Chapter 128: It’s Raining

Sophie really couldn’t accept it.

Her most important sister in this lifetime was actually her most hated arch-enemy from her previous life.

She wished so much that this was a nightmare—as long as she closed her eyes and opened them again, she would wake up in bed.

But the real heartbeat reminded her constantly that this was reality.

Via wasn’t wearing the cross necklace she had given her on her neck, which was why she hadn’t sensed it during the battle.

“…”

Via avoided Sophie’s gaze; facing her sister’s question, she couldn’t say a word.

“Why aren’t you speaking, Via?”

Sophie was both anxious and angry.

She wanted to hear some explanation from Via’s mouth—even if the other lied, it could at least give her some psychological comfort.

But her sister just had nothing to say, tacitly accepting the facts.

“Tell me, why did it have to be you who became my sister!!”

Sophie straddled Via, grabbing her collar and yanking it up.

She forced her sister to meet her eyes, wanting to search for something strange in the other’s gaze.

Maybe Via wasn’t Ville, just being controlled to do such things.

However, the more she thought this way, the more reality diverged from her ideas.

From her sister, she clearly sensed the lingering Abyssal Force.

This was no different from the Demon King Ville himself.

“Answer my question, Via!!”

“…Sophie, this is my question too. Why did my sister have to be you?”

A pained expression appeared on Via’s face.

“If it weren’t you, I could have killed the Silver Sword Princess without any burden.”

“…”

Sophie fell silent too.

Her mindset collapsed; she let go of Via.

The red-haired girl stood up shakily, retreating backward.

She felt her heart aching like it was pricked by needles.

What should she do?

From humanity’s standpoint, no matter what, she had to eliminate the Demon King Ville. If she let this guy live in the world, he would surely grow into a threat to humanity.

If the war between demons and humans happened a second time, it would definitely be another endless disaster for the human world.

She gripped the weapon in her hand tightly.

The opportunity now was extremely rare—the Demon King’s mana was exhausted, the Abyssal Force depleted too; without the Demon King Armament’s enhancement, she was just a mortal body. One sword strike could take her life.

The silver sword slowly rose, about to aim at Via, who had lost the ability to resist.

But just as she prepared to swing the sword mercilessly, some scenes flashed before her eyes again.

Her young self, playing with her sister in front of their mother.

Their mother had once told her that as the older sister, she must protect her little sister.

Sophie had always held this belief, living in this world; after their mother’s death, she depended on her only kin.

For this, she had even prepared a gift to give to Via, ensuring her sister could live the rest of her life peacefully even if she couldn’t continue serving in the Holy Land.

No.

Absolutely not.

She couldn’t hurt Via.

Two voices tangled in Sophie’s mind, almost splitting her soul in two.

Plop.

Sophie herself didn’t notice; she had just stumbled, causing the music box she carried to drop.

From the music box came the hummed happy birthday song by her sister; the little figures symbolizing Sophie and Via danced along with the cute hummed tune.

The two sisters looked at the music box, both widening their eyes.

“…This gift, did you give it to me sincerely?”

Sophie raised her head; she stared at Via, her face no longer showing any firmness—her expression fragile like glass.

Pitter-patter…

It rained.

Kado City suddenly poured with heavy rain, like mercy from the gods, extinguishing the fires in the city.

Gradually, the sound of rain covered all noises in the city, including the music box’s tune.

Via didn’t know how to answer Sophie’s question; her pink bangs were soon soaked by the heavy rain, sticking to her forehead.

The two were separated by the curtain of rain, almost unable to see each other’s faces clearly.

“Miss Sophie!!”

From not far away came other people’s voices.

This broke the silent standoff between the sisters.

Via raised her head; she looked behind Sophie. Despite the thick rain curtain, she could still sense holy power from the clerics over there.

It should be the Holy Land’s clerics gathering and hurrying this way.

Her identity had already been exposed before Sophie; she couldn’t stay here.

Once these people came over, they would discover the lingering Abyssal Force on her.

No matter what Sophie thought, these clerics wouldn’t let her go; she would definitely be labeled a heretic, sent back to the Holy Land for imprisonment, and executed.

Thinking this, she turned around and ran in the other direction.

“…!”

Sophie saw Via fleeing from here; she wanted to step forward to stop her, but after a few steps, she halted again.

In the rain, she just watched Via escape like that.

“Miss Sophie, are you alright?”

The Holy Land’s clerics arrived at Sophie’s side.

“I… I’m fine.” Sophie lowered her head.

“It’s good that you’re fine. Miss Sophie, after you went missing, we were all very worried about your safety.”

The holy knight sighed in relief; then, he continued to inquire:

“There seemed to be another person here just now. Who was that?”

“That was—”

Sophie’s throat felt stuck.

As a saintess candidate, she absolutely had to report the truth here.

But if she let the Holy Land know that her sister was the Demon King Ville, wouldn’t everything be irreparable?

“Miss Sophie?” The clerics saw Sophie’s strange expression and were puzzled.

“I’m sorry, the one who escaped from here just now was a demonized one,” Sophie said in a low voice. “It’s good you came in time; if you were a bit later, I might have been attacked.”

“What did the demonized one look like? We can pursue them.”

“I didn’t see the other’s face clearly… No need to pursue for now. Stay here and protect me; I’m scared.”

“Alright, Miss Sophie,” the holy knight nodded. “In any case, it’s good you’re fine.”

“Mm…”

“By the way, we heard that Lady Selina, the Silver Sword Princess, appeared in Kado City. She seemed to be fighting the resurrected Demon King Ville and saving the people. Do you know about this, Miss?”

“I’m not too sure; it might be something like that. But right now, I’m a bit confused and need to calm my mental state…”

Sophie squatted down and still picked up the music box.

Looking at the little figures on it, she remained silent for a long time, as if watching all her past with her sister in this life.