Chapter 274

“That head…! You did it, Sir Median…!”

Lacey, looking at the half of the head I was holding, beamed with joy.

Though unable to stand due to exhaustion, leaning against the cross-shaped window on her knees, her face, drenched in cold sweat, was filled with joy and exhilaration.

“Haa… haa… Yes, I definitely sliced it up.”

It was a horrifyingly tough and long journey… but we finally made it here.

Isabella was dead.

Her body was completely shredded, scattered like petals over the waterway, with only the upper part of her head remaining.

Though she was as tenacious as a bug, even she couldn’t survive in this state.

Having lost both her ‘nest’ and ‘transportation,’ recovery or resurrection was impossible.

“Elpinel… We are endlessly grateful for the grace and glory you have bestowed upon us…”

Lacey prayed towards the sky, her face wet with tears, as if overwhelmed with emotion.

“As expected… it was good that we prepared.”

Ophelia spat out the vial she was holding and let out a sigh of relief.

Though her arms were half-shattered, the potion seemed effective enough as the bleeding had almost stopped.

“That’s right. It was really close. If we had been even slightly less prepared…”

We would have lost.

The bug witch, Isabella Benes.

The dark force that had half-dominated and ruined the Empire. The last apostle of Lilith, who had lived for over a century.

As befits a boss you’d normally face in the latter part of the story, she was as strong as a nightmare.

Her arrogance was almost understandable.

—

Perhaps because we faced her several years earlier, her magical power and combat abilities were considerably weaker than in my memories.

In terms of magical power alone, she was only at a level between a high mage and an archmage.

However, the source of her strength, her five powers, remained intact.

If we hadn’t known the method to counter them, we would have been helplessly defeated.

It was a close fight. The difference in time decided the outcome.

Thanks to arriving early and hiding, we could fight in the narrow underground waterway, which was disadvantageous for the witch but advantageous for us.

Moreover, we had enough time to prepare for the possibility of the witch breaking free and flying into the sky.

Isabella never knew, but by the time our battle with her began, a trap to capture her had already been set above ground.

The thousands of defensive troops left in the capital, along with the hundred or so priests who hadn’t joined Leopold’s army, had all been informed in advance.

They were told to evacuate the residents if vibrations started, as the underground waterways might collapse, and to hide their forces around the epicenter in preparation for Isabella’s appearance.

Even as the waterways supporting the capital crumbled, there was a reason we didn’t worry about civilians getting caught up in it.

As planned, they excellently evacuated the people and brought down the witch.

If Isabella had been in perfect condition, they would have struggled, but the witch was also pushed to her limits after fighting us.

No matter how fast she flew, it was impossible to dodge all the attacks raining down like a flood.

A mere day’s difference decided Isabella’s fate.

—

“The witch who had infiltrated the Empire, Isabella Benes, has been defeated! This is our victory!”

From beyond the gaping ceiling, the knight commanding the defensive forces shouted at the top of his lungs.

Following that, the cheers of thousands shook the ceiling of the waterway, causing stone dust to pour down.

“Those up there seem to be in high spirits… Have they forgotten we’re down here?”

“Having achieved the feat of vanquishing a witch who appeared after a hundred years, it’s only natural they’d be jubilant… They’ll probably come down to find us soon, right?”

Ophelia shrugged with a wry smile, and Lacey responded with half-closed eyes.

Unlike Ophelia, who still had some strength left, Lacey, having drained all her energy, seemed to struggle even to maintain consciousness.

“I’ll… take a rest now… Don’t forget to burn that head…”

With those final words, Lacey’s head slumped.

She wasn’t dead, but had fallen into a deep, unconscious sleep.

“That woman even prays in her sleep. Isn’t such devoutness a bit scary?”

“Well, it’s kind of fascinating.”

I pulled out a cigarette case from my soaked pocket.

Though the Empire was still full of problems, perhaps because we had overcome a major hurdle, my mind felt as peaceful as a midday meadow, despite my tired and wounded body. Even the wounds on my shoulders and legs didn’t hurt much.

It had been a while since I last felt this way.

Though my whole body was soaked in the underground water, I didn’t feel cold.

Instead, the warmth of the sunlight made me feel like I could fall asleep right there.

I took out a dry cigarette, brought my finger to the tip to light it with Up-hwa-

[What fire? Do you think you have any strength left for that?]

Ah, right.

Having used up all my Life Force and achievements, even Up-hwa wouldn’t ignite.

“What are you doing?”

Ophelia chuckled and twitched her lips, causing a small spark to light the cigarette.

“Thanks.”

“If you’re grateful, lend me one too. Mine are all broken.”

That’s not a problem.

I approached Ophelia and took out another cigarette from the case.

She took it out and placed it in her mouth.

“Whew… Feels good, but… it still hurts quite a bit.”

Ophelia took a deep breath, exhaling a puff of minty smoke as she grumbled.

The cigarettes in this world, made of magical herbs, clear the mind and sharpen the senses. In other words, if you smoke them when injured, the pain becomes even more acute.

Even knowing that, we still smoked them. Both she and I were doing something pretty foolish… but what can you do? When you feel like smoking, you just smoke.

Sitting down next to Ophelia, I let out a hazy sigh toward the ceiling. My shoulders and calves were throbbing, but even that pain felt oddly pleasant now.

A sense of fulfillment washed over my chest. It finally felt like I had accomplished something.

—-

“Ah, by the way, I brought this head because you asked to keep it intact… but what are you planning to do with it?”

I pointed to Isabella’s head, which was placed on the floor.

The reason the upper part of Isabella’s head remained intact was due to Ophelia’s request. Back when we were waiting for Isabella in the underground waterway, she had whispered to me, telling me not to inform anyone else.

—-

“If Isabella is that strong, even if we can win, we won’t have the luxury of capturing her alive, right?”

“Probably. If we get the chance, we’ll have to tear her apart immediately… Honestly, it’s a bit of a shame. Considering what she’s done, death seems too light a punishment.”

I wanted to make her suffer every kind of pain imaginable, but at the time, even I thought it would be difficult to have that kind of luxury against Isabella.

And that’s exactly how it turned out.

Isabella’s death happened in an instant, so the time she spent in pain couldn’t have been long. That was the only thing I still regretted a little.

“Hmm… Well, I have an idea. Even if we kill Isabella, try to keep her head—specifically, her brain—intact. If we have that—”

Ophelia was about to say more when Lacey approached, cutting the conversation short. I didn’t hear what she planned to do with the brain, but since I remembered her words just before killing Isabella, I made sure to leave that part intact.

—-

“Let’s see… The brain is almost undamaged… So the inside is…”

Ophelia rolled the head with her foot, looking at the severed side, and then smirked as if she had discovered something.

“Still there, huh? What a resilient monster.”

“Still there? You mean she’s still alive like this?”

No way.

There’s a limit to resilience. If she’s still alive with just her brain left, she’s not even a living being anymore.

“No, if we’re talking about alive or dead, she’s definitely dead. But…”

“But…?”

“Her soul. It’s still. Here.”

Ophelia’s smile deepened. Her disheveled hair cast a dark shadow over her face.

“Lucky us. I thought she might have been dragged away by the gods and burned, or taken by an evil deity. But this… this might work. Especially since the saint candidate is asleep now.”

What might work? What are you planning to do…?

Ophelia now wore the same unsettling expression I had seen when I witnessed Claire in the tank. What the hell, it was such a peaceful mood just a moment ago…!

“…What are you planning to do?”

Ophelia smiled eerily and began to move her arm, pulling something out from her pocket.

“You said death was too light a punishment, right? I agree. So, I’m going to help out.”

In her hand was a crystal-like gem, tinged with a grayish hue. …I feel like I’ve seen that somewhere before.

“A soulstone. It’s a relic used to capture a soul before it disappears from this world… I stole a few from the family treasury a while ago. Good thing I did.”

…A soulstone? Capture what?

“Wait, hold on. What are you going to do with that…?”

“You’ll see.”

Laughing as if she was having the time of her life, Ophelia brought the gem close to Isabella’s head, scraping together the last of her magical energy.

And then.

– AAAAAAAAAAAH!

A bone-chilling scream, as if it had erupted from the depths of hell. Something formless was pulled out from Isabella’s head and sucked into the gem.

The grayish crystal turned pitch black in an instant, as if it had been filled with something utterly dark.

“…Is this also a secret from the saint candidate? If she finds out, she’ll probably try to burn me at the stake.”

Ophelia smirked at me, who was utterly dumbfounded.