I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Holy Existence (2)

Pram decided not to return to the Holy Nation and instead chose to stay with the Imperial Court's special task force.

She declared she would relinquish the position of Saint, a role she had always wanted so much.

She no longer needed it, and now it had no meaning to her whatsoever.

In truth, being called a Saint was just for show; in reality, she'd been nothing more than an experimental subject.

It didn't take long for Pram to realize that fact.

"So, what you're saying is... the Saint is actually just a sacrifice to produce the sacred stone... am I right?"

"There are plenty of other victims besides you."

Just as Louis said, there were many who had been sacrificed for that so-called sacred stone.

Most of those victims, shockingly, weren't even citizens of the Holy Nation, but rather citizens of the Imperial Court.

"But the World Tree was already dead, and you all continued this pointless sacrifice... for nothing?"

Pram lightly summarized the explanation she'd heard up to this point.

In short, the Holy Nation had been digging its own grave for nothing.

Sacrificing innocent lives in the process.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

"How dare a witch like you open your mouth...!"

Bellain and High Priest Tyrone burst out in anger.

The very ones who had once exalted Pram as a Saint now castigated her as a witch.

Pram scoffed at their reaction.

"Wow, just until now you were calling me 'our Saint~ our Saint~' and suddenly your attitude changes like that?"

"Don't tell me you're asking because you really don't know why?"

"You of all people should know the reason best, don't you?"

The person they had worshipped as the Saint turned out to be a witch.

It must have felt like seeing their faith crumble to dust.

Knowing full well they would feel betrayed, Louis spoke up.

"Hahaha. I have no excuse for that part, honestly."

"But still—was it alright to reveal everything this easily? Feels kind of hasty, you know."

Perhaps revealing Pram's true identity so carelessly had been imprudent.

As Silia raised that concern, Kelian replied.

"It doesn't especially matter. Now that we know how the Saint was being used, what point is there in hiding anything? Frankly, we should just bring Pram over to our side right now."

In the end, Pram might have become like Andrew.

In the worst-case scenario, she could have died after being exploited like the others.

If that was the case, it was better to openly reveal her identity, even if it meant taking her by force.

Of course, the other side only focused on claiming they'd been victimized.

"You haven't forgotten what kind of authority we hold in the Holy Nation, have you?"

"We are the ones with the right to have the Saint on our side. I trust you're well aware of that?"

Then, their eyes flashed with anger.

"But you handed over a witch, not a Saint!"

"This is outright fraud! Do you even know what happened as a result?"

On the point of having deceived them, the special task force side couldn't say anything.

The expressions of the task force members seemed to acknowledge that.

"You're not seriously thinking that the blame for this lies with us alone, are you?"

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't tried to deceive us!"

Naturally, the blame-shifting began.

Louis let out a hollow laugh.

"Ah, so what you mean is, 'If only we hadn't shown up, none of this would've happened,' right?"

"What else could it be?"

"If that girl hadn't been a witch, this whole mess wouldn't have happened!"

The Holy Nation had accepted Pram without even knowing she was a witch.

In that state, they had forcibly extracted the sacred stone from her and had it absorbed by the World Tree.

"But the thing is, this was also the first time we learned about the World Tree's situation or the sacred stone."

"What?"

"If we had known from the start, do you think we'd have handed Pram over to you?"

Never forget that.

Louis and the special task force knew absolutely nothing about that fact.

Naturally, they had no idea that such forced labor was taking place in the elves' village.

There was no doubt that Louis' side had committed massive fraud against the Holy Nation.

But what about the Holy Nation itself?

"Are you really in a position to claim you're blameless?"

If Louis had deceived the Holy Nation, the Holy Nation was currently deceiving the entire continent.

"Hiding the fact that the World Tree is dead, turning people's lives into sacred stones just to keep up appearances, repeating those worthless deeds—how is that any less shameful?"

Bellain and Tyrone began to sweat coldly as Louis asked in a low voice.

Their opponent was a monster who had just lost all reason and gone wild.

The thought that this monster might threaten them again left them both horribly tense.

"But the World Tree, which was dead, was going to be reforged into a weapon...."

"If we could just use that, we could eradicate the demon realm."

Despite that, the two forced themselves to keep talking in small voices.

"Yes, as you say, we made plenty of sacrifices. We piled up mountains of corpses."

"But those sacrifices were necessary. It was to destroy the demon realm and bring peace to the people of the continent!"

They had their own reasons.

At the word "necessary", Louis narrowed his eyes.

"In other words, a necessary evil, huh?"

"Th-that's right!"

"No different from your 7th Legion in the Imperial Court."

Hearing that, Louis' lips curled up in a smirk.

"Sacrifice as a necessity? That's nice!"

Had they finally reached an understanding?

Bellain and Tyrone's faces brightened for a moment.

"In that case, we'll just have to sacrifice the entire Holy Nation, then."

"What?"

Their faces instantly turned ashen.

"If we use every person in the Holy Nation as nutrients for the World Tree, we could create a weapon of overwhelming size! Enough to wipe a whole nation off the map!"

"Wait, that's..."

"Yeah! If we turn all those people into sacred stones, just repeat exactly what you did to the elves here. Target your own citizens."

"Wait! Stop right there!"

Tyrone tried to stop him with a horrified look.

"Are you insane? Even as a joke, how could you say such a thing...!"

"It's not a joke."

"What?"

Louis replied with a fearsome expression.

Bellain and Tyrone's faces turned pale.

"Do we look like we're joking to you?"

And it wasn't just Louis.

Silia, Kelian, Pram—the rest of the special task force all wore the same expression.

It looked as if they would indeed carry out such an extreme act if the situation required.

"Cut the nonsense. How can you do that as a human—"

"And everything you did as a 'human', was that fine?"

Louis threw the question back at them.

"Was it right for you scumbags to fill your bellies by sacrificing others?"

"That was all for necessity..."

"So we're trying to sacrifice for necessity, too. Can't you understand that?"

This was the same thing the Holy Nation had always done without a second thought.

Yet Bellain and Tyrone seemed completely unaccustomed to being on the other end.

"Why are your faces like that? As if you've suddenly developed multiple personalities."

"...."

"We're just changing the target of sacrifice. It's a trivial difference."

Though Louis sounded as though he would really do it, they couldn't argue back at all.

Their moral "common sense" as humans was kicking in.

"And you say our 7th Legion isn't any different? Are you seriously running your mouth like that?"

"Well, isn't it?"

"It's similar, sure—but is that something you, the ones who sacrifice the innocent, should be saying? We at least try to target criminals."

Of course, among the criminals, there were some falsely accused, but most were irredeemable trash.

The 7th Legion only conscripts those sorts.

But how about the Holy Nation?

One only needed to look at Andrew standing next to them to see the answer.

"Why is it that the ones who aren't willing to be sacrificed themselves are so eager for others to do it? Are you really that righteous?"

"...."

"So listen closely."

Louis spoke to them with a furious expression.

"You don't get to decide who gets sacrificed. Of course, neither do we."

The standards of sacrifice are not for anyone to set.

After hearing those words, the pair could only sit there, silent.

"By the way, young master. Did you know? In the Holy Nation, there are still many who believe the World Tree is alive. I wonder how your citizens would react once they learn the truth?"

The Holy Nation was now completely cornered.

If this truth got out, it wouldn't stop at just an internal backlash.

"You've deceived all your citizens. Among them, there are so many who've entrusted their beliefs to the Holy Nation."

If the Holy Nation's true face was revealed, it would mean all of their faith had been for nothing.

It would certainly spark massive outrage.

"So... what are you planning to do with us now?"

Bellain asked with an extremely tense face, and Pram laughed at the sight.

"Hero older brother, that face is adorable! Just like when you confessed to me."

"That... that witch...!"

Enraged, Bellain began to draw his blade—then hesitated.

"Why? Trying to kill me? I'm the World Tree, you know."

"Grr...!"

In the end, he was powerless to act.

****

The incident at the elves' village had been resolved, but there were still aftermaths to deal with.

That clean-up always fell to those in high office, and there was only one person who outranked the special task force.

"It has been a long time, Your Majesty."

Emperor's carriage arrived at the elves' village, and Kelian stepped forward to greet him as the representative.

Beside him, Silia, Pram, and Louis each bowed their heads in turn.

"It is good to see you as well. I've heard everything through the spirit."

Everything that had happened here had been relayed to the Emperor without a single detail left out.

Thanks to that, there was no need to explain the situation.

"So this is the elves' village I've heard so much about?"

Princess Estelle asked as she stepped down from the carriage's adjacent seat.

"Welcome, Your Highness the Princess."

When Louis greeted her, the other task force members bowed their heads as well.

"Oh, it's been a while. How have you been?"

"Yes. As you can see, there are no issues."

"I heard that only special individuals could enter the elves' village."

Unlike the Emperor, Princess Estelle didn't yet know the details.

When Silia offered her a brief explanation, Estelle understood with just that.

"I see. So things have gotten so bad that now anyone can come in."

"Have you heard roughly what happened?"

"Yes. Something about the Holy Nation pulling some national scam here...."

"Hahaha! We can get the details from those people over there."

At that moment, the Emperor pointed to a large carriage entering the village.

From this carriage, an elderly man dressed in a manner befitting the royal family stepped out.

"The Pope of the Holy Nation."

As the old man made eye contact with the Emperor, he looked startled—

as if he'd been caught with something he'd desperately tried to hide.

"Uh... pardon me! I think I forgot something important."

Just then, Estelle rushed to Louis.

"What is it?"

"My friend, miss Rio—where is she right now?"

"Rio was badly injured a moment ago...."

"Miss Rio's been hurt?!"

At that instant, Estelle's tone turned chilling.

"Who did it? Which bastard...?"

Seeing Estelle look as if she might kill someone then and there, Louis chose not to answer.

He figured telling the truth would only make things more troublesome.

****

Rio, unconscious, now lay in the elves' village's medical facilities.

She was not alone.

[She is sleeping peacefully.]

[At a glance, she looks like an ordinary girl.]

Two floating blades were speaking.

They were the lingering thoughts of two Heroes possessed by the Bloodline.

[I can't believe it. Such a cute child is the Demon King.]

[In our time, there were never enemies like this.]

[But there's one thing bothering me.]

[What is it?]

[The Blood Sword Technique used by the Demon King. Do you know what its advantage is?]

Mirianne suddenly recalled something.

[It lets you grow under extreme conditions.]

[Then what just happened might have a huge impact on her.]

[So we'll have to watch her closely—]

At that moment,

Rio, who had been lying quietly asleep, suddenly bolted upright, eyes wide open.

[Are you alright?]

[....]

Frederick asked with concern, but Rio did not answer.

But when they looked into her eyes, both were startled.

[Her wounds....]

The wounds that had not been regenerating on Rio's body suddenly healed at once.

Seeing that, the two Heroes immediately realized—

this girl had reached a new level.