La Tarajue, La Saqat: Because She Is the Hero (1)
Still, the pattern on the back of her hand burned hot. Like it was on fire. Her hand, her heart.
"I need a sword." Emilia muttered to Mona standing beside her. A proper sword. "Not this toy—something real."
Crack... snap... shatter! The hilt of the decorative dagger still clutched in Emilia's hand crumbled to pieces in her grip. It had been an ornamental thing to begin with. Even in the clash with the Black Knight just moments ago, the blade hadn't shattered merely from blocking that greatsword—it couldn't withstand the power Emilia had poured into it.
She needed a sword. Like the holy blade that had been with her for years, and with the hero's bloodline for centuries.
"Mona! I need a sword! I... I...!"
Mona furrowed her brow. She'd thought Emilia's trembling shoulders meant fear, but no—it was excitement and rage shaking her.
But that wasn't what Mona wanted.
"What are you babbling about? Shut up."
"Mona!"
"I said shut up! I'm not letting you go, so get that through your head—Stay put!"
Mona activated the domination spell implanted in Emilia, her voice laced with mana as she commanded her. That should immobilize Emilia. All Mona could do now was pray this storm of an assault passed without incident.
She was anxious not knowing what might become of her master, Count Melrn. But right now, her contract prioritized keeping Emilia safe. In the worst case, she'd have to hope he could survive somehow using the "Demon King's power" implanted within him.
Just as Mona suppressed Emilia with the spell and grew frantic, trying to attempt the communication ritual again—
"Ngh... urgh... hnn...!"
"...What the hell?"
Beep... beepbeepbeep... crunch!
Emilia felt gravity multiplied several times over her alone, yet she struggled to her feet anyway. Mona's binding command to stay still still held her fast. Sweat poured down her face, her body screaming in protest from every pore—yet Emilia rose and seized Mona's collar, slamming her against the wall.
Thud!
"Hah... haa... huff...!"
"What... Lia, how are you even moving...?"
The spell was definitely working. In fact, as if pushing back against Emilia's rebellion, the yin pattern etched on her lower abdomen glowed vividly, straining to suppress her.
Until now, Emilia had never resisted any command. Not when Mona toyed with her, not when Count Melrn defiled and ravaged her. She'd always obeyed meekly, without question.
But now—
"I have to go."
"I'm going. Let me. Help me."
Emilia said it. Sweat dripping from her defiance of the spell, she still spoke to Mona.
'...The Hero's Blessing is... resisting my spell...'
Emilia felt the blessing on the back of her hand burning hotter than ever. And that blessing—the mark proving she was the hero—was overriding even Mona's archdemon-level spell, an upper noble-class great demon, forcing Emilia's body to move right now.
Not for her own sake. Not to kill Mona or Count Melrn or exact revenge.
Solely to eradicate the sun-devouring existence she'd glimpsed moments ago. To finally vanquish that Black Knight this time. To protect the living people of this empire. And humanity itself.
For that singular purpose alone, Emilia's body was moving miraculously now.
"...I have to protect you, Lia. If something happens to you—if you die—I cease to exist!"
"I have to go. I have to, Mona!"
"Shut up! Just stay put! You don't even know who that thing is! He... he's...!"
A top-tier noble-class great demon like Mona herself, once a confidant of the Demon King alongside her. An immortal knight who wouldn't die even if slain.
Could Emilia really defeat him? Even with the Hero's Blessing, her limbs were slender, her body soft, unequipped properly. And her flesh was far from peak condition thanks to Mona's myriad spells. Worst of all, the holy sword passed down through generations of heroes wasn't here.
Dark thoughts flooded her mind. She knew Emilia was the hero, but in this penalty-riddled situation, victory seemed unlikely. And the foe was a comrade from the Demon King's army. Even if Emilia won, wouldn't that mean betraying an ally?
'If I could just talk to him...'
The knight had always followed only the Demon King's orders; they'd never truly spoken, and it was uncertain if dialogue was even possible now. If she rushed out thoughtlessly and he struck in earnest... with zero combat prowess, she'd be obliterated in one blow.
Mona couldn't decide. She was paralyzed. Her best bet was to hide and wait for the enemy to calm, hoping for change while the communication rituals and familiars failed inexplicably. That had to be the optimal path...
"Mona, Mona!"
"Please... right now, you're the only one I can count on!"
Unyielding, upright, with eyes so clear and brilliant they dazzled. Pinned against the wall, Mona bit her lip hard under Emilia's unwavering gaze.
The grand banquet hall celebrating the birth of Emperor Karik Romancia of the Romancia Empire. Once filled with joyful, elegant melodies, lavish delicacies boasting the empire's glory, and nobles mingling in conversation and dance.
That space, which should have overflowed with merry laughter, had become a hellscape of screams and terror.
BOOM!! CRASH!! RUMBLE!! SNAP!!
『――――――――――――!!!!』
Bursting through the doors to the balcony, shattering the surrounding walls and ceiling, a grotesquely monstrous creature invaded the banquet hall.
A colossal corpse dragon, its size rivaling the hall's grandeur. Shrouded in black mist and rotten stench, it let out a bone-chilling roar as it rampaged in.
"Gyaaahhh!!"
"Waaahhh!!"
The hall plunged into instant panic. Nobles, unable to grasp the situation, milled about in chaos and were crushed to death by the intruder.
And that was just the start. A black-armored knight rode in on the dragon's head, slicing through the imperial guards who rushed to protect the nobles with invisible, terrifying sword ki in the blink of an eye.
Who could have foreseen such a monster crashing the emperor's birth celebration?
No one took command. Servants and nobles fleeing were simply sliced, trampled, or devoured by the corpse dragon amid the carnage.
Count Melrn took in the scene, swiftly scanning for someone.
'She's gone... gone... haven't seen her since earlier...!'
The one he sought was Emperor Karik Romancia. This feast was in his honor, yet the emperor had vanished moments ago without a trace.
'He ran... first of all, without telling a soul...!'
As Count Melrn himself, he knew the truth. Just as House Melrn had once sealed away a top-tier noble great demon—a certain succubus—this imperial palace secretly guarded another of equal rank.
A being too dangerous to kill, yet vital to the nation's interests, hidden and watched deep underground. Combining that with the emperor's recent words, the cause of this disaster was obvious.
"You mad bastard...!"
Count Melrn didn't consider himself sane. He admitted he was broken, problematic. He knew the path he walked now betrayed humanity in real time.
He knew it all. He was undeniably evil.
Yet the emperor's folly—the situation he'd created—was unforgivable even to him.
To unleash something this insane. For the emperor to be this deranged...
'Is Emilia okay?'
'Can't reach Mona... Did the emperor do something?'
Mingling with evacuating nobles, Count Melrn fled while assessing the chaos. Most nobles, servants, and their guards lay torn apart in gruesome corpses.
Even escaping like this—how many could make it? Even outside, how far could they flee from such a beast?
'Find Emilia first... then I escape somehow...'
As Count Melrn calmed his pounding heart and pondered the best immediate course—
Something entered his view. The hideous corpse dragon that had crawled in, smashing the balcony passage and walls. Breathing decay, scattering black mist, it crept forward, jaws agape for its next prey.
And right in its path sat a lovely glass-haired maiden—the Second Princess, Sia Romancia—legs giving out as she collapsed.
Done for. She'd be finished like that. If it were the shrewd First Princess, she'd have rallied people without flinching. But the First Princess had vanished with the emperor moments ago.
...Not that she was real anyway; he'd planted that fake.
Either way. No knight remained to save this doomed princess now. No lone hero to block that monster.
She'd die. The Second Princess—so incompetent, so useless—would simply perish like that.
Tragic, regrettable, but inevitable. It had to be.
Yet—
Tap...!
"――――――!!!"
Strangely, impossibly, Count Melrn hurled himself toward the Second Princess—who should have been expendable even in death—without a second thought.
