RNFB 13

Chapter 13

“…Uh, um.”

An awkward silence.

“So… h-hello…?”

“I’m not having a good day.”

Grand Duke Vasily glared down at me with a terrifying expression. Then he growled in a low voice.

“How dare you come all the way here after making my subordinate your lackey?”

“We’re, we’re allies…”

Why, why now?!

I broke out in a cold sweat.

‘When did he even get here?’

I hadn’t sensed him at all!

His broad upper body rose and fell deeply. Without hesitation, he turned around.

“…Still, it’s a relief I caught you before anything happened. Follow me. I’ll make today the first day you get a good scolding from the grand duke.”

“No, nooo! I, I…!”

“Can’t you sit still? Is looking cute all you need to do?”

“…?”

Surely the grand duke hadn’t just called me cute?

The grand duke tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand his own words.

“Did my tongue develop a mind of its own?”

Whether he cared or not, I struggled violently in his arms.

[Haniel, with a little divine power flowing (x16)]

– Divine power flows around the body for a certain period of time (13:20)

“Grand Duke, wait! I still have something to do!”

“This won’t do. Camilla.”

“Yes.”

What?! Housekeeper Camilla was here too?

“Take the bread out of her bag.”

“Yes.”

Now that I looked, Housekeeper Camilla was holding the bag I’d neatly taken off and left far away, as if it were a hostage.

“Waaah! That’s Hani’s bread!”

“Yeah. It’s Vasily’s bread now. Stay still.”

“Waaah!”

He held me even tighter.

That was when it happened.

– Divine power flows around the body for a certain period of time (00:40)

At that moment, the remaining time suddenly dropped!

‘F-fourty seconds?! Why?!’

[Help: All powers have their strengths and weaknesses.]

[Divine power and magic power have poor compatibility.]

In other words, Grand Duke Vasily’s magic power was so enormous that my divine power was rapidly losing its strength! A contest of strength, complete failure!

“Waaah, let me go!”

What should I do?

At this rate, I’d end up being someone who just used up sixteen divine power stickers!

“I-I can purify it!”

“…What?”

“I can use divine pow…”

Just then.

Rumbleee!!

“…!!”

The ground shook with an enormous roar.

I heard Lord Luden’s urgent voice from far away.

“Your Grace! Monsters! The trap’s been breached!”

“…Ha. I had a feeling this would happen.”

The grand duke furrowed his brow deeply. At the same time, an ominous tremor shook the ground. His arm loosened slightly.

I didn’t miss my chance.

“…! You damn brat!”

“I’m not a damn brat…”

“Camilla! Catch her!”

“I’m Haniel!”

‘There’s no time!’

I escaped from Grand Duke Vasily’s arms.

Then I quickly, nimbly, dashed over and wrapped my arms tightly around the pillar first.

Fwoooshh…!

A brilliant white light burst forth.

It was so bright that it was difficult to keep my eyes open.

The pillar Dad had erected.

Dad’s traces.

If I could completely purify the evil energy of the mad dragon dwelling here, would I eventually be able to purify Dad’s divine power too?

I closed my eyes.

‘Dad, I’m sorry.’

For some reason, I felt like I was about to cry.

‘Hani was too young and too useless, so I made you suffer, didn’t I?’

Not this time.

This time, I’ll definitely be of help to Dad!

I drew out the life force within my heart and amplified my divine power.

* * *

“…!”

He whipped around. His beautiful silver hair, neatly tied back, flew wildly.

What was that?

“Sir Dante?”

Dantalion gritted his teeth.

‘My eye…’

He carefully covered his right eye with his left hand. His adjutant looked at him with confusion, but he didn’t have time to pay attention.

His heart was pounding like mad.

The stabbing pain in his eye wouldn’t subside.

Why was this happening?

He felt like a beast that had sensed danger.

Or perhaps… like he was about to lose something precious forever.

“Sir? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“…No.”

He answered in a hoarse voice.

“It’s nothing.”

He returned to his usual neat and composed appearance as a holy knight, but his heart was still pounding.

Never mind the pain in his body caused by his contaminated divine power.

‘What the hell…’

What was this sense of unease?

“Please.”

Please… Why did he feel like begging, prostrating himself, pleading, and, in the end, wanting to betray everything?

“…Continue your report.”

“Yes. Then… As I mentioned earlier, after questioning the residents of District Z, there are currently three people whose whereabouts remain unknown…”

The voice echoed dully.

It felt like reality, yet at the same time, like he was living inside a dream.

* * *

Rrrrummble!

Everything around them shook.

“Y-Your Grace!”

Camilla pointed toward the place where Haniel had dashed off, her voice flustered.

An intensely white light was bursting from one of the pillars. It was difficult to even look directly at it.

“The child…!”

“Why are you just standing there?! Do you want to die?!”

Vasily shouted harshly.

Kraaagh! A monster that had been hiding rose to its feet.

Camilla quickly regained her composure and straightened herself. Black poison-coated concealed weapons sprang from various parts of the formerly immaculate housekeeper’s body.

Vasily tried to rush toward the pillar Haniel had run to.

But another monster blocked his path.

Perhaps because this was the mad dragon’s grave.

Absurdly powerful monsters would sometimes emerge here.

A monster the size of a house charged at him at an incredible speed. But.

Shrrrkk!

At the tip of Vasily’s sword, it was nothing more than a mere insect.

What had happened to the brat?

She couldn’t be seen, surrounded by white light. But if she’d gotten that close to the pillar containing the mad dragon’s poisonous energy…

That weak, tiny thing had already…

‘Died again.’

He clenched his teeth.

Another monster sprang out from the side.

As he swung his sword with a hardened expression, blood trickled down from his clenched fist.

‘She died right in front of me again.’

This was why he didn’t want weak, young things by his side.

Countless faces that had fallen on the battlefield came to mind. Countless comrades and connections he’d failed to protect.

‘Go to hell, Vasily, you bastard.’

You couldn’t even save this one territory.

You couldn’t even protect one tiny brat!

“Damn it!”

Bang! He slammed his sword into the ground. The surroundings had already been reduced to ruins.

Then Luden’s horrified voice came from behind.

“Your Grace! The, the pillar…!”

His head snapped up.

“The seal on the pillar is opening!”

Impossible.

Clatterrrrr!

One of the chains binding the mad dragon began retracting with a tremendous noise. It was the chain binding the mad dragon’s tail.

“…”

In that brief moment,

he finished his calculations.

Vasily spoke in an icy voice unlike any before.

“Luden, Camilla. Get down the mountain. Take the children and leave the north immediately. I’ll somehow bring the brat back.”

“I can’t do th…”

“Do as I say!”

Just then, Luden spoke in shock.

“Y-Your Grace! Lady Camilla! Look over there! Th-the evil energy…”

Black energy shot upward.

Was it already too late?

Vasily gritted his teeth.

“The mad dragon’s m-magic power…!”

That hot, heavily contaminated magic power, that curse of the mad dragon, was about to engulf this place…

“I-It’s being purified?”

…What?

“…The p-purified magic power…”

“…”

“It’s flowing?!”

Huh?

As he blinked blankly, he suddenly felt the ground tremble beneath his feet.

As if… a beast that had been sleeping for a long time was stretching.

‘The dragon vein…’

The dragon’s magic power channels that spread throughout the north like a spiderweb.

They were activating.

“What the hell is this…”

Just as the startled Vasily’s eyes widened,

the brilliant mass of light gradually subsided. And then…

“Whoooooosh…”

They saw Haniel, who had been hugging the pillar tightly, slowly slide down to the ground.

“Oh, our grimy little kid!”

“Kiddo!”

“Ugh…”

Haniel landed hard on her bottom, then blinked several times. Then…

“Yay! I did it!”

She sprang to her feet and began jumping up and down.

“Yaaay! I did it! Now the snow will stop! The sun will come out tomorrow!”

The three of them were speechless for a moment.

The first to move was Vasily.

With an incredibly stern expression, he turned the child’s shoulders around.

“You…”

“Your Grace! Actually, I can use divine power!”

“What?”

“So I purified the pillar! Ta-da! Then poof! And wow, it actually worked! The dragon vein opened, right?”

Rumbleeee…

The earth was slowly awakening.

The dragon vein writhed.

The heat rising from the ground, the heat unique to the mad dragon that changed the climate, rose upward, higher and higher.

The dark clouds hanging overhead slowly began to clear.

“I was helpful!!!”

The child’s expression was strangely bright.

Vasily couldn’t seem to say a word.

‘Hehe.’

Haniel looked down at her hands. The sensation of using divine power was still vivid.

‘I erased Dad’s seal engraved on the pillar and covered the pillar with my divine power.’

Once the pillar’s seal was removed, the mad dragon’s evil energy went berserk as if it had been waiting for that moment.

Since the other pillars were still intact, the only exit for the unrestrained evil energy was the pillar Haniel was holding.

Black energy surged toward her.

Haniel didn’t miss the moment and amplified her divine power.

Whoooosh…!

Using the life force stored within her heart.

Humans have two kinds of power.

The power contained in the core, magic power or divine power.

And the life force contained in the heart.

Ordinary people live by using the power in their core, whether they have a lot or a little. Life force is, as its name suggests, directly connected to one’s life. That’s why she’d never heard of anyone using their life force.

But Haniel had been born without a core.

Could that be why?

‘I could always use my life force however I wanted!’

The divine power, amplified by consuming Haniel’s life, raced through the pillar. It devoured every trace of the black poisonous energy rushing toward her.

It was an incredibly clean purification.

‘At this rate… I think I only used about three months’ worth.’

Haniel blinked.

‘But…’

Why did the top of her head feel so tingly?

Haniel looked up at Vasily, who was staring at her with blazing eyes.

‘Is… is he angry?’

Why? This benefited the north!

“You. What the hell did you do?”

His voice was low.

“Ah, well, actually, I…”

Just then, Haniel covered her mouth.

“…!”

A sudden cough burst out.

Her hand, which she’d reflexively covered her mouth with, was smeared with a large amount of pitch-black blood.

Blood also trickled down from her nose.