Chapter 40 : Not a Miracle (The End)

Phook.

Kan’s sword deeply pierced Aishi’s back. Sticky blood flowed from the tip of the sword, and her terrible scream echoed through the cave walls.

The light in Aishi’s eyes slowly faded. The last cry she uttered, she collapsed hopelessly to the ground.

Kan gazed at the sleeping Rupia, still breathing in deep colors, with a harmless expression on his face.

Her figure covered in wounds and dust.

This time, it was truly too late. Rupia’s breath, with the passage of time, was growing weaker.

Kan was a warrior. He was not a doctor.

He gently cradled Rupia in his arms. He stared down at her in a daze, overwhelmed by the helplessness and sorrow rising in his chest. Now, his little lord, eternally young and eternally light.

“Ku, kuh! Rupia-nim…!”

At that moment, the black cat assassin, who had quietly approached, hurriedly rummaged through his bundle. His eyes were filled with determination.

“I promised to save you when you’re in danger, and now I will keep that promise!”

As the black cat took a small glass bottle from his bundle, a dazzling light burst from the bottle, engulfing the entire cave.

In the center of that light was a clear, mysterious liquid inside the bottle. It seemed to be breathing on its own, gently rippling.

Lauro and Roshi, who were lying down, were the first to recognize what the bottle contained.

“The… legendary elixir…!?”

The elixir that could cure any incurable disease as long as life remained.

It was one of the heirlooms of the Demon King, now a legendary treasure that the black cat had been hiding.

The black cat slowly began to pour the elixir into Rupia’s small mouth.

Bit by bit.

Rupia’s pale skin gradually started to regain a warm color. The blood and dirt covering her wounds vanished in the light.

Her torn flesh began to heal slowly, as though it had never been torn, merging seamlessly.

Her lost breath found its rhythm again. Her little fingers trembled slightly, and soon life spread from her fingertips through her entire body.

Kan stared at the sight, dazed. Something seemed to be swirling hotly behind his empty eye sockets.

His cold skeletal arm, holding Rupia, tightened around her.

Though he couldn’t feel the changes in her soft body, Kan knew for sure.

Rupia had come back to life.

“L…”

“Lord!”

Fully restored, Rupia spoke, and Kan could no longer hold back. His skull rubbed her soft cheek as much as he wanted.

“Kuaaak! Why, why are you doing this! General…!”

At that moment, the ground rumbled low, shaking. The heavy vibrations spread along the walls of the magic cave, and small rocks began to fall from the ceiling.

Dust clouds erupted like explosions, blurring his vision. The cracks in the walls and ceiling widened, and dirt began to pour through them.

Kan could feel the flow of magical energy, realizing that the magic cave would collapse.

It was the magic he had seen in Beal from the Sky Island.

Could it be that they intended to kill everyone here?

“Lord! We need to hurry and get out!”

Kan put Rupia down and lifted the fallen Rain onto his back. Rupia, startled, looked around at Lauro and Roshi who had collapsed.

“Wa, wait! General…!”

Finally, having made up her mind, Rupia ran toward the direction where the bodies of Drak and Aishi lay.

Around their bodies, the magic stones they had absorbed lay scattered, broken into fragments on the ground.

Rupia scurried around like a hamster following sunflower seeds, stuffing the pieces of magic stones into her mouth.

“Omnomnomnom”

Each time she swallowed a piece of magic stone, her small body trembled slightly. The light under her skin seemed to burst out, and the glow enveloping her grew more intense.

Her small hands and feet began to change first, and a strange sound echoed as her whole body seemed to be reconstructing.

Her body twitched in pain, and she collapsed to the ground.

But Rupia gritted her teeth and endured. The light flowing down her back exploded like a detonator, accelerating her transformation.

Her thin and frail limbs became strong and elegant, her hair grew longer, and she radiated a more mature aura.

When the light finally dimmed, Rupia rose, now appearing much more mature. With noticeable changes, her body regained stability, brimming with magical power.

Rupia didn’t waste any time using her powers.

As if time had stopped, the collapsing ceiling and falling rocks froze mid-air.

The light from her magic enveloped the bodies of Lauro and Rain, who were lying on the ground.

Like a video playing in reverse, their wounds disappeared, and their pulses began to beat again. Rain, as if waking from a deep sleep, slowly inhaled and opened her eyes.

However, the light did not stop. It spread to every dark corner of the cave, enveloping the bodies of the fallen Demon King and monsters.

It even reached the hostile Kyleen tribe.

The only ones unaffected were Drak and Aishi.

“Wh-what is this…?”

The Demon King and the monsters, recalling their memories before death, looked at the bodies of Drak and Aishi, and then at Kan and Rupia.

Despite the confusion, they realized who had killed Drak and Aishi, and who had revived them.

The now fully matured Rupia shouted.

“Everyone, focus! We need to get out of the magic cave quickly! My magic won’t last much longer!”

Her outward appearance, once resembling an adult, had now reverted to that of a high school student.

“We have to get out before the entrance collapses…!”

Even as she spoke, Rupia continued to shrink. It was as if she were a deflating balloon.

“I… I’ll do it…!”

In the end, Rupia’s magic was completely drained, and with a sound like air escaping, she collapsed weakly.

“Hoo…ow…”

Kan, holding Rupia, who had become like a child again, shouted at the other monsters and Demon Kings, including Rain.

As Rupia had said, the falling rocks began to block the entrance gradually.

“Did you not hear the order? Move, all of you!”

Inside the cave, chaos and turmoil erupted in an instant. The Demon Kings and monsters, having regained their magic, rushed toward the exit in unison.

Armed orc soldiers appeared between the passages. They were Kan’s subordinates. The orcs, following Kan’s orders, suppressed the hostile Demon Kings and awaited further commands.

They retreated in an orderly fashion, according to Kan’s immediate withdrawal order.

In the heart of the chaos, the cave’s ceiling began to crack and collapse again.

Amid the falling rocks and dust, the monsters and Demon Kings risked their lives, charging toward the exit.

The sound of massive rocks crashing echoed, and the entrance was almost completely blocked.

When Kan and his subordinates barely escaped at the last moment, the cave completely collapsed, and an explosion resounded from behind.

Kan quickly threw his body toward the exit, tightly holding the fallen Rupia.

The group that had escaped the ruined cave gathered in the darkness. The monsters and Demon Kings, relieved to be alive, looked at Rupia and Kan with a mix of confusion and caution in their eyes.

Rupia, who had risen to her feet, still appeared small and childlike, but her gaze remained unwavering. The faint light that remained from her body softly spread, illuminating the dark surroundings.

“Why… did you save even us, who have no connection to you?”

One of the Demon Kings asked in a low voice. His question represented the doubt of everyone. Their gazes turned toward Lupia.

Rupia, looking weary, tightly shut her small lips, then slowly opened her mouth.

“A true lord does not abandon even a single subject…”

Her voice was small, but it spread like a clear echo in the darkness. As her words ended, a long silence followed.

The Demon Kings and monsters looked at each other. Slowly, feelings that had long been forgotten began to resurface in their hearts. Faces once filled with anger and suspicion gradually grew solemn, and deep emotion welled up in their eyes.

One of the Demon Kings quietly kneeled. Then another, and another. Soon, all the Demon Kings and monsters had knelt before Rupia.

They bowed their heads and placed their hands on their chests in respect. Harsh breaths and trembling voices echoed.

“…Thank you.”

One Demon King spoke in a trembling voice. It was Ga’al, the third-ranking Demon King. That one word conveyed all the emotions.

“Thank you. Thank you for saving us.”

“To Rupia, our Demon King, we bow in respect.”

“We will never forget this kindness. Rupia-nim.”

Rupia’s lips quivered. Tears filled her eyes.

The moment she had once longed for had come.

‘No one would ever acknowledge someone as weak as you as a Demon King.’

That one sentence from Drak, which had pierced her heart, now felt wrong.

The moment when the other Demon Kings and many monsters recognized her as a true Demon King had come.

Rupia slowly raised her trembling head and looked at Kan.

Kan, meeting her gaze, knelt on one knee and, like the other Demon Kings and monsters, spoke to her.

“Thank you for keeping your promise, my lord.”

Rupia nodded, swallowing her tears.

“It’s… thanks to the General… meeting someone like me, a weak Demon King… it was truly, truly a miracle…”

“My lord, you are not weak. And it’s not a miracle that I serve you.”

Kan spoke.

As he said, no one would ever be able to ignore Rupia or treat her recklessly again.

“Thank you for believing in me, for not abandoning me… Kan.”

Rupia hugged Kan’s skull, kneeling before her, tightly and with great care, as tears flowed down her face.

The joy she had once felt when she revived the Golem in the cave, that feeling of being a small lord, was blooming again within her.