Aindel headed towards the Demon Castle, reminiscing about the past great war.
When the invasion of the demons began, Santea was the first to become a sacrificial lamb.
Geography dictated that Santea would have to fight the hardest against the demons, as it bordered on Altelore.
Aindel was an ordinary girl from a rural village. Her father was a retired knight, and the swordsmanship she learned was just a little self-defense technique her father taught her.
Then, one day, the village was destroyed by a demon attack. People were massacred, and in the midst of the horror, Aindel managed to escape only through her father’s sacrifice.
In front of Aindel, who had lost her entire family and was stranded alone in the rugged mountains, it suddenly appeared.
It introduced itself as the Holy Sword, emitting a sacred golden light.
It urged her to accept its power and to defeat the demons.
Without any explanation or reason.
However, with no other choices, Aindel accepted the proposal of the Holy Sword. Thus, she became the chosen wielder of the Holy Sword.
Trapped in a white void where nothing existed, she swung the sword until her senses dulled completely. Only then was she able to fully embrace the power of the Holy Sword and return to her original world.
Since time in the outside world hardly flowed when trapped in the white void, nothing had changed.
Aindel first began by exterminating the demons that invaded Santea.
The demons were overwhelmingly powerful, and humanity was nearly extinguished, but with Aindel’s arrival, they managed to barely overcome the crisis.
However, the war did not come to an end, and Aindel experienced and witnessed various atrocities within that hell.
And to bring it all to an end, she marched towards Altelore.
With the sacrifices of her companions, the coalition, and numerous people, she succeeded in finally sealing away the Demon King.
After the war ended, people hailed her as a hero, and believers attributed the power of the Holy Sword to the divine force bestowed upon her by the god they believed in.
Decades had passed.
But the war was far from over, and just as it was then, Aindel was on her way to the final battle.
Passing through the barren and rough land without a single trace of vegetation, when she reached the entrance of the castle, the castle gate was already wide open.
Beyond the scattered ash-gray mist, she could sense the presence of numerous demons. Overflowing with bloodlust and malice.
Without pausing, Aindel stepped into the hall.
There were still no demons blocking her way.
Like tamed beasts with their leashes held tight, they merely glowed with a restrained light, hidden within the mist.
“…….”
Reaching the fallen central tower where the Demon King had been sealed, Aindel came to a halt.
A demon was standing there, right in the center.
“I’ve been waiting, hero.”
Apart from slightly pale skin, he was no different from an ordinary human man in appearance and voice.
But he was the strongest archdemon, the second in command of Altelore.
“Where is the Demon King, Azekel?”
Hwaaah!
Aindel released the power of the Holy Sword. A sacred wave dispelled the surrounding mist.
Only then did the hidden demons within the mist reveal themselves, surrounding her from all sides. Among them were high-ranking demons as well.
But there was no sign of the Demon King. Even though she could feel his aura not far away.
Azekel let out a laugh.
“I sense impatience. Are you worried that the Demon King won’t respond to your final struggle?”
“…….”
“Arrogant hero. I had already taken into account the possibility of you coming to Altelore as a final struggle. You wouldn’t catch even a glimpse of his feet. You will die here. Right at my hands.”
Laughter echoed among the demons.
Aindel’s expression remained unchanged.
“You have a long tongue, Azekel. You, who haven’t set foot outside Altelore for the past three years. Was I really that fearsome to you?”
“After waiting for decades, can’t I wait a few more years? Look, ultimately, you’ve found yourself cornered and come to face your fate, haven’t you?”
Azekel extended his hand.
“You are defeated, hero, and with your death, the world will begin anew.”
Simultaneously, a massive pillar of emerald flames surged from the spot where Aindel stood.
Leaping forward to evade the attack, Aindel flew straight toward Azekel. And then she swung her sword.
Azekel’s lips curled into a smile, and he raised his shield. The golden sword energy burned as the hexahedral shield that surrounded him blocked it.
The shield exploded and slammed into Aindel. Aindel raised her own shield to block the impact.
This time, spears materialized in the empty air around Azekel and struck at the shield she had erected.
Sizzle.
As the corrosive green energy ate away at the barrier, Aindel widened her eyes in slight surprise.
Only when she channelled more power into the Holy Sword did the corrosive energy disperse.
Seizing the opportunity, the spears continued to fly, and Aindel managed to fend them off before approaching Azekel once more.
She continued her relentless assault with her sword. Azekel, who had reclaimed his shield, countered her attacks while fending off blows with his raised hand.
At first, they fought mostly in place, but soon the battle expanded to the entire tower.
Amidst the entangled clash of the two beings, the bodies of the ensnared demons were torn apart. Nearby demons recoiled in terror and put more distance between themselves and the battle.
The archdemons watched with stern expressions as the battle between the two monsters raged on in earnest.
The demons who experienced the Great War were well aware of the immense power of the hero Aindel.
The sanctity of the Holy Sword wasn’t just a kind of power that could be simply described as strong.
It was a power that made them tremble in fear. Just facing it caused their very souls to be obliterated, a power akin to that of a god.
It seemed as if the very purpose of its existence was to eradicate demons from this world.
However, among the archdemons, there was one being of a different caliber. The mightiest demon aside from the Demon King.
Azekel’s power was also overwhelmingly immense.
No matter how strong a demon was, during the past Great War, there was no demon who could stand against the hero except for the Demon King.
Even though the hero’s power had significantly waned now, the fact that she was engaged in a battle that seemed evenly matched with Azekel filled the watching demons with reverence.
“Just how far have you fallen, hero! Your power from back then is nowhere to be found!”
Azekel’s offense grew wild. The clash of bare hands and swords sent shockwaves reverberating through the air.
Amidst numerous exchanges of blows in a short span, Aindel, who had blocked Azekel’s attacks, was pushed back.
Azekel smirked and drew upon more mana.
Thump, thump, thud!
Mana streams spread out beneath his feet like tree roots. A huge, semi-transparent deity-like form took shape.
Aindel momentarily halted her attacks and stared at the spectacle.
Each demon had their unique abilities. The stronger the demon, the more uncontrollable and overpowering their abilities tended to be.
And Aindel, who hadn’t fought against Azekel even during the Great War, was unaware of his abilities.
The giant deity-like figure Azekel created was adorned with numerous eyes, making it incredibly eerie.
The eyes that had been restless now focused on her.
“…!”
As its eyes blinked, a massive explosion occurred around Aindel.
Aindel soared into the air to evade the explosion. The explosions continued to happen in succession with each blink of the other’s eyes, relentlessly pursuing her.
Aindel moved around, dodging and avoiding, until she closed in on the giant and swung her Holy Sword.
The sword strike, now infused with a much stronger force than before, hit it, but even so, the giant’s body showed no signs of damage.
Azekel swung his arm, and it followed suit, pushing Aindel away with its arm. As she was thrown back, another intense explosion followed her.
Watching her land some distance away, Azekel spoke with a slightly disappointed expression, “Truly underwhelming. If I had known you’d become this weak, I wouldn’t anticipate this moment in vain.”
As Azekel raised his hand, the giant raised its hand as well.
As his hand lowered, enormous emerald spears fell from the sky like the gods’ cudgels.
Kwaahhh!
At the spot where the attack concentrated, a massive pit appeared, rendering the ground invisible. Within it, a faint golden light flowed out.
Undeterred, Azekel pressed on with his assault. Multiple times, spears poured down like a torrential rain towards the pit.
Kugugugugu...
Azekel raised the corner of his mouth as he observed the pit, then his expression solidified.
Suddenly, the hero clad in golden armor emerged, rising into the air.
“This is more power than I expected, but.......”
Aindel slowly raised the Holy Sword.
“You’re not worth it, Azekel.”
A brilliant radiance engulfed the blade of the Holy Sword, soaring up to the sky’s end and transforming into a massive sword.
Azekel raised both of the giant’s arms in defense.
Aindel’s sword cleaved the giant in half. An intense flash of light covered the entire area.
“……!”
Azekel, narrowly avoiding a direct hit, distanced himself from Aindel.
At that moment, a flash of light once again illuminated the scene. It was Aindel’s second sword strike.
Simultaneously, blood splattered from Azekel’s body. Despite only grazing him, the impact resonated through his soul.
“Ugh...!”
Azekel, sensing that allowing another attack would lead to his demise, became desperate.
Only then did the other archdemons, who had been observing, intervene. However, their participation only served to buy a brief moment.
Valark, the fifth-ranked archdemon, distorted the space around Aindel and immobilized her. Aindel swung her sword once again, cleaving through the distorted space.
Immediately, Farkkuli, the ninth-ranked archdemon, took control of his demon underlings and launched a suicide assault on Aindel. Clenching and unclenching her hand, Aindel caused them all to explode in place.
Bandapmoshan, the fourth-ranked archdemon, summoned giant plant stems from the ground. Yukecil, the sixth-ranked, and Honka, the second-ranked, directed frigid cold and bloody projectiles towards Aindel, who was surrounded by the stems.
Boom!
Once again, a burst of golden light erupted, annihilating all the attacks from the archdemons.
The attack obliterated the lesser demons and low-ranked archdemons, and even the higher-ranked ones couldn’t escape unscathed.
Azekel continued to gaze at Aindel, who still appeared unharmed. A sacred energy emanated from her entire being.
“If you have no intention of summoning the Demon King, I’ll just kill all of you and find him.”
Aindel raised the Holy Sword once more.
This time, she unleashed a strike intended to decisively eliminate most of the archdemons present.
It was that moment...
Ssueeeee.
The holy power of the Holy Sword, which had been spreading far and wide in all directions, disappeared as if being devoured by darkness.
There were no loud explosions or shockwaves. It simply vanished like that.
At the same time, all of the archdemons, including Azekel, bowed their heads to the ground.
In a situation where the battle had not yet ended, vulnerable and defenseless before Aindel.
“...”
Aindel lowered her sword and turned her head.
An ominous aura had quietly spread throughout the area.
It was a presence that she hadn’t felt in decades.
“That’s enough.”
The Demon King.
With a dry and lifeless voice, the darkness split apart, revealing its form.
