63

Screams and shouts erupted everywhere.

The sharp metallic clangs of blades striking each other never stopped.

Hamel swallowed quietly.

Time was not on his side.

Most of the infected knights had been subdued, but the allied losses were heavy.

Especially Rupert’s knights, who had fought among themselves, were at their limits both mentally and physically.

Meanwhile, the estate residents kept coming without end.

Ono formed a barrier of plants, and Galahad’s guard pushed back the climbing estate residents, but the casualties would continue to mount.

The enemy wasn’t just ordinary estate residents; Trent controlled like puppets by Vinea were mixed in.

They were holding by pouring saltwater for now, but…

They couldn’t hold off thousands of enemies forever.

‘I have to end this quickly.’

Hamel tightened his grip on his sword.

He would not use dragon-speech.

No, he shouldn’t reveal the dragon’s power in combat in the first place.

With so many watching, he had to suppress the dragon’s power as much as possible while fighting.

It was tricky, but entirely doable.

The flow of mana and the aura.

And even the demonic energy housed within the talisman.

Everything felt clearer than usual.

It was then.

“Kill that one!”

The infected knights guarding Vinea charged at Hamel.

At the same time, when Vinea chanted, vines sprung up from the ground and bound Hamel’s feet.

Watching the vines, Hamel lightly swung his sword.

“Talisman control ritual: Open — Shadow Bind.”

Shadows emanated from the sword and bound the ankles of the charging knights.

Hamel then put strength into his legs.

The vines wrapping his feet couldn’t withstand the force and tore apart with a ripping sound.

Hamel pushed off the ground and dashed forward.

Hamel’s sword flashed as he ran like a streak of light.

In an instant he reached Vinea, shook the blood from his blade, and said,

“They said she has annoying abilities but weak direct combat skills. Indeed, that’s exactly it.”

“W-what kind of priest…”

Vinea looked pale as she glanced back at Hamel.

Her puppets still stood bound in shadow.

Their heads had all been severed like harvested rice.

The renowned knights had been brought down so easily.

For Vinea, who had seen Hamel forfeit in the semifinals of a swordsmanship tournament, this was unimaginable.

She should have taken the name Saint more seriously.

“This cannot… be.”

Vinea gritted her teeth and whipped her hand.

Thorn-covered vines lashed through the air like whips.

The whipped vines were aimed precisely at Hamel.

‘Here it comes.’

Sssht! Pang!

The serpentine whip flew at terrifying speed.

Hamel narrowly leaned back and evaded the attack.

Only a breeze grazed him, yet a drop of blood appeared on Hamel’s cheek.

Had it hit fully, flesh would have been torn open.

More importantly,

‘It’s fast.’

Hamel adjusted his grip on the sword and glared at Vinea.

If you wait to see and then dodge, it’s too late.

You had to predict the position and timing of the attack as the vine bent.

That’s why it’s hard to respond to.

This is the terrifying nature of a whip.

Using centrifugal force, the tip’s speed increases exponentially relative to its length.

From the point where the force begins, simply supporting it allows the whip’s end to reach supersonic speeds.

“I’ve poured so much into this estate… it’s only just beginning!”

Vinea lashed dozens of vines in a desperate flail.

At the same time, as if abandoning her humanoid form, she began rooting into the ground.

Her entire body, not just her hands, transformed into plant form, becoming neither flower nor human.

As she grew larger, the number of swinging vines increased, making approach impossible.

Hamel watched the transformed Vinea and murmured calmly.

“Foolish.”

Watching the whipping vines, Hamel lifted an oak cask filled with saltwater.

Seeing that, Vinea finally realized her mistake.

“How do you expect to dodge if you root yourself in that spot?”

He finished speaking and hurled the cask toward Vinea.

There wasn’t much Vinea could do.

“Eek!”

Her swung vine smashed the incoming cask.

Saltwater poured out of the cask, whitening some vines with salt and turning them brown.

By fortune, it did manage to avoid striking her main body.

“Ha… haa.”

Just as she caught her breath and felt relieved,

“It’s not over yet.”

Hamel’s calm voice and several salt casks flew at her from all directions.

“Ah.”

Vinea let out a short, death-like gasp.

Just a little more.

If she could hold on just a bit longer.

Vinea gritted her teeth and swung the vines with all her strength.

Crack

The oak casks shattered and saltwater poured everywhere.

The more that happened, the more her vines weakened and withered.

But the end was steadily approaching.

“Ugh!”

When saltwater finally splashed onto her body, Vinea writhed in pain.

However.

‘Now there’s no damn saltwater left!’

Vinea curled the corner of her mouth into a grin.

A voice of despair echoed from afar.

“They’re getting over the wall!”

“Abandon the wall! Gather in the center of the square!”

The far-off defensive line where people had been desperately holding collapsed.

If they held on like this, that Exorcist priest would be finished.

There were still enough vines, and with this much damage they could recover quickly.

‘If we just hold on like this…’

Just as Vinea turned, confident of victory,

“Talisman control ritual: Open 2nd Form.”

A black spear manifested in Hamel’s hand.

In his hand was a menacing weapon of unknown completion.

Taking a javelin stance, Hamel wasted no time and thrust the spear.

“Shadow Lightning Strike.”

Krazzick

There was no time to block it.

She only felt something pierce her body.

When she lowered her head, her chest cavity was hollowed out.

Around it, things were charred black and crackled as they burned.

“Huaaagh.”

A deflated shriek escaped Vinea’s lips.

He could feel it.

Death.

An inescapable death had come within reach.

Thud thud

Someone stood before the collapsed Vinea.

Vinea instinctively knew it was the form of the death that had come for her.

“…Priest.”

“So persistent.”

The priest raised his sword with his usual impassive expression.

She couldn’t deny the death at her throat, but she felt it unfair to die like this.

She wanted to spit in the face of the death before her.

“Even if you kill me… my children will not stop. They will kill you all.”

“…”

Hamel paused, looked down at her, and shook his head.

“No. Your puppets will all stop. With your annihilation.”

With those words, Hamel struck Vinea’s neck.

Her head thudded and rolled on the ground.

Her head on the ground wore a smile full of victory.

She would end her life here, but they would die here too.

As long as the roots remained in the ground, the Trents would not stop.

‘Huh?’

Vinea’s eyes saw the priest kneeling.

The priest, Hamel, put his hands together reverently and began to pray.

“Ehuurshika’s purifying fire of natural order that cleanses defilement, burn your foes.”

Azure Flame shimmered and rose along Vinea’s body.

At first the flame lightly rose around the wound, but in an instant it ravenously engulfed Vinea’s body.

But for only a moment.

“Return to hell all evil and fiends that descended upon this land to corrupt good souls.”

As the priest’s prayer continued in a voice as resolute as steel, the blue flames burned ever fiercer.

No, it wasn’t merely burning.

Hamel’s Azure Flame rose as a blue pillar of fire soaring high into the sky.

“I humbly beseech, grant the power to wipe all demons from this land.”

The priest finished his prayer, rose, and slowly looked around as he spoke.

“Incendium Vitae.”

Another fateful boon gained from the hut.

A new form of technique melding Azure Flame into a chant unfolded.

The rising flames spread out in all directions.

Like a tidal wave. Like ink spreading over water.

The blue flames spread in circles outward.

The Trents swept by the storm of flames were turned to ash without resistance.

The humans trapped in hallucination snapped out of it as their pendants shattered.

The once noisy surroundings became unbelievably quiet.

Only then did Vinea realize the blue flames had reached her roots.

She saw her body charred black.

From the corpse left with only embers came a crackling sound.

A shadow formed before her.

On it stood the priest looking down with a cold expression.

Only then could Vinea recall the epithet of the Exorcist priest she faced.

‘Priest of the Azure Flame…’

Truly, no name suited him better.

Crack

With that fleeting thought, Vinea’s breath left her completely.

Hamel’s sword had pierced through her head.

The demonic energy was drawn into the talisman.

“At last…”

Hamel murmured softly.

The absorption of the demonic energy was undeniable proof that the demon’s lifeline had been severed.

As if to prove it, Vinea’s remaining limbs turned to ash and collapsed.

The humans lost in hallucination also fainted and fell to the ground.

By chance, moonlight that had been obscured by clouds poured down.

“Ah.”

One of the knights voiced a stunned sound.

Those standing under that light finally realized it.

The long, long nightmare had finally come to an end.

---

Hamel approached the kneeling lord.

The origin and the mastermind of it all.

Hamel had initially expected him to be Vinea.

But the lord Edmure was not a demon.

Nor were his lackeys.

He had been unaffected even by the Azure Flame.

That left only one possibility.

“You were the contractor. You made a contract with Vinea.”

“…”

The lord Edmure lifted his head and looked at Hamel.

His expression was empty and hollow.

No, perhaps it even looked like relief.

The face that had been full of worry and anger held no trace of regret.

“What happened?”

Hamel simply asked calmly for the reason.

The lord quietly answered.

“My wife was ill. She was near death.”

“So you made a contract with Vinea?”

“I know it was foolish. I knew that from the start.”

Edmure swallowed and continued.

“But… for me, one life — my wife’s — mattered more than the lives of the entire estate.”

“…”

Hamel looked down at him with cold, chilled eyes.

Edmure flinched but did not back down and spoke.

“I’m not asking for your understanding. Someone of your calling would surely see me as a wretched man.”

Hamel did not answer.

As the lord said, Hamel could not understand him.

He had turned away from his duty.

The estate had been ruined and his wife had become something that could no longer be called a wife.

The lord averted his eyes from everything and ran headlong toward ruin.

A man who drove others to death for the one he loved.

Hamel again felt disillusioned with humanity.

Are those utterly wicked and weak truly servants of God?

Can humans be called good and righteous beings?

Hamel shook his head to dispel the distractions and straightened his sword.

Now was the time to carry out punishment in the name of God.

Cutting Edmure’s throat would truly bring this matter to an end.

“Do you have any final words?”

“None.”

Edmure closed his eyes as if resigned.

Hamel raised his sword.

“No!”

Then someone blocked Hamel’s path.

Hamel flinched and stopped the raised sword.

“Tristan.”

Tristan of Lonelybirch.

The son of Edmure, once a boy who admired Hamel, had his hands clasped and tears streaming down his face.

“Please… please spare my father. You killed mother already. So please… at least my father…”

“…”

Hamel hardened his expression subtly.

Edmure’s previously unshaken expression also cracked.

For the first time, regret and self-reproach touched his face.

He knew better than anyone that he had caused this catastrophe.

“…Stand aside, Tristan.”

Edmure forced his expression and ordered in a hoarse voice.

“No! Why should father die! Save him. I’ll apologize in his stead!”

Seeing the boy cling desperately, Hamel couldn’t bring himself to swing the sword.

At that moment Edmure called the captain of the guard who had been watching nearby.

“Galahad.”

“…Yes, my lord.”

Galahad bowed with a complicated expression.

Edmure seemed slightly surprised, then smiled faintly and said,

“You still call me that, huh. Thank you. One request: take Tristan away.”

“I will obey.”

Obeying the order, Galahad pried Tristan off Hamel.

Then Tristan screamed like a madman.

“Let me go! You were my father’s man too! And you… Hamel Gilmore! I curse you. I’ll forever resent the words I ever said to you.”

“…”

Hamel simply stood silently by Edmure’s side.

Then Edmure spoke as if apologizing.

“I’m sorry. He will understand when he’s older.”

“It’s all right. I’m used to being resented.”

Hamel replied calmly.

Though it had been rare lately, exorcism naturally brings death and sorrow.

And those overwhelming emotions sometimes turned toward the priests.

It was, in fact, quite common.

“Is that so… you must have had it hard too.”

Edmure nodded briefly.

Hamel quietly looked down at him for a moment.

Then he laid his sword on the ground, knelt before Edmure, and prayed.

“Ehuurshika who governs life and death, look upon this man, forgive his sins, and receive him into your embrace.”

“You…”

Edmure looked at Hamel as if he couldn’t believe it.

The Church decrees that those who make contracts with demons cannot be saved.

Hamel’s words, strictly speaking, bordered on heresy.

Hamel picked up the sword he had set down and stood.

Then he said to Edmure,

“Ehuurshika will guide you.”

“Ah.”

Edmure simply expressed gratitude and nodded.

With a prayerful heart, Hamel swung his sword.

The man who had plunged an estate into death was dead.

But there was no cheer of joy anywhere.