BRAND NEW WORLD

After Rima and Shana left, Ringga looked down at Luna, who was still fast asleep.

Her breathing was calm, and her face showed no trace of pain.

Rima was busy taking care of the others, and Luna still hadn’t woken up. I suppose there’s no other choice.

Ringga let out a long sigh.

"Well... I guess it can’t be helped."

He bent down and carefully lifted Luna into his arms.

Once he had made sure everyone was ready, a magic circle appeared beneath their feet.

Light enveloped the group.

And a moment later, they vanished.

News of their victory quickly spread throughout the allied forces.

Rima returned to the troops of the Kingdom of Moesram and announced that the battle was over.

The Devil had been defeated.

For a moment, the soldiers stood there in silence, as though they needed time to comprehend what they had just heard.

Then—

"UWOOOOHHH!!"

Cheers erupted.

The soldiers raised their weapons high into the air. Some clapped one another on the shoulders, while others lowered their heads and released long breaths.

The burden that had weighed upon them for so long was finally gone.

Elsewhere, Shana returned to the Nyrranthean camp.

The news she brought was met with much the same reaction.

Soldiers and players embraced one another. Some laughed at the top of their lungs, others jumped for joy, and a few sank to the ground and covered their faces.

Each of them celebrated in their own way.

They had survived.

The war was over.

Meanwhile, Ringga’s group appeared near the joint Nuzantra–Kalimantra camp.

Their arrival immediately drew attention.

Several people hurried towards them, with Ares being the first to arrive.

"Miss Lusserina! Ringga! And..."

His words trailed off.

His gaze fell upon Luna, lying limp in Ringga’s arms.

Ares’s expression immediately changed.

"What happened to her?"

"Relax," Ringga replied calmly. "She’s only exhausted her mana. Her life isn’t in danger."

Ares released a long breath.

"Phew... I thought something had happened to her."

Ringga smiled faintly.

Then he turned towards the people beginning to gather around them.

"And there’s one more thing."

Everyone fell silent.

Ringga raised his head.

"The Devil is dead."

Silence.

One second.

Two.

Then—

"UWOOOOOOOOHHHH!!"

A deafening roar of celebration swept through the camp.

The soldiers of Nuzantra and Kalimantra raised their weapons into the air. Some embraced one another, while others shouted their victory at the top of their lungs.

Relief was written across every face.

Even Ares was grinning broadly.

The long battle that had cost them so much strength—and so many lives—was finally, truly over.

Not long afterwards, Ares ordered one of his men to inform Prime Minister Allan and Knight Commander Deva of Ringga’s arrival.

Several high-ranking officials soon arrived.

Since Ringga needed to report directly to Prime Minister Allan, he couldn’t immediately return to Lake Dewata.

Instead, he carefully handed Luna over to Lusserina.

"Take her home first."

Lusserina accepted Luna into her arms with great care.

"Understood."

"Randgris, Aul, Azrail, Ishtar. Go with her."

"Yes!"

Ringga looked at Luna one more time.

"Make sure she gets some rest."

Lusserina nodded.

Not long afterwards, they left the camp and took Luna back to their home at Lake Dewata.

Ringga, meanwhile, remained behind to deal with the countless problems that had emerged in the aftermath of the war.

They spent the next two hours dismantling the camp and preparing the soldiers for their return.

Once everything was ready, Ringga asked Tiamat to open a spatial portal.

One group after another began returning to the capital, Nuzantra.

For Ringga, however, the work was far from over.

The next day, he had to attend a series of meetings with high-ranking representatives from the various kingdoms to discuss the post-war situation.

According to Rima, it was only natural.

Ringga was the head of the Oberyth family.

More importantly, he was the one who had led the battle against the Devil.

Whether he liked it or not, he had to take responsibility for many of the decisions that followed the war.

Fortunately, he wasn’t alone.

Rima remained by his side.

And as his aide and bodyguard—

Ringga brought Tiamat.

A decision that quickly proved to be a mistake.

Tiamat’s presence made every meeting unbearably tense.

Whether it was because of his passive skill that induced fear, the draconic aura he couldn’t completely suppress, or simply his intimidating appearance, almost no one dared look at him for more than a few seconds.

One of the attendees even fainted.

Then there was the small matter of Tiamat standing nearly three metres tall.

Some rooms could barely accommodate him.

In the end, Ringga decided to replace his aide the following day.

Azrail took Tiamat’s place.

After that, at least no one fainted during the meetings.

Unfortunately for the diplomats, that didn’t mean things became any easier.

Ringga was an expert strategist with a keen ability to read situations.

Azrail, meanwhile, was an intelligent and cunning demon with an exceptional talent for manipulating words.

Whenever the two sat on the same side of the table, some delegations only realised how much they had agreed to after the meeting was already over.

In a very different way from Tiamat—

Azrail turned out to be an equally terrifying aide.

"After that, I spent most of my time running back and forth, dealing with all the remaining post-war matters."

Ringga raised his cup.

"At first, I brought Tiamat along as my aide. But his appearance intimidated everyone so much that I replaced him with Azrail the next day."

I imagined Tiamat standing in the middle of a room filled with nobles and royal officials.

Nearly three metres tall.

A terrifying face.

A dragon’s aura.

...

Yeah.

I could understand why they had been frightened.

"Oh, right," Ringga continued. "Shana stayed here for a night as well. She was worried about you."

"Shana stayed here?"

Ringga nodded.

"But she returned to Nyrranthea the next day. Shany asked her to help deal with the remaining post-war matters over there."

"I see..."

I nodded slowly.

Then another question occurred to me.

"What about the others? Where are they now?"

Before Ringga could answer—

WOOONG!

A spatial portal suddenly appeared in the back garden.

I instinctively rose from my chair.

Daisy, who had been playing outside with Bamby and Arimby, stopped as well.

She stared curiously at the portal.

"Daisy, don’t get too close—"

Before I could finish warning her, several figures stepped through.

Tiamat.

Randgris.

Azrail.

A woman dressed in white.

And—

a Beastman I didn’t recognise.

My attention immediately settled on him.

He was probably somewhere between 1.8 and 1.9 metres tall. He wasn’t particularly bulky, but his physique was clearly well-trained.

A pair of wolf ears protruded from the top of his head.

But the most surprising thing was his face.

Handsome.

Not merely handsome, either.

He looked more like the leading man in a Korean or Chinese drama than someone travelling around with Ringga’s group.

Where did Ringga meet someone like this...?

As I wondered about it, I noticed Ringga’s shoulders trembling slightly out of the corner of my eye.

I turned towards him.

Ringga immediately put on a perfectly straight face.

"..."

I sighed.

What else is he hiding from me this time?

When I looked back towards the garden—

Daisy’s eyes suddenly lit up.

"Uncle Aul!"

"Hm?"

Daisy happily ran towards the Beastman, with Bamby and Arimby following close behind.

"Uncle Aul!"

The Beastman smiled and bent down to greet her.

I froze.

Huh!?

I stared at him again.

Wolf ears.

A handsome face.

Not the slightest trace of a threatening aura.

Then the image of the enormous werewolf I had seen on the battlefield resurfaced in my mind.

AUL!?

"Hahahahaha!"

Ringga finally failed to contain himself.

He burst into laughter beside me.

I slowly turned towards him.

"..."

"Hahaha! You should’ve seen your face!"

Ringga was laughing so hard he had to clutch his stomach.

I glared at him.

"Hahaha... ha..."

Our eyes met.

"..."

His laughter gradually died.

"All right, all right."

He cleared his throat and looked away.

I turned back towards Aul, who was now holding Daisy in his arms.

Looking at him carefully, those were unmistakably wolf ears.

It was just...

the difference was far too extreme.

When transformed into a werewolf, Aul possessed an enormous body and such an intimidating aura that anyone would hesitate to approach him.

But now, there was almost nothing threatening about him.

His presence felt much friendlier, like an ordinary Beastman.

And that face...

I still couldn’t accept it.

A few days ago, he’d looked like a monster capable of tearing someone in half.

Now he looked like a drama actor.

I gave up trying to make sense of it.

I leaned back against my chair.

A moment later, Ringga and I stood and walked over to them.

As we approached, Tiamat, Randgris, Azrail, and Aul lined up before us.

The four bowed slightly.

"Congratulations on your resurrection, My Lady!"

"..."

I blinked.

Resurrection?

Did I die or something?

"Pfft—"

I turned around.

Ringga was covering his mouth.

His shoulders were trembling again.

"Don’t."

"Hahahahaha!"

He failed miserably.

Ringga burst out laughing again, clutching his stomach.

I released a long sigh.

"I know you’re his subordinates, but you don’t have to do everything he tells you."

"..."

The four exchanged glances.

For some reason, none of them denied it.

Ringga finally managed to stop laughing.

He glanced at Azrail.

"Looks like they’re here. Azrail and I have to head out again."

"Where are you going?"

"There are still a few things we need to take care of."

Ringga waved a hand.

"I’ll be back later."

"Bye, Dad!" Daisy called from Aul’s arms.

Ringga immediately smiled.

"Bye! Take care of your mother for me, okay?"

"Okay, Dad!"

"..."

I watched the exchange between them.

Strangely...

No one seemed to find it unusual.

Even Ringga had responded to Daisy as though being called that had already become perfectly normal.

I opened my mouth.

But in the end, I said nothing.

Ringga and Azrail then disappeared from the back garden.

I turned my attention towards those who remained.

My gaze settled on Randgris.

During the previous battle, I’d already noticed that she was beautiful even with part of her face obscured by armour and a helmet.

But seeing her up close like this...

She really was stunning.

Then I suddenly remembered someone.

"By the way..."

I looked around.

"Where’s Ishtar?"

"..."

Tiamat froze.

Aul looked at Randgris.

Randgris looked at Tiamat.

Then all three of them turned their heads to the side at once.

Towards—

the woman in white who had been standing with them this entire time.

"..."

I followed their gazes.

The woman smiled at me.

I stared at her.

Once.

Twice.

My eyes slowly widened.

"Ishtar!?"