipated, the dome of shadows covering the entire festival grounds quickly collapsed.
Under the sunlight, the shadows returned to normal. The soldiers and citizens erupted into deafening cheers… but Lian stood frozen in place, the sword in her hand hanging limply.
“Lian En… are you all right?!”
Seeing her legs go weak, Vera rushed over to hold her, asking with concern.
“I’m fine… my stomach just hurts a little… and my Magic Power is mostly exhausted.”
Lian gave her a weak smile.
“That’s good,” Vera sighed in relief. “But didn’t you say she was the culprit who turned you into this? If she died just like that…”
“I don’t know… maybe she died, or maybe she didn’t… I don’t know. Just let me rest like this for a while… I’m really a bit tired.”
She murmured to herself while gazing at the brilliant sunlight, then closed her eyes.
Behind the two of them, groups of soldiers surged forward to restrain the Shadow Demon girl who had been left on the field.