༺ The Fallen Sun ༻
“That is a corpse of a demon.”
As Findenai opened the coffin lid, the demonic energy emanating from within intensified even further, providing me the confirmation I needed.
Someone had dressed the already burnt and dead Demon’s corpse in a nun’s habit.
The culprit also eliminated any traces that could reveal the dead Demon’s identity, such as the horns and tail. And by completely burning the corpse, it not prevented anyone from confirming the face, but also concealed the Demon’s unique-coloured skin.
Because a Demon’s corpse had been laid to rest underground, its demonic energy strongly permeated the surroundings of the convent.
It appeared to have been a relatively powerful Demon, judging from its ability to still emit energy even after death.
“Pardon?”
The bewildered Abbess responded with a cracked voice. She was taken aback by the situation, which was both unexpected and unimaginable.
The summoned Demon was lying dead alongside the two nuns who summoned it.
Moreover, it was purposefully dressed in a nun’s habit.
This seemed like manipulation intended to cause confusion in the Elia Convent.
I was not a detective, but it was time to put the situation together.
“This is a case with a lot of questionable parts.”
While the outside of the building was heavily tainted with demonic energy, the inside was completely peaceful without any demonic presence.
The reason why the nuns, who supposedly served God, had summoned a Demon was not something that could be confirmed.
Even if it was to harm the Saintess, it was strange for a Demon of this level to respond to a summon without any sacrifices.
Furthermore, I doubted whether there was any need for the Demon to hide in the first place.
After all, the nuns could only use mana. They had no other special powers. Meanwhile, Stella, too, had lost her Holy Power.
There was surely a problem that had risen here.
I truly felt great emotions while talking to Stella.
Indeed, that was because her nobility had contained a beauty that seemed to blind anyone’s eyes.
My heart fluttered as I enjoyed my time with her; my mind remained remarkably clear and I continued to think.
Being in that room gave me even more suspicions.
First.
How could a Saintess who had lost her Holy Power repel the Dark Spiritualist?
The Dark Spiritualist clearly tried to pass through the door before it opened, but she was unable to enter.
Second.
How could a Saintess who had lost her Holy Power discern my real identity?
Was it a special and unique power?
Could a retired Saintess really see through that level?
Unfortunately, that wasn’t very convincing.
And the last, the third one.
It was truly ridiculous.
It was so obvious that I wondered why I hadn’t realized it at all. It was an error that anyone could have seen if it weren’t for the confusing situation here.
As I slowly turned my gaze back to the convent, the others also moved their heads, following my direction.
All of us looked at the window on the top floor of the Elia Convent.
There, we could see Stella with a bandage over her eyes.
A faint smile lingered on her lips.
“Huh?”
Only then did the Abbess sense something odd, alternately looking at me and Stella.
In fact, the Abbess already had the opportunity to notice the peculiarity yesterday, but she missed it because her attention was mainly focused on me.
As the Abbess showed a dumbfounded expression, I threw a question with a somber and somewhat heavy voice.
“How in the world can you be visible from the window, Stella?”
She had no legs.
More precisely, her legs were as thin and crooked as dried-up tree roots, which rendered it impossible for her to stand in front of the window.
And neither could she sit in a chair because that room she was in had none.
That was why I had to stand while talking with her for a long time.
From the beginning.
If we went back to the very beginning.
It was at the moment when Findenai and Illunania pointed to the window and said.
‘There’s a bitch left up there.’
‘That’s right. I clearly saw her, too.’
Someone was there.
How could I overlook such an obvious thing?
Perhaps it was due to her comforting warmth, or perhaps because she was such a charming person that my thought process couldn’t properly grasp this fact.
“Demons consider human dynasties as trivial, but the Demons themselves have a strict hierarchy.”
These were what the Dark Spiritualist had told me.
“There is only one case where a sacrifice is not needed in summoning a Demon, and that is when a Demon of a higher rank than the summoned Demon calls it.”
Therefore, this meant that it wasn’t humans who had summoned this Demon, but another Demon.
Since it was summoned by a fellow Demon, on top of that one stronger than itself, it responded without requiring any sacrifices.
Not only that.
“High-ranking Demons can freely emit, conceal, or even bury their energies as they wish.”
This was also something the Dark Spiritualist had mentioned.
Until now, we believed that the demonic energy outside couldn’t penetrate the convent.
However, it was actually the opposite.
The energy outside was intensively spread due to the corpse of the summoned Demon.
Meanwhile, inside the convent, the reason why no demonic energy could be sensed was because it was merely concealed by the Demon hidden inside.
“She was someone the nuns had trusted enough to willingly participate in a Demon summoning.”
Perhaps she tempted the nuns with the idea that there might be a way to become a Saintess.
“A year ago, when you returned here, at the Elia Convent.”
I looked up at her, who was standing right in front of the window.
Stella, who still had not erased her smile, was calmly looking down at me.
“You had already become a Demon, am I right?”
Creak.
The window opened.
Then, Stella threw herself out of the window like a woman committing suicide.
“Kyaack!”
“Lady Stella!”
Ignoring the screams from the nuns behind, only the crashing sound of her fall could be heard.
The nuns turned away from the scene to avoid witnessing the tragedy, screaming in horror.
However, on the contrary, Findenai hurriedly ran towards me with her axe.
“I thought it was some great event, but it was just self-fabricated?”
Findenai, who had been chuckling, was startled by the sudden surge of energy coming out from Stella. She reached out to protect me.
“Is this how we are going to face the consequences of digging the nuns’ graves? Master Bastard, we might really die from this, you know?”
“That is why you have to stay focused.”
Crack. Crack.
Along with the sound of bones aligning, Stella slowly stood up.
Her legs, which had previously been twisted, had now returned to their original shape and were stained black.
“I was really curious back then.”
Stella’s voice had still carried the same warmth, making it unnecessarily difficult for everyone to accept the situation.
Such softness in her tone didn’t match the atmosphere; it was a voice that could turn reality into a dream.
Stella unwrapped her bandages with her remaining right hand.
Her right eye was severely damaged, but the left eye had a golden vertical pupil. So, she had a Demon’s eye.
“So, this is how you look.”
Stella met my gaze directly and offered a slight smile.
However, this time, it wasn’t just her soft voice that emerged.
The overwhelming sense of intimidation filled the air as the Demon’s voice, as if capable of tearing through anyone’s heart, had burst out together, overlappping with hers.
[Be careful. In my opinion… She’s a monster that falls into the category of a Demon Lord]
Even though she was trembling all over, the Dark Spiritualist began preparing to fight along with me. However, this was the first time that she showed such a lack of confidence.
She wore a look that anticipated defeat, something I had never seen before even back when we faced the Evil Ghost Griffin.
[Wouldn’t it be better to use the Holy Grail? You hid it in the carriage, right…]
“We could resort to that way, too.”
Squelch! Squelch!
At that moment, something began to pour out from Stella’s left hand. Thick blood flowed like a collapsed dam and had started pooling on the ground.
Pwoosh!
A giant hand with a horn emerged from her left arm.
“The last Demon who had stolen my memories…”
Stella’s skin turned black, creating a border around her left eye.
Stella continued speaking with the overlapping Demon’s voice.
“…Was one of the ten Demon Lords, Velica.”
Thud!
As the giant left hand slammed onto the ground, the blood that had gathered splattered in all directions, and it soon transformed into beasts.
It was truly a grotesque sight.
Deformed beasts with limbs not properly attached yet rushed towards us while screaming.
“She told us this in a freakingly kind way, huh?!”
Findenai hastily channelled her mana and immediately went into full power mode.
She began wielding her axe to protect me from the rushing beasts, while the Dark Spiritualist also used magic to confront them.
However, I stood my ground and steadfastly looked at Stella.
“There are still unanswered questions.”
I had said it multiple times, but this incident was truly strange.
There were indeed many puzzling aspects.
However, the incident became even more complicated if you added the question ‘why’ to everything.
Yet, that was how we could finally get closer to the truth.
We needed to unravel the enigmatic problems to grasp the essence of this case, which unfolded like a mystery drama on the Elia Convent’s backdrop.
“Why?”
Therefore, I once again channeled my mana.
My mana, capable of awakening the dead, began to spread as if resembling the ringing of a bell, awakening the souls from their deep slumber in the late night.
“Why did you cause such an incident?”
I needed to know.
And I wanted to know, too.
Even though I knew the answer deep in my heart, I still wanted to hear it directly from her.
Did she realize what my desire was?
Stella let out a chuckle.
“The Saintess is the Sun of the Kingdom.”
Her voice was still as beautiful as that of a singer.
However, to me, it simply …
“Soul Whisperer, can you be the moon that takes responsibility for its darkness?”
…Sounded like a scream.
“Can you… comfort me?”