Chapter 84 – Return

Because the situation was disadvantageous, molting became a necessity rather than a choice.

“Demonic Attire Molting: Voluptuous Calamity Fire!”

As she wrapped herself in threads of mana to prepare for molting, Aren, who was watching, laughed lightly.

‘Is she molting right away?’

It was as expected.

Not panicking, Aren also caused his own contract-based mana to run wild.

At the same time, he issued orders to those around him.

“Maintain the barrier. I will handle the witch.”

An inhuman being that had even molted could only be opposed by a fellow inhuman being.

Skipping the attire change, Dharma Officer Aren wrapped himself in threads of mana.

“Demonic Attire Molting: White Phosphorus Divine Star!”

The two inhuman beings shed their human skins and transformed into calamities.

A bewitching and sensual flame of calamity.

Veronica, who became the Voluptuous Calamity Fire, lost her human form and became a complete nine-tailed fox.

Aren, who opposed her, also transformed into an inhuman being that spewed flames of white phosphorus.

Dada, his form was still close to a human.

“Maintain the barrier! The Flame-Haired Witch will be handled by the Dharma Officer.”

On behalf of the Dharma Officer who had entered battle with Veronica, the Dharma Leaders comforted the Dharma masters and put all their effort into maintaining the barrier.

As long as the barrier was maintained, there was no way for Veronica to escape.

Thus, giving up on escaping, Veronica instead thought of burning the Dharma Officer to death inside the barrier.

“One of us will burn to death. Let’s see who it is.”

“Just what I wanted.”

The Voluptuous Calamity Fire hovered inside the barrier, and the light being spewing white phosphorus also faced her without backing down.

White phosphorus, a flame of calamity that would not go out until it burned the target to completion.

The Voluptuous Calamity Fire and the white phosphorus collided roughly, as if competing with their respective calamities.

An intense light that could not dare be watched with open eyes spewed out of the barrier, but fortunately, due to the barrier, even its heat was not transmitted.

It was possible because all of the Dharma masters were using their full strength to maintain the barrier.

However, as the battle intensified, maintaining the barrier with only the Dharma masters became difficult, so the watching Dharma Leaders also stepped in.

Soon, the entire Dharma Division, except for the Dharma Officer, lent their strength to maintaining the barrier.

And there were those who were watching this with interest nearby, the Inquisitor whose target was the Dharma Officer and her attendant.

“It seems the Dharma Division has set out on a witch hunt.”

Watching from afar without needing to hide, she reached her judgment.

“Karl, target only the Dharma masters. Once the barrier crumbles, do not overdo it and pull back. Even our demonic armor won’t be able to block those flames.”

“Are you helping the witch? If we do not step forward, the witch will be hunted on her own.”

Had the situation been favorable, they would have targeted the witch together as well.

However, the situation was not that favorable.

The Dharma Division was intact, and the Dharma Officer’s momentum against the witch had not died down either.

If time passed, there was a high probability that the outcome would lean toward the Dharma Officer.

Since they usually viewed the strength of a Dharma Officer and a witch as similar, and the Dharma Officer was not alone.

“Because we must catch the Dharma Officer first. As for the witch… I will put her on hold for now.”

The two wearing demonic armor targeted the Dharma masters who were putting all their effort into maintaining the barrier.

Without the Dharma Division, flustered by the sudden external intervention, even having time to respond, several Dharma masters were taken down in an instant, causing the barrier to crumble.

Immediately after, the calamitous flames swept over the surroundings, and many Dharma masters who failed to dodge were engulfed in fire, screaming horribly.

The suddenly released barrier.

The two inhuman beings confirmed the existence of the demonic armor that had intervened in the fight.

Looking at her form, she was a female knight, and she was equipped with a halberd.

‘Is it that Inquisitor?’

Dharma Officer Aren recognized her immediately, but Veronica did not.

“Who is she?”

Rather than intervening in the fight between the two, Aria set out to clean up the surroundings first.

Because there were still many Dharma Leaders and Dharma masters who were in the way of hunting the Dharma Officer.

“A damn Inquisitor.”

Here, Veronica’s and Aren’s reactions diverged starkly.

To one, she was a terrible nuisance, and to the other, she was no different from a savior.

“An Inquisitor? To think an Inquisitor would help me. I really must have lived a long time to see this.”

The paused fight was resumed.

Outside the vanished barrier, the Voluptuous Calamity Fire burned even more roughly, and the white phosphorus opposing her was not satisfied with just burning the surroundings and melted them as they were.

The fight grew increasingly violent, and the surroundings all turned to ashes.

The flames of the two calamities had burned everything down.

While the two inhuman beings, feeling the exhaustion of their mana, caught their breath for a moment.

Aria, having finished cleaning up the surroundings, took up a position behind the Dharma Officer.

“It seems she is targeting you, not me?”

Veronica laughed.

She had thought she just recklessly barged in, but that was not it.

A firm purpose could be seen in that Inquisitor, and fortunately, the target was not herself.

‘This has become troublesome. To think even an Inquisitor would intervene.’

Aren spoke up to win her over.

“Inquisitor, how about we hunt the witch first? From the Order’s perspective, the most troublesome target should be the witch, not us, right?”

However, no answer came from her, and Aren’s expression had no choice but to stiffen.

A situation where the Inquisitor and the witch targeted the Dharma Officer was created.

Having to worry about two instead of one, Aren stretched out his arms and spewed flames of white phosphorus.

The calamity-class power reached the two women, but one blocked it with the power of a fellow calamity.

While the other blocked it with a magic barrier overlaid on the sturdiness of her demonic armor, before quickly dodging.

‘There is no answer to this.’

Judging that there was no chance of winning, the Dharma Officer tried to escape through a portal, but this time it was Veronica who blocked his escape.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

The nine tails, as if possessing their own will, moved individually and tightly bound Dharma Officer Aren, who had transformed into the White Phosphorus Divine Star.

“Oh no!”

The Dharma Officer, his movements sealed, drew out the power of white phosphorus to burn her tails, but before he could, his neck flew off.

The Inquisitor, digging in in an instant, had sent his head flying with her halberd.

The decapitated Dharma Officer returned to his original form, but was caught in the Voluptuous Calamity Fire and turned to ashes.

Having eliminated the Dharma Officer like that, the two stood confronting each other again.

However, Veronica, whose mana was completely depleted, had no strength to continue the battle anymore, whereas Aria still had that power but decided to let her go for other reasons.

“It would be… too much to target even the witch. I will let you live. For now, I must worry about the Dharma Division first.”

Aria had no intention of making matters complicated by bothering even the witch.

Since retrieving the Immortal Heart and preparing for the aftermath of the Dharma Officer’s death came first for now.

Veronica, having shed her molt, returned to her former appearance.

Having returned after burning everything down, she was a naked body without a single stitch of clothing.

However, with a snap of her fingers, she was wearing clothes as if she had never been naked.

“To think I’d receive help from an Inquisitor. How should I interpret this?”

Aria said indifferently.

“Let’s say the Dharma Officer here was killed by you.”

“Why? Because you don’t want to take responsibility?”

“Yes.”

“But what to do? I’ve also done a lot, so that would be troublesome. Right now, I killed a fellow witch with my own hands, so the Eldest Sister is going to be extremely angry. On top of that, if we talk about the Dharma Officer, I feel like all my hair will be pulled out.”

When Aria moved her halberd without a reply, Veronica’s attitude changed.

“Ayy, it’s a joke. This and killing Gehenna are separate matters.”

Veronica’s expression sank low.

“By the way, these fellows targeted me? The Dharma Division seems to have gone crazy too.”

Since she didn’t see any particular lies.

Aria, aligning with Karl who was returning, wanted to wrap up the situation at this point.

To her who was trying to leave, Veronica suddenly spoke.

“By any chance, do you know of an Inquisitor named Rashid?”

Her gaze flew at Veronica like a blade.

Intimidated by the quite chilling gaze, Veronica quickly explained.

“No, just because he is a fellow Inquisitor, I was curious what kind of person he is. I just asked out of curiosity. There was no special meaning.”

“He is my superior.”

“Ah, that man was your superior?”

“Yes, by any chance, did you see him?”

Veronica recalled what he had said in hell.

Why did he say such a thing?

Though she couldn’t know the reason, she showed a warm eye-smile without thinking too deeply.

“No.”

* * *

[Golden Age Party Leader Falls into Hell with Inquisitor —Imperial Capital News—]

[Confusion in the Party due to Leader’s Disappearance… Propaganda Chief Josip Brandon Emerges to the Forefront —Voice of Citizens—]

[Golden Age Party Enters Second-in-Command System After Losing Leader —Imperial Daily—]

[Internal Cracks in Magic Tower… Dharma Division and Purgatory Coven Relations Worsen —Sky Island Newspaper—]

[Inquisitor Missing in Hell… Practically Treated as Martyrdom —Order Daily—]

After the Order’s Inquisitor and the leader of the Golden Age Party fell into hell.

The public began to accept their deaths as an established fact.

In the Golden Age Party, which had been expected to collapse just like that, a new leader was appointed, and contrary to the Imperial Court’s expectations, the party did not waver at all.

As if it were a preordained sequence, the party lightly crushed the public’s concern with a rapid response.

This was what had happened in a matter of just a few days.

The rose garden of the Imperial Palace.

Yennifer sat facing the Inquisitor who had visited her across a tea table.

Beside them, Raiden, whose house arrest had been lifted before they knew it, was guarding the surroundings, and Aria spoke with an expressionless face.

“I have come to receive what was promised.”

Everything was going smoothly.

That was, as long as she did not say something else at the end.

Thus, from the moment she sat down, Aria was giving the Imperial Princess a burdensome gaze.

It was a warning to be prepared if things went wrong.

Mindful of that gaze consciously or unconsciously, Yennifer lightly brushed the teacup with her fingertip.

“The two people I considered somewhat troublesome have died. They went to hell, I hear.”

Yennifer’s gaze landed on her.

She still wore a dry expression, but what was clear was that she looked more drained and empty than before.

“Even though the two died, nothing much has changed. In the end, someone else sat in the empty seat, and the Golden Age Party is just as it was.”

The Imperial Princess let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“It seems I hoped for too much. It is not a flame that would die down so easily…”

Following that, the laugh vanished and she showed a resolute will.

“Therefore, I plan to trample them down even more thoroughly, grinding them to dust, and extinguish every single ember.”

Enough small talk.

“I intend to keep the promise I made. There is no need to make things difficult for a person of the Order over nothing, is there?”

“It is a relief. I had my doubts, but fortunately, there won’t be any falling out with Your Highness.”

Aria showed a formal smile.

However, it was a glass-like smile that wouldn’t be strange to break at any moment.

“You said he was your superior, right? Was he someone meaningful to you?”

Aria tilted her head instead of answering.

“Because your expression looks emptier than before.”

Whatever it was, what did it matter?

“It is the treasure of the Imperial Family. When will you return it?”

“I will keep it for just a few days and then return it immediately.”

“A few days… then I will send someone at the proper time. Return it then.”

* * *

The morning after receiving the Immortal Heart from the Imperial Family.

She went to work as usual and saw Karl, who had arrived before her.

Karl, who locked eyes with her, bowed his head to send a signal, and she immediately headed to his office to confirm.

When she opened the door, he was standing there.

As if he had been in that spot the entire time.

“Good job. It would have been troublesome if we had failed.”

Praise was something she liked.

There was no way her expression could be bad.

“How was hell?”

“It wasn’t bad. I was treated quite well while I was there.”