Seeing Elcalan like this, Velrose felt utterly helpless.
If Tina were here, perhaps she could have made things better. For some reason, however, her relationship with Sathya had run into trouble... or perhaps it wasn't a conflict at all, but rather the deep-seated obsessions of them both.
As magical beasts, they understood each other better than anyone else, which was why none of the other magical beasts had interfered in their relationship.
This even included Isobel.
“Krulu, let's get her out of here first. If she stays like this, she'll go mad.”
“I understand. A poor, stray human... How adorable.”
Cupping her cheek with a look of eager anticipation, Krulu helped Velrose pull Elcalan to her feet.
As they walked out of the cell, several guards watched and sized them up, but their Church vestments dispelled any suspicion.
In truth, Velrose hadn't originally planned to simply walk out the front door.
She had fully intended to slaughter her way in and fight her way back out.
But now that Sathya held the position of Saintess, they had taken a temporary leave of absence from the Holy Academy under the guise of the Saintess's “apostles” to escort Elcalan out of the Southern Continent.
Once they stepped outside under the watchful eyes of the guards, they were greeted by an endless, sweeping wilderness.
Unlike the diverse terrain of mountains, plains, and forests in the Northern Continent, the Southern Continent was almost entirely flat and barren, save for the active volcano at its very center. There were occasional patches of green grassland where herders gathered, and the rare sight of tents and cooking smoke, but otherwise, the land was devoid of human presence.
Once inside the carriage, they helped Elcalan settle in. They planned to head toward the Northern Continent and, per Sathya's suggestion, deliver her to the Demon King...
More importantly, there was the Pope.
According to what they had recently gathered, Aether had let slip that the Pope was not actually dead. Instead, decades ago, he had locked himself inside a palace-like tower within the Holy Capital—a colossal structure bound by countless seals.
Lady Sathya was absolutely determined to rescue him, though no one knew her reasons.
Unfortunately, the seals were far too robust. Even Sathya herself would require an immense amount of time to break through them.
And as of right now, only Elcalan possessed the authority to pass through the final door.
Yet, the mere mention of "seeing the Pope" was enough to keep Elcalan trembling even now. It was as if she were envisioning some horrific nightmare. To put it simply, something had gone wrong with her mind—she was “broken.”
Of course, Velrose had no idea what she had actually done to end up this way.
The carriage rumbled across the wilderness, traversing endless stretches of empty land. They settled Elcalan into a corner of the spacious carriage and wrapped her in a warm blanket.
Ahead of them lay a journey of several hours.
Lying in the corner of the carriage, Elcalan occasionally looked up at the two girls, her eyes flickering as if she were regaining a shred of sanity.
“I want to leave this place... I don't want to see her.”
“...”
“The Saintess ordered us to protect you. If you really don't want to see her, I can take you somewhere else. Would that be alright, Elcalan?”
Velrose attempted to coax a conversation out of her. As the magical beast most adept at interacting with humans, she felt it was her responsibility to try.
Elcalan raised her head slightly, a faint glimmer of life returning to her eyes beneath the shadow of her hood.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Back to the Northern Continent. We'll be leaving on an airship shortly.”
“...Do I still have any use to you now?”
Elcalan's voice was completely devoid of emotion. Perhaps she had already resigned herself to her fate; even the slightest desire to resist by force had withered away.
Velrose simply shook her head. She, too, had no idea what lay ahead.
Elcalan was someone who had tried to harm both the Demon King and the Saintess, making her a target of suspicion for both humans and magical beasts alike. If left to her own devices, she would eventually be killed—especially now, given her completely passive state.
For the next few hours, Velrose did not try to speak with Elcalan further. Instead, she spent most of her time pushing away Krulu, who kept trying to cling to her.
Ever since she had transformed into a magical beast, Krulu had become incredibly clingy, behaving much like a child.
She was completely different from Velrose.
As a magical beast, Krulu was just as unstable as Shetiel.
She took great pleasure in unleashing her miasma without restraint. Were it not for the strict orders keeping her in check, she would likely have gone off on her own to hunt down and slaughter anyone she disliked purely for her own amusement. After all, magical beasts with a sense of morality were practically nonexistent.
“Velrose, let me have a bite~”
“Don't bite me...”
Left with no choice, Velrose pushed the airhead away.
As the carriage began to bump slightly, Velrose tapped Elcalan on the shoulder. “We're almost there,” she said.
Soon, they would arrive at the landing zone of the return airship.
Peering through the carriage window, they could see sentries standing guard along the rugged hills.
A few minutes later, the carriage ground to a halt before a massive airship.
The dragon-like colossus dwarfed the carriage, making even the vast wilderness seem small in comparison.
A long boarding ramp slowly lowered to the ground to welcome them.
Velrose and Krulu began leading Elcalan forward. But at that moment, the Sword God's body suddenly tensed, her eyes narrowing sharply.
“Do you feel that?”
A delighted smile bloomed across Krulu's face as she looked up toward the sky.
Velrose nodded.
A translucent shield of blue ice enveloped the three of them. In the very next second, the sky plunged into darkness.
Elcalan looked up through the shield and saw a brilliant, shining star.
The star grew larger by the second, eventually setting the dim sky ablaze once more.
Suddenly, the star condensed into a pillar of blinding light, cascading down upon the airship like a roaring waterfall.
“Boom!”
The light cannon unleashed a torrent of pure heat and light, swallowing the airship and everything in its path. A devastating shockwave rippled outward, instantly leveling the hill and leaving behind a scorched, smoldering crater of ash and debris. As the blinding glare faded, residual magical particles shimmered in the air, tracing the path from which the blast had descended.
The massive airship was completely gone, as if it had never existed in the first place.
While the sentries on the ground had managed to raise their defenses or find cover in time to survive, the soldiers aboard the airship had been reduced to ash in an instant, without even a chance to scream.
Right along the trajectory of the light beam, a white-haired elder descended from the sky.
He wore a robe adorned with star patterns. Though his face was heavily lined with wrinkles, his eyes were sharp and resolute—he looked like a wise scholar, yet carried the presence of an executioner from the underworld.
“On behalf of the Tower of Stars, I have come to take Elcalan. Lay down your weapons, apprentice Saintess.”
Rate on N.U.
