The Protagonists of Romance Fantasy Novels Have Escaped

131 – 131. Illusion (3)

Around the time of the full moon,

A beautiful woman with flowing emerald hair visited the Hoenberk family.

The owner of the Red Mage Tower.

The head of the Neserhane family, which had produced countless grand sorcerers.

Quirisa Neserhane.

Dressed in a gown that boasted a daring level of exposure, the mage tower owner entered the mansion’s garden with a broomstick tucked under her arm. News of the visit from a figure who was part of the ruling elite of the continent and the master of the mage tower sent the Hoenberk family into a frenzy.

“I-I never expected the mage tower owner to grace such a humble domain.”

The bald man.

No,

The head of the Hoenberk family greeted the owner of the Red Mage Tower, beads of cold sweat trickling down his forehead.

Numerous servants, who had hastily gathered after halting their household chores, bowed their heads in respect. In response, Quirisa placed a hand over her heart and replied.

“There’s no need to be so tense, Lord Hoenberk. I simply wished to have an honest conversation with fellow parents who share the same worries and struggles.”

“Y-Yes, fellow parents…?”

Otto asked, his expression revealing his discomfort.

At that moment, Edanant, who had joined them, informed him that the woman before them was the sage’s adoptive mother.

The father of the hero. The mother of the sage.

Parents of those who had been part of the saintly party that defeated the Demon King were now meeting.

Maximilian and Madveigh had been classmates with Beatrice at the academy. Thus, Quirisa’s mention of fellow parents was not an incorrect title.

“Indeed, caring for a son who has entered his teenage years is quite challenging. Who would have thought that such a model child would turn into a rebellious teenager during this stormy phase… Sigh, I can only resent the passage of time.”

“…….”

Teenage years?

Rebellious teenager?

Your son must be twenty-three this year.

He probably still feels like a child.

The hearts of parents worrying for their children are all the same.

As Edanant listened to the conversation among the parents, he stepped back. Quirisa then smiled brightly and began to demand the fulfillment of their agreement regarding the transaction.

“You promised to provide a small amount of blood in exchange for the transmutation spell. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

“I know. Just a blood donation, right?”

The fact that I had to hand over blood to the monster of knowledge was unsettling, but there was no other way. I had signed a pact of absolute compliance with the Tower Master before activating the transmutation magic.

There was no collateral.

It was merely a pact without any guarantees, almost like a verbal agreement.

However, Edanant, who wanted to bring the Tower Master to his side, ultimately decided to accept the deal. It was possible that the mad scientist of the Tower would use the blood to create clones.

“And I’d like to collect the essence of the deity of the re-essence while I’m at it! You’ll obviously allow it, right?”

“…….”

At this rate, they might even ask for s*men.

I reacted with disgust at Querysa’s increasingly outrageous demands.

“What do you mean by that, Edan?”

“You must not be deceived by the Tower Master’s beauty. She’s a mad old hag disguised as a polymorph. She’s seventy-five this year.”

Auto shouted in a voice filled with surprise.

The beautiful woman, boasting stunning looks and a slender figure, was actually a seventy-five-year-old grandmother. It was only natural to be shocked, as it was hard to accept such a cruel disparity all at once.

It was horrifying.

An old lady pretending to be a young maiden, not acting her age.

“Your Grace, may I have a moment alone with Lord Edanant?”

“Of course.”

After personally experiencing the greatness of the polymorph,

Querysa politely requested, still showing her bewilderment to Auto.

“Could you guide me through the mansion, Lord Edanant? I’d like to take a stroll and chat.”

“How dare you, old hag of the Tower, flatter the great Seer!”

The beautiful vampire in a maid outfit spat out in a sharp voice, expressing her displeasure at the uninvited guest who had barged into the mansion.

Perhaps it was humiliating to have been overwhelmed by gravity magic alongside her compatriots, as Ariel glared at Querysa, burning with animosity. In response, Querysa shrugged with an overt sneer.

“Your manners are still terrible. Have you not been scolded enough?”

“Eek!”

A chilling smile etched itself on the Tower Master’s lips.

At that, Ariel let out a startled scream and hid behind Edanant.

“…Do as you please.”

Blood.

The essence of the deity of re-essence.

And on top of that, the role of a guide through the mansion.

With a heavy sigh, I took a step forward. At that moment, Querisa burst into a bright smile and walked alongside me along the stone path that cut through the garden.

“Don’t you think it’s strange? Why would the Holy Kingdom continue to remain silent? Countless believers who witnessed the fall of the One True God must have urged the Holy King for a crusade.”

“…….”

At the sweet voice whispering the question, Edanant furrowed his brow.

I want to know.

No,

I had to find out.

I felt a sense of unease from the Tower Master, who was leisurely observing our reactions. At the same time, a burning desire to hear about the situation the Holy Kingdom was facing spread within me.

“The plague of death has descended.”

“…What?”

As soon as I heard the answer from the Tower Master, Edanant asked back.

Confusion and embarrassment.

And fear of the unknown.

The shocking news that the plague of death had descended struck my mind like a thunderbolt.

In the end, the Saint’s party had resurrected the plague of death, which had met its end in the final chapter. Edanant clenched his fists, recalling the faces of former comrades who had turned into enemies of humanity.

* * *

The castle of Drivayne, which had protected humanity from the Demon King’s army, had vanished without a trace.

That was not all.

In the space where the solid fortress once stood, a bottomless abyss had formed.

It was the mark left by the clash of deities at the pinnacle of the Creator God and the God of Calamity. The terrain, which had remained unchanged through eons, met its demise under the overwhelming bombardment of power.

“Don’t approach recklessly!”

“If you even brush against the deity’s wave, your whole body will rot away!”

The clash of strength generates waves.

Black and white.

The colorless properties of opposing forces enveloped the surroundings.

The deities of the Creator God and the God of Calamity remained intact in the valley. Thus, the paladins deployed to the scene cautiously explored the area around the valley, wary of being swept away by the deity’s waves.

“What… what is that?”

“Oh my god…!”

Perhaps it was due to the clash of deities that transcended logic and common sense.

Heavy boulders and jagged stones floated in the air. The collision of deities had negated gravity, giving birth to a weightless space completely detached from natural phenomena.

It was only natural for the paladins who witnessed him to recoil in horror. Before their eyes lay a space where the common sense they had taken for granted until now was utterly inapplicable.

“Ugh!!”

The ground, which had seemed perfectly stable just moments ago, suddenly cracked like a spider’s web. And from the gaping fissures of the torn earth, the condensed waves of divinity surged upward.

They were exposed to the torrent of the waves.

In an instant, their bodies were stained black. The biological tissues of their entire bodies, damaged upon contact with the waves, ultimately succumbed to necrosis. Soon, the paladins met the most wretched death in the world, their bodies melting away like candles on a grill.

“I’m sorry, we should have rushed to your aid…!”

A paladin of striking beauty knelt on one knee and spoke.

Cirelle Vailede.

The captain of the guardians and the invincible sword that had recorded an undefeated record.

As soon as she detected the waves of divinity, Cirelle had deployed the forces of the Holy Kingdom and evacuated the prospective saintesses she found on-site to a safe location. Most of the prospective saintesses had complained of exhaustion.

“The essence of death… has possessed the Second Saintess.”

“Pardon?”

The Demon King met his end.

The essence of death, now in need of a new vessel, descended upon Beatrice’s body in the mortal realm.

Impossible.

How could the essence of death inhabit the saintess of the Earth Mother?

The First Saintess, Jeblinne, had awakened as an apostle because she was chosen by the essence of Gia, which had fallen to the guardian dragon of the Holy Kingdom. But Beatrice was different. Beatrice was the ‘true saintess’ who accepted only the sanctity of the Earth Mother.

If the essence of death had attempted possession, a clash of sanctity would have undoubtedly occurred.

At the same time, Beatrice should have drawn her last breath.

“I don’t know either. But surely… the ominous and unsettling essence of death was overflowing from the Second Saintess’s body. The Earth Mother, who briefly entered my body, also said as much.”

“…….”

“That’s not all. From the sage, the mercenary king, and even the sword master…! I sensed the essence of death from the heroes who had served the Second Saintess.”

“W-What about Maximilian? What happened to the hero Maximilian?!”

The Second Saintess had fallen to the apostle of death.

And the heroes who had guarded the saintess became followers of the essence of death.

It was the worst outcome.

The heroes who had represented humanity had all turned to the pinnacle of evil.

Cirelle, with a voice filled with agitation, asked about Maximilian’s whereabouts. Though he had fallen to a traitor who betrayed the Holy Kingdom and the One God, he could not sever the emotions of the past, swallowing a desperate silence.