The scriptures of the Salvation Church naturally contain accounts regarding the sealing of the Demon Realm.
However, as the records are exceedingly ancient, even Gartros could not fully comprehend their contents. Many parts were lost, and the remaining sections contained indecipherable drawings and characters.
The Salvation Church had persistently worked to interpret the scriptures. Among the information they uncovered was the story of the Saintess.
"If we go to the holy land and find the king, we will surely be able to break the seal again."
The story of the Saintess sacrificing herself to seal the Demon Realm was easy to understand. However, there were also conflicting records.
Some claimed that the Saintess still remained in the Demon Realm, waiting for their king.
The Salvation Church interpreted this as a metaphor. After all, no human, not even a Saintess, could live for a thousand years.
Moreover, the Saintess was said to have sacrificed herself to seal the Demon Realm. Thus, the records about her waiting for the king must carry a different meaning.
"Just as she left behind holy relics, there must be something left there as well, making the seal difficult to break. After all, the Saintess knew the king would be resurrected."
"Hm..."
Ernheart leaned on his chin, lost in thought.
Like the followers of the church, it seemed that even their opposition believed the king would be resurrected.
It was puzzling, considering that most records from a thousand years ago had vanished. While faith justified the church's belief, the opposing side had no such rationale.
There had to be a secret that was no longer passed down.
"I suppose I'll only understand once my memories return properly."
Ernheart had inherited the power and memories of one of the apostles. It was a preparation left by the sole surviving apostle after the final battle.
His powers were returning faster than expected. Though hazy, fragments of memories kept surfacing.
As the king's resurrection drew nearer, the divine energy spread throughout the world grew stronger.
The pace at which his power and memories returned was also influenced by that energy. Thus, uncovering the truth would not take much longer.
Gartros asked again, "But what does 'the last revelation' mean?"
"It's nothing significant. It just means the revelation about my mission was the last one."
"Then, does that mean you couldn't break the seal on the holy land?"
"That's right. The revelation that came immediately afterward was about the demon sweeping across Lutania."
"Hm..."
"The demon's army was so strong that I couldn't focus on completing my mission. I was constantly engaged in battles."
"But didn't you say you won in the end?"
"I did. But only after the entire kingdom was turned to ashes and mountains of corpses piled up could we finally kill that demon."
Ernheart unconsciously smiled.
The demon had roamed in search of him, its burning red eyes glowing with fury. In his dreams, he had only watched the demon.
For some reason, the demon never found him. Instead, it poured out its rage, destroying everything in sight.
The hatred and bloodlust the demon exuded were vast enough to shatter the world.
But countless heroes of the kingdom gathered and ultimately brought the demon down.
"I thought it ended there."
With the demon dead, Ernheart expected a new revelation to guide him back to his mission. Yet, the revelations stopped altogether.
Instead, from that day onward, the revelations reverted to their beginning, and his dreams became chaotic. Time and space were jumbled, making it impossible to discern anything.
Ernheart traced the cause to one person.
"Ghislain Perdium."
No one fit the image of a demon better than him.
How he managed to disrupt even the revelations was still unclear.
However, by comparing dreams to reality, some pieces began to make sense.
"What is destined to happen will happen. Even if the one who leads and resolves the events changes, the flow remains the same. That is the natural order."
Drought, plagues, rifts, dragon—many events occurred similarly to the revelations. Some were guided by their efforts, while others were not.
In the revelations, most of these events were resolved by Duke Delphine.
In reality, it was Duke Fenris who had taken the lead in resolving those events.
Ernheart somehow felt he already knew what would happen next.
"The Demon Realm... It seems Duke Fenris will discover it first. He has already interfered in the Forest of Demonic Beasts twice."
"..."
Ernheart spoke nonchalantly, even suggesting that the church's long-standing aspirations might be derailed, and laughed.
Gartros remained silent. He could not accept such an outcome.
That place must belong to them. Only then could they revive the power of the gods.
With unease and anxiety in his heart, Gartros set out once more.
While traveling, he heard a rumor that left him stunned.
"They... caught a dragon?"
"Yes. Duke Fenris led the people and finally killed the dragon."
"Wh-what..."
Gartros trembled. Now they had even slain a dragon? Just how powerful had their forces grown?
An irreverent thought even crossed his mind—perhaps not even the resurrected king could defeat Duke Fenris.
Ernheart simply smiled when he heard the news.
He had been certain the dragon would die. To him, the dragon was merely a condition and omen for what would come next.
The knight who brought the news spoke with a serious expression.
"They say Duke Fenris wasn't the reason they won."
"What? Then who was? Surely not the prince of Turian?"
"No. It was the mage, Alpoi, who contributed the most."
"Alpoi! That bastard!"
Gartros was deeply shaken.
Alpoi had long been flagged as a high-risk individual even by the church. His identity remained shrouded in secrecy, yet he had always seemed suspicious.
"Come to think of it... he never once faced a superhuman in battle."
As expected, he had been a secret weapon.
Even during numerous wars, Duke Fenris never sent Alpoi to the frontlines. Hence, the church had never encountered him directly.
"Duke Fenris! That cunning snake!"
He had hidden someone capable of killing a dragon all along. Surely, he had pulled countless strings behind the scenes.
"Could it be... all of Duke Fenris's achievements were thanks to Alpoi's help?"
That thought suddenly clarified many mysteries.
A mage capable of defeating dragon would surely possess wisdom reaching the heavens.
With Alpoi's assistance, Duke Fenris could act like a prophet, preparing faster and moving more decisively than anyone else.
Their defeats were inevitable.
"Just wait... Now that I know, I won't fall for it again."
Gartros ground his teeth.
Once the king was found and the church's power was revived, Alpoi would be the first to die.
That was the vow Gartros made.
***
Ghislain and some of his group had to wait in the Kingdom of Sardina for quite some time.
While hunting down remnants wasn't difficult, it took time for the commanders of the allied forces to return.
The remnants were mostly annihilated, scattering across the continent. The remaining troops were busy searching the regions for escapees.
Only a few commanders returned to Sardina for the final post-war meeting.
While waiting, Ghislain devoted himself to training the techniques he saw in his dreams.
He needed to increase his mana, strengthen his body, and fortify his mind. Only then could he sustain his willpower for longer periods.
In that sense, the new techniques were immensely helpful in elevating his level.
Meanwhile, Yulian focused entirely on identifying the energy that had seeped into his body.
He told no one and gave no signs, leaving others to believe he was simply meditating as usual.
"I can't figure it out."
The energy was no longer perceptible. It hadn't disappeared but had merged so naturally with him that it felt like it had always been there.
Power he could neither sense nor wield.
He'd be lying if he said it didn't bother him.
"Ha..."
Yulian let out a sigh, something quite unlike him. Even someone as composed as he was felt troubled by the mysterious energy he couldn't identify.
No matter how much he pondered, no answers came to mind. Yet he couldn't simply ignore it, and so his worries only deepened.
'Why did I see the Saintess?'
According to Erenes, the Saintess had sacrificed herself to seal the Demon Realm.
Could this energy be connected to that incident? There was no way the Saintess would appear without reason.
'Should I ask Erenes?'
But Yulian doubted she would tell him the truth. Even when they talked before, it felt like she was hiding something.
He began to think it would be better to consult Ghislain and the others.
He couldn't leave the energy that had transferred from the mad dragon inside his body. It had to be addressed.
Even knowing that...
'Why... why do I...'
A primal sense of resistance welled up from deep within him. It was a strong instinct, warning him not to tell Ghislain—at least not yet.
Yulian had always trusted his instincts. His extraordinary intuition had guided him correctly every time.
But this time, was it truly his own will? Or was it the influence of energy?
Once doubt crept in, even his own senses became unreliable.
"Haa..."
Yulian sighed again. Never in his life had he felt this conflicted. Not knowing what was happening only made the frustration worse.
Suddenly, a certain person came to mind.
'Gartros... would he know something about this?'
Yulian had wanted to meet that man for some time.
If the energy inside him was connected to the Salvation Church, then Gartros would know better than anyone.
As soon as the thought occurred to him, his resolve started to solidify—just like when he first learned about Ghislain and felt compelled to meet him.
His mysterious instincts began pointing in one direction like a compass.
And yet, unlike before, he couldn't make a decision right away. His faith in his own intuition had been shaken.
'Just a little more... I need to think a bit more...'
While Yulian continued to deliberate, the commanders of the Allied Forces gathered in the Kingdom of Sardina.
Ghislain had sent most of the troops back, leaving only Gillian, Belinda, a few knights, and some attendants.
Despite the small group, no one doubted their safety. Even with so few, they could probably slaughter an entire army if needed.
The commanders, reunited after some time, looked relaxed.
"It's finally over."
"There's nothing left to threaten us."
"Should we start organizing a pursuit force to capture that priest?"
The only task remaining was to track down the fugitives—Ernheart and Gartros.
No one seemed particularly worried. With every kingdom and church on the continent searching for them, they were bound to be found eventually.
Ghislain and the commanders discussed their plans for the pursuit and divided the spoils from the campaign.
The matter of territorial disputes was settled similarly to before. The areas bordering the Kingdom of Lutania were absorbed into Lutania, while the remaining territories were divided among the other allied nations.
Already a large kingdom, Lutania nearly doubled in size, becoming the undisputed strongest nation on the continent.
Ghislain smiled with satisfaction.
"The tedious post-war arrangements are finally over. Is everyone happy with the distribution?"
"Ah, yes..."
"Of course..."
"It's more than fair..."
But their smiles were noticeably weak.
Truthfully, there were no major complaints about the distribution. Everyone agreed that Lutania deserved the largest share.
However...
'It's too vast and powerful now.'
'It was already one of the largest kingdoms on the continent...'
'Now it's practically an empire.'
The overwhelming growth of Lutania left many uneasy.
That wasn't all. They knew the nobles back home, greedy and ambitious, would surely complain about the concessions made.
The mere thought of those inevitable criticisms made them feel exhausted.
With the post-war handling concluded, it was time for everyone to return. Each kingdom would now focus on stabilizing internally and studying the rifts.
Still, because of the pursuit force, they planned to maintain close communication for the time being.
Ghislain turned to Yulian.
"What about you? What's your plan?"
"I... I'm thinking of looking for Gartros."
"Alone?"
"There's nothing else for me to do. Instead of sitting idle, I might as well hunt down dangerous enemies."
Yulian spoke casually.
With the war over, there was no longer much work for him. Returning to his kingdom wasn't appealing either, as too many people there were uneasy around him.
He had never been truly welcome. Given the circumstances, searching for Gartros didn't seem like such a bad idea.
Ghislain fell silent for a moment. While Yulian was more than capable of taking care of himself, their enemies were dangerous.
'Especially Ernheart—I still don't know what he really is.'
They couldn't predict what tricks those enemies might use. Wandering around alone was risky, and there was no need to do so.
"That's too inefficient. The pursuit force is already scouring the continent, so why search by yourself? It's better to move once information comes in."
"...But I have nothing else to do."
"So you're saying you're unemployed."
"..."
Ghislain smirked and made an unexpected suggestion.
"In that case, how about coming to my territory? It's the perfect place for someone with nothing to do."
Yulian blinked, surprised by the offer.
Marquis Gidion, who had been listening nearby, narrowed his eyes suspiciously and stepped closer.