Chapter 242 – The End of the Battle (2)

As I raised my sword, Irene closed her eyes.

If I were to swing my sword now, the girl would die.

Instead of swinging my sword, I asked Irene and everyone else.

“Irene, if you die, will the Demon King’s soul disappear?”

Irene didn’t answer, but after thinking for a moment, all my party members shook their heads.

“If Irene dies, the Demon King might possess me next, since I don’t have divine power.”

Yelena, who looked more serious than anyone else as she watched her disciple with concern, spoke first, followed by:

“Or it might escape from this room and flee far away.”

“If we’re lucky, it might just disappear on its own.”

Zahina shared her opinion, and I also voiced my thoughts.

“However, it seems that once it possesses someone, it can’t easily leave. If it could, it would have left Irene as soon as it was discovered.”

And then came the princess’s additional comments.

In the end, it meant that even if I killed Irene with the sword I had raised, there was no guarantee that the Demon King’s soul would be eliminated.

But we couldn’t just leave things as they were either.

Though we didn’t know if the Demon King with only a soul remaining would be as dangerous as before, we couldn’t miss this opportunity.

I looked at Irene, who had her eyes closed, and then at my companions surrounding her.

Among the companions looking at Irene with serious faces, there was one person with a different expression.

It was Yelena, Irene’s master.

Surprisingly, she didn’t look worried, but rather seemed to be calculating something in her mind.

When I looked at her, Yelena also looked at me.

[I think there’s a way.]

Yelena’s words echoed in my mind.

Followed by a rapid explanation.

After hearing her message magic, I looked down at my sword.

[…Is it possible?]

It sounded like a difficult task just from hearing about it.

No, it was something I couldn’t even tell if it was possible or impossible.

But right now, I couldn’t think of any other method.

And it wasn’t just difficult for me.

Yelena, who had brought it up, would have to use magic that was even more challenging than what I had to do.

According to her, even she wasn’t sure if the magic would succeed.

Still, this was our only option if we didn’t want to kill Irene.

I slightly nodded to Yelena, and she took a step toward Irene.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. We won’t let you die.”

At Yelena’s words, Irene shook her head.

“But there’s no way. If it were a separate wandering evil spirit, we might be able to do something with divine power, but the Demon King’s soul has already settled deep in my mind.”

Despite Irene’s words, which sounded like she had given up, Yelena didn’t stop approaching.

And standing in front of her, she embraced Irene.

“You have me.”

At Yelena’s words, Irene opened her eyes.

“If it’s your magic, Master… Oh, could that be possible? But that was just magic the Demon King showed us earlier.”

A glimmer of hope appeared in Irene’s eyes, only to fade again.

Still holding her disciple, Yelena continued speaking.

“You said it yourself. That your master is a genius.”

“But even if that succeeds, it would only isolate it temporarily…”

Irene seemed to have figured out what magic Yelena was going to use.

Without any explanation, Irene immediately understood.

Perhaps because she was also a genius mage.

Fortunately, the Demon King hiding in Irene’s mind didn’t seem to know what Irene had realized.

Knowing this, Yelena must have given Irene a hint.

“Don’t worry, if I succeed in isolating it, there’s someone here who can kill the Demon King.”

At Yelena’s words, Irene looked up at me.

“Of course, we have the Hero.”

“Yes.”

With those words, Yelena, still holding Irene in her arms, cast her magic.

“Severance, Mental Isolation.”

Along with what appeared to be a newly created activation phrase, a magic circle formed above Yelena’s head.

Though smaller in size, this magic circle resembled the one that had been spread throughout the entire underground plaza earlier.

That magic circle had been designed to sever the connection between the underground plaza and the outside.

It was a magic circle that created a powerful spell capable of blocking both divine power sent by the gods and the Demon King’s evil energy.

Yelena had just recreated that magic.

No, she hadn’t merely recreated it.

In that short time, Yelena had modified the Demon King’s magic.

Just as the Demon King’s magic had cut off divine power and evil energy, her magic was now separating the Demon King hiding in Irene’s mind from Irene’s consciousness.

Honestly, until just moments ago, I hadn’t thought it would be possible, but seeing Irene’s surprised expression, it seemed Yelena had succeeded with her magic once again.

“It, it seems to be working… but this is really difficult.”

Yelena was sweating profusely while still embracing Irene.

Irene, also holding onto Yelena, was shaking her head.

Each time she did, black smoke briefly appeared above Irene’s head.

Seeing this, Zahina shouted.

“The Demon King’s soul is trying to escape! Everyone, pour in divine power!”

After Yelena created a barrier in Irene’s mind, the Demon King’s soul seemed to be desperately trying to escape from Irene’s consciousness.

Fortunately, Zahina, who was both a mage and now a holy maiden, noticed this immediately, and at her words, the three holy maidens poured all their divine power onto the two mages embracing each other in the center.

While everyone worked together to bind the Demon King, I stood still, concentrating with my sword in hand.

Despite the urgent situation, I didn’t move.

I had no choice.

There would only be one chance.

Moreover, I needed to create an even greater miracle than when I had thrust my sword energy through space to strike the Demon King earlier.

Unlike then, my sword now had to transcend not space, but mind and concept.

I needed to target the Demon King hiding in Irene’s mind precisely and remove only the Demon King’s soul.

Even amid the commotion, I kept my eyes fixed on the trembling Irene.

I tried to sense her mind, her consciousness.

Unfortunately, the Demon King’s soul, or rather the soul of one who was close to being a Demon God, couldn’t be detected by my heightened senses or mana detection.

But fortunately, there was something I could sense.

‘Without Yelena, we would have had no answer at all.’

While I couldn’t sense the Demon King’s soul, I could sense the barrier Yelena had spread in Irene’s mind.

It was difficult to pinpoint an exact location since it wasn’t situated in a fixed space in the mind, but I could still tell.

Where Yelena’s barrier was enclosing.

And if I knew the location, as a knight, I could thrust my sword there.

So I moved my sword.

Toward the two mages embracing each other.

Toward the head of the trembling Irene.

Swoosh! Sword energy filled with divine power erupted from my swung sword.

That sword energy pierced through Irene’s head, or rather, through the nape of Yelena’s neck as she embraced Irene.

And the sword energy that passed through her neck lodged itself in Irene’s head.

Thud.

I thought I heard the sound of the sword embedding.

The holy maidens who had been diligently sprinkling divine power flinched.

To them, it must have looked like both mages were simultaneously pierced by the sword energy.

But Yelena hadn’t been injured at all.

The same was true for Irene.

My sword energy had transcended space as it passed through the two mages.

No, this time it wasn’t about transcending space.

It was something different.

My sword energy had transcended human consciousness, or what might be called the soul.

And it had precisely struck where Yelena’s barrier was binding.

Thud!

Though there was no sound, I felt something shatter at the tip of my sword.

Simultaneously, we all heard a scream.

[This, this is impossible! There’s no way I could be annihilated here…]

Before the scream could finish, the trembling Irene collapsed.

And Yelena, who had been holding Irene while sweating profusely, sank to the floor with the falling Irene in her arms.

“Are you alright?”

The surprised holy maidens and I rushed to the two of them.

As we approached, Yelena, still holding Irene, raised her head and said.

“She’s fine. She’s just asleep.”

As she said, Irene was sleeping with a peaceful expression.

It had been a brief moment, but her mind couldn’t withstand the battle that had taken place within it.

We checked on the sleeping Irene multiple times.

With divine power, with magic, with my senses.

And finally, to make sure, we waited for her to wake up.

Shortly after, Irene regained consciousness.

She looked at us sitting around her, then placed her fingertips on her head and muttered softly.

“Search.”

With her words, a small magic circle appeared above her head.

Then Irene smiled and said.

“It’s gone. The Demon King has disappeared.”

“Irene is right. My disciple truly is a genius. She immediately modified the magic I just used.”

“Oh, this is just a simple transformation. It’s nothing compared to the isolation magic you deployed, Master.”

Seeing the two mages praising each other, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

That was definitely Irene.

And since both mages had confirmed it, it was certain that the Demon King was gone.

“It’s over.”

Only then could I finally lower my sword, which had only half its blade remaining.

As expected, this sword had reached the end of its life with that last attack.

A sword that had now become weaker than an ordinary sword.

I pushed the ruined sword back into its scabbard.

As I sheathed the sword, those who had been staring blankly at it came to their senses.

“We won, right?”

“Oh, is it really over?”

In response to Yerim and the princess’s words, Yelena nodded while holding Irene’s hand.

“Yes. The Demon King is gone.”

At Yelena’s confirmation, Yerim looked around blankly, then lay down.

And raising both hands high, she shouted loudly.

“We won! We defeated the Demon King!”

At Yerim’s shout, the princess covered her mouth and began to cry.

“Sob sob. We killed the Demon King. We really killed him.”

While the princess was crying, the two mage disciples continued their discussion about the magic they and the Demon King had just deployed.

Even in this situation, they were discussing magic.

It was both ridiculous and impressive.

As I shook my head watching the two mages’ discussion, Zahina spoke beside me.

“Now that we’ve defeated the Demon King, what will you do, Sir Hero?”

Though she was speaking, she seemed more excited than usual, unlike her normal self. Her face was flushed.

“First, we should check if the people above are safe.”

At my answer, she asked again.

“And after that?”

“Then I’ll have to return my position as hero to the gods.”

“There will be strong opposition, but you’re really planning to do it.”

“I am.”

This was something I wouldn’t change no matter what anyone said.

And at my firm answer, Zahina asked again.

“And after that?”

“And then… I’ll have to go to my domain.”

“So you’ll become a lord.”

“Yes. It’s my dream and my goal.”

“Then, may I come with you? I have nowhere else to go…”

As I was about to answer Zahina’s question.

“What? That’s cheating!”

Yerim, who had been lying down and cheering, suddenly sat up and shouted.

The two mages who had been continuing their discussion also looked our way, and the princess’s eyes sparkled as she watched us.

I thought it was all over, but it wasn’t.

We had defeated the Demon King, but it seemed there was still more to resolve.