“Roar!!”
In the next second, the aftershocks of the fire dissipated instantly, without harming Arthur in the slightest…
Only a few sparks brushed past his white hair, flickering out in an instant.
In the air, the Captain also saw Arthur’s calm eyes on the ground.
The other party slowly nodded toward him.
“…” The Captain gave no response.
He simply turned back to continue the slaughter of the scattered cultists, showing no mercy even as they surrendered.
Meanwhile… Amisa frowned as she stood before the charred corpse of a Ratman.
“Lady, the person you were looking for… has been killed by the aftershocks of the battle.”
After a long silence, Ileya finally responded.
“I… I see.”
Ileya gave a faint reply, then turned to look at the Ratmen, including Holly, who were all watching with expectant faces.
“I’m sorry. She was killed by the cultists. We were one step too late.”
Thud!
Palin, who had been standing at the very front, suddenly rolled his eyes and fainted on the spot.
The expressions of the other Ratmen were equally grim.
However, there was nothing to be done. The deed was done, and besides… the Lady before them had already done her best to help.
“Whew… All right. It’s still not very safe up here. You should take him back to the village first. We’ll head up to take a look and bring Xue’er’s ashes back later.” Ileya shook her head and slowly stood up, speaking to Jerry.
“I… I understand.”
At this point, the group of Ratmen truly had no reason to stay.
“Please be careful…” After a quiet warning, Jerry hoisted the unconscious Palin onto his back and followed the other Ratmen toward the village.
Holly, however, remained by Ileya’s side, refusing to leave.
“You want to go up with me? You’d be better off going back for a nap…” Looking at the Miss Holy Sword Bearer, the Lady let out a slow sigh.
‘This girl really took this sort of thing to heart.’
The request of a Foreign Race she had only known for a few hours and another Ratman she hadn’t even met… Was it really worth being this depressed?
“Lady… I… I want to personally deliver Xue’er’s ashes… into Palin’s hands.”
Holly didn’t sense the Lady’s exasperation. She simply bit her lip and spoke softly.
She wasn’t particularly grieving the death of a Ratman she had never met, but… how should she put it? Her chest felt tight, as if a breath were trapped in her heart.
Bringing the ashes back would be a way to fulfill… the promise she had made to Palin.
“You’ve just… experienced too little. Fine, do as you wish. However…”
Ileya looked at the girl’s determined face and watery eyes, then glanced down at the… completely exposed opening below. She subconsciously stroked her chin.
“You’d better find some clothes to wear first.”
Thud…
As the last cultist collapsed, peace finally returned to the City of Rand.
Whether it was the sky dyed dark red by the ritual or the sky scorched orange by the fire… everything eventually returned to its original state.
Pale purple moonlight shone down upon the ruins.
Even though a great battle had just occurred, there were very few corpses — only a dozen or so scattered about.
As for the rest… they had all been reduced to piles of ash during the fight.
Everything seemed to be over… or was it?
Franlot emerged from the shadows of the rubble. He stood dazed atop the warm gray ash, looking up at the countless brilliant stars… his gaze somewhat vacant.
Only now, after the intense game of death had ended, did he truly feel that he had perhaps actually transmigrated.
He had transmigrated as the Second Son of a Duke from the game he used to play, Dark Continent.
“Heh… Heh heh heh…”
Under the brilliant sea of stars, Franlot chuckled softly.
‘In that world, I was just a useless shut-in, but now that I’m here, perhaps I can achieve something… something absolutely impossible in that world.’
He reached out toward the sky, as if trying to gather the entire Milky Way into his palm!
Bang!!
“Eh…?!”
In the next second, before he could finish venting his grand ambitions… a muffled thud startled him!
Beneath the nearby rubble, a large pile of stones was sent flying into the air by a massive force from below!
Following that, a giant Black Armored Knight, standing over 6 feet tall, slowly walked out.
Hiss…
‘What kind of monster… is this now!?’
Franlot searched his memory but couldn’t find a monster type in Dark Continent that corresponded to this armored warrior.
“Tch… So dirty…”
Just as the monster completely emerged, a voice of pure disgust drifted up from the underground passage.
Then, the black-armored monster slowly leaned over and reached a hand into the passage.
A moment later, a young girl sat upon its slowly rising palm.
The girl’s white hair fluttered in the night wind, seemingly blending into the vast sea of stars…
From her slightly furrowed brow alone, one might conclude… that perhaps the fault lay with the stainless moonlight.
As her crimson eyes scanned the surroundings… they suddenly locked onto him.
Then, a hint of confusion seemed to color those dark red eyes.
‘Why is there a naked man here?’
“Lady! Cough, cough… There’s so much dust out here… Ahhhhhh!!!!”
Unlike the Lady’s confusion, Holly, who had just climbed up from below, shrieked in terror the moment she saw Franlot!
“Eh?! That… I didn’t mean to go without…”
“If you know you’re naked, then get the hell out of here!!” Ileya rubbed her temples, her face full of exasperation.
‘If I weren’t about to meet with the people from the Inquisition and hadn’t decided to maintain a certain image… the man in front of me might have just taken a kick from Insmouth.’
“Ah… right!” Franlot nodded as if waking from a dream, then hurriedly scrambled behind a pile of rubble.
‘This guy… I didn’t notice him before. Maybe he’s a member of the Inquisition who went through the same thing as Holly.’
Ileya didn’t care about the naked man, but Holly’s face was now bright red. She seemed to have thought of something and pulled her already tightly tied robe even closer.
“Hmm…”
Ignoring these small interludes, the Lady simply turned to look at her surroundings.
Except for the city walls, almost most of the buildings in the ancient city had been destroyed by the aftershocks of the battle.
‘What a shame… To have finally reached the ruins of an ancient civilization, only to be a step too late and miss seeing it in its entirety.’
It felt like the disappointment of visiting a tourist attraction only to be told it was closed for the week.
“Lady!”
Before Ileya could further indulge her gloom, a set of footsteps approached.
It was Amisa’s voice.
Beyond the faint trace of a smile in her tone, there was a palpable sense of relief.
Though she had always believed the Lady would be safe… seeing her appear unharmed before her eyes still made it difficult to suppress the excitement in her heart.
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