“Damn it, nothing can break through.”

Staggering back from the recoil of his attack, Van caught his breath. He had already lost count of how much sword energy he had unleashed. And it wasn’t just sword energy—they had even thrown in dark energy and mana, launching a relentless offensive. Yet, the barrier stood firm.

“Still can’t sense anything from that side?”

“……I can’t. There’s no gap for dark energy to slip through.”

As time dragged on with no sign of whether Lumen was alive or dead, the expressions of those gathered before the door grew increasingly grave. Then, Mamil—who had refused Modeleine’s healing magic and had been resting in the back—opened his mouth.

“The fact that neither the Demon King nor Lumen Dominic has come out of the room yet means they’re probably engaged in a fierce battle. It might not be something to blindly worry about.”

He meant that they shouldn’t rule out the possibility that Lumen was holding his own against the Demon King. That was unusually hopeful thinking for Mamil. But neither Van, nor Yozen, nor Lydon mocked his dreamy optimism. They sincerely wished it to be true.

As time passed without any progress in rescuing Lumen, Lydon let out a sigh and turned away. He could cast magic from afar, so he figured he’d sit and wait. But as he casually walked toward Mamil, his expression subtly twisted. His red eyes keenly scanned Mamil, who was leaning weakly against the wall.

“……?”

Noticing the sudden looming shadow, Mamil turned his gaze.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Herb smell.”

“Herb?”

“You smell like [Grass of Amplification].”

At Lydon’s words, Mamil closed his mouth. When he didn’t respond and turned his gaze away, Lydon frowned and asked again.

“How many did you take?”

“I didn’t steal them. I got them through a black market dealer after a lot of effort. Spent all the money I had saved. He said they’d been preserved well since someone gathered them long ago.”

“I asked how many you took.”

When Mamil continued to avoid answering, Lydon let out a shallow sigh.

“If an ordinary human consumes [Grass of Amplification] consecutively, they die. You need at least a year’s gap between doses.”

“I know. That kind of information was likely dug up by some greedy fool who gorged himself on it. I read about it in a book.”

“……You knew and still took it?”

“Yes. I couldn’t give my disciple a pile of corpses as a gift.”

Lydon stared down at Mamil, then crouched in front of him and grabbed his wrist. As he carefully checked his pulse, Mamil let out a weary chuckle.

“Are you worried because I’m Cadel’s teacher?”

“Exactly. If I take care of you, Cadel will be happy too.”

“It’s useless. Nothing can undo it now.”

“……”

“Protect everyone in my stead.”

If Mamil died, the only magician left to protect their allies would be Lydon. If he didn’t support them properly, Cadel wouldn’t be able to fight effectively either. As Mamil continued to entrust him with responsibility, Lydon carefully set down his wrist and murmured softly.

“Don’t die in front of Cadel.”

“Ha! Then what, should I be dead beforehand? That’d be even more pathetic.”

“……If you absolutely have to die in front of Cadel, pass on this message.”

“Barely enough breath left for my own will, and you want me to play messenger?”

“Tell him, ‘The only real man Teacher acknowledged was Lydon. So cherish him most and live happily ever after with him.’ That’ll be your final message.”

How could someone be this shameless? Mamil let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity that dulled the pain. But Lydon’s gaze, flicking toward him from time to time, was oddly serious to dismiss as a joke. Lydon widened his eyes at him, as if demanding an answer. But before Mamil could even muster a reply to the absurd demand—

“Everyone, get back!”

With Yozen’s urgent shout, a huge surge of demonic energy swept through the corridor. Lydon instinctively stood and shielded Mamil with his body. His gaze followed the direction the demonic energy came from, and soon, Emilia stepped out of the space-time rift that had been sealed shut.

A glint of caution flickered in his red eyes. He had surrounded everyone with a protective ice barrier and quickly looked behind the Demon King. Even though she had fully emerged from the room, Lumen was nowhere to be seen. If he had been defeated, even his corpse should’ve rolled out of the room.

With the Demon King’s return, the air in the corridor turned taut. Surrounded by the hostility of the knights, Emilia exhaled softly and tidied her hair. Her calm demeanor made it seem like she wasn’t even aware she had enemies. Van’s brows twitched as he glared at her.

“That scabbard……”

The scabbard in her right hand. When Van recognized the emblem engraved on it, his voice trembled. Emilia responded as though she had been waiting for it. She looked straight at Van and shook the scabbard in her hand.

“Recognize it? That’s right. It’s the sword your comrade stole. Took me a bit of time to retrieve it.”

Lumen’s scabbard was in the Demon King’s hand, and though she had emerged, Lumen remained trapped in another dimension. The implications of this were difficult to grasp. A sense of dread spread like a disease. Amid the silence of the allies, Ector at the front posed the question no one dared ask.

“What happened to the man inside? Did you trap him because he didn’t lose consciousness?”

“No, he’s dead. The sword I drove through his heart was a bit hard to pull out, so I just left it there. I’ll go back and retrieve it after I kill all of you. By then, his corpse will probably come out with it, so don’t worry.”

Lumen is dead. Emilia’s clean answer made ripples of shock flicker across the faces of Van, Yozen, and Lydon. The rest of the allies were just as shaken, but their distress couldn’t compare to the blow felt by the knights of the Scarlet Scales Knight Order.

It was unbelievable. That Lumen—Lumen Dominic—was dead? They had all believed he’d somehow survive and return, even if barely clinging to life. To dismiss it as just a cruel joke from the Demon King, there was no way to prove he was alive.

Emilia, smiling as if savoring their hardening expressions, began drawing forth demonic energy. The knights had finally regained consciousness, but they had only barely opened their eyes. Without Garuel, there was no chance they would fully recover. Against soldiers hanging on by a thread, their chance of victory was zero percent.

‘After slaughtering everyone here and reducing this place to a hopeless grave, I’ll summon Cadel Lytos to witness it.’

With a smile still on her face, she raised one hand. It was the signal to unleash an overwhelming attack in one fell swoop. But—

“……?”

From the scabbard she had brought merely to provoke the humans—just a worthless ornament—a faint tremor began to ripple out.

* * *

Though he bowed his head deeply in supplication, Kelligan remained silent for a long time. Every passing second made Lumen’s insides burn with frustration. Even so, he didn’t rush Kelligan, nor did he raise his head. He had no illusion that the will of a god would bend to the plea of a mere human. But still—wasn’t it worth trying? He couldn’t bear the thought of living on as a sword. To be reduced to a cold blade without even saying a final goodbye to Cadel—it was horrifying beyond words.

“……Lumen Dominic. The one who shall carry on the will of my one and only knight, Janine.”

At last, Kelligan spoke. Lumen quickly lifted his head at the voice, and instead of a lump of light, the figure of an ordinary human appeared before him. Lumen instinctively scanned his face, and his eyes subtly trembled.

‘That’s Janine’s face.’

The same face depicted in books and carved into statues. Sun-kissed bronze skin exuding health, keen black eyes filled with intelligence, and a small scar above the left eyebrow. Striking, well-balanced features and a warm smile that spoke of kindness. It was exactly the face from the fairy tale books of his childhood—the perfect blend of a cheerful youth and a noble hero. A man like the sun extended a hand toward Lumen.

“The peace bought by sacrificing a beloved human has been broken. By imbuing my final will into the sword that was cast aside along with Janine, I’ve reached the end of my interference. The one you now face is nothing more than a ghost.”

When Lumen took his hand, he felt a vivid sensation that belied the word ghost. As warmth flowed through his body, ripples stirred across the once-still sea beneath their feet.

“That ghost’s heart is filled with regret and memories. Your will, therefore, is true love.”

“…….”

“I will grant your request. But know this—since you’ve rejected becoming the sword, the sword will now reject becoming yours. Overcome that trial and become one. If you do, then you will be able to protect your light.”

The warmth climbing up his hand heated intensely and began to circulate through Lumen’s entire body. As that heat sank into every corner of him, his physical senses became increasingly vivid. Waves surged across the sea beneath them, and cracks began to form in the once-clear sky.

As he instinctively looked up, Kelligan began to melt like water, seeping downward, and spoke his final words.

“Live on and enjoy the peace you reclaim. The true peace that Janine never found, and that I failed to give……”

Even as the voice faded and the waves crashed down over him, the heat remained, unwavering. A strange and unfamiliar sensation overwhelmed him to the point of blanking out, and Lumen’s vision faded to black.