Chapter 72
The way to kill the Demon God—this also meant Gremory could be freed from the witch hunt.
Lowering her voice, Gremory cautiously asked,
“Wait a second. How do you even know about the Demon God, Your Highness? You didn’t even know I was a witch.”
“I pretended not to know. Prophets aren’t supposed to interfere with worldly affairs. I could only help in small ways,” Ibelia said as she suddenly grabbed Gremory’s hands.
“From now on, I’m going against the will of heaven. I’ll actively help you. So please… save the human world. Everything depends on you.”
“Save the human world? Is the Demon God trying to destroy it or something?”
“If things follow the original fate, then yes—the Demon God will nearly destroy the human realm. Eight out of ten people will die. I just can’t sit back and watch that happen.”
Chesion’s eyes darkened. It was a shocking future. If 80% of the population died, civilization would be destroyed.
“So if we kill the Demon God, we can change the future peacefully?”
“Yes. But you, brother, have an important role in that. Please… protect Mori with everything you have.”
“Of course I will. So how do we kill the Demon God?”
“There are two ways: either wait until the Demon God starves to death because he can’t consume sacrifices anymore… or destroy his soul fragments.”
“Destroying the soul fragments sounds faster.”
“Right. The Demon God’s soul is split into three parts scattered across the Empire. With each piece destroyed, his power will weaken. Once all three are gone—he can be killed… cough!”
Ibelia suddenly coughed violently, blood dripping from her lips. It was the cost of revealing heaven’s secrets.
Chesion quickly stood and pressed a handkerchief to her lips.
“Ibelia, don’t push yourself.”
“No, I have to say this… cough! The first soul fragment is known by ‘Ham’… ugh!”
Her pale face turned toward Gremory, and just before she lost consciousness, she said,
“Gremory, stay strong. The first fragment is deeply tied to your painful past…”
She passed out before finishing. Panicked, Gremory tried to take out her “Beauty Potion,” but Chesion stopped her.
“No, Mori! Ibelia has divine power. If she drinks a witch’s potion, we don’t know what could happen.”
“Then we just let her stay like this?”
“There’s probably no way to heal her. This is punishment from the heavens. All we can do is wait for divine forgiveness to wake her up.”
Ibelia was moved to a guest room. Duke Ortega called for healers, but none could explain her condition.
Catherine, who had been staying quietly like a ghost, glanced at Ibelia’s room… and disappeared with a dark expression.
Gremory and Chesion returned to the Grand Duchy. It had been three days.
They were welcomed warmly. As soon as the carriage door opened, Anna ran over.
“Your Grace! Miss Mori! We heard the news from Ortega! You must’ve had a hard time!”
Isolen came after her, keeping her usual graceful air.
“Welcome back, Your Grace. You too, Mori.”
“Any trouble while we were gone?” Chesion asked.
“Word got out that Mori was staying here. A lot of mid-to-low ranked beauties came looking for her, but Alice took care of them before they got inside.”
“That’s good. No one got hurt?”
“Everyone’s fine. So now come eat!”
Chesion felt relieved that everything in the duchy was as it should be. If they hadn’t used the sacred artifact to build a barrier, the earthquake might’ve hit here instead.
After a short break, Chesion and Gremory went into the room where ‘Ham’ was stored.
On the small table sat Ham—no longer gray and asleep, but glowing pale blue and humming, as if urging them to come closer.
Chesion was about to approach but paused when he noticed Gremory hesitating.
“Mori? What’s wrong?”
“That square thing… kind of pisses me off.”
“Pisses you off? Oh, right… did Ham insult you before?”
Ham, who had never done such a thing, jumped angrily. All he had done was show her memories related to ‘Seriety.’ Gremory had gotten annoyed and smacked him back then.
“I’m annoyed, but it’s fine. If he says weird stuff again, I’ll just hit him.”
She stepped toward Ham. He trembled and shrank. Chesion joined her, and they both placed their hands on Ham.
Suddenly, their vision changed. Voices filled their heads.
『Isn’t this basically torture, Your Majesty?』
『That’s what I’m saying. It’s time to let Princess Seriety go.』
Seriety. The moment the name was said, Gremory felt sudden confusion again.
‘Ibelia said the first fragment is linked to my painful past. Is this name related? But… Princess?’
It was strange. Gremory clearly remembered her past—ten years in a dark prison cell. There was no “Seriety” in those memories.
‘Is there something I forgot? Something I don’t know?’
More voices continued.
『Being underground this long is driving us insane.』
『You knew what you signed up for. You’re well paid. Your families eat well. That’s why we all came to “Fort Poquint,” right?』
Fort Poquint. The name made Gremory’s hand twitch. If Chesion hadn’t been holding her hand, she might’ve dropped Ham.
Ham dimmed again, turning gray and falling asleep. Chesion checked her immediately.
“Mori, are you okay? Why are you shaking?”
“Fort Poquint… I think I’ve heard that name before.”
“We’ll talk later. Let’s get you outside. You look pale.”
He brought her out to the garden for fresh air. Isolen, strolling nearby, spotted her and gasped.
“What happened?! Why’s she so pale?! She’s already ghost-white!”
“Ham said something weird,” Chesion replied.
“Ham? Like… the food?”
“Not that ham. Anyway, get her some warm tea.”
He left her with Isolen and headed to his office. There, he opened a large box and spread out a map of the continent.
‘Fort Poquint… Even I’ve never heard of it, and I know every place on the Western Continent. Could it be in the demon realm?’
No—it had to be in the Empire. Princess Seriety was the daughter of the first emperor, presumed lost.
But the map showed no such place.
‘Was it destroyed long ago? Or hidden deliberately?’
Just then, Alice knocked.
“Your Grace~ I’m here to clean the office. May I come in?”
“Come in. Perfect timing.”
She opened the door cheerfully.
“Perfect timing? Was the office that dusty?”
“No. Alice, how old are you?”
“About 200, hoho.”
“Then you must know everything that happened in the human world. Especially the history of wars.”
“Of course! Ask me anything!”
“Do you know anything about Fort Poquint?”
“…”
“Alice?”
For the first time ever, cheerful Alice froze.
A long silence. She dropped her duster and stared into space.
“Alice, are you okay?”
“Hoho… I-I’m sorry, Your Grace. I was just… lost in thought!”
“You don’t look well.”
“I’m fine! Hoho! I-I’ll be going now!”
She rushed out like she was running away. Chesion stared at the duster she left behind.
‘What is that place… and why are witches so afraid of it?’
