Capítulo 72: Chapter 69: Conclusion
"Well then, here I go!" Alfrea said, bringing her hands forward, her palms turned toward Alexia. A faint glow appeared as her magic shook the space in front of her. She slowly spread her arms and started moving them in a circular motion.
A circle of light was left hovering in the air.
All right. It's the moment of truth. Will it work?
Actually... I was starting to seriously doubt it. Alfrea had stopped in her tracks. She wasn't moving anymore, and beads of cold sweat were running down the sides of her face. Is she out of MP?
I put my hand on Alfrea's back and transferred some of my mana to her. I hadn't seen her fight, so I had no clue how much mana she'd used during the fight. Knowing her, though, she'd probably gotten carried away and hadn't saved enough to seal the witch.
"Huh? Oh! I can feel power coursing through my body! All righty! I can totally do this!" she exclaimed.
Sure enough, she had run out of MP.
I'd been the one who'd tasked her and Eterna to attack the witch together which forced her to use up her mana, but I'd never told Alfrea to use every last drop of mana she had, had I? Wasn't it common sense to keep some juice for the finale?
Whatever, it hadn't been a big deal for me to fix.
"Wh-What are you planning?!" the witch asked, her voice trembling. "Y-You can't kill me! If you do, you—" Alexia blurted out.
"Will turn into a witch?" Alfrea cut her off without batting an eye. "I'm aware. Don't worry, I have no intention of doing that. I'm going to seal you. With this, the cycle of suffering that started with my mother and me a thousand years ago will finally be broken. There will never be another witch."
Hearing Alfrea's words made me realize all over again how simple the answer had been all along. I'd guessed why, but I still couldn't help but wonder why no one had ever thought of it before.
The circle of light Alfrea had created wrapped itself around Alexia. She tried to move away, but I wasn't about to let that happen. I created chains of lights and used them to bind her in place.
"W-Wait! Don't! You can't seal me! I don't want that! No! Why?! Why does it have to be me?! Why is it always me?!" Alexia screamed at the top of her lungs.
Her misfortune truly knew no bounds. She'd gone through the hardest of times as the saint because of the stunt her predecessor had pulled. On top of being stifled by humanity's expectations, she'd had to fight one of the strongest witches in history—a veteran who'd had all the time in the world to strengthen her rule and create a proper army. As the witch, she'd been pitted against two saints and an overpowered fake. And now, she was about to be turned into a human pillar until the end of time. Since she'd be sealed, not dead, her soul wouldn't even be able to pass to the other side.
Isn't she too pitiful?
Should I just kill her myself like I'd initially planned? That way, no one else would have to suffer.
When I was a regular player, I used to hate Alexia's guts. I'd done her route for the sake of completion, but I'd spent the entire time pissed off that she got to smile happily when my poor darling Eterna suffered so much. Obviously, I'd never replayed it.
I'd been utterly convinced that I'd laugh in the face of Alexia's suffering. After all, she'd more than deserved it. And yet, here I was, surprised by my own feelings. Now that the time had come, I couldn't bring myself to laugh. If anything, I felt compassion for her.
Dias's last request to help Alexia came back to me. I'd never agreed to it, so I didn't feel a sense of obligation or anything, but Dias hadn't even bothered to wait for my answer before he'd passed out.
Besides, I wasn't even the real saint—I was a neat pile of gold-plated shit. Why would I ever save people for no reason and without asking for anything in return? Alexia wasn't even an actual victim here! She hadn't done as much harm as previous witches, but that was only because I'd prevented her from doing so. She'd hurt plenty of people in the years before I started doing my job as the saint. If we added the people that she'd indirectly killed on top of those she'd murdered with her own hands, she was responsible for at least a few hundred casualties. In fact, if I also counted those who'd died of hunger because of her, the death toll probably rose to four digits. If we were in modern-day Japan, she would've been sentenced to death without a shadow of a doubt.
I wasn't kindhearted enough to throw away my chance to witness the perfect ending I'd envisioned for someone like her. I couldn't. If I wrote off everything she'd done because she didn't really have a choice, the actual victims would weep.
No, Alexia needed to be sealed for the good of this world. I'd then confess to my own crimes and make my escape until I died a peaceful death in the middle of nowhere. That was the plan and I'd stick to it!
"NO! NOOOOOOOO!!!" Alexia cried. "SAVE ME! DIAS! POCHI! OCT! SOMEONE, SAVE ME!"
The temperature around her was gradually dropping as the space itself froze. Unlike the method the first witch had used, Alfrea's seal wouldn't put Alexia in a state of suspended animation. The first witch had sealed her daughter so that she wouldn't turn into a witch. To achieve that, she'd had to fool the world into thinking that Alfrea was dead so that it would produce another saint. In this case, we didn't want Alexia dead—not even for a second. She had to stay alive and conscious the entire time to ensure her powers wouldn't be transferred to anyone.
This is just too much, isn't it?
This whole thing was already starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth. I'd die soon anyway, so giving my life away here wouldn't be so bad, would it?
If I delivered the final blow, received Alexia's dark powers, and then—right before they killed me—resurrected her using the same method I'd used on Verner...
As I was pondering my options, Layla came to stand in front of me. "You can't, Lady Ellize. Please hold it in."
What the hell? I hadn't moved a muscle yet, but I was already getting scolded.
"I know you," she continued. "I can tell you're taking pity on Lady Alexia. However, this is a necessary step for the good of the world. I respect your compassionate nature, but just this one time, I must ask you to restrain yourself."
Layla had apparently misunderstood my intention and seemed to think I wanted to save Alexia.
I'm not that kind of selfless angel, you know?
I wasn't thinking of helping Alexia for her sake. It was just that...I don't know, I felt kind of bad. I'd only been considering doing something to make myself feel better. I was still an egoistic bastard through and through.
Meanwhile, Alfrea was still working on the seal. Everything seemed to be going well—a crystal that looked almost exactly like the one I'd seen around Alfrea had formed around Alexia.
Unlike Alfrea, though, Alexia was still dressed. That got me wondering why Alfrea had been naked inside the crystal. Had she just stripped on her own when she was drunk?
Why are their names so damn similar? I've been saying them so many times in a row now that I'm getting confused! Maybe I should rename one of them Hanako and call it a day.
"Ta-da! The seal's all done."
Oh, crap! Layla was blocking half of my field of vision! I'd missed the climax! Damn it, Scotterbrain!
I tried to sneak a peak over Layla's shoulder and saw Alexia trapped inside a crystal. She, um...looked absolutely terrible. Alfrea, who'd been sealed inside something similar, had retained her beauty. Alexia's face, on the other hand, was twisted by fear. Her expression was chilling.
So...in most cases, seals like this one failed big time right when you thought they'd succeeded, right? Would this one hold?
I wasn't the only one staring at the crystal with rapt attention. The others had also yet to let their guard down.
Ten seconds went by without anything happening, then a minute, then ten.
"I-Is it over? It's all over, right?" Aina said, trying—and somewhat failing—to conceal her joy and relief.
Her joy was contagious. Soon, everyone relaxed, finally feeling secure in their victory.
We're done! We won! Kuon no Sanka finally has a proper ending!
...Or so I thought. Right at that moment, a spear of darkness shot out of Verner and pierced through the crystal and into Alexia's body.
Called it.
I'd been so focused on the crystal that I'd totally forgotten about Verner. I wasn't all that surprised. I just knew deep in my guts that it couldn't be that easy.
Verner was in a daze. He didn't seem to understand what had happened, but it was pretty obvious. His dark powers were always Alexia's. They'd probably answered her final wish—to die. What we'd just witnessed was Alexia's suicide.
Still, it was strange. I knew Verner had little control over his powers, so I'd given him a pendant to offset that...
Oh, there it is, I thought, spotting the pendant on the ground. It must've fallen off during the battle.
If I didn't do anything, Verner would end up being the one who dealt the final blow. Alexia's powers, along with the first witch's grudge, would pass onto him. Since he wasn't a saint, he'd die. All in all, the cycle would still be broken, but I wouldn't call that a happy ending.
It's all good. I can fix this.
I hadn't exactly planned for this, but I'd left myself a way out. I poured my mana into the chains of light I'd wrapped around Alexia and stopped her heart, forcing her into a state of suspended animation.
Verner's dark magic was fatal, but it hadn't killed Alexia on the spot. Before it could, I'd finish her off myself. I also healed the wound Verner had inflicted, just to be safe. With this, Alexia's powers would flow into me, not into Verner.
Oh well, it is what it is. And it's not that bad—I just went back to the initial plan.
I still wasn't afraid of death. There was no use crying over spilled milk, especially not when I barely had a couple of months left to live. Not to mention I was supposed to have died already.
Something's got to be seriously wrong with me, I thought.
Between a weirdo like me and Verner, the protagonist of the story, it was obvious whose life was more valuable. Mine was worthless; I absolutely didn't mind exchanging it with his. It was better for a piece of trash with no future like me to die.
"L-Lady Ellize? Wh-What's going on? What did you just do?!" Layla screamed, shaking.
The chains I was holding had started glowing out of nowhere, so there was no way for me to hide that I'd gotten involved. It didn't really matter, though—I'd die in a couple of minutes at most. What was the use of lying anymore?
"I killed Lady Alexia," I said. "The witch's grudge and her powers will be transferred to me shortly."
I saw despair on everyone's faces. They probably thought that an invincible witch would be born soon, but it was all good. There's no need to be scared. I won't turn into a witch.Everything would soon be over for good—including my clumsy act.
At last, this story had reached its climax.
I felt terrible about having lied to Layla and gotten her to serve a fake this entire time, so I wanted to keep up the act until the last moment. I wanted everyone to think that, even though I was a fake and had fooled her, it had all been for the greater good. That way, Layla's honor would be safe...or so I hoped.
And so, I smiled at the very end in the hope that it gave them all some peace of mind.
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