Darkness shrouded Cassim’s vision entirely.
He knew death was drawing near.
By all rights, he should have died beneath that devastating strike moments ago. Yet the power of his Demonic Transformation had warped his life force into something aberrant—he did not meet his end at once.
“Heh......”
Cassim let out a bitter, self-mocking chuckle.
“In the end, I was saved by the very power that was meant to kill me... but what’s the point of it all?”
It was nothing more than a fleeting reprieve, a brief delay of the inevitable.
His body had lost all sensation whatsoever.
He surmised it was not that he could no longer feel, but that his body had been maimed beyond repair, severing all his sensory connections entirely.
“I’d have been better off dying right then.”
Cassim could sense the exact moment his life would flicker out for good.
Ordinarily, this final stretch of time would have been a chance to struggle, to turn the tide of fate—but for him now, none of that was possible.
The only thing left for him to do was wait for death to come.
“I never thought... waiting for death would feel like this......”
Tap. Tap.
Footsteps echoed nearby, crisp against the scorched earth.
Cassim heard them clearly; his hearing, it seemed, was the last sense he retained.
He could feel a figure standing beside him, watching his broken form in silence.
For no reason at all, a desperate urge flared in his fading consciousness—he wanted to see who stood by his side in his final moments.
Summoning every last shred of strength left in his failing body, he pried his eyes open.
Dim light filtered back into his sight, and then he saw the face of the man before him.
“......”
“Heh, it’s only fitting that it’s you.”
Cassim smiled weakly, his voice a ragged whisper.
“Grisa.”
Grisa stared down at the fallen Cassim with an expressionless face, his fingers clamped tight around his wand. He did not speak, nor make a single move. There was no hatred, no anger in his eyes—only an endless, icy indifference.
“......Not a single word for me?”
Cassim spoke slowly, his breath shallow.
“Right. I suppose you have nothing left to say to me at all.”
“So then......”
“Will you strike the final blow?”
Grisa still did not answer, yet he responded to the words all the same—lifting his wand steadily and pointing its tip straight at Cassim.
Staring at the wand aimed for his heart, Cassim closed his eyes slowly.
“So this is why I lingered... to die by your hand.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Boom——!
A jet-black beam of light slashed across the ground in a blinding flash, carving a massive gash into the earth.
In that instant, Cassim—the Faith Pillar of Gulos’ Three Pillars, the master of intelligence who stood as one of the dark faction’s core pillars—vanished from this world entirely.
Cassim’s death meant the collapse of one corner that had propped up the entire edifice of Gulos.
The war between the realm and Gulos was about to reach its boiling point......
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest,
“Ah...... damn it all...... how did things spiral into such ruin!”
Professor Raelingrim, grievously wounded, stumbled unsteadily toward the forest’s edge. He had been sent flying by a single paw swipe from the Tyrant Giant Bear at the start of the fray, hurled miles away from the camp.
By his power level alone, he should never have survived that strike.
But years of dedicated research into the secrets of life had left him adorned with countless life-sustaining Magical Items—trinkets that had clung to his fading vitality, allowing him to cheat death by a hair’s breadth.
Though he had survived, his grievous injuries had robbed him of all combat strength entirely.
The monsters that roamed these woods had long since fled, scattered by the clashing auras of Manacos and Gulos adepts alike. This lull allowed Raelingrim to stumble free of the forest unmolested.
As he stepped past the treeline, he fumbled out a carefully preserved trinket with trembling hands.
Crack!
He smashed it to smithereens without a second thought.
Having done this, he waited where he stood.
It was not long before a sound rang out.
ROAR!
A monster came bounding toward him at full speed. Unlike the wild beasts of the forest, this creature made no move to attack him—and it bore a sturdy mount harness strapped to its back.
“You all will regret this......”
Raelingrim glared back at the forest with bitter resentment, his voice a venomous snarl.
“This matter is far from over!”
With that, he clambered onto the monster’s back, urged it forward, and vanished beyond the forest’s edge......
...
Near the camp,
the colossal Tyrant Giant Bear trotted slowly toward the depths of the forest, a tiny cub perched securely on her broad back.
Having helped Hulim and her companions resolve the camp’s crisis and repaid their debt of gratitude, they were returning to their rightful home.
Behind them, three figures stood watching their retreat, bidding them farewell.
“Goodbye~! Little Bear, Big Bear!”
Miko waved her arms enthusiastically, calling out in a bright voice.
“We’ll meet again if fate allows!”
Yip~!
The cub twisted around on its mother’s back, lifting a small paw and waving it weakly at the three girls—as if returning their farewell in its own way.
After that, the massive silhouette of the Tyrant Giant Bear faded slowly into the forest’s depths.
They were going back to their own world, to the innermost heart of the woods.
It would be many long years before they ever ventured out again......
“They’re gone...”
Miko’s face fell, her eyes soft with longing for the cub.
“They are,” Alicia said gently, “but they have their own way of life. All we can do is leave them be, and never disturb their peace.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Miko nodded glumly. “They don’t belong here after all......”
A brief silence hung between them.
Then, suddenly, Miko slapped her cheeks hard, her spirits lifting once more as she shouted with resolve:
“Alright—!”
“Now that they’ve left, we have our own work to do! There’s still plenty to help with at the camp! Let’s go lend a hand!”
Alicia nodded in agreement.
“Indeed. Many of Gulos’ stragglers fled the battle, and they need to be hunted down.”
“Speaking of which...... we never found Raelingrim, did we?”
Miko’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Do you think he got away?”
“It’s not impossible.”
“That’s terrible! A scheming man like him, loose in the world—if he rallies the remaining Gulos forces, who knows what atrocities he’ll commit next!”
With that, Miko turned to look at the third girl, her voice earnest and urgent.
“Hulim, do you have any plan?”
Hulim Heyerar glanced at her, her voice calm and unwavering as she answered:
“Do not worry overmuch.
One of Gulos’ Three Pillars is dead now. The remaining Gulos stragglers within the empire will soon fall into chaos without their leader.
They will only seek to flee the empire, not plot further mischief. Raelingrim will find no aid from Gulos for the time being, and besides......”
Her gaze sharpened faintly, a flicker of certainty in her tranquil eyes.
“I have a fair idea where he might be headed.”
...
Inside the camp,
the teachers of Manacos gathered for a short meeting, their faces etched with weariness and solemn concern.
“Headmaster, we have slain or captured most of the Gulos stragglers,” one teacher reported solemnly.
“Yet a great many of their more powerful adepts managed to escape.”
“I understand.” Holstin Ming Dawson replied calmly.
“This is only natural. In a battle of such scale, total annihilation is impossible. We cannot stop every fugitive from fleeing.”
“Headmaster, shall we mount a pursuit at once?” the teacher pressed.
“No.”
Holstin shook his head firmly.
“In their current state, these fugitives dare not linger in the empire. They will hide their tracks and seek to escape across the border. If we push them too hard, drive them into a corner, they will lash out and commit far greater atrocities in their desperation.
We will bide our time for now.
Then, we will contact the empire and allied factions, issue a joint manhunt warrant, and wait for their guard to slip—only then will we move to apprehend as many of them as we can.”
