In the dream, she saw the faces of her family, whom she could no longer see. Specifically, her family from the time when they were still human.
“Sister.”
Her younger sister, whom she had cherished the most, came running over with a smile. Lucia smiled back. She didn’t care whether this was a dream or the afterlife.
She wasn’t the type to cry easily, but now, tears streamed down her face. She spread her arms, trying to hug her sister. She smiled at the younger sibling who had always followed her the most among her siblings.
“Why didn’t you ask?”
But her arms grasped nothing, and only the voice remained. Her sister was already gone, and only the voice from her memories continued to echo.
“Did you ask? Did you ask? Did you ask? Did you ask? Did you ask? Did you ask? Did you ask? Did you ask? Did you ask? Did you ask? Did you ask? Did you ask?”
“Gasp!”
She let out a breath and sat up abruptly. Her body was still trembling. Her heart pounded. The tear stains on her face were still vivid.
The brave hunter, who had never been afraid of any demon except Grimudo, who was barely even called a demon anymore, was now like a frightened rabbit, burying her face in her knees.
“Lucia. Snap out of it. Even if you don’t, we’re already screwed.”
When you wake from a nightmare, you see another nightmare. This time, it’s a nightmare with no sign of waking.
The nightmare called life seemed to be reaching its peak. The current situation was despair itself.
-Flutter.
Araidel… or what used to be Araidel, a lark, fluttered around inside a cage made of magical power. Sometimes, it pecked at the magical barrier with its beak.
No trace of her human form remained. Perhaps it’s natural that when the body becomes an animal, the mind follows.
Parnell sighed as she looked at the bird. Once a princess, then a mage in the Hero Party, and now a woman who had tied up a saint and locked her in a cage.
She wondered what would happen next. One thing was certain—it wasn’t going to get any better.
“Do you know how shocked we were when you suddenly collapsed? Yurinel went out hunting for a bit. But we need to eat something, regain our strength, and take that saint back to the empire.”
The youngest mage of the Magic Tower patted Lucia, who was taller than her, trying to comfort her. Of course, it was useless.
Lucia was expressionless, as if her soul had left her body, and she didn’t respond to any touch.
Hope wasn’t just nearby—it was right beside her. Only after the light had left, only after she had chased it away with her own hands, did she realize how devastating it felt.
“Was it really that shocking that Kyle’s power broke Grimudo’s curse?”
Parnell, unaware of the circumstances, kept making irritating remarks. She wasn’t a mind reader, and she didn’t know the secrets of the Western Family, so she was just frustrated, not understanding why Lucia was acting this way.
‘I wasn’t wrong.’
The woman bit her lip.
‘That disgrace couldn’t be known by others. I could endure the family’s reputation falling to the bottom. But if the Demon Race found out that our clan had become like this…’
Externally, the Western Family was known to have been severely damaged by Grimudo and had gone into seclusion to recover. Only high-ranking figures of the Three God Faith knew the truth and remained silent.
Even her companions beside her didn’t know that, except for Lucia, they had all turned into animals. She desperately tried to hide the family’s disgrace and didn’t tell anyone. Not Lucia, not Parnell, and of course, not Kyle.
Even so, they had adventured together for a while. They had been together almost every day—how could she not have understood what kind of person Kyle was?
If she had just asked for help, would he have refused? He would have extended a helping hand without hesitation.
Kyle was the kind of person who would help even an old woman with nothing, bent back, and little time left. He asked for nothing in return.
So, all it would have taken was one word asking for help, asking if he could help lift Grimudo’s curse. The reason she didn’t say that one word was simple.
She had never, in all that time, considered him an equal companion.
Just as no one confides their weaknesses to someone they consider inferior, Lucia didn’t either.
He was just someone who had joined the party because he happened to know Yurinel.
Her first impression of Kyle was just that. Compared to the priests of the Three Gods, who radiated brilliant light, created weapons with divine power, and showed off their splendor, the things he called miracles were too trivial.
Creating springs, lighting candles, plucking feathers… It wasn’t child’s play, but what was this?
So, perhaps she had secretly despised him. Maybe she was the first to suggest kicking him out.
She didn’t know, nor did she try to know, the power that small candle held or the immense potential of the spring.
If she had just pushed her animalized family into that spring she had seen so many times, they would have returned to human form.
Opportunities had come to her countless times, too many to count. She didn’t even realize they were opportunities and let them all slip away.
Now, looking back, she realizes how foolish she was. But past opportunities never return.
When she came to her senses, all the candles had gone out, and the springs had dried up. Parnell slowly spoke.
“Do you remember where this is? It’s where that old woman lived. The one who gave us that muddy water. Do you remember Kyle leaving a candle here and digging a spring?”
How could she forget the old woman who, with an apologetic expression, drew water from the well, saying this was all she had to offer?
The water she gave was pure mud, and the only one who happily drank it was that common priest. After drinking it, he created a spring as a thank you.
The old woman, bent and limping, lived a healthy life until her time came, thanks to that. When the old woman passed, the candle, with no reason to stay lit, went out.
And the spring, having lost its sanctity, became muddy water mixed with dirt and sand. The time of miracles had ended, and only the cruel reality remained. Now, even if she longed for miracles, everything was already in the past.
“Kyle… where is Kyle now? We need to find him…”
Lucia groaned as she stood up. Her body wasn’t in good shape due to the dark energy corroding her. Even after resting for a long time and trying to push the energy out, she had a sinking feeling she’d never return to her prime.
During the final battle in the Arctic, the light Kyle shot had melted this dark energy and expelled it in an instant. At the time, she hadn’t thought much of it, but now, experiencing it firsthand, she realized its power was beyond imagination.
Now, she had to admit it. From the beginning, they hadn’t even been qualified to face Grimudo, let alone the Demon King. It was only because of Kyle that they could even stand before him.
The person who could melt the dark energy corroding her body and restore her family was now missing. The only clue was that his last known location was Larpentia, but that wasn’t helpful.
Think about how vast the continent is. Finding one person there is as difficult as finding a grain of sand on the beach.
It’s easy to let someone go, but finding them again is another matter. Lucia’s chest tightened, wondering if they could find him in time.
‘I was a fool.’
So frustrated, she finally shed a few tears.
‘I never even considered Kyle a companion, so why did I expect him to understand my troubles? It’s only natural he wouldn’t.’
Unless Kyle was a mind reader, there was no way he could have known about the tragedy of the Western Family that Lucia had kept hidden. If she didn’t say anything, of course, he wouldn’t know.
Who could she blame for not asking for help? Did she even need to think about the answer?
“I told you, didn’t I?”
At that moment, the wall of the mud hut collapsed with a loud crash. The hut tilted, and Parnell hurriedly grabbed Lucia and broke through the wall to escape. In the chaos, she didn’t forget to grab the cage.
Her face was filled with shock. Her mental state wasn’t stable, and her magical power was in bad shape. That’s why, even though she should have noticed sooner, her reaction was delayed.
“The day will come when all of you will bow before me and beg, ‘Your Majesty, please spare our lives.’”
The hero, Yurinel, who had gone out hunting, groaned and fell. She had just been thrown against the hut’s wall like a cannonball. Harmail had grabbed her by the neck and thrown her, and she hadn’t been able to resist.
“Harmail…”
“That day seems to have come sooner than you thought. I didn’t expect to see you again like this. But where’s the saint? Did she abandon you and run away?”
The Demon Emperor, Harmail, who had come through the door opened by Grimudo, looked around for Araidel. Capturing the saint alive would be a jackpot.
If they could take the saint hostage, they could threaten the Nemi Church into compliance, as long as the demands weren’t too excessive.
Suddenly, the Demon Emperor’s gaze fell on the lark trapped in the magical barrier. The moment she saw the lark’s blue eyes, her expression turned to disbelief.
“Really…?”
What kind of being was Grimudo?
To transform the saint, who was said to be the incarnation of the goddess, into a lark with a single curse?
She no longer felt fear towards that power. The defeatist mindset that they should never oppose Grimudo had already seeped into her bones.
Even if she succeeded in unifying the continent, she would never touch that being in the Arctic, and if their opinions clashed, she would always yield. With that resolve, she felt at ease. Being the eternal second-in-command wasn’t great, but it was better than not being able to do even that.
“Ha, haha, what is this? Even if we take her hostage… it doesn’t seem like it’ll be effective.”
Holding a lark, one that had no hope of returning to human form, as a hostage to threaten the Nemi Church—how well would that work?
Harmail sighed. Of course, she didn’t dare get angry at Grimudo, the root of all this. She could only swallow her anger and glare at the Hero Party.
“Well, whatever. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. You guys have some value as hostages too.”
The Demon Emperor covered her mouth with a fan and laughed. But her eyes weren’t laughing.
She was in a very bad mood right now.
