Chapter 968 - 967: End Of Volume 3

Celeste could not stop thinking about what had happened beyond the rift.

An Archfiend had fled through it with a god pursuing him. A Greater Demon had returned and driven that same god into retreat.

Somewhere between those two events, one horn had become four, and six wings had appeared.

What had happened in the Demon Realm?

Rowan’s words returned to her.

A Daemon.

She looked toward the empty space above the ruined ground.

Had Blackmoon become one after escaping? Or had he always been a Daemon, concealing what he was until returning to his own realm allowed him to reveal it?

She did not even know what separated a Daemon from a demon.

But she knew what she had felt inside Rowan’s tiny wound.

And now Mara had told her that the creature responsible was only a Greater Demon.

Only.

The word had become almost meaningless.

What would happen when he advanced again? What sort of invasion would follow if he returned stronger, with an army that knew what he could do?

Celeste’s fingers tightened around her pendant.

Then another thought struck her.

She had wanted to arrive sooner.

She had worried over every stop, every wounded villager who needed more time than she wanted to give.

Without those delays, she would have reached this battlefield while Blackmoon was still here.

Beside her, Luke sat motionless.

He would have fought.

He would have placed himself between her and the demon without waiting to be asked.

And if a god had been forced to retreat, what would have happened to him?

Celeste looked at his stern face and suddenly imagined it among the bodies below.

Her breath caught.

They might both have died.

Luke almost certainly would have.

’You were protecting us.’

Her hand closed around the cross.

What she had mistaken for wasted time had brought her here after the greatest danger had passed.

Luke met her gaze.

"We would have arrived during the fighting," he said quietly.

She nodded.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Luke bowed his head.

"Thank God we obeyed."

Celeste released a slow breath before turning back to Mara.

"There is something else you should know. Rowan overheard Blackmoon and his companions speaking. They said he had become a Daemon."

Mara’s metallic eye turned slightly.

"A Daemon? What is that?"

"I don’t know."

The admission tasted bitter.

"Neither of us has heard of them before. But it may explain why he changed, and why judging him by his rank proved so dangerous."

Celeste glanced toward Rowan.

"Whatever that name means, I fear we know very little about what crossed into our world."

Mara looked across the ruined basin.

"After what I saw him do, Saintess, I share that fear."

"Take us to where the rift stood."

"Of course."

"Sir Luke and I should examine the area. Blackmoon may have left, but I don’t want to assume neither he nor the other demons left anything behind."

Mara nodded.

"Before we go, there is something else," Celeste added. "Rowan saw the red-haired man escape after their fight reached Miresti. Darius was alive when he left."

Tomas lifted his head.

The boy nodded, and the man’s grip shifted around his spear.

The expression on Tomas’ face was one of intense relief.

"We don’t know where he is now," Celeste cautioned.

Mara looked between them.

"Even that is more than we knew."

She spoke briefly to Pavel before leading them away.

They dismounted where the broken ground became difficult for the horses. Luke helped Rowan down and handed the reins to a nearby soldier.

Bodies lay along their path.

A human and a demon had fallen with their weapons still buried in each other. Farther on, stretcher-bearers worked around the remains of a shattered formation pillar.

Celeste stepped carefully between them.

Rowan followed beside Luke.

His eyes moved from wounds to broken weapons, then toward the distant humans still fighting. He did not turn away when they passed a corpse without a face.

Luke noticed.

He said nothing, but kept the boy close.

"May I ask what brought you here, Saintess?" Mara said.

Celeste looked at her.

"The Central Defence Council confirmed three additional A-ranks. Two more were awaiting clearance from their territories."

Mara glanced toward Luke.

"We requested an S-rank, but no one promised us one. I received no notice that either of you would be coming."

"I had a dream," Celeste replied.

Mara waited.

"God spoke to me in it. He told me to come."

A strange expression passed over the commander’s face.

A dream.

She had spent the battle waiting for reinforcements confirmed through official channels. The S-rank who actually arrived had followed a young woman because of a dream.

Questions rose to her lips.

She swallowed them.

The Saintess had come to help. Mara would gain nothing by turning a question about deployments into an argument about faith.

"We are grateful you’re here," she said.

Celeste inclined her head.

They continued past an overturned cannon toward a broad stretch of churned earth.

"Here."

Mara stopped.

"The rift hung above this ground. Demons crossed through it almost continuously before the fighting drove them apart."

Celeste looked up.

There was nothing.

She could still perceive demonic energy lingering around the wreckage, but that did not tell her whether the rift was truly gone or merely hidden.

"Keep people away until we’ve checked," Luke said.

Mara nodded.

Celeste lowered her gaze toward the ground.

A pulse of white light gathered around her fingers.

Luke’s eyes moved behind her.

Beneath a broken shield, something had drawn its scattered demonic energy inward.

He had already noticed the faint heartbeat. Now he felt the muscles preparing to move, gathering what little strength they had left.

Celeste’s hand paused.

Without turning, she lowered two fingers beside her gown.

Luke recognised the signal.

His sword slid free. He moved Rowan behind his left shoulder and stayed within reach of her, watching the shield.

She had sensed it too. Her Aether was already gathering. Luke kept his blade ready. If she faltered, the creature would never reach her.

Mara was still looking toward the place the rift had occupied when the wreckage burst apart.

A demon sprang from behind Celeste.

One of its two horns were broken. Dried blood covered its grey face, and strips of human cloth clung to its claws.

It had remained still among the bodies until the unarmoured girl turned her back. Surrounded by humans, cut off from the rift, it had chosen one desperate chance.

Take the girl. Make the others hesitate and find a way to escape to a land that has been overtaken by demons.

It reached for her throat.

Mara turned sharply.

"Saintess!"

Celeste stepped sideways.

The claws passed through the space her neck had occupied.

The shock and uncertainty had left her face.

Her blue eyes were cold.

A sharp pressure swept outward. Dust lifted around her boots, and white light shone along the golden embroidery of her cuffs.

Silver flashed beside her waist.

A short sword appeared in her right hand, and she drove it through the side of the demon’s neck.

Puchi!

The point emerged beneath its jaw.

Its cry became a wet choking sound.

Celeste turned with the thrust, forcing it past her rather than accepting its weight. Her gown swept over the dirt as she planted her foot.

White Aether ran along the blade. The demon’s thin layer of protective energy split beneath it.

Its knees struck the ground.

It clawed toward her wrist.

Her left hand rose.

There was a gun in it.

A compact silver pistol with an ivory grip. A golden cross gleamed along its side.

Celeste pressed the muzzle against the demon’s forehead.

BANG!

White light burst through its head.

The reaching hand stopped.

For a heartbeat, the body remained upright upon its knees, held by the short sword.

Then Celeste pulled the blade free.

Thud!

The demon collapsed at her feet.

Luke’s sword remained ready. His gaze swept the surrounding corpses before he lowered it.

No second attacker moved.

Celeste looked down at the dead demon.

"How disgusting," she said softly. "Hiding among the people your kind slaughtered."

She flicked the blood from her sword.

"Did you think I would be easier to kill?"

Mara stared with wide eyes.

She had moved at the first sign of attack, expecting to protect a healer. Celeste had already put steel through the demon’s throat before Mara finished calling her title.

The commander looked at Luke.

He was not surprised.

His attention remained on the battlefield, one arm still keeping Rowan behind him.

Rowan leaned slightly past that arm.

His lips had parted open with the same surprise that Mara held.

The woman before him was still pale. The same cross rested against the gown stained with mud from kneeling beside his body.

But her hands did not tremble around the weapons.

She had not panicked. She had not waited for Luke.

The boy looked from the sword to the ruined head.

He had watched her heal strangers until exhaustion drained the colour from her face.

Now she regarded this death without the slightest trace of regret.

Celeste noticed his stare.

"Stay close to Sir Luke, Rowan."

Her voice was gentle again.

"There may be more hiding."

He nodded before realising he had done so.

Above the smoking pistol, the cross at her throat caught the light.

So did the one engraved upon the gun.

’Who in the world is she?’ Rowan thought.

[End of Volume 3: The Three Calamities]

———

[A/N: Please read the author’s thoughts below.]

My discord link: