Chapter 24 - Everyone is Going Mad
The flames subsided, and the freezing cold turned into steam and vanished.
Thud.
Yuru slumped down, cooling the last vestiges of heat in her body.
"Gah, hah..."
Having expended so much energy that she could barely breathe, she rested her hands on the ground and looked forward.
Into her vision came Beatrice, still standing on the ground.
Beatrice, contrary to her, was thawing her body, which had been frozen by the cold.
"Damn it."
She hadn't defeated her.
Yuru tried to use magi again but instead coughed up blood.
Her body was now almost collapsing forward.
But unwilling to accept death as it was, Yuru propped herself up with her elbows and lifted her head.
"!"
At that moment, Yuru realized.
Beatrice also couldn't move from her spot.
"As expected, you're amazing."
Beatrice slowly met Yuru's gaze, her lips parting to murmur.
"You're certainly worthy of being chosen as a protector of humanity."
"Don't make me laugh."
Yuru gritted her teeth.
"I don't want to hear empty words."
"I merely spoke my honest feelings."
Step.
Suddenly, Beatrice took a step.
"It seems I'm the one destined to walk."
"Gah...!"
"Yuru."
Beatrice decided to utterly crush her.
"Now, step down from the stage."
"What?"
"Didn't you hear it directly from Clay?"
That he came to deal with her.
"If you feel sorry for Clay, then disappear. Completely."
At Beatrice's words, she swallowed dryly for a moment.
That's right.
Clay had said he came to deal with her.
She had heard it with her own two ears, beyond a doubt.
But whether to believe those words or not was solely her choice.
And she,
"I don't believe it."
She decided not to believe those words.
"That wouldn't have been what brother truly wanted."
"Do you genuinely think so?"
"At least, this isn't how it ends."
Yuru clenched her fists and poured strength into her entire body.
With great difficulty, she managed to stand up.
"I'll find out for myself. What went wrong."
"To not understand even after being told everything, you're truly foolish."
Beatrice prepared to create flames again.
Clang.
But she, too, was at her limit.
If she used more power now, there was a possibility of her magi running wild.
'Now isn't the time to go that far.'
Dealing with Yuru here would certainly make things easier going forward.
However, risking her life in an adventure wasn't very efficient.
'He would have already moved to the promised location anyway.'
She needed to conserve enough stamina to reach the rendezvous point with Clay.
Eventually, she sighed and said.
"Alright, do as you wish. I'll be leaving now."
"Where are you going? You're not leaving here while I..."
"If you want to keep fighting, don't worry. There will be plenty of others to fight you besides me."
Saying so, Beatrice flapped the two wings on her back.
Even in her human form, an overwhelming sense of intimidation radiated from her as she soared into the air.
"Where are you running, you coward!"
Yuru reached out her hand towards her, but Beatrice paid her no mind, flapping her wings and vanishing in an instant.
Thump!
It was then that Yuru, unable to catch her, slammed her fist into the innocent ground.
There she is!
A shout from somewhere.
Yuru turned her head and only then realized what Beatrice's words had meant.
"Damn it..."
Yapheon's soldiers were swarming towards the gorge.
☆
"Lilien."
Tia, who had returned to her office, spoke to Lilien.
"Prepare for a Holy War immediately."
"Excuse me?"
Lilien, summoned by her liege's command, turned pale upon hearing Tia's words.
"A Holy War, Your Majesty?"
"Yes."
Tia explained the situation to Lilien.
"The Emperor of Kratia has demanded that we participate in a Holy War."
"That means..."
"Yes, that's right."
Tia's expression hardened further.
"It means we are to deal with Yuru ourselves, on the charge of kidnapping the Crown Prince."
"Such an absurd..."
Lilien sighed and spoke to Tia.
"Your Majesty, no! If we accept that demand, Iser will be engulfed in civil war!"
Yuru was the Tower Master of the Blue Magic Tower.
All mages affiliated with the Blue Magic Tower followed her.
If they attacked Yuru, would those mages really stand by?
"The Blue Magic Tower is quiet only because Lady Yuru hasn't issued any commands yet! If the mages of the Blue Magic Tower, who absolutely adhere to the Tower Master, start moving..."
"Lilien."
Tia met her gaze.
"I haven't told you everything yet."
"Yes? What do you mean..."
"I have already betrayed Yuru."
During her recent confrontation with Yuru, Tia had refused Yuru's proposal to revive Clay with Dark Magic.
And she had intended to report Yuru's actions to Kratia.
"Of course, it happened because Yuru first declared she would run wild without caring for our safety."
Lilien, having heard all these facts from Tia, swallowed dryly, feeling dizzy.
'Does that mean they've already become enemies?'
With the genius mage Yuru at the forefront, the magical skills of the mages of the Blue Magic Tower had significantly improved over several years.
And now, they had already crossed swords with Yuru.
'She must have failed in her attempt to inform Kratia.'
If she had succeeded in informing them, Yuru wouldn't have been able to kidnap the Crown Prince.
Yuru would also know that Tia had tried to take action against her.
"You thought it was a disaster, didn't you?"
Tia said to Lilien.
"We've become enemies with Yuru, and we're on the verge of losing Kratia's trust."
"Your Majesty."
"I wonder why we let Clay die if this was going to happen."
The words she had never spoken aloud, she finally uttered.
"To avoid losing Kratia's trust, I cited most—no, all—of the evidence they provided in Clay's trial. And the result of that is this mess."
"Your Majesty..."
"Lilien."
Tia spoke as if she had made a decision.
"You said you met Beatrice, one of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings, didn't you?"
"Yes? Ah, yes!"
"And that Beatrice took Clay's corpse."
Tia clenched her fist, as if a wave of unpleasant emotions surged over her.
"I don't know how they're doing such things with a corpse, but in any case, it's highly likely to be part of an effort to revive the Demon King's Army."
The Demon King died.
The focal point of the demons disappeared.
For the Demon King's Army to be re-established, that focal point was needed again.
"Perhaps Beatrice plans to use Clay's corpse as propaganda to rally the Demon King's Army again."
"Th-That can't be."
"So, Lilien, from now on, we also need to think carefully."
Even a single wrong judgment could wipe out the nation of Iser.
Holy Kratia, the Blue Magic Tower, and Beatrice—each was close to a catastrophe.
However, Tia had no intention of submitting to or being dragged around by anyone anymore. She had already lost too much that way.
"Lilien, first, we need to divert the Holy State Alliance's attention elsewhere to buy time. First, do you remember where Beatrice went?"
"Well, when I woke up, everything had vanished, so I don't remember."
"Then let's go back to that site and look for traces..."
"What is all that nonsense?"
Thud.
The office door swung wide open.
"Lady Nael!"
The maids tried to stop her, but no one could restrain her strength.
"Beatrice took Clay's corpse?"
"Nael."
"I heard everything!"
At Tia's call, Nael pointed to her ears and shouted.
"I believe you know how keen my ears are! I heard everything just by standing in the hallway! Tell me honestly!"
She was right.
If she had already heard some of the conversation, it was impossible to hide the truth.
"Alright, Nael. I'll tell you everything."
Tia told Nael about Beatrice making Clay's corpse appear alive, and Yuru's kidnapping of the Crown Prince of Kratia.
"Is that, truly so?"
Nael, having heard about major events all at once, turned pale as if blood had drained from her, then immediately gritted her fangs and said.
"Then there's nothing to consider. Yuru's wrongdoing can be dealt with later. For now, we need to deal with those who are desecrating Clay's corpse."
"I think the same way, Nael."
Tia extended her hand to her.
"You can track the lingering scent of demons, can't you?"
Beastkin, Nael.
She boasted unparalleled senses even among the Beastkin.
Naturally, her sense of smell was also incredibly keen, but the problem was that she couldn't smell anything right now.
"I can't use my original abilities right now."
"Yes, you can."
"..."
"You're not smelling anything else because you're afraid of forgetting Clay's scent, aren't you?"
Nael had kept the scarf Clay had given her at home and only used her sense of smell when she inhaled its scent.
"Even if you intentionally try to endure like that, you won't be able to maintain it for long."
"Don't speak so arrogantly."
Nael looked at Tia with a cold expression.
"I can control my five senses as I please."
"Yes, I know that. But now is the time when all your abilities are needed."
Beatrice took Clay's corpse.
"Do you still want to remain like this even after hearing how Clay's corpse is being used?"
"...Damn it."
Nael closed and opened her eyes, then said.
"Alright. What do I need to do?"
"I already told you."
Tia spoke softly to Nael.
"Track Beatrice's lingering scent. It means I want you to find Clay yourself."
"Yes, I understand."
Nael turned around as if she couldn't refuse and said.
"But there's one thing I want to tell you."
Nael subtly turned her head, her gaze briefly touching Tia.
"Don't try to use Clay too much. Even if he's already a corpse."
Step, step.
Nael said that and walked outside.
"..."
Tia sat silently for a long time even after she left.
"Your Majesty."
"Don't try to use Clay?"
A warning not to try to divert the Holy State Alliance's attention by finding Clay.
"Clay has already abandoned us."
Tia looked down at the desk littered with documents, her eyes suppressing her emotions.
"And he's already dead."
Would turning attention to a dead person be such a great sin?
"He was the one who first used and abandoned his friends."
Tia continued to murmur, as if talking to herself.
However, until then, she did not know.
Whether she could say the same words when she faced Clay again.