The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
“……”
In about ten minutes, Altera’s body was completely burned away.
All that remained was ash.
Even that was scattered by the wind… and vanished.
In the end, nothing remained of Altera.
Nothing at all.
Faced with such an ending, what was Altera thinking?
What had she been thinking?
Was she satisfied with a life like that?
I felt like asking her so many questions, but… that was no longer possible.
“Phew.”
In any case, it was over.
Not everyone could be saved, but they had managed to rescue the people who were taken away.
At the same time, Altera’s attack plan had been stopped.
…They had avenged Ruie and Gray.
And many others as well.
Had they managed to ease at least a little of that resentment?
Or was it nothing more than self-satisfaction?
Either way…
“The dead don’t come back…”
That fact alone was painfully lonely.
Inside the ruins.
The passage Rain and the others had used to escape was now filled with silence, as if it had forgotten the chaos from moments before.
The battle had ended, and the noise had faded away.
Anger and hatred, sorrow and tears, were all washed away as well.
Within the quiet ruins, a small flame suddenly flickered to life.
Slowly, over time, it grew.
Before long, the fire became a blaze.
Then it took on a human shape…
“Hah… hah… hah…”
Altera appeared.
“Guh, ugh… forcing the main body to self-destruct… returning from the clone to the original… It worked, at least technically…”
Altera tried to stand, but her legs gave out and she fell to her knees.
There was none of her usual fearless, cruel demeanor.
Now she trembled like a frightened baby rabbit, terribly weakened.
Of course.
She had attacked herself and been pushed to the brink of death… even to the verge of annihilation.
Still, there had been results.
Rain and the others must have thought Altera was dead.
They would never imagine she had escaped to a place like this and survived.
“Aha…”
She had managed to escape.
She had succeeded in clinging to life.
Relieved by that fact, she let out a small laugh—
—but immediately, her expression twisted with rage, and Altera clawed at the ground.
“That human… I’ll kill them. Absolutely, without fail, I’ll kill them.”
One of the Four Heavenly Kings being driven to the brink of death.
There was no greater humiliation.
Swearing revenge a thousandfold, Altera staggered to her feet, planning to return to the Demon King’s Castle and make her comeback—
“So you were alive after all.”
A calm voice echoed.
Altera’s body jolted.
She slowly turned around…
“…Zillor?”
“Good day, Lady Altera.”
At some point, Zillor was standing there.
Altera relaxed her guard and let out a slow breath.
“Oh, come on… don’t scare me like that. I thought that human had come after me.”
“You seem to have been dealt quite a severe blow.”
“…!!!”
Grinding her back teeth, Altera bit down in frustration.
But now wasn’t the time to be swallowed by anger.
Endure, endure, endure…
And someday, kill them.
Imagining that moment, Altera smiled innocently.
How should she kill them?
She wouldn’t finish it quickly.
She’d torture them slowly and thoroughly, pushing them until they begged to be killed.
“Phew… well, that’s for later. Right now, I need to rest.”
Even Altera had reached her limit.
Having been driven to the brink of annihilation, even staying conscious was difficult.
She wanted to return to the Demon King’s Castle immediately and rest.
“Hey, Zillor… take me to the Demon King’s Castle. I’m really tired, and moving on my own feels like too much.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Please.”
Altera smiled brightly.
But this was where she should have thought more carefully.
Why was Zillor here?
Why was she alone, without any subordinates?
It was strange if one thought about it normally, but Altera—utterly exhausted—failed to notice the abnormality.
Zillor slowly stepped closer to Altera.
As if to care for her, she gently reached out…
“…Eh?”
Placing her hand on Altera’s chest, Zillor fired a water bullet at point-blank range.
The watery projectile pierced Altera’s chest, blowing a hole straight through.
That wasn’t all.
It accurately struck Altera’s core, hidden deep inside.
Realizing what had happened, Altera stared at Zillor with a look of shock.
“Wh… why…?”
“There are two reasons. If someone like you—hardline and possessing immense power—disappears, don’t you think that would greatly benefit us?”
“Y-you… betraying me… like this…”
“Weren’t we enemies to begin with? And besides—”
“No… no no no! I don’t want this… I don’t want to die here… I don’t want to die… I don’t want to…”
Thud.
A second water bullet was fired, shattering Altera’s core to pieces.
The light vanished from Altera’s eyes, and her small body collapsed.
Moments later, it crumbled into dust and disappeared.
“As for the other reason… you went too far. Even though they were humans—I found it deeply unpleasant.”
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