The Holy Nation was thrown into chaos by the appearance of the Demon Lord.
Dike summoned all the heroes who had come to attend the Founding Festival.
“Hero Elsez Rohen has been revealed as the vessel of the Demon Lord’s resurrection. Therefore, the Holy Nation declares Elsez Rohen a dangerous element threatening world peace, and we will now establish countermeasures.”
The heroes stirred at Dike’s words.
They didn’t know much about Elsez in detail, but the fact that she was a “hero” alone was enough to shock them.
Before Dike could even finish speaking, Cassian, who had been watching with a heavy expression, cut in.
“Couldn’t you reconsider her treatment after she returns?”
“Cassian, you were there as well. Didn’t you feel it? That Miss Elsez holds the Demon Lord’s power.”
“But she saved people. She took the lead against the dragon more than anyone else.”
Yet the only ones who had witnessed that scene were Cassian and Tezette.
The only person here who could support his claim was Tezette, but she simply glared around the hall with killing intent and stayed silent.
Cassian added his thoughts.
“Just because she’s the Demon Lord’s vessel doesn’t mean she must have the purpose of destroying the world.”
“I’d like to believe that too… But they say that since this evening, the portals leading to other nations have stopped functioning. And just hours ago, people suspected to be from the Demon Lord’s Resurrection Cult were spotted nearby.”
“That must be… a misunderstanding. She’s not like that.”
“Of course, it’s possible. But if your trust in her is betrayed, the ones who’ll suffer first are the weak. Thinking of them, we can’t help but be on guard.”
Cassian bit his lip, at a loss for words.
“Cassian, I know the shock must be great, since you’ve been close to Miss Elsez. But in any case, we must always put this world’s peace first.”
Most of the heroes nodded as if agreeing with Dike’s words.
Watching Cassian carefully, Ruel then asked Dike,
“Then… what about Rashiel?”
“Unfortunately, since Rashiel protected the Demon Lord, we must also treat him as a dangerous element and respond accordingly.”
Though they were discussing Rashiel’s treatment, in truth it was a warning aimed at all the heroes gathered here, Cassian included.
Anyone who defended the Demon Lord could become an enemy of the entire continent.
‘Damn it. If that bastard Rashiel were here, he could’ve argued them down.’
For the first time, Cassian cursed his own lack of eloquence.
The strategy meeting ended with Dike urging the heroes to prepare for the large-scale battle to come.
Leaving the chamber, Cassian messed up his own hair in frustration and muttered,
“The situation’s turned into a mess, and where the hell is Astaire right now…?”
On a hunch, he tried activating the guild contract he had with Elsez to track her through magic, but it didn’t work.
Since she wasn’t in this world, it was only natural.
While Cassian stood there in confusion, Ruel came up behind him.
“Cassian, I know you’re really shaken right now.”
She touched his back as if to show she understood.
Or so he thought—until her next words.
“But we’re heroes. We bear the duty of protecting this world.”
“So you’re saying it’s right to just assume Elsez and Rashiel are enemies and attack them?”
His voice rose, sharper than usual.
“Even though they haven’t hurt anyone? No, even though they risked their lives fighting to save this world?”
Seeing Ruel flinch at his outburst, Cassian squeezed his eyes shut.
Yelling at her wouldn’t solve anything.
After pressing down his emotions, he added in a much lower voice,
“I don’t think that’s right.”
Cassian didn’t want to talk about this with Ruel any further.
But Ruel didn’t seem to feel the same.
“You were bewitched by the Demon Lord. You fell for that woman’s disgusting act!”
Cassian was about to snap at her when suddenly Tezette’s hand clamped around Ruel’s throat.
“Shut your mouth.”
“Ugh…”
“I told you—if I see you again, I’ll kill you.”
Cassian grabbed Tezette’s arm in alarm.
“What the hell are you doing? Why are you choking an innocent girl—”
“Does this still look like Ruel to you?”
At the killing edge in Tezette’s voice, Cassian froze, still holding her arm.
“…What do you mean by that.”
Tezette glared at Ruel as if ready to kill her, then shoved her aside roughly.
“This is just a fake wearing her shell.”
The moment he heard those words, Cassian’s mind went blank.
Deep down, he had already noticed that the Ruel before him wasn’t the same Ruel he knew.
But he had wanted so badly to believe she had truly returned that he had ignored the suspicion.
Leaving Cassian and Ruel behind, Tezette turned and walked away.
****
“Ugh…”
The first thing to greet Elsez as she regained consciousness was an endless white background.
‘This place is…’
Elsez recalled her last memory.
She and Rashiel had been caught by the dragon and dragged into the dimensional rift, then thrown in without a chance to gather themselves. After that, she remembered nothing.
‘So this is the inside of the dimensional rift.’
Everything around her was pure white.
There was no telling what was floor and what was ceiling.
As Elsez looked around, she suddenly sensed someone beside her and looked down.
“Rashiel…?”
Rashiel lay collapsed.
Blood was pouring from his abdomen.
Elsez’s heart dropped at the sight.
“Rashiel!”
His face was twisted in pain, cold sweat dripping down. His breathing was shallow and rough.
‘How did he get hurt like this? Just being dragged into the rift shouldn’t cause this much damage…’
Tracing back her memories before entering the rift, Elsez realized a possibility.
They had been dragged in, caught in the dragon’s foreclaws.
‘The dragon’s claws and tail are poisoned.’
Most likely, its claws had grazed Rashiel’s abdomen.
Truthfully, when the claw first brushed him, he could have avoided it—but it seemed he had chosen not to.
‘He didn’t move… so I wouldn’t be the one to get skewered.’
Elsez quickly slipped off her transparent bracelet and clasped it around his wrist.
But it didn’t activate. She tried again, but it was the same.
‘Why won’t it work?’
Then she remembered how magical tools functioned.
They absorbed mana from the world to activate.
But the dimensional rift’s mana wasn’t the same as the outer world’s mana.
So they simply couldn’t work here.
Meanwhile, Rashiel’s bleeding grew worse. Elsez’s mind went blank.
“…No.”
She yanked the bracelet back, sucked the healing potion from inside it into her mouth, and pressed her lips to his, passing it to him.
Next came the antidote.
Just as before, she filled her mouth and fed it to him.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed, the potion sliding down.
After she gave him both potions, Elsez checked his wound.
It was healing—slower than with divine power, but undeniably mending.
“Please, just hold on a little longer, Rashiel…”
Clutching him in her arms, she prayed her treatment wasn’t too late. Every heartbeat stretched into eternity.
At last, the wound closed completely. His breathing was steadier now.
“Haa…”
Elsez let out a deep breath of relief.
But she couldn’t relax completely yet.
The wound was visibly healed, but she had no way of knowing if the poison was truly neutralized.
‘Should I give him another dose?’
Elsez held another sip of antidote in her mouth and pressed her lips to his again.
At that moment, his lips moved—and a strong arm wrapped around her waist.
Startled, she pulled back just as Rashiel’s eyelids fluttered open, revealing his crimson eyes.
Elsez’s eyes widened.
“Rashiel, are you alrigh—”
“Is that your answer?”
At his sudden, baffling question right after waking, Elsez blinked.
‘Answer? What answer?’
She was about to ask when a memory resurfaced—back before he left for the Empire, right after their contract kiss.
‘When I come back, I want to hear your answer.’
So that’s what he meant: an answer to his confession.
Now, what she had done just to save his life suddenly burned with embarrassing meaning.
‘You almost died just now, and that’s what’s important to you?!’
Elsez’s face flushed hot.
“No. This is my answer.”
She punched him hard in the chest.
Rashiel groaned from the unexpected blow.
“…I feel like I’m gonna die again.”
The fact that he could joke like that meant he was fine now.
Elsez tried to stand, but the arm around her waist only tightened, pulling her back.
“Do it again.”
“…Do what?”
“The kiss. I didn’t get to enjoy it properly. Let’s do it again.”
The pale face that had just been wracked with pain was now flushed red at the lips, looking even more vivid.
Pinned beneath her, murmuring about a kiss, his appearance was dangerously seductive.
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