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“Oh, Father!”

Kaen rushed to Ben’s side. She rolled him over and quickly checked his condition.

However, Ben’s life had already been cut off, and he lay there as a cold corpse with his throat slit.

Kaen attempted to use healing magic.

Of course, there was no way to heal a wound on a dead body.

She kept channeling her mana and trying to use healing magic repeatedly, but eventually gave up.

“…Father.”

Kaen shook Ben’s motionless body.

His head fell limply.

Was this a dream? Or was she trapped in a nightmare?

The sight of Ben’s lifeless body felt unreal.

It didn’t make any sense.

She had only gone out to buy the muffins that Ran asked for, so why was this happening…?

Kaen remained in a daze for a while and then turned her gaze.

Ran was looking down at her with an expressionless face.

“Ran, what happened? Why did Father…?”

Kaen realized belatedly.

The blood-stained sword in Ran’s hand. Ran spoke in a dry voice.

“Kaen. I did it.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

“Can’t you see? I killed your father.” Ran replied indifferently.

Kaen couldn’t comprehend what Ran was saying.

“Why?”

Unable to utter anything more, Kaen barely managed to ask, and Ran replied.

“I’m actually a demon.”

“……”

“The reason I first approached you was that you could be a crucial material for the resurrection of the Demon King. They call it the demon’s seed. But it’s probably meaningless to tell you.”

“…What on earth are you saying…?”

“I’ve been by your side all this time, watching and waiting for the demon seed to bloom. But now, there’s no need for that anymore. Because the Demon King has been resurrected.”

Ran dropped the blood-stained sword to the floor and stood up.

“Originally, I was going to kill you both and leave, but I thought it would be more fun this way. Kaen, I won’t kill you specifically. Take care.”

Ran walked out of the room.

Kaen sat down in a daze for a moment, then staggered to her feet. She left the room.

However, Ran’s figure had already disappeared and was nowhere to be seen.

Kaen’s legs gave out, and she slumped back down.

With only the pungent smell of blood lingering in the house, she was left all alone.

***

While traveling back to Raphid City, Aindel sensed something was amiss and summoned the Holy Sword.

Paaaat!

The Holy Sword emitted four brilliant rays of light.

Aindel looked at the Holy Sword with disbelief.

“Why…?”

How could all the conditions of the Holy Sword be fulfilled? She felt her heart sink and accelerated her speed.

…Could it be a demon? An Archdemon so powerful that even the Seventh Lord couldn’t handle it?

While I was away for a while, what happened to Kaen?

When Aindel arrived at Kaen’s house, an unimaginable scene unfolded before her.

Inside the house, Aindel found Kaen.

The sight of her holding the lifeless body of Ben and looking down with a lost gaze.

“Kaen…”

Calling her name, Kaen raised her head.

Her gaze was as empty as that of a dead person.

Aindel swallowed hard and slowly sat beside her.

Ben, with a sword wound on his neck, looked as if he had been dead for some time already.

If he had died not long ago, she could have revived him with the power of the Holy Sword. But it was too late now.

Kaen spoke.

“Ran killed him.”

“What…?”

“Ran killed my father. He said he was a demon, that he was lying to me all along…”

Confusion filled Aindel’s mind.

The Seventh Lord killed Kaen’s father…

And what did he mean by demons?

The Seventh Lord was not a demon. He was undoubtedly their ally.

There was no falsehood in that fact.

Aindel could only come up with one possible explanation.

Why the Seventh Lord killed Kaen’s father.

No way.

Aindel bit her lip in disbelief.

She checked on Kaen first, who was in distress.

She placed her hand on Kaen’s forehead.

“Kaen, rest for a while.”

The power of the Holy Sword enveloped Kaen’s body, and she lost consciousness as if falling asleep.

Aindel moved Kaen to another room and left the house immediately.

“……”

As soon as she stepped outside, she felt a presence. It was the Seventh Lord calling.

Aindel headed to where the Seventh Lord was.

In a narrow alley near the house, the Seventh Lord was waiting.

“…Seventh Lord.”

Aindel’s face froze into a grim expression.

***

The sun was setting, and darkness was gradually falling.

I went out and entered a deserted alley, leaning against the wall and sitting down.

“……”

My head was a little dizzy. It was hard to keep looking at Kaen’s face, so I ran away as if escaping.

I had done a terrible thing.

As I stepped out of the bloody house and into the cold wind, the realization of what I had done became clearer and clearer.

…What should I have done?

What the hell was I supposed to do in that situation? I couldn’t risk letting Ben get close to Kaen.

Now that everything had been revealed, Ben had to be dealt with in some way or another.

I couldn’t reveal the truth to Kaen, either.

In the first place, even if the mystery of possession or whatever was explained, who would believe such nonsense?

The Demon King had been resurrected.

I had to make a decision quickly, whether to abandon the succession or complete it somehow.

Meanwhile, Ben died, and the appropriate situation to fulfill all the conditions was created.

All those thoughts tangled together, and ultimately, I made this choice.

I did have regrets.

However, no matter how much I thought about it, this was the best option.

Kaen’s expression flashed in my mind again. I lowered my head.

…Have all the remaining conditions been fulfilled?

If this satisfied all the conditions of the Holy Sword, the hero would return soon.

As time passed, I felt the presence of the hero returning to Kaen’s house.

I channeled my mana and called the hero’s attention.

She came to my location and looked at me coldly.

“…Seventh Lord.”

I stood up. The hero walked unsteadily towards me.

“Explain.”

A sharp voice that could make one’s skin crawl. I asked first.

“…Have all the conditions for the succession been fulfilled?”

The hero summoned the Holy Sword without saying a word.

In the Holy Sword, four strands of light were faintly shimmering.

Looking at that, I could tell that all the conditions for the succession had indeed been met.

In the end, it meant that I was someone Kaen trusted enough to fulfill one of the conditions.

“Did you really have to go this far for the sake of succession?”

“Yes.”

“Was it all for this, living in the same house with Kaen, being so close to her?”

“Not exactly. But it turned out this way.”

“Seventh Lord, what on earth are you…!”

The hero’s face twisted fiercely.

“Hero, listen.”

I began explaining slowly.

What happened while she was away?

About the person with the mystery of possession that I had been pursuing from before, and his intentions.

The whole truth, from the information Asher had brought me to the realization that Ben and he were one and the same, to my conversation with Ben, to his taking his own life, and how I had come up with a way to fulfill all the conditions of the succession.

After hearing all the explanations, the hero stood there for a while in silence.

Her expression changed rapidly, and finally, she spoke in a low voice.

“Seventh Lord, what secret are you hiding?”

“…”

“When you knew about the succession, when you spoke with the Holy Sword in private, I didn’t pry. I didn’t try to delve into your secrets, because I trusted that one day, when you trusted me more, you would tell me everything.”

“I know.”

“You have always spoken the truth to me. But now, it’s becoming hard to accept what you’re saying. That Kaen’s father possesses the mystery of possession, that he intended to take over Kaen’s body. How could you know all these things…?”

I interrupted her and replied.

“Because I have partial knowledge of what will happen in the future.”

“…What did you say?”

“That’s why I knew about succession. That’s why I knew about the mystery of possession. That’s the secret I’ve been hiding all along.”

The hero stared blankly and asked again, “Was this really the best choice?”

“…”

“To betray that child, to make her lose his father, to make her go through such despair…”

“I know.”

I still believed that this was the best method. But at the same time, I also thought it was the worst.

“I completely ruined that child’s life. But now, I can’t undo it.”

I looked the hero in the eye and said, “Let her inherit the Holy Sword, hero.”

The hero remained silent for a while, then turned away.

“…I am sorry, Seventh Lord. My indecision has driven you to this point.””

The hero left with those words.

Alone, I gazed endlessly at the spot where she had left.

***

Aindel returned to Kaen’s house. She was still asleep.

Aindel didn’t force her awake and waited for her to wake up.

Soon, Kaen woke up. She looked around dazedly and then looked at Aindel sitting beside her.

“…Del, I must have been dreaming, right?”

Kaen asked with a pale expression.

“It was just a dream, right? Something like that could never happen. Ran would never kill Father…”

“Kaen.”

“….Answer me. Tell me it’s just a dream, please.”

Aindel remained silent, lowering her head.

Kaen took a deep breath and got up from the bed, walking towards Ben’s room.

Ben was lying on the neatly arranged bed.

Aindel had cleaned up the bloodstains and prepared Ben’s body to prevent it from decomposing.

“Ugh, ugh…”

Kaen sat down beside him, sobbing and crying for quite some time.

Aindel stood by the door, watching her grief-stricken state.

***

Several days passed.

Aindel moved to the Ramon Mountain Range with Kaen.

They buried Ben’s body in the backyard of the cabin and made a grave for him.

It was what Kaen wanted.

“Del, what is the demon seed?”

Kaen asked, glancing at the grave.

“He said I was an important ingredient for the Demon King’s resurrection, so he kept me alive, and now that he’s back, I’m useless.”

Aindel let out a quiet sigh.

The Seventh Lord had lied to Kaan.

“The demon seed is…”

Aindel explained to Kaen about the demon seed, and after hearing the explanation, Kaen muttered.

“In the end, it was because of me that Father died.”

“No, Kaen. That’s not…”

“Lea died, and so did Father. Why do demons do such things? Why do they commit dreadful acts as if they’re frustrated about not being able to make people suffer?”

Aindel responded, “There’s no reason. It’s because that’s their inherent nature.”

“Inherent nature…”

Kaen, who had been silent, stood up and said, “Del, I want to kill all the demons.”

“…”

“If their nature is like that, then they should all disappear from this world.”

Aindel didn’t answer. Kaen looked at her.

“So, I need to become stronger. Please pass the sword down to me.”

Aindel closed her eyes tightly, then slowly opened them again.

“Kaen.”

“Yes.”

“My real name is Aindel, the hero with the Holy Sword.”

In the end, everything was a result of her hesitation.

As the Seventh Lord had said, now there was no turning back.

I’m sorry.

Really sorry, Kaen.

“You shall inherit the Holy Sword and become the hero who succeeds me. And defeat the Demon King.”

The Holy Sword, summoned in the air, emitted a brilliant light.

Kaen gazed at that light, seemingly enchanted by it.

And just like that, three years had passed.