Well, past mistakes aside, I could make up for them.

Perhaps that Meph-something-or-other would make good fodder for my growth.

For the time being, there was a more immediately pressing matter…

A strange, floaty sensation, almost as if I did not belong in my body.

Perhaps Undine noticed that I was staring at my hand?

“Ah… Are you wondering why you feel like that, Lord Astaroth?”

“Aye. ‘Twould be most helpful if you could offer an explanation, Undine.”

“Of course, I’m not entirely sure, but… It’s probably similar to what we feel when we inhabit an avatar, I’d guess~”

It clicked.

To “become a God” was to “ascend beyond the mortal plane”.

In other words-

“Moving forward, I should limit my personal range of activity to the proximity of my Thousand Throne…?”

“The castle has accepted you as its master, right? So, change that to ‘inside’ your Thousand Throne.”

“Hmph… What a pain.”

“If you could get someone to summon you onto the battlefield, it’d probably change, though~”

“Summoning rituals… Huh. I shall keep it in mind, Undine. Now…”

I separated my gaze from her—there was no longer even the slightest hint of compulsion to look at her—and turned to the room.

As might have been expected, there were only few left who were looking directly at me. Instead, most gazes were aimed at the floor, accompanying a variety of poses, in particular prayer.

Of interest to me was the sole praying member of my entourage.

“Raise your head, Charlotte.”

“Eh? B-but…”

“Do not lump yourself in with the rest of the mortals, now. You have received my blessings, nay? In fact, I would be troubled if you were to spend every moment I am present praying…”

“A-Aye, M’lord! Aye, Your Highness!”

She rose to her feet, her face sparkling more than ever.

And then there was one more member of my entourage who was currently keeping herself busy in a way that was notable to me…

“… Navillus, might I ask what you are doing?”

“Clinging~?”

She was wrapped around my legs, not unlike Mica had been, earlier. But unlike Mica, it was not just her tail—owing to her slimy, semi-solid nature, her entire body was wrapped around my legs.

“Well… I suppose it is fine, for now…”

I prevented a sigh from leaking from my lips and shook my head.

“Well, I suppose it is about time we-”

“Eh? You’re leaving?!” responded Mica, who had apparently woken up at some point.

“I had not even said anything yet, you overly clingy fishbrain.”

“But that’s clearly what you were going to say!”

She attempted to approach. I readied myself to push her away and perhaps knock her out once more, but that turned out to be unnecessary.

For Navillus attacked her.

Of course, it was nothing that would draw blood, but…

A bright red mark remained on Mica’s face, and she hung still a moment.

“… Navillus?” I asked, more than a little surprised.

“Anything, or anyone, that threatens Navillus and everyone’s happy times… Navillus won’t, allow. Back off? Next time, Navillus won’t hold back.”

A moment of ear-piercing silence dominated the room.

And the next moment, that silence was shattered to a million pieces.

“Haha… Hahahahahaha… Hahahahahahaha!”

Who was laughing at a situation like this?

It took me a few seconds to realise it was me.

Of course, the realisation did not stop me—no, it was not until a few seconds later that my laughter finally died down.

“Is that so, is that so… You have found the thing you want to fight for, have you?”

Navillus.

The slime, who even now teetered on the line between sentient and animal.

Demon Slime or not, there could be no doubt that she was a vague existence to begin with…

But perhaps, with some desire of hers to focus on, she, too, could grow into as much a person as anyone.

“She hits me, and rather than show concern for me, you praise her growth?! You’re so cold…”

“Perhaps my attitude would be different if you did not insist I take you as a concubine.”

“Uu…”

“Tch. Everyone, we are leaving. Undine, Mica, I shall call upon you again later, once the war comes.”

In the end, I never did end up meeting Mica’s father.

Perhaps it was for the best.

***

Although we had initially planned for negotiations that would span several days, we ended up with an immediate chance to meet Undine, and thus, our objective was completed and we were out of the water again in only a few short hours. After staying a night on the beach, outside Vauxshire’s… less-than-welcoming effects, we were already on our way back.

“Tch… These things again?! Master, can’t ya just have Davna do the same thing as earlier?!”

Yes, on our way back through the cursed field of ice, complete with Cursed Jacks.

“Can you spare the mana for that, Lilith? Because Davna will not regain enough to do that again for a while!”

“Wh- Then what was the plan?!”

“Originally, negotiations were going to take longer, so she would have had several days to recover!”

“I’m sorry I can’t do it again, Master…”

“Nay, nay, ‘tis not your fault, Davna.”

In any case, this time, we were not searching for anything but the southern border.

“They are assembling on the south side…?! We need to break through! Saniel, Charlotte, to the front!”

“Got it!”

“As ord’red!”

Despite Saniel’s swift, decapitating strikes and Charlotte’s swifter slashes, the Jacks were relentless, and if anything, they appeared to be growing in number.

“… Navillus.”

“Mm?”

“You made up your mind, right? To blow away anything that gets in the way of your happy life.”

“Yes?”

“Then go! That determination, prove it to me!”

“Riiiiiight~!”

She rushed forth, far faster than, say, Saniel would have been able to go. Within the blink of an eye, she was amidst the enemy ranks, where she—

“Grr… RrrrrggghhhuuuuoooaaAAAAAH!”

Shapeshifted into a creature many times her own size, pulling extra mass from who-knows-where—if I was not mistaken, she was mimicking…

“A dragon…?!”

As Evyna said, half-dazed, this was the form of the Blue Dragon we had seen a statue of, at the bottom of the sea, reproduced in excruciating detail. The only thing that would tip one off as to her true identity would be the colours—even her trademark slimy drippiness was no longer present.

A purplish-blue Blue Dragon. It had manifested before us.

Of course, recreating its water-attribute magic or any of its other special abilities was impossible, but…

There was a specific reason I did not have Davna assume her original form in here.

To put it simply, it was a matter of elemental affinity. She would die of hypothermia if she took on that form here, since she would have much more surface area to keep warm.

Navillus did not have this problem—even if she froze over, she could simply shatter herself and then rebuild the broken parts, as many times as necessary.

Thus, she could freely, without restraint or holding back, use the overwhelming physical force of a Blue Dragon’s serpentine body.

She thrashed around, sending Jacks flying every which way. Of course, there was no way they would die or even fall apart from such things, but at the same time—

“Everyone, forward!”

Blowing them away was more than enough to open a path.

Especially since we did not have a destination but only a general direction, any kind of vague path would do, as long as there was one.

Navillus would clear a way.

Thus, we easily reached the border, where the Jacks would no longer bother us.

***

I was not sure whether she had done it on purpose, by instinct or by accident, but the place Navillus had ended up leading us to was a very certain place.

It was a place that had, once, been a village…

And ‘once’ was perhaps half an hour ago.

In addition, it was a place that currently housed a very strong source of light-attribute mana.

“Ah, come to think of it… According to the Barrier Hero, this week should be the last week of Maliel’s crusade up here, no?”

My casual utterance caused everyone to stop in their tracks, and Saniel and Remiel rushed to my side.

“Arth-

Astaroth, are you saying…?” Saniel asked, peering up at my face.

“ ‘Tis highly likely. Everyone, exercise caution. … Just in case, Charlotte, take the children and wait here.”

We stepped forth into the lifeless village.

***

With the demon king at their lead, the group of demons advanced.

Of course, there was no way someone like a Saint would miss such an obvious, large influx of mana, but she was not exactly expecting them to come straight for her, so her response was unusually slow… or maybe there was a different reason for her slow reaction. She only turned to face the monsters when they were close enough for her to hear them.

“… Maliel.”

His eyes narrowed in an unreadable emotion, the demon king spoke her name. Right behind him, two former Saints stood, mouths agape at the spectacle before them.

There stood the Saint of Salvation, smiling like a broken doll.

Around her were countless bodies, mangled and maimed beyond description. Missing arms, severed heads, pierced chests…

In her hand, she held her scythe, its blade dripping a thick, red liquid to the ground.

The same liquid was splattered across her clothing, and even smeared on her face. The smell of iron hung so thick in the air, any normal person would have vomited and perhaps fainted by now.

“Ah… Have you come looking for salvation, too?”

With a gentle smile, Maliel tilted her head to the side. Without a shred of fear, she stepped forward.

“… Salvation?” the demon king asked, looking as though he could not believe his ears.

“These children made dealings, you see.”

The Saint gestured around to the piles upon piles of corpses, sorrow ringing true in her voice.

“Dealings with the demon king.”

The very demon king who was currently in front of her. Who was pulling his cap down so as to hide his eyes…

“So I helped them.”

“ ‘Helped’, you say?”

“Yes. They prayed, and prayed, and prayed… So I allowed them to give everything away, so they could repent. So they could be forgiven, saved, rewarded and blessed… So, I ask you again—have you come looking for salvation, too?”

Behind the demon king, a sob rang out—his little sister collapsed to her knees, her eyes trembling.

“Maliel…” she whispered under her breath, her mouth slightly agape.

The other former Saint did not have the power to keep holding on to her head and dropped it to the ground, her entire body quivering. Perhaps, had she been able to, she would have thrown up.

The demon king, though he covered his eyes with his cap, still had a visible frown on his face.

“Maliel… ‘salvation’, you say?”

“Come here,” she responded in an almost motherly tone. “I’ll save you, too.”

She extended her empty hand to the side, as though inviting an embrace, while she pointed the scythe forwards, so that anyone who took the invitation could be ‘saved’.

“Maliel…”

“Yes?”

“Maliel!”

“What is it, o lost sheep?”

“…”

A moment of silence, pierced by—

“Who is the lost sheep here, Maliel?!”

A hoarse shout, filled with desperation.

“You… You are beyond saving. I understand that now, Maliel. But still, I… Do not wish to see this.”

The demon king still stubbornly refused to lift his cap and show his face.

“I’m… Beyond salvation?”

The Saint froze in place, her broken smile draining off her face.

“What? That couldn’t be. I’ve saved so many people… So many villages, so many villagers! Men, women, children, elderly! I’ve even saved the dogs and the cats, the cattle and the horses! How could I be beyond salvation?!”

Behind the broken, plastered-on smile lie nothing but an expression of desperation, stronger than anyone else’s. Her facade was broken by nothing more than a few words from a man who was like a stranger to her.

“Maliel…”

The demon king stepped forward, gritting his teeth so hard it was audible.

“Saniel, Remiel… You might want to look away.”

Tears in their eyes, the former Saints did not obey his instructions, their gazes firmly locked in his direction.

“Ah… Ahh…”

Shattered gasps left Maliel’s mouth as she dropped both of her hands and her scythe clattered on the hard ground. Normally speaking, there would be no reason for this sort of course of action, but—

“Arth… ur…”

Her soul was already nothing more than a husk for her faith. Even if that faith were to be forcibly removed, her original memories and personality were what had been remoulded into that faith, and turning them back was beyond impossible.

And yet…

“Ah, I see… So you’re the one who’s going to save me…”

Just like she had saved all those people.

Perhaps, in her next life, she could make up for her transgressions.

She dropped forward, against the demon king’s chest, and entrusted her full weight to him. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

“Maliel… I am sorry. I was too late.”

No longer holding down his cap, his eyes were revealed. A tear streaked down his face, landing on the Saint’s shoulder.

“I am… Sorry.”

He closed his eyes, putting more strength into his embrace.

The Saint lacked even the power to hug back—her arms were pinned to her side, the bones creaking under the demon king’s force.

“It’s… Oka-”

The moment she was about to speak her words of forgiveness, she interrupted herself with a bloodied cough. The liquid ran down her chin, dirtying the demon king’s coat.

Her bones creaked and crackled, and she continued to cough up blood further—

***

“Remiel… She would have wanted you to have this.”

The demon king, once more hiding his face with his cap, had buried the Saint, and now presented her scythe to his little sister.

“Mhm. I’ll take good care of it.”

She took it and hugged it close to her chest, closing her eyes.

And yet, the moment after the demon king and his cohorts, who he had rejoined, left the village, they were stopped by a creature standing amidst the blizzard.

“Are you… the demon king?” the figure asked, its voice androgynous, its entire appearance shrouded in a robe.

“Aye.”

“I see.”

For a moment, it closed its glowing eyes under its hood. Then it opened them again, and spoke in a tone reminiscent of the demon king’s, a few minutes ago.

“Please… Don’t die.”

It rushed forth.