成人本色

A clear, familiar voice pierced Odellit’s ears. Immediately after that something bizarre happened.

Anaxia, who she thought she had killed, came back to life. She held the greatsword stuck in her stomach with both hands and slowly pushed it away, raising her upper body.

Odellit was embarrassed as she felt herself being pushed by a mighty force.

“Ho-How!”

At that time, Ellet grabbed Anaxia’s head with her hand and slammed it back to the ground.

Thud!

“Ugh! Vanquisher of Evil!”

“Yeah, yeah. Now die.”

A bolt of lightning from Ellet’s hand enveloped Anaxia.

“Aaaahhh!”

That was the last scream the dungeon owner uttered.

As Ellet slowly released her grip and picked herself up, Odellit sensed something was wrong.

It was a merciless attack, in stark contrast to the indecisive way she’d kept the boss alive just moments before. And that ominous premonition came true right away.

“Wh-What is this……!”

Odellit’s body began to corrode blackly due to some kind of force.

There was no pain. But as she watched the blackness spreading across her skin like ink, she couldn’t help but feel it.

That the aura of death was hanging over Odellit Marcellion.

“W-What is happening to me?”

Her struggling shouting echoed throughout the huge throne room. As the tail of the echos faded away, a soft, small voice caught everyone’s attention.

“Anaxia.”

Odellit looked up at Ellet with desperate eyes.

She knew by instinct.

Ellet was the only one who had the answer to what was wrong with her.

As she lowered her gaze, Ellet explained.

“When she dies, she can reflect her death to one person. It’s an ability, like having two lives, which is why I told my allies beforehand.”

-You must never……..

Precautions that Ellet advised everyone ahead of the full-scale boss battle.

-You must never kill Anaxia.

That meant to not give the boss the final blow.

Ellet rolled her eyes and gave Odellet a look.

“I’m afraid you didn’t hear that since you interrupted in the middle…….such a shame.”

It was a voice full of sadness, like a sigh.

But Odellit saw through it. Ellet’s eyes towards her were cold enough to be foreign.

She had a hunch.

The High Saint stood on the sidelines.

She stood there and watched the moment she cut off Anaxia’s life with her great sword. Even though she could have stopped it!

“Saint! You left me to die……cof!”

As the corrosion seeped into her organs, her bodily functions began to fail in earnest.

Odellit, who vomited black blood, became desperate. Two bloodshot eyes turned towards Hilde.

“W-what are you doing! Hurry……! Hurry up and heal me!”

“Ye-yes……!”

Hilde drew divine power into both her hands, but the corrosion did not alleviate, even a little.

“C-Can’t do. It’s impossible, sister.”

“S-Stop talking bullshit! Cough! Squeeze more strength! Do it right, you useless thing!”

“Ahh……!”

Odellit was in a situation where begging was not enough but she acted spitefully.

Just as she was about to grab Hilde by the collar, Ellet twisted Odellit’s wrist and roughly yanked her.

“Kug!”

The two faces became dizzyingly close.

“Princess Marcellion, you must maintain your dignity on the way.”

“Saint……! Cough, cluck!”

Taking advantage of her blood coughing giving the effect of silencing her screams, Ellet dropped a small piece of breathtaking clue in Odellit’s ear.

“You should have quietly stayed in the rear.”

“What……?”

“At the very least, you should have not lied to me.”

Black corrosion had penetrated even inside her bulging blue eyes.

Ellet cradled Odellit’s sagging body in her arms.

“May you rest in peace, Princess Odellit Marcellion.”

The moment when a reverent voice, as if reciting a funeral speech, fell into Odellit’s ears.

Passssut.

Her body disintegrated in the air.

She ended her life with blessings in the arms of The Chosen One.

It was a very glorious death.

“……So it came to this.”

Thesilid muttered lowly.

Ellet’s companions did not have good feelings towards Odelitt, but there was a point in which death was treated like a sanctuary in itself, whether it was the good man’s or the evil man’s.

Because of this, the mood was somber as if they were having a real funeral, instead of celebrating their success in defeating the boss.

Of course, some people offered sincere condolences.

“Si-sister……S-Sister O-Odellit……”

Even though it was the result of an unhealthy sisterhood, close to a feeling of dependence built up due to abuse rather than a soothing prayer filled with real love.

Meanwhile, Ellet was looking down with cold eyes at the black military uniform of the Magic Republic that remained in her arms.

“Eli?”

“Sister?”

“Hey, Ellet? What’re you doing?”

The curious and worried gazes of her colleagues turned to Ellet.

This is because she suddenly began to search through Odellit’s uniform in a rough manner.

It was a touch that showed nervousness and urgency, which was not typical of Ellet.

In fact, in the process of rummaging through the uniform, she tore half of it and soon she seemed to have found what she was looking for.

Pulling an extremely luxurious pouch from the inner pocket, she took a deep breath.

“……Via.”

When her close friend’s name came out in an exhaled breath.

Bang!

The door to the boss room opened and many people appeared. Among them, the two people at the forefront attracted attention.

“Your Highness the Prince! Your Highness the Princess! I’m here to save you!”

“Where is the boss……Hing? Is that our grand niece’s subspace inventory?”

They were the Kingdom’s Aura Master, Romina Lecandro, and the Magic Republic’s chimera researcher, Morifis Marcellion.

Immediately after the boss battle began, the castle’s structure stopped changing and all troops were summoned to the throne room.

This allowed the two to quickly and easily make it to the boss room, after exiting the water mirror on their own, while also joining forces from the Kingdom Army or the Magic Army that had been scattered here and there.

Romina Lecandro, a loyal knight of the kingdom, ran to Celestide at once to check on her well-being.

“Your Royal Highness, are you okay?”

“Thank you for coming, Marquis Lecandro. I am okay.”

“I’m so glad you’re safe. But His Royal Highness Prince Hardale……?”

“Unfortunately, Brother……”

“No way……”

“He’s hanging from the ceiling.”

“Oh God. Your Highness the Prince!”

Romina rescued Prince Hardale, who was hanging from the ceiling like a chrysalis cocoon. The kingdom’s army flocked to his side, as he had long since lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, Morifis just stood still.

The subspace inventory that must have belonged to his descendants was already out of his mind.

Only the woman rummaging through it caught his attention.

To his surprise, she was the same pink-haired woman that the ‘Mirror of Ideal Type’ had shown to Morifis.

“That woman…….”

Conveniently, one of the magicians gave the answer.

“She’s the Chosen One of the Church.”

“The Saint……?”

“Yes.”

Morifis gasped as if he’d been punched in the chest.

It was an amazing coincidence.

He was even more motivated to do what he had originally planned to do.

An excited Morifis approached Ellet with dilated pupils. She was frantically searching through the inventory, not paying any attention to the signs of his approach.

“Kh-hum, khum. Saint. What are you looking for? I will find it for you.”

“……”

Only then did Ellet turn her head towards him.

Seeing the Saint in person up close was even more thrilling. Her sweet hair seemed to taste like peaches and her fresh eyes like the fresh green of spring were impressive.

However, the aura she gave off was different from her appearance.

In those pale green eyes, spring was in retreat. Her eyes were as cold as a midwinter gust of wind, and they looked directly at Morifis.

As she faced him, Morifis felt chills starting from his fingertips.

Right now, he couldn’t tell whether that physical reaction was due to the Saint’s cold intimidation or his own frantic anticipation.

“Mirror.”

A short word flowed from Ellet’s mouth.

“Take the mirror in which Bianca Gillette is trapped.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Even though it was an order made to a subordinate, Morifis didn’t care. In the first place, all the chimeras he raised were spiteful and arrogant in the beginning.

The pouch’s dual structure was opened by Morifi’s magic. A full-length mirror decorated with an antique frame was brought out.

“Bia……!”

Ellet’s coldness melted away at once and her sorrowful call reached even inside the mirror.

The black-haired noble young lady, sagging from exhaustion, lifted her head with difficulty.

In the mirror, Bianca stretched out her hands as far as the chains would allow.

Ellet and Bianca stood face to face, palms facing each other.

“Bia……”

“……”

As he watched them stare at each other longingly for a while, it was clear that the two people were not in an ordinary relationship.

As if the Saint was barely able to suppress her rising emotions, she took a deep breath and spoke.

“Just hold on a little more, Bia. I’ll take you out right away.”

That was when Morifis’ silver-gray eyes flashed secretly with fierce intensity.

Ellet raised her divine power and put power into the words as if she were making a declaration.

“Indulgence.”

The Chosen One was amazing.

Even Morifis, who is praised as a genius, needed time to figure out how the mirror worked, but she seemed to understand everything intuitively and cast an 8th-rank ultimate liberation skill.

Her glowing hand swept across the mirror as if removing an invisible veil.

‘Indulgence’ was an ultimate Holy Skill that destroys all external factors punishing a specific target.

It met the conditions of ‘liberation’ required by the mirror.

The mirror immediately responded to the Saint’s command.

The handcuffs and shackles that had been restricting the young lady’s delicate wrists and ankles were loosened.

Soon, the body of a noble lady came out of the full-length mirror like she was spat out.

“Bia!”

The Saint caught Bianca’s body as she was about to fall forward and hugged her tightly without leaving any space.

“Bia, Bia!”

“Eli……”