Francis narrowed his eyes and checked, then waved his tail toward his owner to signal that it was okay.
And at that moment, an “echo” rang out.
[— Sleep.]
The voice of the devil shook his body.
Francis felt the powerful demonic energy permeating his body. He quickly turned and ran toward his master.
Priestess Emily stumbled after being suddenly struck by a high-ranking devil’s spell. When Francis saw this, the pure white horn on his head emitted an intense glow.
In response to the energy of the glowing light, the piece of divine beast horn in her hand also radiated magical energy. As the demonic energy receded, the priestess barely regained her sanity.
As soon as she came to her senses, Priestess Emily rolled her purple eyes and hurriedly looked toward where the body had been, but the situation was already over.
“…What is it? What just happened?”
There was only a small tree branch lying where the body of Letia Tonant, the butler’s daughter, had been.
This was her first time seeing a black tree branch.
The magical energy still echoed from the black tree branch, which seemed as if it would never wither.
“…Could it be another high-ranking devil…”
A cloudy aura, similar to what she had seen from Cecil.
After staring for a moment at the spot where the body had burned under her holy water, Priestess Emily turned her head.
The knights and soldiers had all been affected by the high-ranking devil’s spell.
Feeling a headache coming on, she brushed her hair back and started running toward the lord’s castle.
As always, there was a sudden feeling.
She didn’t know exactly what had happened, but somehow, it felt like things had to be this way.
***
Knock! Knock!
Aran’s lordly castle boasted such harmony and beauty that it would be a shame for it to be second only to the kingdom of Lyriam.
Beneath it, inside a dungeon hidden within a canal, a man writhed in pain.
“Guh… gah… huff… huff…”
A man who had led the “Ascension” plan in Aran while wearing a plague mask to hide his identity.
Butler Paton, Rotani Aran’s closest associate, lay sprawled on the floor, his once-proud mustache burned away.
He had engaged in heresy while hiding his identity, but after Priestess Emily exposed him with her power, he was arrested on the spot. He then endured t0rture at the hands of Julius, the kingdom’s greatest heretic inquisitor, barely clinging to his sanity.
“…What a ridiculous group of people.”
Didn’t they turn blood into holy water, inflicting the pain of boiling alive?
Didn’t they unleash a mysterious golden flame that burned only the mind, not the body?
He let out a faint, disbelieving smile at the sheer power of those blessed by the heavens.
“I’m sorry, Count Rotani. But please forgive me for having to do this.”
He hadn’t started out with evil intentions.
When the plague spread, and the devil first appeared before Paton, who had lost his daughter, he had tried to burn her body as a devoted follower of Telmere.
Her… No, until “it” appeared.
[Why don’t you make a deal with me instead of that scum? If you do what I ask, I can give you a real, living daughter.]
The devil could not tell lies.
The words that came from the mouth of that monster—who only spoke the truth—were so sweet that Paton had no choice but to nod at the black lump of clay’s offer.
[Oh, hello, Paton. It’s been a while.]
And not long after, just as the high-ranking devil had warned, the Countess—who had rotted alive and died from the plague two years ago—came back to life.
Exactly as she had been when she first arrived at the count’s residence.
Paton couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
It was said that with the power of a high-ranking devil, his daughter could truly be brought back to life.
So he followed “her” plan.
Even though the task was wicked, even though it would drive a nail into the heart of his master, he carried it out in silence.
The devil, disguised as his daughter, steadily grew in power by devouring humans, and in the shadows, everything proceeded smoothly.
“… It all got ruined with just one gesture from the priest…”
He was smart, and the devil’s plan was perfect.
Yet, just one person ruined it all. The absurdity of fate that he could do nothing about.
It only failed because the destination chosen by the high-ranking devil, Cecil Lionelta, happened to be Aran by chance.
Feeling the chill rising from the cold stone floor, Paton curled up his body.
‘Dad! Look at this! So cool! I’m going to become a really cool priestess like Priestess Emily in the capital.’
Before the plague spread, he could still picture his daughter’s face, smiling brightly in her priestly robes.
Letia, if only I could see that child smiling one more time…
“… Dad, wake up quickly.”
They had to run away from here.
It was that ever familiar voice… yet Paton remained motionless.
Because the wretched devil that had stolen his daughter’s body always mocked him with that voice.
After realizing that everything was over, Paton no longer moved. He simply lay still in the dungeon.
An anxious voice reached his ears again.
“We don’t have time to stay like this! Priestess Emily, who receives revelations, will come here soon. We have to run now!”
“… Who are you?”
It wasn’t the usual mocking tone of the devil.
Leira’s voice—one he could never forget, even in his dreams.
Slowly, he raised his head and looked out through the dark iron window.
The veins, once twisted by dark magic, were nowhere to be seen. Instead, Letia stood there, just as she had long ago—neatly dressed in her priestly robes, smiling brightly at him.
No… unlike before, her eyes carried a cloudy, eerie glow.
“I am Letia Tonant, my father’s only daughter.”
Spreading a mysterious black energy, the Echo of the Black Forest that had perished at Cecil’s hands stretched out her hand toward Ethan.
“This is a small bet. A fun game for you and me.”
‘I will get you out of here. So, in return, you will teach me what human life is—the thing that fills the void.’
The underground water that had been flowing quietly in front of the prison began to pulse, emitting a white glow.
Amidst the celestial brilliance that radiated blazing heat and explosive holy power, the true devil reached out a hand.
“So come and hold my hand, Dad.”
Holy water poured down like a baptism.
As he looked at the spears of water rising behind his daughter, Paton instinctively grabbed her small hand.
“There they are!”
Violet eyes blazed with divine fire as the priestess shouted, shattering the upper part of the dungeon in one strike.
For a split second, the two women locked eyes.
The little girl smiled as she looked at the legendary priestess she once admired.
[Let’s meet again next time, Priestess Emily.]
“You!”
The flames rising from Emily’s hands stretched out like grasping fingers, aiming to seize the devil.
But the Echo of the Black Forest was one step faster.
With a resounding energy, the devil and the heretic vanished, melting into thin air.
The dungeon, left in ruins by Emily, was filled only with the scent of burning ash mixed with the smell of grass.
“… I missed them again. I missed them again!!!!”
So frustrating!
The priestess, unable to hold back her rage, tore at her silky silver hair.
When she raised her head, what tickled her eyes was the faint light slowly seeping in from outside the half-destroyed dungeon.
“Huh? The sun has risen already?”
At some point, the gloomy dark clouds had vanished as if they had never been there, and the sun, illuminating the deep blue night sky, slowly rose from the east.
Aran, the city of water.
An evil plan had unfolded there.
But thanks to the remarkable efforts of Emily, a retired priestess, the Countess had survived to see another day.
***
“There is something you need to know—Saint Erman’s plan.”
Though one plan had been foiled, another remained hidden in the shadows.
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