Zich had approached the Bellid commander without anyone noticing. Some brave souls rushed to save their leader, but their heads rolled off with a few sloppy swings of Windur.
“You sure look stupid. How did Ultel leave a guy like you in charge? Ah, I suppose he thought you were just a throwaway anyways,” Zich said.
The commander bit his lips and withdrew his weapon. Then, he yelled with firm determination, “Our faith will not disappear even if you destroy all of us here! Our pope will surely avenge us!”
Zich laughed in response. “Pwhahahaha! You idiot. Your pope is already dead. He got betrayed by a guy he was using and died. I can’t believe you still trust such an incompetent man.”
“Lies!”
“I’m not lying. The announcement should be coming soon...” As soon as Zich finished speaking, a loud voice rang across the battlefield.
“You evil Bellids, hear me out!” One knight got on top of his horse and raised his voice. “Your monstrous leader, the Pope, has died!”
Although they were surprised, none of the Bellid followers took the knight’s words to heart. They believed that their pope would never be killed thanks to Bellu’s blessings. Yet, what the knight raised up high shattered their beliefs.
“And this is evidence!” The knight held up Ultel’s staff which Lubella and her companions found buried underneath the tower’s rubble. The lower-level followers didn’t know what the staff meant, but any priest or knight in a higher position could identify the item. This included the commander.
“I-I can’t believe it!” The commander was stunned and thought, ‘Is it perhaps, a fake?’
Yet, when the commander focused his senses, he felt Bellu’s energy seeping out of the staff ominously. It was unmistakably the real deal.
‘Then, does that mean, he really...!’
“You saw it too, right?” Zich snickered. “The guy you adore so much was shredded into such tiny pieces that we don’t even have his corpse. The reason why I didn’t appear on this battlefield for a while was because I was taking care of him. Well, your pope also withdrew some of his forces to catch me too, but there was no way he could do anything to me with just those guys.”
“W-Why would you tell us that now...?”
“If I told you all the news at the beginning of this battle, you guys would’ve lost all morale, and we would’ve easily beat you. However, that would’ve increased the chances of you guys escaping.” Zich’s eyes filled with bloodlust. “This isn’t just a battle between nations. It’s a holy war, and we can’t let any of you who believe in a being like Bellu leave this place alive.”
This was why the allied forces had hidden the fact about Ultel’s death until they succeeded in surrounding the Bellids.
Of course, with Zich’s current skills, he probably could catch all the Bellids without missing one. Yet, the commanders of the allied forces, especially the Karuwimans, wanted a fool-proof method, and Zich had no reason to insist on wiping out everyone by himself. Thus, now that the Bellid forces were completely surrounded, it appeared that the chance of a single Bellid follower surviving was very slim. Seeing the commander in despair, Zich smirked.
“You must’ve felt hope burst inside you when you saw the fake robed guys. So... how was your sweet moment of hope?”
“Y-You bastaaaaaard!”
His companions’ deaths, the fact that they were surrounded, and above all, the mental shock of hearing about the death of his master, Ultel, made the commander lose any sort of rational judgment in front of Zich’s ridicule. He rushed toward Zich with pure blind rage. The current situation and the difference in skill levels between him and Zich were temporarily wiped from his mind, and the commander let his body be consumed by the burning instinct to kill Zich. Yet, as expected, the commander couldn’t make up the gap between their power levels by his emotions alone.
Crack!
“Kuh!”
Windur’s blade pierced through the commander’s chest. Naturally, the commander’s attack didn’t even reach Zich.
“You...Youuuu...!” The commander looked at Zich with vehement hatred even as he died. The way blood poured out of his lips and chest as he spoke would’ve haunted people in their dreams, and a normal person would’ve spent restless nights for a couple of months after seeing an image like that. Yet, Zich remained unconcerned. He had simply played around with this man because he appeared to be a Bellid commander, but in the end, he was someone whose name Zich wouldn’t even remember the next day.
Baaam!
Zich started crushing the Bellid army again. The commander glared at Zich until his dying breath, but Zich didn’t spare him another glance. Like that, Zich continued to decimate the Bellid forces, while the other members of the allied forces also fought with the intent of not letting a single Bellid leave the battlefield alive.
On that day, the Bellids were, in the most literal sense of the word, annihilated.
***
The news of the allied forces’ victory spread across neighboring nations. People celebrated the news and praised the allied forces. If another country invaded their lands, their livelihood could be destroyed, or they could be killed. By comparison, if they were taken over by a force like the Bellids, they knew they would receive a far worse fate, as proven by the Brodstock Empire and other countries that had fallen under the Bellids. Thus, every single soul was happy to hear that the allied forces had won. With this, the reputation of the dragon slayer who had contributed the most to this victory soared throughout the world.
A giant festival was ongoing at the Karuwiman base, the Great Temple at Yuras.
As expected of an organization revered by people from all walks of life, the Karuwimans usually turned away from luxury and overindulgence. However, there wasn’t a rule that stated that they always had to be humble. Moreover, the reason for this festival was none other than the destruction of their biggest enemy: the Bellids. Of course, even the Karuwimans didn’t believe that all the Bellids were eradicated, since the Bellids usually survived like cockroaches. However, it was clear that their power had been greatly weakened, since their pope, the main base, and a large number of their followers had been eliminated. A feat like this called for an elaborate festival that would last for several days.
At the festival, the Karuwimans and ordinary people finally celebrated the downfall of the Bellids. However, no matter how joyous and celebratory the fall of the Bellids was, a festival could not last forever, and it was slowly reaching its end.
Zich stayed in Yuras and participated in the Karuwiman festival at the earnest request of Lubella and Weig, and he began to slowly pack his belongings. It was a simple task of putting the objects he had taken out back into his magic box.
“Come in.”
A moment after Zich gave his permission, the door opened.
“Your sensing ability is still very impressive.”
“I’m sorry to say Lyla, but it’s not a very impressive achievement to sense your presence outside the door.”
“Really?” Lyla closed the door and approached Zich. Then, she stood in front of him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. After a short kiss, Lyla moved away from him.
“You won’t even properly hold hands with me outside, but now that we’re alone, you’re acting really assertive.”
“H-how can I act like this where there are people watching outside?!” Lyla protested with a red face.
Was Lyla’s shyness for public displays of affection just part of her natural personality, or had she completely lost her tolerance as a side effect of losing her memory?
‘Ah, wait, she recovered all her memories.’ Then, it seemed more likely that Lyla’s personality was inherently weak in this subject. ‘Come to think of it, it’s hard to tell that she regained her memory.’
A person’s personality was based on a person’s nature and their past, and a person’s past was created from their memories. Thus, since Lyla had regained all of Serpina’s memories, she should have been influenced by those memories as well. However, the Lyla right now was the same Lyla that Zich always knew.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Lyla asked.
“I was just thinking that you haven’t really changed even after regaining all your past memories.”
“That’s a given. Serpina’s memories consist only of when she was raised to support the empire. She doesn’t have any meaningful memories, and the pieces of information from Windur, Estellade, and Tornium are all information about others. Most of all...” Lyla glanced up at Zich and continued as if she was slightly embarrassed, “There’s no way my memories with you would lose to those trivial memories.”
“I see. It was a stupid thought.” Zich smirked and held Lyla in his arms. Lyla enjoyed the feel of his touch and realized that the luggage in his room had been considerably reduced.
“Are you planning to leave?”
“Yeah, it’s about time to leave. It’s not like I can stay here forever.”
“That’s true. Then we’ll have to say goodbye to the others as well.” Lyla spoke as if she was going to obviously follow Zich, and Zich didn’t correct her either. They had traveled together since the beginning, and after becoming lovers, they had even fewer reasons to separate.
“I was planning to do that after packing all my luggage.”
“Then let’s go together. I want to say my goodbyes too. Wait a little bit. I’ll be back after packing too.”
“Got it.”
Lyla left the room, and Zich put all the remaining luggage inside the magic box. The room returned to what it looked like when it had been first assigned to Zich. It did not take long for Lyla to come back. Since she also put all her belongings into a magic box, it barely took any time for her to pack as well.
“Shall we go?” Zich asked.
“Yeah.”
Lyla stood next to Zich. Then she carefully grabbed his sleeve; this was the best she could do, considering her shyness. However, Lyla’s bright smile indicated that she felt satisfied with just this, and she would soon get used to showing stronger expressions of affection.
Like this, Zich and Lyla left the room to say their goodbyes.
* * *
They visited Lubella first. Since Lubella held a high position within the Karuwimans, who invited them to this festival, they thought it would be most appropriate to visit her first. Lubella was faithfully returning from her prayer session even at a time like this, and she invited them to her room. Weig had also been praying with her, so he was also present.
“Are you two going to leave?” Lubella asked. However, she didn’t look surprised. She had also been expecting Zich and Lyla to leave soon.
“Yes. We can’t stay here forever.”
“You two can continue to stay here. Why don’t you officially become a Karuwiman holy knight?”
“That’s a great idea, Saintess!”
Lubella and Weig’s eyes sparkled with hope. Of course, they also knew very well that Zich was probably going to refuse. Lubella had extended the offer partly as a joke as well, but it was clear that she did want him to join them.
However, as expected, Zich shook his head. “I apologize, but I don’t intend to follow any particular god.”
“I see. That’s too bad.”
They looked disappointed but easily accepted his answer.
“May I ask about your plans for the future?”
“Well, I’ve completed all my most important goals, so I haven’t given it much thought.” He had destroyed Glen Zenard, Ultel, and the Brushel System, and freed the World Tree. “I’m planning to wander around the world leisurely for a while–of course, while doing kind acts like now.”
“Ah, kind acts.” Lubella and Weig’s expressions became slightly strained.
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