Chapter 450: 450

“Saint-sama, Saint-sama, wake up…!”

Lilixira recovers consciousness to the sound of her holy knight subordinate, Alphiss. She finds herself sitting against the wall of a room that has lost its roof.

She notices that a pool of blood is spreading out from her. Her hand searches around, before her fingers close tightly around her [Holy Country’s Staff of Authority]. Then, she remembers what happened.

A monster called “ruin” suddenly burst through the floor. The ruin shot her with its magic attack, and she responded with her [Mirror Counter]. However, her magic mirror was easily shattered. By remembering that much, Lilixira is able to understand the gist of what happened.

By the glimpse she saw of the iridescent monster’s status, she was able to learn that it had the name “ruin”, and that it was most likely the result of the Demon Lord evolving while bypassing the normal means.

“You’re awake, Saint-sama! I’ve already applied [Rest], but… Your left leg and arm…”

Hearing Alphiss’s words, Lilixira glances at her body. Her left leg is crooked and bent, and her left arm is completely missing from the shoulder down.

“…Your leg was crushed by debris after you fell in the hole. Your arm was, umm… It was directly hit by that iridescent monster’s magic and seems to have disintegrated.”

“It looks like I’ll need to return to the Holy Country and visit the regeneration specialist. This was why I asked him to come along.”

Lilixira speaks expressionlessly, almost as though she’s talking about someone else’s wound. Standing around her the eight Holy Knights who she’d had enter Alban in disguise.

“It looks like quite a lot of time has passed while I was out. The ruin… What is the situation of that monster, and the [Human Realm]?”

“That is, umm… The dragon acted as a decoy to lead the rampaging monster away from the city…”

Lilixira opens her eyes wide and says nothing. After a few seconds of silence, she mutters “impossible”, grips her staff tightly, and glares at Alphiss.

“B-but, that dragon, really…”

“No, that is impossible, Alphiss. There is no possibility that the dragon could have the spare strength to draw that monster away. Isn’t it strange that it was able to do that? Especially when Alphiss and Balear, who were tasked with completing the mission at risk to their lives, were present?

Alphiss gulps and keeps her mouth closed.

“You and Balear healed that dragon, didn’t you?”

“B-but, Saint-sama… To protect the city, that dragon…”

Lilixira thrusts her staff at Alphiss’s chin.

“If you had that much spare time, then why didn’t you crush the ouroboros’s head, or pluck its wings or legs? Even if you couldn’t have managed that, then you should have at least killed it. Alphiss, Balear, do you two understand what you have done?”

Lilixira’s cold words continue.

“This is your third blunder, Alphiss. For a while now, I had thought of you as quick-witted, and trusted you to not be swayed by your emotions, but it seems I was unfortunately mistaken.”

“My…third…?”

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“The first was when you laid bare your hostility to the ouroboros when we first made contact with it. Some degree of vigilance was necessary to not arouse suspicion, but what you did had the opposite effect.”

“……Yes.”

“The second was when you warned the undead to leave the ouroboros and run. The result was a fight with the ouroboros that left me unable to react to the unforeseen element of the Demon Lord’s escape. Did you think I hadn’t noticed?”

“…I have no excuses, it is as you say.”

“All of this is the result of your blunders. This should have all been within the bounds of what I prepared for. That was why I layered so many back up plans. But because you did things you didn’t need to, it has all been ruined.”

What Lilixira had most feared was an exception like the ruin. Because of that fear, she dispersed her forces, portioning out her strength to create layers of insurance. It was for this reason that she set the ouroboros after the Demon Lord, and the reason kept the Magic Beast King as a [Spirit Servant], rather than taking the Divine Skill.

Now it is clear that it would have been better if she had killed the ouroboros at the island at the edge of the world and taken its divine skill. The ouroboros was a useful physiological warfare tool to prevent the Demon Lord from running way, but it was not as though there were no other options available.

However, because of the ease of manipulating the ouroboros, she had wanted to keep it as another pawn against any exceptions. However, this time, her fear and caution over an unfamiliar divine skill instead led to the opposite effect. Just a step before the goal, the cooperation broke down. Through it is a view based on hindsight, if she had only consolidated all her forces and fought from the front, it is likely that everything would have fallen into her hands.

“…But the only person who could smile so convincingly at someone you’ve already decided to betray is you, Saint-sama.”

Her eyes downcast, Alphiss mutters faintly. They were words that had slipped out without thinking, but they were unmistakably her real feelings.

“I need to dispose of it now. If it’s already dead then it would be fine, but if it survives it will be a disaster…!”

Lilixira clutches the wall and forces herself up.

“S-Saint-sama! Chasing it with your body like that is reckless!”

The Holy Knight, Balear, hurriedly props up Lilixira’s body.

“If only the seraphim wasn’t dead…! I can only hope the distance is sufficient. I never would have thought I would be using my last card from a state like this…”

Lilixira holds up her staff.

“[Spirit Servant]! Appear before me, servant of mine bestowed the name Magic Beast King, the Unclean God of Death, Beelzebub!”

Across the floor, a huge dark magic circle spreads. As she witnesses this, Alphiss’s face turns pale.

“S-Saint-sama… S-supposing that dragon really did act to protect the city… Is there really a need to use Beelzebub…?”

“Even if the royal capital must be burned to ash, the ouroboros cannot be allowed to escape! This is the only possible time when we can safely deal with it! Why can neither of you understand that!? A legendary class monster absolutely cannot be allowed to be born… Much less a god of monsters!”

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