Volume 2, Chapter 17 – The Aftermath

Boom!

A gigantic pillar of fire shot up into the sky.

The Despair Demon General’s extended arm was much more fragile than his original one. Under the [Firestorm], his extended arm instantly dissolved, and his body continued to be bathed in the raging flames.

Before the flames could even dissipate, Fia used a giant arm formed by [Telekinesis] to grab the Despair Demon General. Darkborns were clearly different from ordinary lifeforms. He might be like a vampire, in that as long as a single breath of life remained, he would not perish. She could not be careless in the slightest.

The spatial hand, enveloping the flames, grabbed at the air. With a whoosh as the flames were extinguished by the large hand, everything returned to silence.

Is he dead?

Fia soon got her answer.

“A Fifth-Tier spell without an incantation, and spatial power that can be used so freely. Has the Eldest Princess broken through the Seventh Tier and reached the Eighth Tier? Even for an elf skilled in manipulating magic, this growth rate is too fast.”

Thirty meters away from Fia, in mid-air, the Despair Demon General gradually emerged from the darkness. The [Firestorm] had caught the Despair Demon General completely off guard. Half of his body had been turned to dust in the explosion.

An ordinary creature would have died instantly from such an injury. However, the Despair Demon General’s body was slowly regenerating. The black mucus at the edge of the wound wriggled rapidly, re-forming his blade-like arms and legs.

No longer as composed as before, a hint of suspicion was added to the Despair Demon General’s voice.

“Could it be that you have degraded yourself and become a witch? It’s a pity. If it were the old me, I would definitely not be your opponent. But now, I have accepted the power of Lord Absolute Evil. You, as a magic caster, cannot defeat me!”

As if in response to the Despair Demon General’s voice, the chaos in the lake below instantly boiled. Like creatures with their own consciousness, they surged up from the ground, condensing into countless spikes dozens of meters high, shooting straight towards Fia.

It was a spectacle on the scale of a tsunami.

He can’t see me, so he’s getting anxious, Fia sneered in her heart. The Despair Demon General is trying to use indiscriminate attacks to pinpoint my location.

[Fairy Fire]

It was not a single one, but a sky-filling, world-enveloping mass of fireballs. A scorched smell filled the air, and the clouds were illuminated a reddish-orange by the flames.

Fia was already wondering how to eliminate the massive amount of chaos in the lake. Now that they were coming to her, it was time to cleanse them. Let’s see if her mana was greater, or if this chaos was truly endless.

The sea of fire raining down from the sky and the black tsunami rising from the ground met each other like two giant fists, crashing together violently.

In an instant, a fierce sizzling sound and white steam exploded together. The shockwave of mana instantly sheared off the spire of the castle. The entire world boiled along with it. Red and black each occupied a side of the sky, engaging in a slow but intense tug-of-war.

Fia, bathed in the fire rain, took the opportunity to lunge at the Despair Demon General.

Although the Despair Demon General’s regenerative ability was powerful, he did not recover from all his injuries instantly. And that was her opportunity.

I will cut his body into several pieces and burn them all at once, not giving him time to regenerate.

Raising the blood-red scissors, Fia flew towards the Despair Demon General at an extremely high speed.

She raised the scissors high with both hands, and like wielding a greatsword, she swung them down from above.

“You’re asking for death!”

The change in airflow made the Despair Demon General sense Fia’s presence. For a mage killer like him to be approached by a magic caster for a physical attack was an immense insult. His voice was filled with rage. Instead of dodging, he extended his blade-like right arm to block Fia’s swing.

However, he had misjudged Fia’s strength.

While the blood-red scissors didn’t sever his arm, the immense force transmitted through the scissors to his entire body made him tremble uncontrollably, as if every inch of his body was about to be shattered. To prevent his body from being crushed by the shockwave, he had no choice but to give up his position in the air, using his fall into the lake as a way to diffuse the force.

The chaos spikes shattered completely. As the Despair Demon General slammed into the lake, it sent up black splashes dozens of meters high. And as the power of the chaos weakened, the sea of fire in the sky plummeted. The entire lake, like gasoline that had been set on fire, began to burn intensely.

That one attack couldn’t cut the Despair Demon General in two.

Fia clicked her tongue.

What a tough body.

The force that had been transferred back through the long scissors made Fia shake her hand. The only weakness of this body was that the pain threshold had not increased with the increase in strength.

I can’t let this guy run away.

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Just as Fia thought this, the figure of the Despair Demon General emerged from the fiercely burning lake.

The Despair Demon General used his legs to propel himself on the surface of the lake, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Fia.

With him was a giant blade, with both his hands together, that swung horizontally towards Fia’s waist.

Spreading her light wings, Fia moved her body back, dodging the Despair Demon General’s horizontal sweep. She then condensed [Telekinesis] into countless bullet-sized particles and shot them all at the Despair Demon General.

If it were a human, they would have been turned into a sieve in an instant. But the Despair Demon General’s response was completely beyond Fia’s expectations.

He neither dodged nor turned his flexible body into a shield. Instead, he swung his blade-like arms at a dizzying speed, slicing each bullet that was shot at him.

Could a biological being really do that?

“A weak magic that doesn’t match your strength! Are you looking down on me?! —[Soul Shock]!”

Her magic seemed to have enraged the Despair Demon General.

My apologies for only knowing First-Tier spells.

Speaking of which, was that [Soul Shock] from just now a mental magic?

Standing still in the air, Fia tilted her head slightly. Other than a strong gust of wind, she didn’t feel anything else.

He’s not just trying to scare me, is he?

The Despair Demon General’s magic must have worked, but for some reason, such as her own mental strength being too great, it had no effect.

While Fia was thinking about these things, the Despair Demon General had already lunged at Fia. His body split in two in mid-air, turning into two identical Despair Demon Generals, attacking Fia from both sides.

Not only that, but a third Despair Demon General was approaching from behind using an invisibility spell.

Every single one is the real body.

[Wind of Exploration] gave Fia the answer.

This guy is serious now.

Although there were only three Despair Demon Generals, they instantly sealed off all of Fia’s escape routes. Fia could predict that no matter which attack she dodged, the other two would inevitably land on her.

Although the Despair Demon General’s body was tough, his strength was far less than hers.

In that case—

Her mind made a decision in the blink of an eye. Fia gripped the long scissors that were as tall as a person.

She first used an iceberg created by [Ice Bullet] to press down on the Despair Demon General behind her. Then Fia gathered all the strength in her body with both hands and, like wielding a club, swung the scissors out from right to left with all her might.

The tremendous force created a sonic boom in the air.

The blood-red scissors were longer than the Despair Demon General’s arms. At this distance, they could not dodge. The two sides collided without suspense.

The blow, powerful enough to pierce a mountain, instantly squeezed the two Despair Demon Generals together. Immediately after, cracks appeared on their bodies. The immense raw strength, faster than the blink of an eye, cut them in half at the waist.

Fia quickly used [Telekinesis] to form a giant cube, pushing the four severed halves of the Despair Demon General towards herself. Although the Despair Demon General, now only half a body, tried to raise his hand to block the attack, Fia timely added a [Mental Shock], making the Despair Demon General’s reaction a beat too slow. Then, the open long scissors met the Despair Demon General’s body, and like a guillotine, the scissors closed without hesitation.

A cracking sound, loud enough to echo throughout the sky and make one’s heart tremble.

[Firestorm]

A pillar of fire shot up.

The Despair Demon General’s dismembered body didn’t even have a chance to recover before it was turned to ashes in the raging flames.

There’s only the one that was crushed by the iceberg left—

Just as Fia’s guard dropped, a strong sense of danger came from behind her.

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The iceberg didn’t stop that Despair Demon General?

There was no time to think. Fia quickly turned around, holding the blood-red scissors in front of her. She first had [Telekinesis] form a wall in front of her, and then used a max-level, indiscriminate [Mental Shock] on the distance.

Then, a sight of an iceberg cleaved in half by a single sword appeared in her vision, followed by a ten-meter-long black light blade flying straight towards her.

It was not a physical attack, but a magic spell.

The black light blade instantly closed in on Fia. The wall formed by [Telekinesis] was sliced in two by the black light blade. Fia could even hear a glass-like sound as the spatial force shattered. As if all the light in the world was being devoured by this black light blade, the ominous radiance, just by looking at it, gave her goosebumps.

I can’t dodge this!

The two collided.

Fia slammed diagonally into the burning lake of chaos. But unlike the Despair Demon General, Fia did not create a splash tens of meters high. She sank into the lake as if she had merged with it, not making a single sound.

[Flight] had slowed her fall.

Even so, Fia still sank into the lake.

Even though the lake was burning with fire, the chaos inside it still tried to wrap around Fia’s body.

A sense of unpleasantness rose in her heart.

Sinking to the bottom of the lake, Fia activated [Fairy Fire].

With her as the center, the range was set to one hundred yards.

The reason [Firestorm] had always been kept within a ten-meter range was purely because Fia was worried about accidentally injuring innocent people or damaging the surrounding buildings. Including her previous battle with the Moon Dragon, if she hadn’t been worried that the explosion would cause the ground to collapse, Fia could have easily expanded the firestorm to its maximum two hundred yards.

The bottom of the lake began to boil. Fire snakes coiled into a circle around Fia. A moment later, they exploded like an angry dragon, expanding instantly.

If the previous burning had only made the surface of the lake catch fire, then now, any chaos that was touched by the fire snakes was instantly turned into nothing.

Following that, the violently expanding air caused a second explosion. More than half of the chaos in the lake was blasted into the sky. After this, a reddish-orange pillar of light, nearly a hundred meters in diameter and reaching all the way to the clouds, suddenly appeared. The fierce wind and shockwave it created completely flattened the buildings that had already been reduced to ruins.

Boom!!

It was a radiance that seemed to connect heaven and earth!

This is what a [Firestorm] should look like.

“Hah…”

Like a ghoul from hell, Fia flapped her butterfly-like wings and slowly emerged from the towering pillar of fire. The crimson flames around her, like fire butterflies, joyfully danced around her. The light blade named [Evil-Slaying Blade] had indeed landed on Fia, but it had failed to even create a red mark. The physical strength of the two of them was not even on the same level.

At this moment, the coldness revealed in Fia’s ruby-like eyes made even the Despair Demon General, who had seen countless deaths, shudder in fear.

The other party has killed far more people than I have.

Suddenly, such a thought arose in the Despair Demon General’s mind. If he was a mage killer, then the elf princess in front of him was comparable to the grim reaper. As if she was more terrifying than chaos and more powerful than the gods.

This is not something a mere elf princess should possess. Less than a hundred years of life could not have given her a death aura more intense than mine. For a moment, the Despair Demon General even felt that his own aura was being completely suppressed by Fia. He felt as if he had become a baby, and Fia was an existence like a giant dragon.

“[Soul Shock] and a full-power [Evil-Slaying Blade] both failed to kill you. You… you’re not the elf princess? Who are you?”

“Our strength was never on an equal footing to begin with. If that level of power is called ‘[Soul Shock],’ then what do you call this?”

Holding the blood-red scissors in one hand, Fia, with a cold expression, raised her right hand.

[Mental Shock]

A white light flashed in front of him, and the air vibrated along with it. Before the Despair Demon General could react, his body trembled.

Even though the Despair Demon General had no facial features, Fia could tell that he had lost consciousness.

She approached him with [Flight].

Fia grabbed the Despair Demon General by the neck. The chaos that formed the Despair Demon General’s body immediately tried to climb onto Fia’s skin. However, Fia just created a small flame, which made the chaos disappear with a sizzling sound.

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Stimulated by the pain, the Despair Demon General woke up with a splitting headache.

“What… what did you do!”

While questioning her sharply, the Despair Demon General curled his blade-like limbs, trying to hug Fia and slice her to pieces. However, Fia just added another [Mental Shock], and the Despair Demon General’s outstretched hands fell limply.

After a moment, the Despair Demon General came back to his senses.

“[Mental Shock], understand now?”

“You’re talking nonsense! How could [Mental Shock] have such power!”

At this point, the Despair Demon General seemed to have discovered something, and his entire body froze—he caught sight of the silver dagger tucked into Fia’s waist. If the Despair Demon General had facial features, Fia would have seen a look of utter hatred and despair.

Not wanting to get entangled any longer, Fia’s right hand burst into flame. [Firestorm] bloomed in her hand.

“Die.”

“Witch of Hope! This is your tri—”

The towering pillar of light flashed again, and this time, Fia watched with her own eyes as the Despair Demon General was turned to ashes in her hand.

Fia grabbed the [Siren’s Mirror] that was about to fall.

The Despair Demon General was dead.

She had originally thought the Despair Demon General would use the [Siren’s Mirror] at the right time, since mental magic was ineffective on him, so she hadn’t used [Mental Shock] at the very beginning. Looking back now, the Despair Demon General hadn’t used the [Siren’s Mirror]. Of course, it was also possible that he was too careless, thinking that no mental magic in this world could threaten him, and forgot to use it.

In any case, she had won.

Fia’s right hand smoothed the shoulder strap of her black dress.

The Despair Demon General’s [Evil-Slaying Blade] had indeed failed to harm Fia, but it had sliced her dress. Fia had been using [Telekinesis] to hold the shape of her clothes so that they wouldn’t fall off her body.

Clothes are indeed a weakness. I’ll have to find some good armor later to prevent the same thing from happening again.

Fia murmured to herself.

It’s a pity I don’t know who caused this disaster. Judging from the Despair Demon General’s tone, it wasn’t as simple as him causing a disaster on his own. In the end, the Despair Demon General showed his doppelganger ability. Since each doppelganger is the real Despair Demon General, it would be too hasty to assume he has disappeared from the world. It’s safer to remain vigilant and assume he is still alive.

Of course, Fia didn’t really believe the Despair Demon General would dare to appear before her again. The difference in strength between them was too great. If he came back looking for a taste of despair, she would have to worry about the intelligence of the Darkborns.

Dwelling on this would lead to no conclusion. Fia glanced at the lake of chaos still burning fiercely below. Although the flames were no longer as bright as they were at the beginning, there was little chaos left. A few more volleys of [Firestorm] would completely eliminate the chaos.

The greatest threat had been dealt with. From now on, she wouldn’t even need to move the people in the city. She just had to wait for Estelle to bring her people into the city tomorrow, and they could begin clearing the chaos hiding in the streets and houses.

The Despair Demon General’s proactive appearance before her had saved her a great deal of trouble.

Things were progressing more easily than she had expected.

It’s time to go pick up Estelle.

Fia first went to a secluded spot to change out of her black dress, then headed straight for the castle.

The moment Fia appeared, Estelle rushed towards her with her eyes full of joy. She had not stayed in the room obediently but had been watching from the balcony the whole time. Now, seeing Fia return victorious, she was completely filled with an air of excitement.

“I saw your fight with the Despair Demon General! I didn’t expect you to be so strong! What was that fire magic just now? I’ve never seen such a magnificent spell before! When I saw you fall into the chaos, I thought we were done for, but then you walked out of the fire again. You looked so beautiful it should be illegal! All the holy sons, heroes, and divine messengers are nowhere near your level.”

“Although I’m happy with the compliment… that magic can only be learned after the Fifth Tier at least. Estelle, you’re still too far away from it. Here, take this back.”

Fia handed the blood-red scissors back to Estelle with a look of exasperation. Estelle just gently gripped them, and the blood-red long scissors turned into a crimson liquid, gradually melting into Estelle’s body. Along with it, the color on Estelle’s face also quickly returned.

This seems to be a weapon Estelle created from her own blood.

“Fifth Tier… Father spent his entire life to only reach the Fifth Tier, and he was hailed as a genius pure-blood. I don’t have the same talent as my sister Noreen. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to reach that level in this lifetime. Hah, forget it. Let’s not talk about sad things. What about the [Siren’s Mirror]? Did you get it?”

“Mm. Here it is.” Fia held out her other hand, and a brooch inlaid with a silver lotus appeared before them. The design of the brooch was exceptionally unique. More than a magical item, it looked like a piece of art. “Do you want to confirm it?”

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“No need, it’s the real thing. This is a treasure given by a god; it’s impossible to have a replica. From now on, it’s yours.” Estelle said matter-of-factly, a relaxed look appearing on her beautiful yet slightly immature face. “Thank you, Fia. The person who caused this magical disaster was probably the Despair Demon General. On my own, I might never have been able to get my revenge. Seeing him turn into ashes just now made me feel a lot better. It’s a pity that guy didn’t leave any mementos. Otherwise, I could have held his mementos and announced to my people that our enemy is dead.”

“No…”

Fia’s face showed hesitation.

The magical disaster might not be as simple as you think, Estelle.

The words got stuck in Fia’s throat.

Estelle was looking at her old castle with a sad gaze. Because of the chaos, it had been reduced to a ruin. More importantly, it could be determined that there were no living people in the castle; everyone was dead.

The quiet, with only the sound of breathing, lasted for about a minute.

Estelle took a deep breath. As if to shake off all the pent-up emotions in her heart, she shook her head gently and looked at Fia with a forced smile.

“Since the Darkborn who caused the disaster was one of the seven demon generals, this debt of gratitude might be one I can never repay in this lifetime… But unless I am no longer a noble, even if this debt is passed down to my descendants, I will pay it back to you bit by bit.”

“It’s okay if you don’t pay it back. Aren’t we friends? Even though I don’t have my old memories.”

“No.”

Estelle took a step forward, her blood-red eyes staring at Fia seriously and stubbornly.

Fia shrugged helplessly.

“Is it because of your noble status?”

“Of course. I would never choose not to repay a debt of gratitude just because I couldn’t. That would bring shame to my noble status and make me unable to hold my head high. This is not the place to talk. Father and my sister Noreen are probably on the street in the northwest. The chaos hasn’t corroded that area. Let’s go over there and take a look.”

“…It’s best not to get your hopes up. You know, when the disaster happened, they were all in the castle. Right now, you, Estelle, are the first in line to inherit the Oro territory, and you are the true leader.”

Although it was cruel, it was better to accept reality from the start than to be crushed later after a moment of hope.

Clenching her teeth lightly, Estelle answered with a complicated expression.

“I know. But until I see the remains of my father and sister Noreen, I will assume they are still alive.” Saying this, Estelle retracted her wings and, with a look of supplication, reached out her hand to Fia. “Can you take me over there to take a look?”

“Mm.”

Taking Estelle’s cold right hand, Fia spread her light wings and flew towards a corner of the city.

◇

The time came to the next day.

As it turned out, Estelle did not find her father and sister among the survivors.

But even so, Estelle gathered her soldiers as the sky began to brighten, and according to the plan, they set off on the journey back to Oro City.

Leaving most of the food and about twenty soldiers at the camp, Estelle departed with a team of nearly two hundred people. Interestingly, before they left, the small nobles who were dissatisfied with Estelle’s rule tried to stay behind in the camp with excuses like being sick. However, Estelle, using the lord’s conscription order, forcibly conscripted them into the army.

In the world of vampires, status was determined only by bloodline. In the case of pure-bloods, the status of a boy and a girl was the same. Now that Count Oro’s fate was unknown, Estelle was the first in line to inherit the title and had the authority to conscript other nobles in the territory to fight for her. If those small nobles disobeyed Estelle’s command, their fiefs and noble titles would be revoked.

Under such a threat, the small nobles had no choice but to obey Estelle’s orders.

The reason Estelle did this was that she was worried the small nobles would flee with the food from the camp. Commoners and ordinary soldiers could not disobey a noble’s command. Once the nobles ran off with the food, the refugees would soon flee, and the camp’s order would collapse. It was annoying to have flies with you, but it was still better than the camp’s order collapsing.

As for why she didn’t kill them immediately, it was because nobles were not allowed to kill each other unless they committed a heinous crime like treason. Otherwise, the reputation of the House of Oro would become extremely bad, and going too far would lead to the king’s retribution.

Right now, these small nobles were just dissatisfied with Estelle’s rule and hoped that the more pure-blooded Norton would become the successor. It had not yet reached the point where she could execute them. Estelle was waiting for an opportunity.

Of course, Norton was actually a supporter of Estelle. He had no intention of replacing Estelle and becoming the heir to the count’s territory. From Fia’s observation, Norton actually had a bit of a sister-complex. Everything he did was for Estelle’s sake. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have swapped appearances with Estelle yesterday to help her give the speech.

The relationship between the siblings was very good, which made Fia a little envious. She wished Liti could be like Norton.

Thinking such thoughts, Fia, who was sitting in the carriage with Estelle, yawned.

Last night, the Despair Demon General seemed to have said something about the Witch of Hope before he died, but the words were unfinished, and he turned to ashes. Maybe I should have slowed down a step and seen what he wanted to say.