Chapter 89: Finale!! What Does the Fallen Nun Think?

The history of resentment between humankind and the demons runs deep. That friction has existed ever since both races came into being in this world.

A relationship of predator and prey.

As living beings, demons stood on a higher tier than humans. Within the food chain, humans existed as prey for the demons.

Longer-lived, more powerful, and fewer in number—demons fed on humans.

It was an ordinary food chain, one that could be observed anywhere in the natural world.

And so, from ancient times, humans lived in fear of demons.

Just as frogs fear snakes, and snakes fear hawks—humans feared demons as they lived.

Perhaps that was always how things were meant to be.

But then, humans acquired wisdom.

They learned to use language, to share knowledge, and became frighteningly cunning.

Eventually, the power of that wisdom overturned the balance of power between humans and demons.

Mankind used its knowledge to create weapons, harness magic, and develop tactics.

They studied their enemy, discovered their weaknesses, and launched counterattacks.

As a result, demons found themselves suddenly on the receiving end of the violence.

Demons cannot survive without eating humans.

And yet, humans can live without ever consuming demons.

In that case, shouldn’t humans simply accept being eaten?

Is that not the natural order of the world?

But ignoring the demons’ bitter grudge, humanity continued to progress.

Of course, the demons didn’t take it lying down. Time and again, they rose up and attempted to strike back against mankind.

Yet each time, they were defeated.

Eventually, the demons came to realize the truth.

Humans were exceptional. A race with no natural predators, capable of ruling over all things on the surface.

Demons, once the apex threat to humanity, were destined to be trampled underfoot by them.

“…Then… how am I supposed to protect everyone…?”

---

—Nausea churned in my gut.

Every organ in my body squirmed and writhed with unease.

Just opening my mouth to speak felt like vomiting up pure water. Standing was barely possible.

I dropped to both knees and continued to sing that song.

“—Tch, this is bad. Your mana’s about to run out, Irine. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“…But if I stop singing now…!”

“…Yeah, you’re right. Sorry—leave the rest to me.”

Gods, what is this spell?

Of course it is—of course it’s a spell from the ancient Hero. Of course it’s a spell used by the Demon King. And yet he could cast something like this without batting an eye?

A support buff that turns every ally within range into a hero. For a magician of my level to use something this ridiculous, and expect to come out of it unscathed—yeah, no way.

Just casting one support spell emptied me out completely—me, who’s supposed to be one of the greatest mages humanity has to offer.

“Sister! You’re showing signs of mana depletion—at this rate—!”

“Ilya, I… I’m fine.”

Ilya had clearly noticed my mana was gone. Her voice was tight with panic.

—I mean, truth be told, I’m panicking too.

Running out of mana for a mage isn’t just bad—it’s catastrophic.

What makes it really dangerous is this: if you keep casting spells after your mana’s gone, you start burning through your very soul.

In other words… if I keep this up too much longer, I’m going to end up a shell of a man. A husk.

And that’s not even the worst of it.

Once you lose a part of your soul—it never comes back.

Mana is something that resides in the soul.

So if you keep using magic after your mana is depleted, your maximum mana drops too.

In the worst-case scenario, you may never be able to cast magic again.

That’s why running out of mana is no joke for a mage. It’s game over.

…Still.

So what?

As long as I’ve got muscle, I can survive. Who cares if I lose magic?

After this fight with the Demon King, it’s not like I’ll have to use magic much anyway. This is the one time—the time—to put my useless talent for magic to actual use.

I’ve already made up my mind: even if I can never use magic again, I’m okay with that.

I’ll give everything I’ve got to support them—so go, humanity!

“While Irine still has strength—this ends now!! All units, protect me!!”

“Aldebaran!? You’ve still got something up your sleeve!?”

“Of course. I only fell back to buy time for the chant. With the enemy’s charge slowing, now’s our chance.”

From behind where I continued singing, Aldebaran confidently raised her staff to the sky.

…Her fire magic was shattered earlier, but it looks like she’s still got something in reserve. No wonder they call her the Hero.

“I’m glad that training in the volcanic city wasn’t wasted.”

The red-haired Hero, Aldebaran, narrowed her eyes.

Bathed in the blazing sun, her hair fluttered in the wind as she stepped forward with calm resolve.

“Let me show you—Hellfire.”

And with that declaration to end it all, she hurled it straight at the demons.

---

“I don’t believe Miss Irine has the mana to keep that spell going for long. Let’s fall back for now and prepare to launch a second charge.”

“Giiiii…”

The Demon King, Yury, let out a dry chuckle. Her own support spell had been perfectly mimicked.

She knew full well the terrifying potential of spirit users. After all, back during the Second Demonkind War, when she had fought on the Hero’s side, the strongest among them had been the spirit user—Welmund.

Irine Welmund, the descendant of that legendary Hero who had singlehandedly defeated a Demon King.

Yury had expected someone like her to pull off something bold.

“…Heh. It feels like I’ve just reunited with an old friend for the first time in centuries.”

Many members of Karl’s current Hero party had personal ties to her.

Even if it was only for a brief time, traveling with them had been a deeply enjoyable experience.

It reminded her of a time long ago—

Before she had fallen into despair, back when she had been pure, innocent, and fought to protect humanity… during her days as Hero Yury.

“──I’ve broken the promise we all made, haven’t I…”

Yury, the immortal Hero once entrusted with the future of her friends' descendants.

Now, she had cast that aside, throwing herself into a final battle… to wipe out humanity.

“But… I’ve made peace with that now.”

With those quiet words, she began to sing once again, her voice rising high and clear.

To support her comrades—those who trusted her, those who fought for the future of the demon race, offering their lives.

—However.

What Yury failed to realize was this:

The decision to “pull back a little and wait for Irine to run out of mana” would prove to be a fatal mistake for the demons.

---

"Don’t think she’s the same Aldebaran from the battle at Yowin. She’s grown—by one step, no, by several."

For some reason, Inon, the blond-haired man, boasted about Aldebaran with a smug grin—as if it were his own accomplishment.

His leg, which had been broken by a goblin, had already been healed by Sakura, and he’d returned to the front lines.

“We’d predicted it, after all. That her fire magic would be heavily countered.”

“Yeah. Honestly, that’s only natural. There’s no way the top support mage from ancient times wouldn’t know how to deal with fire.”

In truth, even Aldebaran herself had been concerned about the fact that she could only use fire magic.

Fire magic was unmatched in raw offensive power—but it was a volatile, high-risk attribute, with many counters and weaknesses.

It was particularly weak against water magic, and if the enemy had any fire resistance, its damage was severely reduced.

That’s why she’d trained in volcanic regions before heading to the capital.

“Even demons… are living beings.”

Aldebaran was a fire-elemental mage.

She had no aptitude for other magic, and no offensive means outside of fire.

So she would fight—with fire alone.

“Prison of Hellfire—World of the End.”

With cruelty and merciless resolve, the Hero incinerated the demon horde.

---

To Yury, it must have felt like a bolt from the blue.

Suddenly, the world dimmed—and all around her, flames burst to life with a roaring blaze.

“Huh? Is this… an area-wide fire annihilation spell?”

“Gigi—?”

Yury blinked in confusion.

The fire magic had activated over an area so vast it defied comprehension—even she looked visibly bewildered.

“…Still, with my support buff, we should be able to withstand it, right?”

“Gii-gii.”

To protect her habit from catching fire, Yury doused herself with water from head to toe.

As expected of the Hero of Magical Flame, the sheer range of Aldebaran’s fire spell was nothing short of staggering. Nearly the entire Demon King’s army had been engulfed in the blaze within an instant.

And for good reason—Aldebaran hadn’t focused the spell to a point, she’d expanded it to its maximum limit.

“…Well, if she wants to waste her mana like that, it’s no skin off my back.”

Thanks to Yury’s song, the demons were all buffed with fire resistance.

With such a thinned-out flame, there shouldn’t have even been a chance of burns.

…So then, why had Aldebaran cast such a spell?

“…Ggeh.”

“Wait—Wise Gob?!”

That question was finally answered when, one after another, the demons began collapsing around her.

And soon, Yury herself was overwhelmed by an inexplicable, crushing pressure—unable to remain standing.

Looking around, she saw everyone clutching at their throats and mouths, choking, struggling to breathe.

Only then did Yury grasp Aldebaran’s true aim.

“────No! We’re suffocating…!”

Yes.

Hero Aldebaran’s strategy had been to create an inferno so vast and continuous that the demons inside it would suffocate.

No matter how much fire resistance they had—if they couldn’t breathe, they’d die. And in the heart of a roaring blaze, there was no way to draw enough oxygen.

That ultimate technique—Aldebaran’s “oxygen-depleting inferno”—rendered the vast majority of the demon army unable to fight within moments.

---

“Protect Aldebaran! If we keep her safe, humanity wins this war!”

Most of the demons had already been swallowed by the sea of flames.

Just as Aldebaran had planned, the demons collapsed one after another, dropping to the ground in droves.

“Gi-gi-giii!!”

“Ughyaaaa!!”

Realizing the severity of the situation, the front-line goblins charged at us in a desperate frenzy.

The demons who had been positioned closer to the edge of the inferno panicked and broke through, scrambling in our direction.

“…Cut them down!!”

But the goblins were no match for Karl and the kingdom’s troops, bolstered by my support. They were repelled without being able to resist.

All that soul-crushing chanting was finally paying off.

“They’re weakening fast! If we want to finish them off completely… we just need ten more minutes!”

“You got it, boss!”

“…Irine, think you can hold on?”

“Fufufu… I’ll make it… somehow…!”

Ten more minutes, huh? Damn, that’s long.

I’ve been running on empty for a while now—pretty sure I’ve already burned through a chunk of my soul.

At this rate, I might just barely make it another ten minutes… but after that, there’s a good chance I’ll never be able to use magic again.

Might even end up with some lingering side effects. Damn it.

“…Irine, drink this.”

“Hmm—mm…?”

“It’s not much, but it should help lessen the aftereffects later. …Sorry, this is all I can do.”

“It’s more than enough, Sakura.”

Just as I started to worry about what would come after, Sakura handed me some kind of potion.

It was bitter… but I think it helped a little. That’s my best friend for you.

“…We’re going to end this long-standing grudge between humanity and the demons. We’ll win here—and ensure demons never rise to attack us again.”

“Yeah, leader.”

“Everyone—brace yourselves! This is the final battle!”

With Aldebaran’s rallying cry, we humans roared as one.

We would win. Annihilate the demons and claim a peaceful future for ourselves.

That would be our offering to the countless lives the demons had taken.

That would be our show of respect—to Yury, who had staked everything on this final assault.

“Burn every last demon to ash!!”

In response to Aldebaran’s fierce roar—

Something was hurled out of the “Cage of Flames” she had created and crashed down before us.

“…What!?”

With a sickening squelch, the figure landed, soaked in blood, before shakily pushing itself upright.

…It was a face we all knew well.

“…Stop. Stop it.”

“You… the Demon King…?”

It was Ilyu.

As if she had been thrown by something, Ilyu—clad in what remained of her scorched and tattered habit—came tumbling into our midst.

“There she is—the enemy’s leader! Take her out!”

“Stop… Hero…”

This was Ilyu’s desperate gambit.

She had asked a large monster nearby to hurl her alone into the midst of the enemy.

It was a form of travel only she could survive—one that risked death by impact, yet she’d bet on her immortality.

Now regenerated, Ilyu, without even trying to hide her half-burned, disheveled form, let out a shriek like a curse and charged straight at Aldebaran.

“Stop that spell right now!!!”

“McCune Magic Sword—!”

“I won’t let you near the leader! Rabbit Hundred-Fold Claw!!”

At Aldebaran’s command, attacks immediately converged on Ilyu.

Each strike came from the finest warriors of this generation—the Hero’s elite party.

“Brother…!”

“Our job is to guard the leader, Lev!”

Lacking the physical ability to evade, Ilyu was overwhelmed in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, her body was torn apart, reduced to shreds of flesh.

“Stop it… Hero…”

“She’s immortal! Don’t let your guard down! Keep striking until every last demon is gone!”

“Understood, Alde!”

But Ilyu rose again.

No matter how grievous the injury, no matter how thoroughly her body was wrecked, Ilyu’s wounds closed and she stood once more.

“…No more! Please—stop killing my family!!”

“Don’t let her chant even a basic spell! Crush her the moment she regenerates!!”

“Kill the Demon King!!!”

…By now, almost no demons remained moving within the Cage of Flames.

They’d all passed out from lack of oxygen.

At this rate, every demon except Ilyu would die.

Ah… that scorched landscape, littered with charred corpses.

In the end, it seems that future hasn’t changed after all.

“Are we not allowed to exist…!?”

Even so, Ilyu rose again.

“You humans—you’ve always done whatever you wanted!!”

Because she carried her beloved family on her back.

Because she bore the weight of her precious descendants on her shoulders.

“Then just once… once—give us something back, humans!!”

“There’s no reason we should!!”

And yet—

Yury couldn’t even find time to chant a beginner’s spell. She was slain again and again by human warriors.

No matter how many times she stood up, no matter how many times she tried to form a chant—her face was smashed in before she could utter a word.

Here, once again—
the demons…
were on the verge of losing to humanity.

“...It hurts…”

It wasn’t that Yury couldn’t feel pain.

No—she simply endured it. No matter how much it hurt, she grit her teeth and kept standing back up.

“...I’m scared…”

When a man larger than herself swung a weapon straight into her face—

Of course she was afraid. Of course it terrified her.

“...It’s unbearable…!!”

Ilyu no longer even wore clothes. After regenerating over and over, what little she had on had been shredded and lost.

Her entire body was caked in vomited blood and mud—and still, she stood.

Because if she didn’t stand now, all the demons behind her would be slaughtered——

"If it's that painful, then hurry up and find peace."

The Demon Lord, half-mad, thrust her right arm toward the Hero and began chanting.

In the next instant, her head was severed by the Silent Blade, and she collapsed forward.

Yury immediately sprouted a face from her neck, and even as her body regenerated, she was already murmuring a spell.

At that very moment, an arrow from Maika pierced her throat.

Even then, she refused to give up. Yury yanked the arrow out and tried to continue chanting.

But her outstretched right arm, her legs, her core—everything was shredded into pieces by Inon.

How many times had she writhed in agony?

How much unbearable pain and suffering had she endured?

The Demon Lord Yury's voice had gone hoarse.

Her shredded body lay writhing, soaked in soil, stained red-black.

"Now! So she can’t regenerate at all—"

"…Got it."

Sakura used earth magic to separate and bury the lump of mangled flesh.

Whether it would have much effect was uncertain. But doing nothing would be worse.

“…What a pitiful woman.”

Aldebaran looked sorrowfully at Yury’s severed right arm, flung out in front of her.

The Demon Lord had fought desperately. All to protect her family, her comrades—she had charged into battle willing to die.

"Hey, look! Just like we thought, if we tear her body apart, she can’t regenerate!"

"It’s true! She’s just twitching. Her body won’t reattach!"

And now she was left in this wretched state.

Even Aldebaran couldn't help but feel some sympathy.

But even so, that was that.

As a Hero, as a human, Aldebaran couldn't afford to hold back.

She would wipe out the demons and protect humanity’s peace. Convincing Yury—that would be Karl’s job.

That was the extent of Aldebaran's duty.

"…Hey, Hero."

Aldebaran steeled herself, maintaining the infernal flames.

Even demons would die if they suffocated. Just a little more effort, and she could finish them off.

Then, her role as Hero would finally be complete—

"The place where I received the Dragon’s curse… was my right arm."

That final task.

In the very moment Aldebaran fulfilled her mission—

—the Demon Lord’s fangs reached the Hero.

—

—

It had been a mistake to sever the Demon Lord's right arm.

It had been an even greater mistake to leave that severed arm unattended while sealing the core of her body.

Four hundred years ago, the part of her body wounded by the dragon had been—her right arm.

Her regeneration, under any and all circumstances, always began from the right arm.

That critical secret, Aldebaran never knew.

Which is why she realized too late—too late—that Ilyu had regenerated from the severed right arm.

“…Huh?”

“I’ll be taking that.”

Right before the Hero’s eyes—

The discarded right arm had transformed.

Into the Demon Lord, reborn—who now struck to kill her.

---

“…Huh? The spell—?”

“A-Al? What’s wrong—?”

The spell that had scorched the plains before the capital vanished, as if snuffed out mid-cast.

Everyone present was too focused on restraining Ilyu’s mangled body to notice—just a few seconds too late.

“…We did it.”

A quiet voice of joy echoed.

With a wet, dripping sound, hollow and surreal, spreading across the battlefield.

“We did it… I did it, I really did it…”

We saw it.

The corpse in the red robe, headless and shredded into pieces.

And the scene of the crimson-haired Hero’s severed head—

—being slowly slurped on by the Demon Lord.

“Did you see this, humanity?! How’s that—?!”

Dancing with maniacal glee, Ilyu gnawed on the Hero’s brain.

She smiled like a child full of joy, like a gentle mother cradling her own.

“…”

Everyone was speechless.

No one present could react—only stand there, stunned.

I stopped singing. My strength drained away, and I collapsed on the spot.

“Victory… belongs to the demons!!”

That day—

Humanity was defeated by the demons.