After Valac finished setting up the table, he got up and took Konny back to the city safely. Lara watched Konny's back as she went away.
Leaving behind her meal, Lara went into the log cabin. Then, she took two magic receivers out of her pocket.
One was a beautifully crafted necklace and one was an early receiver of a rugged shape. The receivers were all in pairs. Lara gave one of each pair to different people. One was Demian, and the other was Acerus.
"Crown Prince Acerus."
A red light hovered from the receiver. Lara did not wait very long. A deep voice came out from the other side.
「Saintess?!」
It was Acerus.
「I was surprised to hear your voice so suddenly, so it was worth it to carry this receiver around. But I'm so unlucky, after dad left me here alone I'm stuck at my desk every day doing paperwork.」
Acerus said with great delight. He complained there were a lot of documents with a lot of incomprehensible words and asked Lara if she knew why all the emperors had a lot of smart aides around. Then, he answered his own question by saying that it was all to hide their failure in studying.
「That is so embarrassing. You're the only one who's like that, Your Imperial Highness!」
「You punk! Do you want to be taken in for lèse-majesté? I'll send you to the battlefield! Oh, I'm sorry. My aide doesn't know how to shut his trap. I'm going to hit him one day.」
「I'm going to tell on you to saintess.」
「You snitch of a bastard.」
「He sleeps with that receiver thingy every night. At first, I thought he was a toddler who slept with his rattle in his…」
「You son of a gun!」
There was a lot of commotion on the other side of the receiver for a while. It was the sound of Acerus beating and kicking out the aide. Lara caught her breath and waited for him to be left alone.
「I'm sorry. It was loud, right? I always keep the receiver with me because I don't know when you would…」
"Crown Prince Acerus."
「Why is your voice so gloomy? Did something happen?」
"His Imperial Majesty has passed away."
「…What?」
Acerus asked back as if he had not understood Lara's words. Even though Lara deliberately delivered it in a clear and distinct voice so that Acerus would not have to hear the same thing over and over again.
「What did you just say? Who died? Saintess, I can't hear you.」
"He was killed in action in the first all-out battle against the Hell Corps in Memoria City."
「Dead? My father?」
Acerus said absent-mindedly.
「Say… Say it again.」
"His Imperial Majesty has passed away."
Thud.
Acerus dropped the receiver
Lara heard an unclear sound.
Lara waited in silence. Though she did not wait long, for Lara, this short period of time felt like it had infinitely stretched forevermore. She could hear Acerus's breathing getting rougher and rougher, and she could hear the sound of something hard breaking. Acerus let out an unintelligible murmur to himself. He spoke in passing, with a sigh mixed with weeping.
「I'm sure he already knew.」
Lara knew nothing would comfort him. She just listened and listened to what Acerus was saying.
「Not me, but my father knew. He went to battle despite knowing he was going to die. That's why he told me not to go… He even hid his illness from me for so long. Did he think I didn't know about that? Damn it! If I knew this would happen, I would've given up being the Crown Prince and followed the Barbarians…」
Acerus forcefully swallowed his tears. He growled like a beast, his groans, screams, and sighs mixed together. He sobbed and breathed heavily for a long time. Then, he called for Lara.
「Saintess.」
"Go on."
「The battle where my father passed away. Did he win it?」
"Yes."
「Okay.」
He would stand up. That was what an Emperor was. Someone who was a symbol of a nation, not just of a person.
Tarragon was not an ordinary country. It was the largest and strongest country on the continent. It was also a country that represented humans. The Emperor's throne that Acerus had to bear was that heavy and cruel.
「I heard that you became the demon lord. After this, I'm going to bring in all the troops from the empire, frontier, Eastern states, and the Northern lands and advance to Gorgon.」
"Yes, go ahead."
「What am I supposed to do?」
"You can destroy the Hell Corps and make this war a victory for humanity. Nothing will change."
「I understand.」
Acerus said. His voice cracked like a dry tree. Lara was still fiddling with the reddish receiver and somehow felt warmth from the cold jewel.
A hero of mankind. A brave man who resisted the demon army to the end even in the ruined world. There was something she wanted to say to him.
"Crown Prince Acerus, you will make a good Emperor."
「Is that so?」
"Because you're a good son."
Lara whispered.
Acerus held his breath no longer, he gasped heavily and soon burst into tears. He cried with the receiver in his hand. Without a word, he cried for a long time.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
A sharp wind blew. The wind in the winter mountains was as cold and sharp as a knife. The metaphor 'cold enough to rip one's cheek' almost did not sound like a joke anymore. Even if one rubbed one's hands diligently like a fly and wore thick clothes, the cold would not go away easily.
Isadora waited for Lara in that cold. A snowflake of wind came in from the wide-open window. Sebastian advised her to stay in the next room and that he would wait for Lara, but it went in one ear and out the other. Isadora stood upright in a demonic beast's fur cloak, a gift from the Barbarians.
"Urgh."
Valentine shivered with both his arms wrapped around his skinny shoulders. The heater was set to the strongest level but it did not work at all. Konny finally stepped in and brought a thick blanket. She sat next to Valentine and covered both of them together.
Then, a human shadow popped out of the wide-open window. Black clothes, black hair, and black shadow. It was Vassago. He reached down and said.
"Master, hold my hand."
"I told you, I can't do things like levitating."
"It's because I keep forgetting that you're a human, Master."
Vassago took Lara's hand and put her up the window. He still moved well mid-air. Lara got off the windowsill and looked into the room. Isadora ran immediately and hugged Lara in her arms.
"Lara!"
"Mother, what are you doing here in this cold? You should have just let the window open and stayed somewhere else."
"You're saying the same thing as Sebastian."
"Valentine is going to die like that."
"I told the weak one not to come but he insisted on seeing you."
"M, m, m, milady…"
As Valentine greeted Lara with a shivering chin, Konny hugged him tightly under the covers and shouted.
"Shut up and warm your body up! What am I supposed to do if you die?"
What should I do with these silly people?
Lara slipped out of Isadora's arms and spread her hands. Then, the giant of fire popped out of her arms. It was as small as a five-year-old child, and it rubbed its body against her before immediately moving to Isadora after finding her.
"Keep this area warm."
Lara closed the window and said.
The giant of fire blew a long breath. Hot heat leaked from its little mouth and warmed the room in an instant. It was so warm that a clear haze appeared along with the breath of the giant of fire.
Isadora, who was stiff, finally loosened her shoulders. Valentine, who was shivering, also slipped out of the blanket and swept his flushing face with his hands. Vassago looked at them and lamented.
"I can't believe the hellfire of extinction is being used as a warmer…"
It would have been nice to enjoy the joy of reunion to the fullest, but Lara did not have much time. If someone found out that the demon lord was there, Isadora and the others would be in danger. After hearing Lara say that she had to solve her business as soon as possible and go back, Isadora asked while patting the giant of fire.
"What in the world is going on? I heard you got in touch with the Crown Prince?"
"Crown Prince Acerus alone won't be enough. He will arrive here after gathering troops from all over the continent. The gates of hell are only half-open at the moment. We must protect this place before that."
"Is that possible?"
"Yes, we have the hellfire of extinction."
Lara said. Her eyes were on the giant of fire that was grunting like a puppy in Isadora's arms. Isadora asked Lara with a suspicious look.
"This baby?"
Lara nodded firmly.
"Abraxas was the one who gave me the fire, and I know what it is. It's not a fire fairy like in those fairy tales, it's hellfire, a fire that leads to the end of the world. And Abraxas giving it to me means it can do something."
Lara did not know at first, she thought it was just a cute and warm fairy. However, after seeing Paimon giving in, Vassago kneeling in front of her, and the demons of the Hell Corps shivering after looking at the giant of fire, Lara realized.
The demon of fire who wanted her in her life before her death. When the sacrifice that the humans were supposed to offer had died and disappeared, the great demon lord of fire destroyed Hautean with its anger.
Its name was hellfire. If Demian had not torn its heart, it would have destroyed the world. Perhaps Demian had already saved the world once.