The Death of the Sacred Queen

Flower garden at Alkazard Palace.

The flower that was once in full bloom has now been destroyed due to the fierce fight between Ars and the twelve Demon King Princess Maiden.

Several corpses of beautiful girls were lying in the flower bed and this flower garden had become their grave.

Their fresh blood soaked the ground and the beautiful flowers were stained with blood.

*Clank Clank Clank*

In the middle of the flower garden, the sound of clashing swords was clearly heard.

"Why are you fighting so hard? Give up, you have no chance of winning."

Balmung in Ars' hands repelled the last remaining Demon King's Princess Maiden's attack.

*Whoosh*

The girl didn't respond, the sword in her hand formed an afterimage making it difficult to distinguish the actual attack.

"Since that is your choice, then die."

Knowing it was no use continuing to talk, Ars jumped forward, broke through the enemy's attack, and stabbed the girl in the chest.

Pulling the blood-stained Balmung, Ars was about to go to Areishia's battle site, but the girl spoke for the first time.

"It's all... Not Solomon's fault... He's... A pathetic man..."

After saying that, the girl's body fell to the ground, and died.

"What does he want to convey? Forget it, it's none of my business."

Shaking his head, Ars hurriedly entered the Zohar Palace.

During his fight against the twelve Demon King's Princess Maiden, Ars kept them away from the throne hall so Areishia could fight undisturbed.

Even for him, it was quite difficult to fight them. Anyway, his Inner Physique was filled with cracks and he could only access a bit of its strength. If he was in top shape, a single glance would be enough to kill them.

Due to these limitations, Ars spent half an hour in the protracted battle.

By the time Ars arrived at the throne hall, the fight had reached its last stage.

Areishia's voice sounded through the throne hall.

"Est, lend me your power!"

"Yes Milady!"

The strongest Sacred Sword gripped in both hands let out a dazzling light.

Pushing back the darkness, Areishia ran while aiming for Solomon's heart.

"Est, this is the last time I will use you as a sword. That is why—"

Everything happened in an instant.

The Sacred Sword shone and shattered Solomon's heart in an instant.

"ARHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!'

Giving a death cry of pain, Solomon was banished from this world.

"Hah hah hah..."

Bathed in Solomon's black blood, Areishia fell to the ground.

"Milady?"

The Sacred Sword transformed into the form of the little white-haired girl, Terminust Est.

"It's fine... Est..."

To calm the worried Est, Areishia patted her head.

"Fua... Milady... Please stop."

"Fufu, you like this, Est."

"Please don't tease me."

Even though Est still had an expressionless face, she turned her head with slightly red cheeks.

This was the first time since Areishia met her that Est showed such a reaction.

Areishia was happy with that.

For the girl who was slowly numbing her human emotions in line with society's expectations of her as the Sacred Queen, this was another form of consolation.

"Sorry, Est... Actually, I wanted to pat your head like this again..."

Covered in black blood, Areishia's voice trembled.

"Milady…. What did you say?"

"Really, I'm sorry."

"Milady?"

In the next second, Areishia's finger let out a stiff and crushed sound.

"Areishia!"

Hearing someone call her name, Areishia looked towards the source of the sound, and saw Ars running towards her with a worried expression.

"Big brother Ars..." Areishia's voice was shaking.

Ars arrived beside Areishia, seeing her body crystallize into stone, he held her hand which was once smooth but now as hard as stone.

"What happened to you, Areishia?! Did Solomon leave a curse on you before he died?"

Ars felt Areishia's aura rapidly getting weaker.

"Milady..."

For the first time, Est showed panic on her always straight face.

"Big brother Ars, Est, don't make that face."

Areishia's right hand moved to touch Ars' cheek and her left hand touched Est's cheek, and she tried to speak.

"I knew about this from the start."

She wore a mature expression despite being only 16 years old.

"So that's how it is... It's a curse... It's all my fault." Est finally understood.

This curse was the combined hatred of the Spirits who had been killed by the power of the Sacred Sword so far.

It had accumulated to the limit and was eroding Areishia's body.

The Demon Slayer is the sword that destroys all curses.

But the curse has not disappeared from this world. The Sacred Sword that had absorbed the various curses would one day pass them on to its wielder.

The Spirit Weapon, Terminus Est was not a Sacred Sword.

Taking the user's life in return for bestowing immense power was unmistakably in the nature of the Demon Sword.

"Est, tell me, is there a way to lift this curse? Tell me quickly, before it's too late!"

After hearing Est's explanation, Ars gripped the little girl's shoulders tightly, the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes automatically activated, indicating his unstable emotions.

"Ars, Milady! I don't know! That I—"

"I know, Est."

Areishia smiled and looked at Est gently, then glanced at Ars with an apologetic smile.

"Big brother Ars, don't blame Est. I knew this would happen, that's why it wasn't Est's fault."

"You knew it would turn out like this, then why... Why do you keep fighting, Areishia..."

Holding Areishia's crystallized hand, tears involuntarily rolled down Ars's eyelids.

"As big brother Ars said is true. I'm not a brave warrior or the main character in the story. In the end, I'm just an ordinary girl."

When facing death, it was impossible for Areishia not to be afraid.

That's why she wasn't like the Sacred Queen.

She is just a normal 16 year old girl.

"After I'm gone, Est will have to make a contract with big brother Ars. This is my last request."

While patting Est's silvery white hair, Areishia slowly nodded.

But her voice trembled and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Milady..."

"Goodbye, Est. My only friend."

"Goodbye, big brother Ars. The man I love."

"No, you can't... Milady!"

A small voice escaped Est's lips.

"No... Arei... Shia...!"

"That was the first time you called my name. I'm happy... To be honest, I don't want to be the Sacred Queen."

With a clear sound, Areishia's neck crystallized. Then her entire body that had been crystallized shattered and turned into powder fragments that flew in the wind.

Est could do nothing but watch.

"Areishia!"

Hot tears fell down Est's cheeks. Wails echoed throughout the Demon King's castle.

"Areishia, wait for me... I will definitely revive you."

Seeing the girl he loved die before his eyes, and he couldn't do anything about it, Ars gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly.

Even though his mood was messy, he still maintained his composure.

Rinnegan of the Outer Path, [Gedō — Rinne Tensei no Jutsu (Saṃsāra of Heavenly Life Technique)]!

Ars plans to resurrect Areishia with this forbidden technique.

"The most important thing right now is to recover my strength as soon as possible." Ars wiped the tears off his face.

Suddenly the sad moment was ruined by the Princess Maiden who took advantage of Ars' unwary state.

Various kinds of attacks attacked Ars' back.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

The attack produced black smoke so they didn't see the situation clearly.

"Did we make it?" Asked one of the girls.

When the smoke cleared, Ars' figure was protected by a giant skeleton made of purple energy.

"Not good, everyone retreat!"

Knowing their attack had failed, one of the Princess Maiden ordered a retreat. They knew they were no match for Ars.

"Get lost!"

Ars was really angry right now. It was fine if they didn't help against Solomon, not only were they not helping, but they were instead attacking him who was on their side.

He's running out of patience. Without Areishia to restrain him, Ars could no longer tolerate their behavior.

"[Hinokagutsuchi]!"

Amaterasu appeared in the bodies of the ten Princess Maiden and burned them alive.

"Argggghhhh!"

"Save me!"

"Hot!"

"What kind of strange fire is this?"

"This can't be put out?!"

"Please spare me!"

"You damn man! You will die miserably."

They show different reactions. There were those who cried in pain, begged, frightened, and there were also those who cursed Ars.

However, no matter what, they turned to ashes in seconds.

They died without leaving a corpse.