Leonard, on the receiving end of Luna’s iron fist, receives recovery magic from his attendants and manages to claw back from the brink of death.
“Hah, hah……you’ll pay for that, Silver……! You won’t get an easy death, I’ll tell you that much. I will make you suffer the torments of hell until you regret the day you were born!”
Burning with hatred, he issues orders to his attendants.
“All of you——do it……!”
The ten mages activate earth magic all at once.
“[Everyone]: ——<Seismic Shift>!”
Suddenly the earth heaves and convulses, and the clay dolls embedded in the walls drop away one after another.
The strata covering the ceiling splits apart at regular intervals left and right, opening a massive shaft leading all the way to the surface.
“Now, the stage is set! Let us begin——the ‘Ritual of Reincarnation’……!”
Responding to Leonard’s command, the ten high-ranking mages press both hands to the earth——and pour in every last drop of magical energy they possess.
Simultaneously, the enormous magic formation radiates an eerie light, the clear blue sky above turns pitch black, and the pale light of a new moon illuminates the Theocracy.
Dense miasma comes gushing forth as the ‘worst of all forbidden spells’ is woven.
“[Everyone]: ——<Necromantic Reincarnation>!”
In the next instant, terrible, wicked souls rain down from above and are drawn toward the clay dolls as their vessels.
The clay dolls, now inhabited by the souls of great demons, begin moving of their own accord with a grinding creak, their bodies transforming into sinister, enormous forms——reclaiming their former imposing figures.
A force totaling a hundred great demons has been resurrected across the span of three hundred years.
And yet——
“[Everyone]: ……”
——their eyes are sunken and vacant, their arms hang limply at their sides, and no sense of vitality can be felt from them at all.
Which makes sense——Leonard, fearing the great demons’ revolt, carefully regulated the effect of <Necromantic Reincarnation>, stripping their self-will to the bare minimum.
Visually unimpressive as the result may be, the magical energy dwelling within them is, in the most literal sense, ‘off the charts.’ It faithfully reproduces the power they commanded at the height of their glory.
“Bwahahahaha! I did it, I did it! A success! I’ve obtained the strongest army……! Now the world will be wrapped in death! Human and demon alike, equally delivered to salvation! The lifelong wish of our founder, the hour of ‘human-demon unification’ has come!”
With the silent killing dolls in his hands, Leonard claps gleefully and bounds about like an innocent child.
Meanwhile——
“Demon General Bargas, Deathblade Aldraarp, Shatterstone King Dadarwog……!”
“You can’t be serious……. These are all ‘mythological monsters’ from the history books……!”
“W-we’re finished……it’s over……”
Owl, Raios, and Curse go pale in the face.
“Silver, we need to retreat……! The Leonard Theocracy’s power was far beyond anything we’d predicted……!”
“This has become a world-scale incident! It’s beyond what individuals can handle!”
“Th-this is the limit! Come on, let’s run……!”
Against the desperate pleas from Owl and the others——
“——It’s no use.”
Zel gives a quiet shake of his head.
“That person never listened to what anyone told her, even in the old days. Once she’s made up her mind, nothing will move her.”
He smiled, somewhere between exasperation and nostalgia.
And Leonard, already convinced of his victory, issues his orders with a spring in his voice.
“Now then, this is your inaugural assignment! Strike down that detestable plate armor!”
In that instant, a wicked light fills the great demons’ eyes, and a tremendous surge of demonic energy erupts.
“[Everyone]: WOOOOAAAAARRR……!”
They let loose a roar like the earth groaning and, at a speed belying their massive frames, converge on Luna.
“——<Obsidian Magic Flash>!”
“——<Absolute Zero Asura>!”
“——<Castle-Breaker Strike>!”
An enormous storm of great magic zeroes in on the plate armor with precision——and a vast quantity of dust and smoke billows upward.
“S-Silver……!”
“Damn it, of all things……!”
“Someone taking hits like that, even that person……!”
As Owl, Raios, and Curse sink into despair——
“Bwahahahaha……! How does that feel, Silver!? This is the power of the great demons——the power of my Theocracy!”
Leonard grins from ear to ear and gives a triumphant declaration of victory.
But a few seconds later, when the dust settles——three great demons are rolling on the ground, reduced to nothing but clumps of earth.
Demon General Bargas, Deathblade Aldraarp, Shatterstone King Dadarwog——the monsters from three hundred years ago have been rendered into wordless lumps.
“[Everyone]: ……Huh……?”
An embarrassingly vacant sound rings out——
“Next.”
——and Luna, having one-shot three great demons, stands in completely unscathed plate armor and requests, matter-of-factly, the next ones.
“Kgh……how dare you……!”
Leonard rages and glares at the remaining ninety-seven great demons.
“What are you worthless fools standing around staring for! Get moving! With everyone’s combined assault, make a blood sacrifice of that armor!”
“[Everyone]: GRAAAAAAAAAARR……!”
The great demons respond to the order and move with speed——and a mere three seconds later, Leonard sinks to his knees in stunned silence.
“……What is this……? Can this kind of ‘absurdity’ be permitted……? This kind of ‘tyranny’……? This kind of ‘outrageousness’……!?”
He simply could not believe what was before his eyes.
The lifelong wish his lineage had pursued for three hundred years——the strongest army created through <Necromantic Reincarnation>——is not working at all.
Even now, Luna is dispatching great demons one after another with the casual ease of picking leaves from a plant.
“……I won’t call this battle, I cannot call this battle……! Ha……haha, hahahaha……! That’s right, this is a dream, I’m having a terrible dream……!”
Reaching the pinnacle of confusion, Leonard turns his back on the harsh reality and claws at his own head.
To anyone living in the present day, this outcome is unbelievable——but to those who know, it is the only possible conclusion.
After all, the great demon souls he called back from the underworld were, three hundred years ago, unfortunate enough to cross paths with the Saint——and were put down without the slightest resistance.
“Hmm……is it over already?”
By the time a minute has passed since the battle started, every last great demon has returned to the earth.
In the end, Luna used not a single spell and with nothing but the unreasonable physical strength dwelling within her, sent the entire great army to their end.
“Hii, hiiiiiiiiiii……! D-don’t come near me! Stay away from me!”
Leonard, buckled by sheer terror, sits on his backside trying desperately to scramble away.
Any dignity he might have had as a founder is long gone——all that remains is a pathetic, ugly spectacle.
Meanwhile, Luna, standing at the center of the <Necromantic Reincarnation> magic formation, glances downward.
“Come to think of it……if I recall, directly below here are the ‘reincarnation host clay dolls’ and the ‘<Necromantic Reincarnation> research materials’……”
“H-how do you know that……!?”
“I found the hidden room and read what was in there.”
Luna answers, then drops her weight slightly and squeezes her right fist tight.
“What do you think you’re——!”
“What? It should be obvious, shouldn’t it?”
In an instant, the world rings out with a sharp clear tone, and ultra-high-density magical energy converges into Luna’s right fist.
A piercing high-pitched sound tears through the air, and under the absurd output, the <Magic Detection Immunity> affixed to the armor collapses——and Owl’s divine gift [Magical Energy Perception] issues a clamoring alarm.
“Th-this is……Silver’s magical energy……”
Owl stares in astonishment——
“No single person should be holding this much……!”
Raios gives a small shake of his head——
“N-no no no no no no no……! What is this output, something is seriously wrong with that person……!”
Curse, more sensitive to magical energy than anyone, trembles all over——
“Th-this is not good……!”
And Zel, who knows the Saint’s recklessness better than anyone, grabs Owl, Raios, and Curse by the scruffs of their necks——spreads his wings——and makes for the shaft above.
At the same time, Luna exhales long and slow.
“Phew……”
To ensure the Theocracy is completely and definitively destroyed, she deliberately refrains from magic.
It is precisely because she demands completeness and certainty that she deliberately chooses her fist.
Heaven weeps, the earth shakes, and great magical energy cuts through the air like a blade——
“Ultimate technique——”
The ‘supreme strike’ that three hundred years ago buried the Demon King of ruin——once again tramples through the world.
“——Saint Punch.”
In the next instant, everything turns brilliant white.
A shattering sound that pierces heaven and earth rings out, and a storm of destruction swallows all things entire.
The clay dolls stored deep underground, the research data passed down from the original founder, the large sum of slush funds painstakingly accumulated——three hundred years of the Theocracy’s accumulation, gone in a single strike.
And——
“NOOOOAAAAAAAAHHH……!?”
Leonard and the Theocracy’s remnants literally plunge into the ‘pit of the earth.’
A single punch that rewrites the map. The very embodiment of unreasonableness.
That was the Saint’s power——the power that three hundred years ago had driven every demon in the world to the depths of terror.
Far above the Theocracy, now collapsed beyond recognition——
“Ha……haha……what even is this……”
“……He isn’t human, this is absurd……”
“Silver-san, at this point can’t you just do everything on your own……?”
As Owl, Raios, and Curse stand in stunned silence——
(She doesn’t think about what comes next at all——a rampage almost refreshing in its single-mindedness……. Nothing has changed, she’s exactly the same as back then……)
Zel, the memory of three hundred years ago coming back to him, feels tears quietly welling at the corners of his eyes.
And our beloved Saint, having obliterated everything with overwhelming physical firepower——
“Work’s done for today!”
Wearing a bright, refreshed expression, she joins Zel and the others who have evacuated to safety.
“……Silver, you are something else entirely. Military power that even mythological great demons cannot withstand……all I can say is ‘extraordinary.'”
Owl nods in thorough admiration——
“I understood you were quite capable——but I had no idea to this extent. ……Frankly, I’m surprised.”
Raios speaks his thoughts plainly——
“I’ll be honest, toward the end there I was rooting for the great demons’ side.”
Curse offers a half-joking, half-genuine review——
“You saved my life. I’m grateful.”
Zel deliberately does not use the name ‘Luna.’
Whatever circumstances are at play——from the fact that she’s wearing armor, it is obvious that the master wishes to conceal her identity.
And so he uses the second-person ‘you,’ and leaves it pleasantly vague.
Reading that consideration, Luna glides quietly over to Zel’s side and murmurs in his ear.
“Zel, I’ll explain the details later, so could you just play along for now? ……Oh right, call me Silver Glorious=El=Bloodfallenheart.”
“Silver Glori……? F-for now, I’ll address you as Silver. (That catastrophically bad naming sense is still very much alive, I see……)”
Zel felt a tiny bit sad that his master, for better and for worse, has not changed in the slightest.
“Now then……what shall we do from here?”
In response to Luna’s question, Owl and the others each give their reaction.
“I’m genuinely tired after today. I’d like to find somewhere and get a room.”
“I’d also like to recover my stamina and magical energy.”
“Hey hey Silver-san, could you maybe use that handy <Otherworld Gate> to jump us to a nearby city……?”
“Hmm, let me think……”
Luna runs through the possibilities for <Otherworld Gate> destinations.
(The Kingdom of Elgia is……out, because if Zel and I were seen walking around there, it would cause an enormous panic. The oasis city Logress is……no good, there are no proper inns. The Empire and the village of Tot are……not places I’m familiar with, so pass. Hmm……I suppose the Spedio domain is the safest bet.)
If she is being fully honest, she would rather not have Silver be seen wandering near a particular place——especially around the Spedio domain——but.
She cannot think of a better destination right now.
(This time there’s nothing to be done. But for now, I need to quickly establish other bases of activity.)
Thinking this, Luna deploys <Otherworld Gate>, and jumps to the Spedio domain with Zel and the others.
Stepping through <Otherworld Gate> and arriving in front of the Spedio manor, Luna and the group run into Carlo and Trebas, who were just on their way to clean out the stables.
“Oh, Silver-sama! What an inventive entrance today……and, you have guests with you, do you……!?”
Carlo opens his mouth as if something is lodged in his throat——
“S-Silver-sama, could it be that this distinguished personage……is ‘Great Swordsman’ Zel-sama……?”
Trebas asks, in a voice that seems to barely be holding itself together.
“Yes, this is an old friend of mine——Zel, a member of the Saint’s party.”
“I am Zel Zezed. A pleasure.”
“W-why, how very kind of you……! I am Carlo Spedio, the Earl governing this Spedio domain.”
“And I am Trebas Spedio……!”
With brief introductions done, Luna gives a small cough.
“By the way, Carlo-san, is there a good inn anywhere in the area? (If I recall, Silver’s private lodging was supposed to be finished today……!)”
“Oh, what wonderful timing! Actually, just a little while ago, Silver-sama’s personal lodgings were completed! Would it suit you to stay there?”
Carlo makes this suggestion with full confidence——but Trebas standing beside him cuts in with a “hold on.”
“Dear, five people staying in those lodgings won’t be possible.”
“Is……that so……?”
“Yes, three people is the absolute limit even with effort. More than that and it will feel cramped.”
“Hmm, that won’t do……”
Receiving Trebas’s note, Carlo bows his head.
“I do apologize……. It appears the lodgings we prepared can accommodate three people at most……”
“Oh no, please don’t worry about it. The thought alone is more than enough. (Oh dear, what to do now……)”
Just as Luna starts puzzling over it, Owl smoothly suggests a solution.
“Silver and Zel-sama should stay in the lodgings. We’ll find somewhere suitable to stay.”
Raios and Curse also express agreement.
“The two of you are reunited after a long time apart——you must have much to talk about.”
“We’d only be getting in the way if we were there.”
The trio of Holy Knights is thoughtful enough to volunteer this, and Trebas makes a small suggestion.
“Um, if you head south from here there is a very good inn. Would you like to use that one?”
“How very kind of you, thank you. ——Raios, Curse, let’s take them up on the offer.”
“Yes.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Owl and the others say this and head for the inn in the southern part of the Spedio domain.
Meanwhile——for Luna and Zel, who will be staying in Silver’s private lodgings, a ‘skilled attendant’ is arranged.
“Silver-sama, Zel-sama, how do you do. I am Ro Steinclaw, and I will be attending to your needs during your stay in the Spedio domain. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“H-hello……”
Luna, taken aback by the unexpected development, is flustered——
“A pleasure.”
——while Zel gives a courteous bow.
“Then I will show you to the lodgings. This way, please.”
Ro says this and begins guiding them immediately.
On the short walk to the lodgings, envious gazes come from every direction.
“Hey, look! It’s Silver-sama, the Proxy of the Saint!”
“My, what a dignified figure……wait, hold on——could that be, next to them……!?”
“Y-yes, it must be……the legendary Saint’s party’s ‘Great Swordsman,’ Zel-sama!”
The people of the Spedio domain react with no small amount of stir.
(Phew, good. Because the Spedio domain has a small population, it’s just this much of a commotion——. If we’d jumped to the kingdom proper, it would have been absolute pandemonium.)
Luna exhales in quiet relief, and at the head of the group, Ro comes to a sudden stop.
“——We’ve arrived. This is the lodgings for both of you.”
It is a large two-story wooden house.
“Oh my, what a fine building……!”
“To have lodgings this spacious prepared for us——much appreciated.”
“Not at all. ——Please, come inside.”
Opening the door and entering the lodgings, Ro moves quickly to light the candles around the room and begins showing them around.
“This is the living area, and the kitchen is over there. The ingredients in the cold-box were prepared this morning, so please use them freely. The second floor is the bedroom, and the washroom is at the end of the——”
With the full walkthrough done, the key to the lodgings is handed to Luna.
“There is no need to return this key, so please keep it, Silver-sama.”
“Thank you. Incidentally, this is rather difficult to say, but——I have something to discuss with Zel privately. Would it be alright if I asked you to step out……?”
“Of course. I will be waiting at the Spedio manor, so please call on me any time if you need anything.”
“Thank you, again and again.”
“Not at all. Then I’ll excuse myself.”
Ro, fully in professional mode, bows deeply and exits the room.
After that, Luna coats the door, windows, and back entrance in a firm layer of magical energy.
She also deploys <Unknowable Domain> to completely block all information from inside to the outside.
Having laid down a by-now familiar impenetrable defense, she——
“Phew……I’m exhausted.”
——removes the massive plate armor and settles with a soft plop onto the sofa at the center of the living area.
At this moment, seeing Luna’s face for the first time in three hundred years——
“……Saint……-sama……”
Zel cannot hold back the indescribable feeling welling up from the depths of his chest, and tears begin to fall one after another.
“Huh, wha——Zel? Why are you crying……?”
“……Forgive me. I must have grown tearful in my old age.”
“Come to think of it……you look a bit older. You’ve lost some of that prickliness from before——I think it suits you, more of a settled handsomeness.”
“Heh, thank you.”
Smiling with clear delight, Zel gives a small cough and looks directly into Luna’s eyes.
“I have a mountain of things I would honestly like to ask you……but first, could you answer this question?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“How did you come to reincarnate in the present day, Luna-sama? As Leonard also said, the foundation of magic is equivalent exchange. Calling back ‘the soul of the Saint’ from the underworld should require an extraordinary price to pay……”
“Hmm, well, that’s the thing……even I don’t really know the details. It was more like, when I came to my senses, I was just already here.”
“I see. What a mysterious thing.”
“Right?”
Perhaps because she is talking with an old companion, Luna’s manner of speaking has become considerably more casual.
“And one more thing——what is the meaning of this armor……?”
“Oh, that. There’s been a lot——new goals after reincarnating, changes in how I feel about things, various things. So to get to the conclusion——I’ve quit being the Saint. The armor is to stop people from figuring it out.”
“——What……!?”
“……Sorry, are you disappointed?”
“Absolutely not! Just as we discussed many times during the journey to defeat the Demon King——the Saint should live more freely! All the selfish wishes of greedy royalty and nobility, of the great powers——ignore them all! The fact that you have stopped being the Saint, if anything, fills me with joy!”
“……Thank you. Zel really is kind, isn’t he.”
As the two are talking, there is a knock on the lodgings door——knock knock knock——and Owl’s voice comes through.
“——Silver, do you have a minute?”
Luna immediately dons the plate armor, releases <Unknowable Domain>, removes the magical coating, and opens the door with a click.
Standing there——are Owl, Raios, and Curse.
The absence of their sun-shielding robes and hand baggage suggests they managed to secure a room without trouble.
“Oh my, all three of you together……. What brings you here?”
“Actually, I need to put together a summary of the full story and submit a report to Nilva-san. We were separated from you partway through, you see——and I’d like to hear what you were up to in the meantime.”
“I see, that makes sense. Standing in the doorway is no way to talk. Please, come in.”
Fundamentally diligent at heart, Luna agrees to the interview readily in order to properly complete the work.
At that moment——a sharp light enters Zel’s eyes.
“……Forgive me, there is something I must attend to, so I’ll be taking my leave. ——Silver, I’ll see you later.”
“Huh, oh——sure.”
Caught off guard, Luna nods along instinctively, and Zel exits the lodgings at a brisk pace.
“Zel-sama, somewhere to be……?”
Owl murmurs this and, following Silver’s lead, moves to the living area.
“Please, have a seat.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Owl sits on the sofa across from Luna and gives a small cough.
“Right then……let’s hear all about Silver-sama’s great exploits.”
“Ahahaha, I really didn’t do anything remarkable.”
After that, Luna recounts what she saw and heard in the Leonard Theocracy.
The Third Forbidden Spell Laboratory, the Four Knights of Leonard, the files in the hidden room——she gives a concise account of what happened after being separated from Owl and the others.
Only one thing she does not report: that she fell into the treasure chest trap and got lost.
(‘Gets caught in a trap and goes missing’——that is a disqualifying story for Silver’s character……)
To make the timeline work, she fabricates the story that ‘the Four Knights of Leonard used teleportation magic to draw her deep into the lower levels, and she defeated them after an intense battle.’
Luna tells her embellished version of events, Owl records it carefully, and by the time an hour has passed, the report is finally complete.
“That should do it……thank you, you’ve been a big help.”
“Not at all. This is part of the assignment.”
Just as the work is confirmed finished——knock knock knock, there is a knock on the door.
“Yes, who is it?”
Luna opens the door to find a very familiar face——a maidservant.
“I am Ro Steinclaw, who served as your guide earlier. Zel-sama has asked for you, Silver-sama. Please come to the central plaza.”
“Zel wants me……? What is it about?”
“I do apologize, I don’t know the details.”
“I see……(Zel was a bit odd earlier too. What’s going on?)”
Luna then follows Ro’s guidance, and Owl, Raios, and Curse trail along behind.
They walk straight down the main boulevard, and when they reach the central plaza——
“What on earth……!?”
People, people, people——the crowd is large enough to make one think every last person living in the Spedio domain has gathered here.
At the center of the vast crowd is a makeshift stage, and standing atop it are Zel, Carlo, and Trebas.
Luna pushes through the crowd and makes her way toward Zel and the others.
“Zel, what is all this commotion about?”
To Luna’s question, Zel gives a meaningful nod——and begins to speak to the people.
“——Everyone, thank you for gathering on such short notice. I would first like to express my gratitude for your prompt response. And allow me to introduce myself once more. My name is Zel Zezed, once a member of the Saint’s party, who participated in the subjugation of the Great Demon King.”
The people of the Spedio domain all listen quietly to the words of the legendary hero.
“The reason I have gathered you here today is none other than this——there is something important I need to tell you, the people of Spedio.”
Zel pauses for a breath and speaks with a serious expression.
“I have had close discussions with the Saint and with Silver, and we have put together ‘a certain plan.’ When I brought this to Carlo-dono and Trebas-dono, the two of them graciously agreed.”
Glancing at Carlo and Trebas, both of them nod repeatedly with faces full of hope.
They look as if they can barely contain their excitement to hear the announcement, and the audience gathered here too has their hearts racing with expectation and excitement.
Judging this to be the moment, Zel breathes in a full lungful of air and raises his voice in a powerful shout that rings up to the sky.
“——From this day, from this very moment! The Spedio domain declares its independence from the four great powers, and proclaims the founding of the ‘Holy Kingdom,’ with the Saint at its apex!”
“……Huh……?”
The Saint, who has been told absolutely nothing of this, opens her mouth in blank astonishment——and in the next instant——
“[Everyone]: W-WOOOOOOOOOOOAA……!”
The people of the Spedio domain let out a roar of joy.
The humiliation of being drained by the four great powers for so long, the suffering of enduring the unbearable, the resentment of being subjected to the unreasonableness of state authority——all of it explodes at once and bursts into an emotion of sheer elation.
“Of course, the four great powers will protest this decision fiercely! But there is nothing to fear! For we have the Saint on our side! This is a righteous cause! Justice shines brilliantly in our skies!”
Zel fans the flames of the crowd like throwing wood onto a roaring fire, and the people’s frenzy passes all limits.
And then——
“——Saint-sama! Saint-sama! Saint-sama!”
Members of the Saint’s Church, who had quietly slipped into the domain, apparently unable to contain themselves any longer, begin their customary deranged prayers.
It spreads in an instant to those around them——
“[Everyone]: Saint-sama……! Saint-sama……! Saint-sama……!”
——and Luna’s hometown is engulfed in a whirlpool of frenzy.
“Wh-wh-wh-wait, Zel……! What on earth are you saying!?”
The Saint yanks urgently at Zel’s flight feathers and protests in a frantic whisper——but at this point, it is already far too late.
Zel, maintaining a serious expression, sinks into the sea of his own thoughts.
(She will never acknowledge it, but the Saint has a tendency to make a certain number of missteps……. Without question, she has almost certainly already made some kind of mistake and is on the verge of being exposed as the Saint. If we allow things to continue without any countermeasures, we will repeat ‘that tragedy’……)
He grips his fist so tight his knuckles pale, and here makes his ‘vow.’
(The mistake of three hundred years ago——I will not make it again……! Kings and nobles, the great powers——none of them are worthy of trust any longer. To ensure the pure, innocent Saint is not made into anyone’s meal, I will stand as the central pillar and support her with all my strength. And then——I will create a ‘new order’ with Luna-sama at its center……!)
‘The man of loyalty,’ Zel Zezed, is burning.
A unification of the world beginning from this tiny Spedio domain, the creation of a new order with the Saint at its apex——he is seriously, genuinely, thinking of making this fairy tale a reality.
And so the ‘massive scoop’ that the Saint had founded a nation spreads through the world in an instant——
And the Saint, who was consulted about none of it, who has been installed without warning as the ruler of a Holy Kingdom——
(N-no no no no, that’s completely absurd……)
——can only spin in dizzy circles on her own, head in both hands.