‘Demons in the capital?’

Wiegratz immediately returned after receiving a communication to return to the capital.

And as soon as he learned that Closet was sealing the Demon King, he went to the chancellor and started punching him.

“Wh-what kind of absurd act is this!”

“When I asked for a way to save Closet, didn’t you say there was no other way? Throwing an innocent woman as a sacrifice to the demons is just like a black magician, so I must execute you according to the imperial order.”

Then, Wiegratz drew his sword. The chancellor, seeing the sword stained with dried blood, foamed at the mouth and fainted.

The priests hurriedly supported the collapsing chancellor.

“Oh no, Your Excellency. Are you alright! How will you take responsibility for this… Duke Wiegratz?”

The priests looked for Wiegratz, but he had already recklessly jumped into the ‘Demon’s Egg’ to save Closet.

Inside was a void. Closet stood in the center, her face streaked with tears. Seeing her, Wiegratz’s heart was torn into a thousand pieces.

“Wiegratz?”

“Master, let’s go. You can’t stay here.”

He grabbed Closet’s wrist and pulled. But Closet stood her ground.

“Can’t you see I’m in the middle of sealing? It’s too late.”

She pointed to the soul ascending on her hand.

Her soul, which had been transparent like a crystal, was now cracked, shrunk, and clouded. Because of that, her body had also become part of the void.

“If you do this, you will die, Master.”

Wiegratz said that while helplessly gazing at Closet, who had already missed the chance to escape from here.

As her time of death approached, they had dressed her in nice clothes, so she was wearing a pure white silk dress.

Although from the waist down, it had turned black as it became void.

“If you don’t want to die too, hurry and get out.”

“…Why do you always live for others, Master?”

It was the same when she took in the vagrant him, and it was the same when she gave her ex-boyfriend, who was trash, chances to live a new life every time.

She was even whipped while helping the orphans at the monastery, and now she was throwing away her precious life, saying she would seal the Demon King?

“What’s so good about this? Who will acknowledge you, Master?”

“……”

“If it’s a life you can throw away so easily, I’m telling you to live for me just once!”

Wiegratz cried out and swung his sword at the Demon King who was being sealed.

If he had been a Weapon Master, he would have fought on par with the Demon King, but now he was only a Sword Master, so his blow did not become a meaningful strike.

At Wiegratz’s attack, the Demon King, who had been suppressed by the holy power, regained his senses for a moment.

Kieeh! With the Demon King’s scream, the black fog that instantly rose tried to engulf Wiegratz.

“Be careful!”

Closet protected him by forcibly drawing out holy power. The surroundings flashed with holy power as if lightning was raining in the black void.

Red and black glass-like fragments burst out from the Demon King’s body exposed to the holy power.

It was the Demon King’s soul that had not yet been sealed. It scattered around.

The scene of the Demon King and Closet’s soul fragments shining in the void was like the night sky before the world’s destruction.

At that moment, Closet collapsed while vomiting blood from all over her body.

“Ma-Master!”

Wiegratz examined her while shedding tears. He didn’t even know tears were flowing from his eyes.

“You look ugly when you cry.”

Only after hearing Closet’s playful words did he belatedly realize that he was crying.

His gaze turned to the soul orb she was holding in her hand. About half of the sealing was completed.

“Not only are you sacrificing your life, but now you’re even sacrificing your soul? If you do this, your soul may be completely destroyed.”

“……”

“You knew. You made this choice even though you knew you couldn’t even remain as dust.”

Wiegratz clenched his teeth. And he acknowledged the reality that it was too late to take Closet out of here. Yes, it was too late.

He quickly wiped away his tears and opened his eyes wide. Then he started picking up the broken fragments of the Demon King’s soul and swallowing them.

He didn’t know how to imprison the soul like Closet did.

So he put them in his mouth and struggled to bear even a little of the demon’s power that she had to bear.

He could do it. Hadn’t he experienced enough dark power while slaying countless magic beasts? He could endure this much.

“What are you doing, Wiegratz?”

Closet asked, but he performed the task he was doing silently without any answer.

The glass-like fragments of the Demon King’s soul turned into smoke in his mouth and seeped into his heart to take their place.

Even though it was so painful that he could have a seizure every time, he didn’t stop that act.

“No. Don’t do it, Wiegratz!”

Unable to bear it, Closet crawled to him on all fours. But he repeated the same action until his body toppled over.

“I said don’t do it! Please! Who am I here for!”

“Ugh, it’s certainly not for me. If it had been for me, would you be here, Master? You would have been hiding outside, trying to survive somehow.”

The man who had stood firm like a rock through any adversity knelt on one knee, unable to endure the pain.

He turned to Closet and muttered softly.

“If there is a next life, I will search for you, Master.”

If we don’t meet then, in the next life, and if not then, in the next next life.

“If the god who created this world has eyes to see, he will give us another chance.”

Wiegratz’s words were not heard by the screaming Closet.

What should I do? It’s not being purified. With the holy power remaining in her body now, she couldn’t detach the Demon King’s soul. I wanted to protect you, but I couldn’t.

“Wiegratz, spit out the Demon King’s soul. Please!”

“If there is a next time, let’s not meet as master and disciple then, Master.”

“Wiegratz!”

“Let’s meet as friends. Then I’ll only show you good sides of me. Not this pathetic side.”

“What are you saying, you immature brat!”

“Yeah, I’m an immature brat. An arrogant, incompetent, and foolish one who saw the master as a woman.”

“…!”

“I love you, Master.”

Wiegratz jumped out of the portal before his body infused with the Demon King’s fragments was dyed by the void.

Wiegratz escaped from the ‘Demon’s Egg’ and returned to the world. The coldly falling rain greeted his return.

Priests and soldiers ran to him and asked about the situation.

However, Wiegratz only silently gazed at the demon’s egg, which was gradually shrinking, while being drenched in the tears-like rain, instead of answering.

According to the soldiers, it had been a few months since Wiegratz came out of the portal.

The meeting with Closet was momentary, but time flowed differently inside and outside the portal.

In the meantime, Golden, who had distinguished himself in the war, grabbed the clothes of Wiegratz who had come out of the portal.

“Why did you only come out now? How long have I been waiting for you! But why are you alone?”

“……”

“What about my shooting star? What happened to her, cough!”

Wiegratz grabbed Golden’s collar and lifted him up.

“Weren’t you cooped up somewhere researching magic, so your brain has shriveled up too?”

“Let go of this! I’m choking!”

“What do you think happened to the woman who was pushed in to seal the Demon King, you idiot?”

Anger at not being able to protect Closet was directed at Golden.

But Wiegratz didn’t hold back. This damn great magician was also one of those who pushed her back.

“I-I’m not an idiot!”

How dare you, how dare you! Golden exuded an enormous amount of magic power. But Wiegratz’s aura was also not to be taken lightly.

The one who collapsed first was Golden, who lost in the battle of stamina. Wiegratz poured out sharp words to him, who was trembling.

“You are a stupid and useless magician. If Closet was as precious as a star to you, you should have protected her to the end. You should have taken the master, who was being pushed to her death despite being called a saint, and run away!”

The air around them froze solid at the force of the angry Wiegratz. It was then that Golden, who was crushed by him, rolled his eyes back.

Wiegratz threw him to the ground, telling him to come to his senses properly.

“Ouch!”

Golden held his swollen cheek and sobbed, then stared at the hand Wiegratz held out to him.

What was that? There were small, shiny pieces on his palm. A familiar energy flowed from the pieces.

“Don’t tell me these star dust-like things are…!”

They were fragments of Closet’s soul. When Wiegratz swallowed the Demon King’s soul, he had also collected her broken soul fragments.

Wiegratz whispered in a small voice in his ear.

“Prove with these that you are not an idiot, Golden.”

It took a few more months for Closet to completely seal the Demon King.

Until then, the empire fought battles against magic beasts and demons every day.

The rainy season continued and the battlefield was harsh, but other races who belatedly grasped the seriousness of the situation lent their strength, and Wiegratz also swung his sword at everything that came at him.

Golden muttered, looking at such Wiegratz, that he couldn’t tell who was human and who was a demon.

The demon war came to an end as soon as Closet sealed the Demon King.

Everyone cheered, but Wiegratz didn’t smile. In his eyes, this didn’t look like a shining victory.

The emperor praised Wiegratz, Golden, and Closet, who had become heroes of the empire, and bestowed upon each of them a family and title named after them.

Closet’s share went to her young brother. The brother she thought had died when she took shelter in the temple had miraculously survived.

Wiegratz could finally understand why Closet was particularly weak to children.

Golden was also granted the title of count and a territory near the capital.

And then came the turn of Wiegratz, who was called the hero of the nation.

The emperor made a suggestion to him.

“You, have you ever thought of becoming the emperor’s son-in-law?”

The emperor wanted the hero Wiegratz to belong to the imperial family.

It was because the public sentiment was boiling and the authority of the imperial family was shaken by the news that the culprit of this terrible war was the prince.

“I will never bring a woman into my life, Your Majesty.”

But Wiegratz flatly refused the marriage proposal with the princess.

As an alternative, the emperor disguised him as a distant relative of the imperial family and made him a grand duke.

It was to alleviate the hostile feelings toward the imperial family, and the effect was much better than expected.

“Please give me land with a sacred forest as my territory. I will live quietly there, suppressing the power of the Demon King sealed in my heart.”

Wiegratz, who had become a grand duke, thus went into seclusion in the sacred forest.

And some time later, Golden came to see him. He had succeeded in making Closet’s shattered soul into one lump.

Even so, it was only a part of her soul. It was in a state where it resided in the staff she used to use.

Wiegratz took the staff and went to an ancient altar overlooking the Tulan Strait.

If you turned your gaze along the coastline, you could see a large ship docked at the port.

“Are you the one who requested the ritual?”

An old man with wrinkled skin approached him.