Chapter 275: Ophelia’s Seal

Ryan advanced through the sea of rubble, making his way through the hall. The crushing murderous pressure that had previously suffocated the place had disappeared completely after the beast king’s death.

Helen walked calmly right by his side, kicking the pieces of stone with her boots as if she were taking a simple walk in the park. A few meters behind, maintaining a more than prudent distance, Chloe followed them with trembling steps, shrinking in terror at every shadow of the castle pillars.

They had to reach the third floor, the elevated area where the demon king’s dark throne was located; the divine relic containing Queen Ophelia should still be exactly there.

"Ryan, what happened to Ophelia?" Helen asked, breaking the place’s silence. She quickened her pace slightly and leaned forward to be able to see her leader’s face as they walked. "Did she die?"

"Well... she was caught and sealed by one of the hero’s relics," Ryan replied, keeping his sights fixed on the stone stairs rising at the end of the ruined hall.

"Hmph, how foolish," Helen commented immediately, letting out a snort laden with disappointment. "And to think she was the one who precisely dragged us into this suicidal plan, and ended up losing in such a pathetic way against that giant fleabag."

"Helen, do not be so hard on her. No one on our entire side could have imagined that the demon king Rigal would have those sacred relics hidden up his sleeve," Ryan added with a defensive tone, knowing that the trap had been highly unpredictable.

Upon saying those words, Ryan stopped his steps dead in his tracks just before starting to climb the first stairs. He slightly turned his head, looking out of the corner of his eye at the scared holy knight coming behind them.

Helen noticed the sudden change in Ryan’s attitude and also stopped, turning around to lock her sharp blue gaze directly onto the church girl.

"That is very true," Helen murmured, crossing her arms with a lethal expression. "She knew too much about the church’s dirty secret deal with that demon king."

When Chloe felt the two humans’ heavy and accusing gaze falling upon her, all the color drained from her face. She let out a sharp whimper of pure fear and surprise, raising both hands in front of her chest in a useless attempt to protect herself.

"Hey, wait a minute, that is not fair at all!" Chloe yelled, taking a clumsy step back and bumping into a broken pillar. "You guys at the villa only asked me specifically about the holy knights’ movements and the capital. You never told me absolutely anything about going to attack one of the demon kings. And based purely on those questions, I answered with total honesty."

She swallowed hard. Her expression showed the immense doubts she had that her desperate answer would be enough to calm any kind of accusation of treason against her.

"When I was interrogated, I had no way of knowing you were going to fight against a demon king..." Chloe added timidly, lowering her gaze to her own metal boots.

"And if you ever happened to mention it in front of me, I swear to the gods I paid absolutely no attention. I was just focused on not making annoying noises or listening to your secret plans, so that you would not have the perfect excuse to kill me later..."

Ryan observed the evident and pathetic terror in the girl’s eyes.

’Yes, all of that might be true.’ Ryan thought, analyzing the situation with his usual calculating mind.

’Maybe I should have inquired much more about that matter, but honestly, the possibility of all this happening today did not cross my mind either. The simple fact that Rigal had those relics. I mean, they gave him the ability to contain a demon king in a flask, and the ability to neutralize the weapons of high-ranking heroes or adventurers...’

Ryan let out a long, heavy sigh, organizing his thoughts as he resumed his walk toward the throne.

’I perfectly understand that Rigal’s true plan was to use the relic to seal the demon king Rohan. But, what was the church’s need to give him a relic specifically designed to disrupt human weapons?’

’I do not think the church did that just to hunt me down. So... is it highly possible that some other powerful hero was behind Rigal? Is there someone strong whom the church cannot control and they wanted the demon king to do the dirty work for them?’

"You are right, I will believe your words for now, Chloe," Ryan finally added, adjusting his pace and climbing the wide black stone steps.

"If Ryan says so and forgives you, then I will believe it too," Helen said, shooting one last warning look at the holy knight.

"But do not try to do anything strange behind my back. I am watching you very closely, do you understand?"

"Eh? Of course I understand. There is absolutely nothing I can do against two monsters who killed a demon king..." Chloe murmured to herself, feeling that her legs were still shaking like jelly from the tension.

"Ryan, look at this!" Helen suddenly yelled, snapping her leader out of his deep thoughts.

The warrior had quickly run to the top of the throne steps. She crouched in front of the large dark stone chair. Right there, lying carelessly on the floor after falling during the tremors of the combat, was the glowing golden relic containing Ophelia’s small imprisoned body.

"Is this little winged thing your great ally Ophelia?" Helen asked with evident curiosity. She took the pure crystal flask with both hands and raised it to her eye level to observe it better under the light coming through the broken roof and windows.

Ryan and Chloe climbed the last steps and quickly approached her to observe the interior of the miraculous divine artifact.

"Do not you dare call me a thing. Know your place well, human," Ophelia said from inside the thick crystal. Her voice, although muffled by the holy magic, sounded strangely tiny and high-pitched, but retained all the immense arrogance and pride of a true queen.

The long dark tail and the small bat wings on Ophelia’s hips moved with irritation in reaction to Helen’s offense.