Chapter 111
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Celine's Return
Over a week had passed since Celine escaped.
During that time, we'd received several pieces of grim news.
"A mysterious plague in a temporary refugee shelter near the Empire-Kingdom northern front where villagers had gathered... all dead...?"
"And it's not just one or two places. Missing persons, deaths... the common threads are that entire villages or most of their people got caught up, and another is..."
"The villages where the Holy Warrior's relief efforts took place."
At Luna's words, we all exchanged brief glances with one another.
"No way Brayden...?"
Luna shook her head at Elfin's question.
"He didn't directly trigger this himself. I don't know the exact details, but judging from the countless possibilities I've seen, the relief efforts themselves were likely a ploy by the traitors to gather sacrifices in one place. He probably has no clue."
"Come to think of it, that bastard Bastol was working as an imperial court mage. The imperial court is physically close to the church headquarters, so contacting him would have been easy anytime..."
We didn't know the full story, but circumstances pointed to Bastol—or some other Underground Vermin—having persuaded Brayden of the need for relief efforts.
But those relief efforts were just a convenient way to round up a bunch of people in one spot. Once enough had gathered at the shelters, the Underground Vermin used them as sacrifices.
Elfin, who had already witnessed her own nation fall to the Underground Vermin's schemes, grew visibly pale.
"Those fuckers... they didn't pull the exact same stunt on our country, did they?"
"I couldn't confirm with my own eyes, but the state of the elves in Arborness that day looked a lot like a contagion. If the northern front refugees all died from some mystery plague... it was probably the same curse we saw back then. Aldebaran too."
"They'd been quiet for a while, but now they're ramping up again? Then why hold off until now..."
Luna, who knew more about the Underground Vermin than anyone, explained the situation.
"The moment we escaped the underground cathedral that day, Alvis's light exploded. The traitors couldn't accept my pure power directly into their bodies, so they had to taint it sufficiently through others—like past Holy Warriors—via things like relief missions before they could absorb it.
But that day, the cathedral was filled, albeit not overwhelmingly, with my untainted pure power. The goddess's power is drawn more strongly to its essence, so when that light burst, the power they'd stolen and held was undoubtedly affected too."
"You're not saying the Underground Vermin got purified or something now, are you? Even if they did, I have no intention of letting them live."
Luna nodded at my words.
"Not quite. It wasn't enough power for that. But they must have taken serious injuries that hampered their movements. This blatant mass slaughter is probably their way of recovering their strength quickly and putting the finishing touches on their plan. Their scheme was already in its final stages anyway."
Linian ground her teeth, her battle spirit igniting.
"If those damn Underground Vermin crawl back out... Solaris will surely be there too. That traitorous bastard—I won't forgive him. He betrayed Mom, killed Lunarin, and tried to kill me. No matter what, I'll kill him."
"Looking at the locations, the incidents are happening in the order of villages the Holy Warrior's unit visited. You might think such open massacres would raise suspicions, but if they're not even caring about that..."
"It means they don't give a damn anymore if anyone notices."
Ravi followed up my words with a worried expression.
If they'd started openly sacrificing humans, then as Luna said, the Underground Vermin's plan was on the verge of complete fruition.
Luna stared at me with a hardened face too.
"However, they won't be able to put a perfect finish on their plan. Because you, Alvis, hold a portion of my pure power. Solaris, the leader of the traitors, aims to fully merge my power and use it to restore his body to its original state. Then the traitors seize immortality and become gods of this world.
But as long as you possess my power, they can't achieve 100% perfection. Even sacrificing people as offerings, they'd feel blocked somewhere—and by now, they know it's because of you. So they'll come for you next."
"So those scum sacrificed thousands upon thousands for nothing meaningful. More reasons pile up not to let them live."
The idea of the Underground Vermin coming after me didn't feel all that frightening.
I was already hunting them down, constantly thwarting their plans, so even without the cathedral battle, they would've come for me eventually.
After that fight, we'd had zero leads on their whereabouts and were just biding our time. If they exposed themselves now, it wasn't bad for us at all.
Expecting a big clash soon, I rifled through the newspapers, mapping out the cities Brayden had visited and checking the sequence.
That's when Linian tapped my shoulder.
"Hey, guest is here."
"Guest?"
"The one you've been waiting for."
"Ah."
I grinned and stepped out of the meeting room. The others, figuring out who it was, followed me outside.
The prolonged rainy season had finally ended, leaving the sky remarkably clear.
The first thing I saw upon exiting was Celine—hair and clothes soaked from the rain, not even dried off, wandering the outpost grounds like a lost stray dog.
"Celine!"
"Celine, over here!"
"Welcome back, Celine!"
Ravi, Elfin, and Lenis called out to her, and her head slowly turned our way.
Celine staggered toward us, her whole body and clothes filthy beyond recognition—like a beggar.
Her eyes were dead, devoid of focus or emotion, as she approached and stopped in front of me.
Thud—
She dropped to her knees and slammed her forehead into the ground in a full dogeza.
"C-Celine...?"
The three were thrown off by her sudden action and called out, but Celine ignored them and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Lord Alvis, I'm sorry!"
"......"
Her voice was parched and cracked.
She must have cried her heart out on the way here—her throat was hoarse.
Celine pressed on with her raspy voice.
"I'm sorry for being a brat all this time! Sorry for mouthing off! Let me stay here! I'll lick your feet if you say so! I'll be your dog if you want! I'll offer my body! I'll kill if you tell me to! I'll be a handyman, a slave, a sex toy—anything! I'll do whatever you ask! Just let me stay with you! And..."
Her emotions surged mid-sentence, and she trembled violently while flat on the ground.
Her hands on the grass clenched fistfuls of weeds.
"Please... just let me kill that bastard Brayden..."
Her voice brimmed with resentment and hatred.
Now that I looked, the necklace she always wore was gone from her neck, and the ring she never took off had vanished too.
It was easy to guess things had unfolded exactly as I'd predicted.
Of course, I'd take Celine in and make her mine.
But if I accepted her now, she'd just be an emotionless stone offering her body—that wasn't what I wanted.
I wanted her heart too.
A woman with no feelings for me offering just her body held no thrill.
It'd take some time, but she needed to become mine completely—body and soul.
I patted Celine's back, crouched down, and went on one knee.
"Lift your head, Celine."
"......"
She neither raised her head nor responded.
"I've been waiting for you to come back, so of course you can stay. Ravi, Elfin, and Lenis will help you out a ton. Looks like some heavy shit went down—mind telling us what happened? You're gonna be our teammate from here on, and leaving you with your mental state in pieces doesn't sit right. Oh, and drop the formal speech; it's awkward. Just treat me like you used to."
"......"
"Hmm, actually, forget treating me like before—might be scary with the other three watching. How about just a bit friendlier?"
"...... But you told me to become your woman."
"Yeah, that's true. But you're not some real sex toy—you're a person. Looks like you had a rough trip; you should wash up first. Eaten anything? We've got plenty of rations. Combat rations, but still. Hungry? Say the word—we'll prep something with the girls. Ravi, Elfin, Lenis—show her to a room and fill her in on everything?"
The three smiled and helped Celine up.
"Heehee, sure thing. Welcome, Celine. I know there's been a ton of misunderstandings between us, but we'll explain everything slowly from now on. Like I said back then, Alvis and the rest of us aren't the terrorists you think—we still see you as our precious friend."
"You still owe us an apology for that! Calling us whores who abuse our bodies! We were so hurt! I-I only ever let Alvis touch me..."
"Getting eyed by that sex monster, you're in for it now, Celine. Not that I should talk..."
The three, who'd endured a month of being called terrorists, whores, and murderers, now treated her warmly like back in their academy days. Celine finally broke, tears streaming down her face.
Life flickered back into her eyes, however faintly, as she sat up and sobbed uncontrollably.
"Sniff... waaahhh... uwaaaaaah! Th-thank you... and sorry, everyone... for saying all that crap... h-hic... waaaah..."
With that, I claimed the last woman I'd wanted, and Celine joined our party.