Chapter 145

[How… intriguing. I shall look forward… to seeing whether your fate truly defies the heavens.]

Those were the final words.

Once again, the light flickered.

Far more intensely than before.

A sphere of darkness extended from Andril and enveloped Chris, as if to protect him, and Chris’s consciousness faded.

* * *

What happened that day shook not just Gold Cross, but the entire continent.

It had been an extraordinary incident.

“They say a Fallen Star almost descended?”

“Yeah, apparently during the Pope’s ritual to receive the divine revelations from the constellations in order to resolve the plague, something went wrong, and a Fallen Star began to descend. Prince Christian of the Magus Empire and Saintess Olivia swiftly intervened and prevented it.”

Olivia spread the truth—but with some alterations, just as she and Chris had discussed beforehand.

In truth, Olivia had intended to reveal everything honestly as a way of atoning for her sins, but Chris had opposed it.

If the full truth of the Pope’s horrific actions were made public, the prestige of the Papal State would be utterly destroyed.

Considering Olivia was destined to become the next Pope and would be the one to reform Gold Cross’s corruption, that wouldn’t have been wise.

‘Eventually, the Papal State must become my pawn—so I can’t allow that to happen.’

So they presented a version of the truth mixed with lies.

The plague was framed as something orchestrated by Archduke Vinz in collusion with the House of Curses.

And the descent of the Fallen Star was attributed to the Pope’s mistake.

‘Honestly, given the Pope’s crimes, exposing everything would’ve felt cathartic. But he’ll pay the price even without that.’

Thanks to the power of the Emerald Tablet, the Pope miraculously survived the aftermath of the incident.

Or rather—strictly speaking, it could hardly be called survival.

He had fallen into a vegetative state.

His body continued to breathe, but he was effectively dead.

‘When the Fallen Star was annihilated, the Pope’s soul—being its contractor—was dragged down to Gehenna.’

Now, the Pope would writhe in agony for eternity within the torments of Gehenna, as befitting his sins.

‘Still… my body aches all over. How much longer do I have to stay stuck in bed like this?’

There had been many twists and turns, but in the end, everything had been resolved well.

However, Chris was still unable to return to the Magus Empire.

Having borne the brunt of the backlash from the Fallen Star’s destruction, his body was left in ruins.

He had been bedridden for a full week.

‘If it weren’t for the blessing Olivia placed on me, I would’ve been in serious trouble. I might never have even regained consciousness.’

Chris sighed and sat up from his bed.

After lying down for an entire week, he had recovered enough to walk around a bit.

‘Even if it’s just a little at a time, moving around will help me heal faster.’

With that thought, he stepped outside, but the reactions of the people he encountered were strange.

Servants, knights, even ordinary commoners—everyone flinched and then deeply bowed their heads to Christian.

And not just a shallow bow—deep and low.

‘What the… why are they acting like this?’

At some point, Viscount Roy appeared and offered an explanation.

“Ahem, that’s because of what you accomplished recently, my lord.”

“You mean what I did?”

“Yes, my lord. Word has spread about what you accomplished. You’re now the hero of Gold Cross.”

It was an unexpected statement.

“…Me? A demon, the hero of Gold Cross? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Does it matter that you’re a demon? If it weren’t for you, Gold Cross would’ve been reduced to rubble.”

Without Chris, neither the plague nor the descent of the Fallen Star could’ve been stopped.

“More than anything, Princess Olivia herself went out of her way to publicize your achievements. She claimed she did nothing and that it was all your doing.”

“……”

“Also, word got out that you were the one who miraculously saved all the patients in Archduke Vinz’s territory.”

“…How did that leak?”

“It seems one of the patients recognized you, my lord.”

At the time, Chris had been wearing a crow mask that covered his face, so he hadn’t bothered to disguise himself further. Besides the patients, he hadn’t met anyone else anyway.

That’s how someone had managed to recognize him.

“To heal every single patient! If only you weren’t a demon, that alone would be enough to have you worshipped as a saint. In fact, the people of Archduke Vinz’s territory are already calling you the ‘Saint of Darkness.’”

“……”

Saint of Darkness.

It was a nickname that felt embarrassingly childish.

It sounded like he should have a black flame dragon wrapped around his hand.

“That name doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Haha. Actually, more people refer to you by a different nickname.”

“What is it?”

“Mahwi.”

Chris’s expression became subtly complicated.

It meant “Demonic Radiance.”

Because he was a demon, they couldn’t outright praise him as a hero, so they had come up with a name like that.

“In any case, my lord, you saved Gold Cross. On behalf of the Kingdom of Burssen and Gold Cross, I offer my sincere gratitude.”

Viscount Roy bowed deeply, and Chris looked at him blankly as he replied,

“Flatter me all you want, I’m not letting you go. You’re my slave forever.”

Viscount Roy, still bent at the waist, furrowed his brows in frustration.

‘Damn it! After all this sucking up, can’t you just let me off? I went through hell because of you! I really thought I was going to die at the end!’

In the final moments, when the White Lion Knights of the Luxen Kingdom stormed in, Roy and Alros had blocked their path… and nearly died for it.

‘Ugh, you bastard! Demon! Everyone must be blind to call a guy like you “Saint of Darkness” or “Mahwi”!’

But cursing him was pointless.

Just then, a familiar face appeared in the distance.

He looked somewhat like Christian, only a hundred times more timid.

It was Alros.

Roy waved at him with a delighted expression, and Alros was about to greet him in kind—until he noticed Christian standing beside him and reflexively shrank back.

Perhaps because they had both suffered under the same demon, the two had formed a true friendship that transcended borders and ideology.

“W-well, I’ll take my leave. I have some pressing matters to discuss with Sir Alros.”

Chris let Viscount Roy go, and then strolled alone a bit longer through the rear gardens of the royal palace of the Papal State.

‘Come to think of it, has Evan gone into hiding? Well, not like he has a reason to show himself anyway.’

After walking for a while, a familiar sight came into view.

It was the tower he had been imprisoned in as a child.

“……”

Chris silently stared at the tower for a moment.

He felt nothing.

‘Guess I’ve let it go.’

Of course, he had never really been shaken by the past to begin with.

But whereas before it felt like he had simply buried the wound deep within a scar, now he truly felt clean and indifferent.

Thanks to having settled things with the Pope, in whatever form that took, he felt a sense of closure.

‘Time to focus on something else.’

Chris moved to another location and took out Andril from his subspace pouch.

There was something he wanted to check.

‘Has anything changed?’

He had offered a constellar as a sacrifice, so he’d fulfilled one of the conditions for unsealing.

At a glance, it didn’t look any different.

It still looked like a worn-out iron sword, but Chris noticed subtle differences with his eyes.

‘The seal’s weakened slightly. If I’m lucky, I might be able to draw out a portion of its power.’

Of course, it was still too soon.

Andril’s power demanded an enormous toll on its wielder’s strength.

With his current power, even tapping into a fragment of it would likely knock him out instantly.

‘Still, in a desperate moment, it could be a trump card.’

After checking Andril’s condition, another question came to mind.

‘Come to think of it, what was that at the end? It felt like Andril was talking to me.’

He couldn’t remember clearly.

Strange.

Chris had something akin to perfect memory—he never forgot anything he heard.

It was odd.

He had a gut feeling that it was something he needed to figure out.

“Hey. You’ve got an ego, right? What was it you said to me back then?”

Naturally, no reply came.

‘Is it asleep, or just pretending to be? If I threw it into a furnace or a volcano, maybe I could torture it awake. Where’s the hottest place near the Dark Demonic House again?’

As he was pondering, he unexpectedly ran into someone.

It was Jupien.

She seemed to be doing some training, jogging around.

Wiping away her sweat, Jupien tilted her head and asked,

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, just wandering.”

“Your body holding up okay?”

“Still not great.”

“Wanna spar?”

“…Didn’t you just hear me say I’m not doing great?”

“If you’re a demon, you should be able to fight no matter your condition. I’m still hurting too.”

Jupien pulled up her sleeves and pant legs, showing her arms and legs covered in wounds.

They were injuries sustained from facing off alone against 200 enhanced soldiers.

In some ways, her condition was worse than Chris’s, but she had already gotten back on her feet after just a few days and was training despite not being fully healed.

‘What is she, some hot-blooded idiot demon?’

Chris shook his head, but Jupien kept pestering him.

“Let’s spar. Taking a few hits might actually help your body recover.”

Of course, Chris had no intention of accepting the duel.

He was about to refuse when suddenly a sharp voice rang out.

“What do you think you’re doing right now?”

It was Olivia.

She was glaring at the two of them with an expression far more upset than usual.

While they were still confused, Olivia marched over to them.

“Lady Jupien? You’re raising your sword at a patient? What do you think you’re doing?”

“…Sparring is good for recovery.”

“Don’t say something even an idiot wouldn’t say.”

“……”

“Do you have any idea how bad Christian’s condition is, and you’re asking him for a sparring match? What are you thinking? I told you already—he needs complete bed rest, especially because of the internal injuries….”

Jupien slowly started to back away.

Hot-blooded idiot demon Jupien turned out to be surprisingly weak against nagging.

This time, Olivia turned to Chris.

Her pretty forehead was creased in a frown.

“You’re no different. Why didn’t you refuse her?”

“…No, I mean…”

He had been about to refuse, but Olivia showed up before he could.

Still, Olivia didn’t stop scolding.

“And didn’t I tell you to stay in bed?”

“…I’ve recovered a lot.”

“Recovered? You’re still suffering from internal injuries. What do you think will happen if they worsen again? Go back and lie down immediately.”

Chris looked a bit dazed.

After the final battle—

Olivia had been acting strange.

‘She didn’t fall into despair like I was worried she might, but…’

Her attitude toward Christian had changed.

Specifically, ever since he collapsed and ended up bedridden… she had been nagging more.

‘This is just like the way she used to nag me before.’

In his previous life, back when Olivia was like a little sister to him—

She had always been a bit naggy. Especially when he was sick or injured, she reacted very sensitively.

The way she was acting now was incredibly similar to how she’d been back then.

“Well, no matter what condition I’m in, it has nothing to do with you.”

“And why wouldn’t it?”