Taming the Evil Saintess

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Blackie wailed.

A different kind of fervor swept through the surroundings. Nuar was also exuding Dragon Fear. The aura, akin to that of an Adult Dragon, crushed us along with Abaddon.

In the year and a half I had spent with Blackie, it had grown into a respectable Adult Dragon.

Nuar might find it admirable.

However, Ophelia did not.

“B-Blackie! Break things moderately! Those all belong to us, you know?!”

Ophelia yelled in panic. Contrary to our expectations, Blackie didn’t just swallow Abaddon whole; instead, it began tearing down the walls of the Imperial Palace with its massive wings and sharp claws, committing destruction.

The Imperial Guards, watching the fight from a distance, were even pointing their swords at Blackie, unsure of who the real villain was.

“Hey! Stop that!”

“Ophelia, isn’t that your weapon?”

“N-no, why is it acting like this all of a sudden?”

Ophelia, flustered, stared at Blackie. Surely, the current Blackie was rampaging more fiercely than when he was battling in the Plague Lord’s fortress.

Blackie’s claws landed on Abaddon from above. He lifted the Chain Sword to block, but the uneven ground on the rooftop caused him to lose his footing. At the same time, Blackie took off, skillfully changing its posture with a flap of its wings and then crashing down headfirst on the roof.

I initially wondered why Blackie was so violently angry. At the same time, I began to grasp the situation.

“It seems Blackie must be the natural enemy of that demon, right?”

“Natural enemy?”

“The Black Dragon is no ordinary dragon.”

It appeared that for Blackie, Abaddon represented an instinctual threat to its territory.

The likes of Nuar, the Black Dragon, prowled the outer realms instead of the physical plane. Blackie, having inherited her blood, might have a natural aversion to the abnormality that is Abaddon.

Regardless, the now ferocious Blackie began to devour everything around it while exuding Dragon Fear. Expensive curtains hanging on buildings, jewel-encrusted furniture, and even ornate chandeliers were reduced to rubble.

“…A-aah! My possessions!”

Ophelia spouted nonsense again.

Thanks to the commotion in the banquet hall, people had evacuated early, or else a massacre would have unfolded.

[Kwaaaah!]

Once again, Blackie soared and spat something out. What looked like a black mist at first glance, resembled magic but was actually pure condensed energy.

Diving its mouth into the hole where Abaddon had fallen, Blackie unleashed its breath and, raising its claws, tore at the palace. Abaddon, still pinned to the floor with his eyes wide open, was the first to speak.

[Observer of dimensions…]

It seemed directed at Blackie.

More specifically, it might have invoked the name of her mother, Nuar, based on Blackie’s appearance.

Anyway, it was time to seize the opportunity. I jumped into the hole created by Blackie. Albrecht and Emily followed behind me. Under the pressure of Blackie’s aura, Abaddon glared at me with a twisted face.

I raised my sword, and although Abaddon twisted his body to aim at my head, Emily’s magic twisted his blade’s path. The explosion of magic as his limbs burst apart was swiftly dealt with by Albrecht and Cecilia.

Nothing could block it. This time, I had no intention of missing.

[….]

I locked eyes with the Challenge Boss Abaddon.

His vacant eyes held the glimmer of resignation when they met my sword.

“Hey, you’ve never seen a Hero Party before, have you?”

I crushed Abaddon’s core, which was also Derabilice’s heart.

*

“H-ha ha ha….”

Princess Adelheit collapsed amid the half-destroyed palace, wearing a forced smile. How did it come to this? Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly, that gigantic aberration had thrown everything into disarray.

“What on earth is this?”

I asked the now-approaching Saint Ophelia Meredein.

“I heard you could have a dragon, but a full-grown Black Dragon? How did you tame it?”

“Tame? I gave birth to him with my heart, you see, you harlot.”

Ophelia stated nonchalantly.

And as if that wasn’t the most crucial thing, she pulled out a Branch of the World Tree from her bosom and placed it on Adelheit’s crown. With a playful expression, Ophelia adorned herself with the imperial tiara.

“…Are you going to kill me?”

“Damn girl, you got here without a clue, huh?”

“…Are you going to kill me?”

“Well, that depends on what you do.”

With that, Ophelia pointed behind her. There stood Emperor Bolazio Septimius III, supported by Azar.

Realizing instinctively that this was her only lifeline, Adelheit rushed over and knelt.

“Father.”

She beamed.

Adelheit put on the best smile of a favored daughter. However, her plan had completely unraveled. Hundreds of monsters were still lurking near the brain, and she had the ability to manipulate them. Yet, Adelheit wasn’t foolish enough to put up a futile resistance.

She instinctively understood that a mere few hundred monsters could not obstruct that abomination.

In this situation, her only choice was to survive under the Emperor’s patronage and plan for the future.

Having concluded this, Adelheit beseeched her father, but Bolazio merely shook his head.

“You didn’t even realize that you’ve raised monsters in your efforts to ensure the Empire’s safety.”

Seeing the Emperor shake his head in acknowledgment of a blatant blunder, Adelheit fell into despair.

“Father?”

“Don’t call me that. You are not my daughter. You weren’t before, and you won’t be from now on.”

“…”

“Of course, for you, Adelheit, there will be no future. I may be frail, but I’m not weak enough to fail to secure a successor.”

In other words, he intended to cast Adelheit aside and enthrone a distant relative instead.

For Bolazio III, who valued royal bloodlines, such a decision was astonishing, causing Adelheit to whip her head around and glare at Ophelia.

It was clearly the Saintess’s scheme.

“See?”

Regardless of everything, Ophelia smiled widely, as if enjoying a good show.

“I’ll take the Empire with me?”

She spoke boldly, like someone claiming to pick up their belongings.

Everyone present, including Adelheit, was left speechless.

“…Are you a thief?”

Elliot finally could no longer hold back his words, but Ophelia only whistled.

*

Adelheit was now trapped within the brain.

Once the next Emperor ascended to the throne, she would be dragged out as an example, serving as a tool to demonstrate the majesty of imperial power.

I wondered if Bolazio III would soften and try to protect his daughter, but he remained a man of firm resolve.

“The punishment for traitors must occur before everyone’s eyes. That’s the only way the authority of the next Emperor can be preserved.”

“Are you worried about that when you’re about to die?”

“Because I’m about to die.”

His adeptness in dealing with Ophelia’s nonsense only showcased his years of experience.

In any case, Princess Adelheit was now captured, facing death. The hundreds of monsters she had brought with her had turned to ash without magic, but that didn’t mean there were no damages.

The Imperial Palace was half-destroyed, and significant casualties occurred among the Imperial Guards.

Above all, Emily’s mentor, Archmage Eldarian, perished in the conflict.

Emily sent a message to Shadowhold to retrieve Eldarian’s body and prepare for the funeral. In that process, she remained silent.

I only hoped that it wouldn’t serve as a catalyst for her personality to spiral downward, as in the original story.

“…Hmm.”

And, if we had a greater harvest than stopping Adelheit’s malign influence…

“Dead.”

Ophelia remarked, wiping her upper lip as she gazed at the cold corpse of Hell Duke Derabilice in a corner of the brain.

After all, the heart that had entered the ancient demon Abaddon belonged to Derabilice. Considering I had made a hole in that heart myself, there was no way the original owner, the Hell Duke, would remain unharmed.

In any case, the lieutenants outside the Demon King’s Castle had all been dealt with. Threats from behind had been eliminated. What remained was only the Demon King’s Castle. The ultimate showdown awaited us.

However, Ophelia frowned and muttered.

“Something feels really off.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know… hard to say… My back feels prickly.”

“That’s just morning sickness.”

“Damn it.”

As Ophelia abruptly turned around, I raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.

“I understand your anxiousness. But hey, there’s not much time left, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

“Well, that might be true, but…”

I could completely empathize with Ophelia’s anxiety. The Emperor had set his sights on us. Before that, the Pope of the Cathedral had colluded with the Demon King’s Army. That meant there was no guarantee that those elsewhere wouldn’t scheme.

The most concerning nation was undoubtedly the Great Forest, but with Erwin in our party, it was unlikely the Fairy King of the Great Forest would take action. It seemed that even the Elf Great Warrior Kaius, who held significant sway in the Great Forest, supported us.

For now, we could breathe easy.

Realistically, the most worrisome individual was the Chimera Sorcerer Idmien among the remaining lieutenants. It was quite suspicious that Idmien had been quiet lately.

Ophelia nodded and then suddenly said, as if recalling something.

“Anyway, Elliot.”

“Hm?”

“How does it feel to be the ruler of half the continent?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“You’re the de facto guardian of our next Emperor.”

Ophelia grinned, fueled by ambition, and I sensed that she had caught a serious case of delusions of grandeur.

Sure enough, the very next day, the Imperial Palace became Ophelia’s playground.