The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 115

Afterimage (26)

It was the street where I used to walk with Lavin.

Now, not a soul was visible, and I passed through a bustling downtown district where only abandoned supplies were piled high.

I crossed an empty park, overgrown with weeds due to lack of maintenance.

I passed through a cafe street that seemed to have no active businesses, and moved my steps towards a large church.

I was with Jena, as I didn't know when demons hidden in the city might attack.

If it had been during my academy days, our conversations would have been endless, but today, we deliberately did not speak.

Because there was nothing worth talking about.

These days, it was much more comfortable to go alone, but it hadn't even been two days since a veteran knight, who used to patrol alone at night, was killed by a demon disguised as a human in a tavern.

It was dangerous to go anywhere alone.

Since the mages who escaped from that place yesterday had been brought into the capital, security became even stricter.

Because it was possible that demons had mixed in with them and followed them inside.

Thanks to this, the city was not just quiet, but desolate.

How long had it been since I last talked with Lavin?

I didn't even have a proper day off, and not being able to see Lavin's face made my heart feel like it was continuously wearing away.

After ascending the stairs of the large church, I walked past busy-looking priests and went inside.

Inside, Estelle was seen playing, tossing and catching several dried plums in the air.

Without even turning around, she opened her mouth.

"You came again today."

"Of course, I couldn't see you yesterday either."

"What you have to say is the same as yesterday. Go back."

"I wonder if Lavin is even in the church."

"Then where else would he be?"

"It wouldn't be strange if you had hidden him somewhere."

At those words, Estelle slowly turned around.

She flapped her lips for a moment, then gave a strangely bizarre smile.

But the corners of her lips were trembling.

"I wish I could have."

I saw Estelle's eyes trembling subtly.

I tried to say something, but then closed my mouth.

"He said he doesn't want to meet anyone for a while."

"......In this situation?"

"You know, Lavin is the kind of man who would do something like that."

Estelle, feeling her mouth dry for no reason, moistened her lips with her tongue.

"Even when I go, he doesn't open the door."

"Please tell him to at least tell me why."

"If I knew that, I would have done something, wouldn't I? Lavin trusts me more than a woman like you."

Estelle smiled sweetly.

And then she continued.

"So, you should slowly head back today. You never know when the demons might cross the city walls.

Though it'll be meaningless, come back again tomorrow."

I wished this displeasing Saintess in front of me would just die.

She was preventing me from meeting Lavin, or perhaps, it was because of this woman that I couldn't meet him.

I approached Estelle and grabbed her by the collar.

And then I whispered softly.

"If your power has weakened, stop being so stubborn, and bring Lavin to me before I kill you.

Stop acting high and mighty, you damn commoner, huh?"

Jena, who was next to me, conscious of the surrounding gazes, pulled me away from Estelle.

"Wh-what kind of crazy act is this? Seraphina, snap out of it!"

I glared at Estelle, then gritted my teeth.

Releasing her collar, I pushed her with my fist and stepped back.

Estelle stared at me until my retreating figure was out of sight, then simply slumped down where she stood.

She seemed to try to get up, but her legs apparently had no strength.

Estelle sat blankly on the cold church floor, lost in thought.

‘Perhaps, I didn’t want to get up.

I want to follow you.

That child is pitiful.

Her blindly rampaging is so comical that it makes her seem even more pathetic.

Levina, who never even considered she'd become a pitiful human, looks miserable.

Lavin. After all, I hate you.’

****

As soon as I left the church, I heard news that another powerful demon had appeared somewhere, wiping out an entire unit.

After equipping myself appropriately, I put Kyle and Jena, among other knights, at the front and followed behind them.

My daily life was such a mess, and I couldn't even see Lavin's face.

Forget the demons, I wanted to get rid of Estelle, that damn commoner Saintess.

Riding on horseback, it wasn't long before my eyes caught sight of a demon lightly slicing through soldiers who were fighting it.

The knights increased their horses' speed and charged towards it.

I kicked off the galloping horse, ascended into the air, and shot a spell towards it.

It lightly swatted away the incoming spell as if it were laughable.

And then, it grabbed a soldier fleeing on the ground by the hair, and rather than slicing, tore off their head with its hand.

Thud.

It threw the severed head towards Kyle, who was charging at the very front.

Kyle tried to slice the head, but it burst open in front of him, causing him to fall from his horse.

The power it wielded in that short time was unbelievable for someone who had just used a spell.

And then, my eyes met with it.

Features similar to Lavin's.

Only one, and somewhat decayed, but the exact same eye.

The clothes it wore when I saw it before, and the same curve of its lips.

Somehow, it sent shivers down my spine.

Demons always launched gruesome and unpleasant attacks, so it must be a coincidence.

The one resembling Lavin, as soon as its eyes met mine, its lips twitched, and it raised the sword it was holding towards me.

Around us, dozens of four-legged monsters began to charge towards the knights, who were faltering after Kyle fell from his horse.

It briefly hunched down, then kicked off the ground in my direction.

It happened so instantaneously that while everyone was staring blankly, it threw a dagger at me, who was floating in the air.

I blocked the dagger flying towards my neck, but the dagger deeply embedded itself in my arm.

It swiftly approached and lunged at me, and we crashed straight to the ground.

And then, the blade raised high to the sky, visible before my eyes.

I thought I would die so meaninglessly.

Gazing at the blade approaching my eyes, I thought of Lavin one last time.

"Lavin......"

At that moment, it brought its sword down, but it struck the empty ground.

Its eye and mouth trembled, then its single eye met mine.

And then, it plunged the sword in its right hand into its own head.

Thud.

Even then, it twitched, then grabbed the blade, twisted and gouged it, and then slumped.

No blood or anything came out.

When I pushed away the thing lying on top of me, it felt completely weightless.

As if it were entirely hollow inside.

While everyone was staring at it with blank eyes, a demon woman appeared from somewhere, clucked her tongue, and looked at the slumped figure.

Slide.

The one that had gouged its own head was dragged across the floor, then stopped in front of the demon woman.

The woman picked it up with her left hand, looked at it this way and that for a long time, then quietly said.

"Whoever it is, it's loved, it seems."

I was confused, but now was the time to fight.

I lightly gathered mana and shot it.

The demon woman barely parried my attack with it, then looked at me and sighed.

"......Not even fifty years old, yet a disgustingly strong child."

The woman tore off the head of the slumped figure and threw it.

The head rolled across the floor and approached.

Looking closely, it had only one eye, its skin was slightly decayed, and there was no trace of blood... but it was clearly Lavin.

It was Lavin, who the Saintess said would be staying in the church.

He couldn't possibly be in a place like this.

Lavin, who hadn't even received proper training, couldn't possibly cut through magic with a sword.

Lavin couldn't be that strong.

Lavin couldn't move that fast.

Lavin wouldn't lunge at me, and Lavin wouldn't give up after winning.

Lavin couldn't possibly love me that much.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be cooped up in that room, not seeing me.

Lavin doesn't love himself, so he can't properly love me.

I have to teach him love and make him happy.

Lavin is a helpless cripple, so I have to hold him tight in my arms and help him do something.

If he's left somewhere, he'll die within an hour, so I have to protect him.

Lavin can't love himself, so I have to love him twice as much.

Only I can give Lavin that kind of love.

Only I can give him something proper without craving love.

Not the Saintess, who has neither proper love nor a proper family, but only me.

Only I can love.

Perhaps, it's a demon of the type that messes with one's mind again.

"Such a child who values you more than their own life, yet you don't even give them a proper glance?"

I did not reply.

I glanced once at the head resembling Lavin rolling on the floor, then resumed the battle.

Talking with demons never yielded anything good.

The woman barely parried Kyle's sudden sword strike from somewhere, then was hit by my spell, creating a large hole in her chest.

The demon frowned, thrust her hand into her gaping chest, smeared herself with blood, then grabbed and pulled something from the air.

At the same time, it, despite having lost its head, staggered and rose.

It grabbed its sword and charged straight towards Jena and the knight.

Jena blocked a few attacks, but seemed to be overwhelmed alone.

The woman left the headless, still-moving figure, clutched her pierced chest, and vanished.

Many people simultaneously rushed at the rampaging thing, severing its limbs and impaling its entire body, and only after Kyle split it in half did it stop moving.

I stopped the mages who were about to scatter fire to burn it, then pulled out the dagger embedded in my arm.

Looking down at the pulled-out dagger, I saw the Edelgard family crest engraved on its hilt.

I pushed away the priest who came to treat me and approached it.

Checking the clothes it was wearing, they were indeed the ones Lavin always wore.

With a somehow dazed feeling, I placed my hand on it.

The part from its chest to its abdomen was split open and empty, so my hand sank deeply inside.

I got up from the spot and picked up its rolling head.

Though slightly decayed, I stared at the face, identical to Lavin's, for a long time.

"It can't be, right?"

Of course, Lavin is in the church.

No one replied.

Somehow, the subtly trembling eyes of the Saintess and her twitching lips flashed through my mind.

I hastily mounted a horse alone and galloped.

I stopped in front of the large church, dismounted, and walked inside, where Lavin was supposedly staying.

The Saintess, who should have been guarding the spot, was nowhere to be seen.

I pushed aside the priests blocking my way.

And after easily subduing the two Holy Knights standing furthest inside, I kicked open the closed door and entered.

Levina, whom I thought was dead, was sitting on the bed, slitting her wrist.

As soon as I saw Levina, I kicked her and snatched the knife from her hand.

I plunged it straight into her shoulder and twisted it.

At the same time, she let out a faint scream.

"...Why are you here?"

Levina somehow showed a smile similar to the one the Saintess had shown that morning.

Was it because the same blood flowed?

Somehow, Lavin's face shimmered in hers.