The Day I, a Demon King's General, Received a Blessing - A sword that burns, yet never reaches.

The light of dusk slanted thinly through the broken windows of the abandoned warehouse. The air was frigid, and each exhaled breath hung faintly white. The smell of dust and mold, mingled with something sweetly rotten, had settled deep into the warehouse. Old hemp cloth dangling from the ceiling beams swayed faintly from time to time, though there was no wind. Celestia stared at the girl chained to the stone pillar. Megumin's slender wrists were bound to the pillar with thick iron chains, secured behind her back. Her ankles were likewise fixed to the stone base. Despite having been left sitting in this place for nearly a full day, the girl's crimson eyes blazed with light, showing not the slightest trace of fear. If anything, she was quietly observing the profile of the woman guarding her, as though appraising her worth. "You look paler than yesterday. Haven't you been sleeping?" Celestia did not answer. She re-gripped the hilt of the dagger in her hand. The cold iron bit into her sweat-slicked palm. How many times had she re-gripped this blade now? Each time she did, the name carved into the back of her hand throbbed like an old wound. Three hundred lives taken at Velza Fortress. That weight, she now measured against the life of a single hostage. No—she had intended to measure it. She had sent the arrow-letter. The reply had come. *We will not negotiate.* *We will take Megumin back.* *This is the end for you.* (*Even so*) Celestia listened to the voice whispering deep in her chest. (*Those people would never abandon a comrade*) She had observed them for four days. Their actions, their conversations, their exchanged glances. Aqua's haughty voice. Darkness's dutiful manner of speech. Kazuma's sarcasm. And Megumin's obsession with Explosion magic. The four of them complained about each other constantly, yet they would never leave a companion behind. That was the kind of party they were. Which was precisely why the hostage should have been effective. They could not come alone. Even if they did, they could not risk endangering Megumin's life. The words in the arrow-letter were nothing but bravado. There would always be room for negotiation. Celestia was aware of herself trying to believe that. (*How shameless*) Deep in her chest, Volker's contract crest pulsed with a dull throb. The magic crest carved into her when she had sworn fealty to the Demon King. At that moment, she had truly sworn it—that this body would no longer live for herself. That she would use this power only to protect the peace of the fortress's people. That vow was now twisted into the shape of revenge. "Your comrades will come." She finally opened her mouth. "Yeah, they definitely will." The girl grinned. "Those guys can't do anything without me, after all!" Celestia's fingertips trembled faintly. (*Why is this girl—*) Did she not understand that she was a hostage? No—even if she understood, she was not the slightest bit afraid. It was as though the emotion of fear had never been built into that small body from the start. Celestia turned her gaze toward the window. The sun was sinking. The sky shifted from a burning vermilion to violet. The shadows of the crumbling buildings in the abandoned warehouse district stretched long across the ground. The wind made the broken emergency exit door creak—*gii*. "Night will fall soon. Will your comrades come before then?" "I think it'll take a while yet. Kazuma always takes forever to prepare." Celestia listened to the girl's words as she surveyed the warehouse interior once more. One entrance at the front. Three windows, all set high. No breaches that could serve as escape routes, and the floor was cold stone paving. Six pillars, all thick, supporting the ceiling. There were many places to hide, but at the same time, the structure favored those launching a surprise attack. She re-gripped the dagger hilt once more. Her knuckles went white. (*This is my battle*) Something cold swirled deep in her chest. (*For my comrades' smiles*) Those words had already clung to her insides like a curse. Soon, night came. Moonlight streamed through the broken windows, casting pale mottled patterns across the stone floor. Outside the warehouse, the sound of insects came in fits and starts. In the distance, a dog barked twice. Celestia pressed herself against the wall and held her breath. She strained her ears. Her heartbeat sounded terribly loud. *Thud. Thud. Thud.* She could feel her blood circulating through her entire body. Her fingertips were cold. Sweat seeped at the back of her neck. Then, she heard it. Footsteps. Multiple footsteps, moving cautiously outside the warehouse. Stealthy steps that seemed to scrape across the stone paving. Three sets. No—there was a fourth presence, and that gait was— Celestia moved close to Megumin, wrapped her arms around the chained girl from behind, and pressed the dagger to her throat. "Don't move. Don't make a sound." Megumin looked down at the blade at her throat as though examining something curious. But she remained silent. The front door of the warehouse was kicked open. A dry *bang* tore through the silence. Backlit by moonlight, three figures stood side by side in the entrance. At the front stood a boy with short black hair. He was short, and his fingers checked the string of the short bow he held. His sharp black eyes were visible even in the dark. Kazuma. Behind him to the right, a girl stood with her aqua-blue hair shimmering in the moonlight. In her hand was a staff. Her clear indigo eyes pierced straight through Celestia. Aqua. To the left, a female knight in heavy armor. Her long golden hair hung carelessly down, and she carried a greatsword over one shoulder. Her deep blue eyes were calm, fixed on Celestia as though sizing up prey. Darkness. "So you really came, you bastards." Kazuma's voice was low and sharp. The flippant tone from the daytime was nowhere to be found. "Give Megumin back! Right now!" Aqua thrust her staff forward sharply. The air trembled faintly at its tip. Celestia, keeping the dagger against Megumin's throat, raised her voice. "Don't move. This girl's head will fly." Negotiation with a hostage as shield. She did not think it cowardly. For the sake of revenge, she had long since sold both her hands and her life to hell. But Kazuma did not flinch. "Yeah, sure. And? So what." Celestia's hand stiffened for an instant. "...What?" "You can't do it." The boy said it coldly. "If you kill her, you lose the last card you're holding. If you had the guts to kill Megumin, you wouldn't have made her a bargaining chip in the first place. If you're going to lie, at least tell a better one." Celestia's throat twitched. (*This child—*) He had seen through her. Seen that she had no intention of killing. That she had no real will to take the hostage's life. That even a woman driven mad by revenge could not kill an unresisting child— "Don't underestimate me..." She ground her back teeth. But she could not argue. In that instant, Kazuma gave a signal, like a snap of his fingers. "Aqua, blast through the wall." "Leave it to me! I'll purify that evil monster with my sacred magic!" Aqua raised her staff high. Her aqua-blue hair swayed as though standing on end despite the lack of wind. Her indigo eyes blazed with strong light in the darkness. The air grew cold and damp. The smell of water filled the previously quiet warehouse. A clear, yet somehow tainted, ominous presence of water— "Sacred Create Water!" The goddess's voice echoed through the warehouse. The wall was pierced. More precisely, the western stone wall crumbled and collapsed as though cut by a heated blade. And from beyond it emerged a torrent of water glowing pale blue. A pillar of water several meters high surged toward Celestia with a roar. Purifying water. The power of a goddess that burns away monsters, existence and all. Celestia reflexively released Megumin and retreated. But the water's speed far exceeded that of human legs. "—!!" The water touched her right arm and left thigh. In that instant, searing pain shot through her. Her flesh burned. A *sizzle*—like raw meat thrown onto a hot iron plate—sounded from her own body. The leather armor on her right arm melted, and the skin beneath turned white and blistered. Her left thigh was gouged by the current, and before blood could even spurt, the wound itself was seared shut by the purifying power. "Ah, aaaah...!" Celestia tried to suppress her voice, but a low, beast-like groan escaped from deep in her throat. Of course, the goddess's high-pressure water was not mere physical burning. It seared and tortured a monster's body from the depths of its soul. A pain that robbed one of sanity, like a thousand needles driven into the marrow of her bones. She staggered backward. Smoke rose from her right arm, and with every movement of her left leg, the charred flesh split open, dripping black blood onto the floor. "Did you see that? This is my power! Evil monsters, be purified by my water!" The goddess laughed—innocently, cruelly. Celestia saw that smile. (*These people, they truly—*) Celestia clenched her back teeth. Her teeth ground audibly. (*—believe they are destroying evil*) She re-gripped the dagger with her charred right arm. Her fingers would not move. The sensation was gone. Even so, she could grip the hilt. Not by bending her fingers, but by forcing it into place with her palm and entire arm. "I won't... let it end here...!" She growled low. Her voice was filled with a hatred that surprised even herself. "Amazing... you can still move!? How stubborn!" Aqua readied her staff to unleash another torrent. "Wait." The boy's brief command. "Darkness, go. Capture her." "Understood." The heavy armor approached slowly. Step by step, greatsword still shouldered. The *clank, clank* of metal echoed through the dim warehouse. A strange smile played across her face. Celestia, gambling everything, threw the dagger. Her target was Darkness's throat. Not a brute-force throw, but a strike aimed with precision at a single fatal point, using the snap of her wrist. But the dagger, though it flew almost entirely undefended toward Darkness's face, merely grazed her cheek—not her armor—and fell to the floor. "...!" Darkness was smiling. "Ah, that strike just now... not bad. Though you could have stabbed a little deeper." Cold water ran down Celestia's spine. (*This man—no, this woman, she—pain—*) Darkness reached out. The wound in her leg had robbed Celestia of both the time to grip a follow-up sword and the room to create distance. The armored hands seized Celestia's shoulders like a vise. "Caught you." Darkness's fingers dug into the flesh of her shoulders. Celestia tried to drive her fist into the knight's face, but a surge of agony from her left thigh made her body collapse. "Let go...!" "Ah, wonderful. Why is it that at times like this, you produce such a beautiful voice..." Darkness whispered in a voice slick with pleasure. And then, she slammed Celestia's body against the wall as though throwing her. A heavy *thud*. Her back struck the wall, and her head snapped backward. The taste of iron spread through her mouth. Blood. All the air in her lungs was forced out, and her breathing stopped. "Ka, ha...!" She spat out a clot of blood and collapsed to the floor. Her vision flickered. The ceiling beams appeared doubled, tripled, hazy. Amid the commotion, Kazuma approached. He pointed his fingertips lightly toward Celestia. "Steal." The boy's ability stripped away Celestia's armor. Her breastplate flew off as though bursting. Then her sword belt. Her waist pouch. Her disguise cloak. The leather under-armor she wore beneath. Everything that had protected her body until now was torn away carelessly and tossed to the floor. And then, over the last remaining undergarment, the disguise magic that had concealed he

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Episode 5

Name: The Day I, a Demon King's General, Received a Blessing
Author: Novelia

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