“Wha…”
When the Saintess realized that this battle was far from a sure victory—and that she might even lose—she finally wavered.
Was Gabriella truly still alive?
She had never believed it.
Because if she were still alive, she would surely remember the one left in the storage room and come take her away, just like after defeating that gigantic demon, right?
It had to be that way.
Watching the magic array being eroded by shadows, with less than thirty percent of her magic recovered, the Saintess knew she had to do something.
Kill them.
But…
If Lady Gabriella was truly as they said—inside the Demon King’s Castle, even brainwashed by the Demon King into… some kind of slave or contracted being—and learned that Tina and Elsa had been injured, she would surely come personally to punish me.
For the first time, the Saintess felt a fear that came from the depths of her heart.
Yet she still wanted to see Lady Gabriella sooner.
I only need to know she is still alive.
But what if she ends up hating me?
The Saintess’s heart pounded fiercely.
Lady Gabriella might now have more weapons, more things she cherished—just like how the Holy Queen valued her.
At that moment, Simona’s voice rang in her ears once more:
“She is gone, but you can, like me, carry out the justice she believed in.”
“With the remaining years.”
I so want to be noticed by her. I miss her so much.
So lonely.
Would just seeing her once really be enough?
While lost in such thoughts, more than half of her magic array had already been corrupted by shadows.
Magic recovery had completely stopped—and this had happened in the span of a mere minute.
She was going to lose if she did nothing more.
She still had many ways to seize victory in this battle.
She had even prepared scrolls in advance for situations like this.
She could indeed injure Elsa—even if it meant perishing together.
But she simply could not bring herself to do it.
At that very moment, the two golden giants locked in fierce combat with Tina were completely encased in bizarre ice crystals.
Snowflakes fell as if winter had arrived early, landing on the Saintess’s silver-white hair.
Crack—
With a crisp shattering sound, the golden light of the magic array vanished, leaving only the Saintess sitting blankly in place, still muttering something under her breath.
Seizing the opportunity, Elsa used shadow power to bind the Saintess’s delicate body, preventing her from continuing to channel power.
She poured even more demonic energy and strength into the bindings before barely suppressing the immense magic within the Saintess’s body.
“Nn…”
Only then did the Saintess make a slight sound.
Tina flew above the two and slowly descended, walking to stand before the Saintess.
An ice spike appeared in her hand, aimed at the Saintess’s neck.
Then, she sealed the Saintess’s legs in ice crystals, making escape impossible.
“Saintess, it’s time to admit defeat.”
Yet the ice crystals seemed to have little effect.
The Saintess merely shifted slightly, and cracks immediately appeared in the ice.
Elsa retreated several steps, standing beside Tina, ready at any moment to resume the earlier fight.
But unexpectedly…
“Nn… Nn…”
The Saintess curled up and began sobbing quietly.
Her voice was barely audible.
At first, the two thought she was chanting a spell.
But when her tears fell to the ground and froze into ice, they instantly understood what had happened.
—She was actually crying?!
“Hurry! Provide support to the Saintess at once! Keep up with me, you idiots!”
Meanwhile, Third Knight Order Captain Valenk led his subordinates in a charge forward.
Several hundred men had rushed out of the fortress overnight, heading toward the Black Stone Mountains—only this way might they arrive in time for the Saintess’s battle.
His righteous and stern tone spurred the marquis-level and higher knights to quicken their pace.
Valenk, of course, knew that in the narrow terrain of the Black Stone Mountains, his assistance to the Saintess would not be particularly significant.
But that was not why he was attacking the Black Stone Mountains.
—The current Holy Queen had not yet returned to the city!
This meant they had encountered an extremely urgent situation—one serious enough for even the Saintess to take the field personally.
He had certainly wanted to wait for the Four Saints to assist the Saintess, but if he did that, how could he gain any benefits?
For a knight captain like him, if he did not play a few clever tricks…
Forget achieving great merits—even scraping some credit would be snatched away by the other knight captains.
Now, the Saintess had actually kidnapped Second Knight Order Captain Philina.
He could not miss this opportunity.
“Captain, the Black Stone Mountains are just ahead. Are we really going in?”
One of the knights gazed at the quiet, deep darkness of the Black Stone Mountains and hesitated.
In truth, even Valenk felt the same.
Snowflakes carrying a strange black power drifted from the sky.
The original starry sky seemed blocked by some unknown darkness—not clouds, but a kind of force.
The sun-like radiance and power of the Holy Queen had burst forth for only an instant before vanishing, as if swallowed.
In that instant, he thought of a rather perfect plan.
How could the Saintess and Holy Queen possibly lose?
In reality, no matter how treacherous the environment of the Black Stone Mountains, it would not greatly affect those two powerhouses.
As long as they returned victorious, whatever he—as Third Knight Order Captain—did to curry favor with them would allow him to reap benefits, just like Elsa once had.
Of course, this was only the first step of Valenk’s plan.
He ordered the knights to rest in place while he secretly slipped back to the fortress alone.
Descending the steps to the fortress prison, he found the cell holding Second Knight Order Captain Philina.
He drew his knightly sword, opened the cell door, and walked toward the young woman bound in chains.
“Sorry about this, Miss Philina.”
“Wha…?”
Philina’s body trembled slightly.
She sat up from the floor, tilting her head as if waking from a long dream.
“What are you going to do to me?” she asked.
“Can’t you see the current situation, Miss Philina?”
Valenk stepped closer.
“With both the Saintess and Holy Queen absent, Captain Elsa missing, and me and the knights already marching out—killing you now would be to seize the position of captain, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh~ So that’s how it is.”
Philina nodded thoughtfully.
“This is a world where the weak are prey to the strong. Don’t blame me for being too ruthless, Miss Philina. Only with you dead can I obtain everything I want.”
“Mmm, I understand.”
Though he found the Second Knight Order Captain’s composure rather strange, Valenk still sighed—whether in prayer or remembrance—and clasped his hands together.
Then he moved behind Philina, raised his sword, and aimed at her neck, partially concealed by strands of crimson-red hair.
Squelch—!
With a clang, the knightly sword fell to the ground.
The sound of flesh being pierced rang out.
But…
Valenk discovered that the young woman before him had vanished.
He tried to cry out, only to find his throat in agony…
He could only emit hoarse rasps.
Collapsing to the floor,
his final, feeble struggle was to look toward Philina—to see clearly what kind of existence she truly was.
Philina, meanwhile, strolled leisurely out of the cell, muttering to herself:
“How many years have I slept?”
“Hmm.”
“I can’t remember.”