The Great Saint's holy power flooded the forbidden library. Everything around them blazed pure white.

Amid the brilliant sacred fire, Shaperia swung her sword. Holy radiance rippled along its path, and holy flames that incinerated malice swept over Gawain like a wave.

Black smoke billowed from his entire body. A piercing scream rang out.

"S-stop!"

Gawain had no way to counter the holy power. His body was bound in all manner of restraints, and the holy energy consuming him from within was far too pure. At this rate, he would crumble to dust and vanish.

Shaperia shouted amid the blazing holy flames.

"Your Highness! Please forgive your disloyal subject!"

She kept swinging her sword. She had to kill Gawain. If she failed to stop him now, he might bring disaster upon the world.

Yohan must have understood that all too well, which was why he had used the Radiant Covenant at the cost of his own life. Shaperia could not let his sacrifice be in vain.

She pushed her consecration of the holy power to its limit. The gathering power turned blue. It had become moonlight.

Wreathed in moonlight, Shaperia brought her sword down. A vivid blue wave of sword energy surged toward Gawain.

Blue light flooded his surroundings. Demonic energy and malice vanished beneath the moonlight. Gawain raised an arm as though to ward off the approaching light.

"W-wait!"

His resistance was futile.

"... Forgive me, Your Highness."

The sword energy swallowed Gawain in an instant. Moonlight burned the evil away.

Not even his outline remained. There was no dying scream. Where the malice had burned away, only black ashes drifted through the air.

The exorcism was complete.

Shaperia sank to her knees. Overwhelming weakness and drowsiness struck without warning. Was it because she had not wielded holy power in so long? She could not endure the exhaustion battering her mind and body.

With an effort, she turned her head to look at Yohan.

"... My lord."

He lay collapsed on the floor with his eyes closed. He was probably dead from the backlash of using the Radiant Covenant.

Shaperia clenched both fists tightly.

"I will never forget your sacrifice. Saint Marziel."

With that brief prayer, she too collapsed. Her consciousness was sinking back into reality.

* * *

The sight was unfamiliar. A gouged ceiling and walls broken in places met her eyes. Scorch marks covered everything she could see.

Was she in the middle of a battlefield? Bewildered, Shaperia sat up and slowly looked around.

"... A bedroom?"

She was sitting on a soft bed. Every furnishing in front of her was broken or shattered, but the bedding alone was as clean as new. It looked as though someone had hastily brought a new bed and blankets into the half-ruined bedroom.

Shaperia clutched her head as a splitting headache assailed her. She could not quite remember why she had been lying here.

As she groaned, a familiar voice reached her.

"You're awake?"

She immediately turned her head. Her pupils widened. Yohan was entering the bedroom.

"M-my lord!"

The moment she saw him, her memories returned in a rush. The events in the forbidden library flickered before her eyes.

Gawain transformed into a Demon, Yohan using the Radiant Covenant, the brilliant sacred fire and rippling moonlight... Whatever the case, Yohan could not possibly be alive.

Shaperia sprang out of bed, rushed over, and seized him by both shoulders. She looked as though she had seen a ghost.

Yohan, by contrast, was perfectly calm. He spoke as though nothing were amiss.

"I've entered your bedchamber without knocking. Forgive the intrusion, but I hope you'll understand. As you can see, there's no door."

Only an empty frame remained where the bedroom door should have been.

Shaperia practically screamed.

"Th-that doesn't matter! My lord, how in the world are you—"

"Alive?"

She nodded rapidly.

"Yes. You used the Radiant Covenant right before my eyes, didn't you?"

The Radiant Covenant was a holy relic that burned its user's soul to summon the Great Saint's holy power. Whoever borrowed its power was certain to die.

Yohan spoke with a troubled expression.

"To be honest, I don't know why the Radiant Covenant didn't take my life either."

Shaperia struggled to accept what she was seeing. Using the Radiant Covenant meant death. It was recorded even in the sacred text, the Compendium of Holy Relics.

There was no possibility that the Compendium's records were mistaken. It dealt only in verified, officially recognized information. Every piece of knowledge recorded within it was an unwritten law.

That truth was now being contradicted. Shaperia was utterly bewildered.

"... With my limited knowledge, I cannot begin to fathom the reason."

Yohan considered for a moment before speaking.

"This is only a possibility, but perhaps the Radiant Covenant I used was an inferior version?"

Imitations of holy relics did exist. Shaperia immediately rejected the idea.

"Absolutely not. That sacred fire was unquestionably the Great Saint's holy power."

The purer holy power became, the closer it came to moonlight. What Shaperia had experienced a short while ago had undoubtedly been moonlight itself. A mere inferior version could not imitate even its faintest glimmer.

Yohan murmured thoughtfully.

"If it wasn't an inferior version either, I can't think of any other possibility."

Shaperia pondered for a long while. Only after considerable time had passed did she speak.

"There is one theory left."

"What is it?"

A curious conviction settled in her eyes.

"Yohan Miyatro is an emissary of the Great Saint. There is no other explanation."

An emissary of the Great Saint was a Holy Hero personally chosen by the Great Saint.

They were not bound by truths, unwritten laws, or interdictions. Mere earthly rules could not restrain an emissary of the Great Saint. A Holy Hero followed only the Great Saint's heavenly mandate.

If Yohan was the Great Saint's emissary, that explained how he had survived using the Radiant Covenant.

Yohan stifled a laugh. He was more than satisfied. Shaperia's thoughts were following precisely the course he had planned. Devising that hallucination had been an excellent decision.

He feigned an awkward expression.

"Sir Shaperia, an emissary of the Great Saint? Someone as unworthy as me?"

She shook her head.

"There is much that is extraordinary about you, my lord. Not only your abilities, but your selflessness and profound sense of duty. You are more than worthy of being chosen as a Holy Hero."

Yohan had given up his own life to prevent Gawain from being unleashed upon the world. The sight of him sacrificing himself so calmly remained etched in Shaperia's mind.

Yohan looked visibly embarrassed. It was an act, of course.

"Your praise leaves me at a loss. I can only thank you for thinking so highly of me."

"I have merely stated the facts. Anyone would agree with me. Rather than stand here, we should leave for Church headquarters at once."

Yohan looked puzzled.

"Headquarters?"

"Yes. The moment we report this incident, your barony will come under the Church's protection."

He replied skeptically.

"And Church interference will follow its support."

"... Surely you don't wish to conceal what happened today?"

"Frankly, I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the Church. And the matter of His Highness remains unresolved."

Puzzlement filled Shaperia's face.

"But hasn't His Highness already passed away?"

Gawain had unquestionably vanished beneath the moonlight.

"No. He is alive."

Shaperia was flabbergasted.

"H-how is that possible?"

"It seems that, because he had not fully transformed into a Demon, he was able to survive even moonlight that intense."

She found his words difficult to believe. She had witnessed Gawain's destruction with her own eyes.

"... May I see His Highness for myself?"

"Of course. Let us go down to the forbidden library together now."

Yohan and Shaperia headed straight for the forbidden library.

* * *

In the very center of the forbidden library, a human sat bound to a large chair. It was difficult to identify him. Chains were wound tightly around his entire body, and so many talismans covered his face that not a speck of skin showed. He looked like a sealed mummy.

Shaperia swallowed hard.

"I-is this His Highness?"

Yohan nodded.

"Disloyal as it may be, we had no choice but to bind him. We cannot know when he might wake and run amok again."

Shaperia understood his position perfectly. Barely a few hours had passed since she had experienced Gawain's malice.

She gave a troubled murmur.

"What are we to do with His Highness now?"

Yohan answered calmly.

"We must cure him. As we originally planned."

They had intended to treat Gawain from the outset. That objective would not change.

"Is there a way?"

"As I said earlier, we must go to the Abyss."

Suddenly, a better solution occurred to Shaperia. They could simply kill Gawain here and now. There was no need to brave the risks of the Abyss.

Whether Yohan killed him or saved him, he would be justified. Gawain had already become a Demon, after all.

Shaperia gazed quietly at Yohan.

"Forgive my impertinence, but may I ask you something?"

"Please, ask freely."

"Why are you trying to help His Highness, my lord?"

Yohan spoke in a composed voice.

"Repay kindness. Do not turn away from those who suffer. Choose justice, even if it means taking the long way around. Those are all the Great Saint's words. As Watcher of the Abyss, I merely follow heaven's mandate."

As far as Shaperia knew, Gawain had been cursed while helping Yohan. He was suffering as a result, and Yohan had a duty to save him. He had to repay that kindness through righteous means.

Yohan was following the Great Saint's heavenly mandate without the slightest compromise. He was more faithful and devout than anyone Shaperia knew. A man truly worthy of being a Holy Hero.

She murmured softly.

"... I've been waiting for someone like you."

Yohan did not hear her.

"What did you say?"

Shaperia reached to her waist. Her sword left its sheath with a heavy scrape. Suddenly dropping to one knee, she offered the sharp blade up in both hands.

"Please accept this sword. I wish to serve as your hands and feet."

Yohan was a little taken aback.

'I wasn't asking for this much loyalty.'

He had staged this incident to dispel Shaperia's suspicions. Yet he had made a far greater impression on her than planned. She wanted to pledge her loyalty.

Yohan considered. Should he accept the sword? This had not been part of the plan, so he could not decide readily. He needed to weigh the costs and benefits.

'... Perhaps I should just take a good thing when it comes.'

There did not seem to be any particular downside, but he felt strangely uneasy. After pondering for a long while, Yohan spoke.