Extra's Rebirth: I Will Create A Good Ending For The Heroines

Chapter 517 517: Declaration Of Vengeance

For a moment, the whole venue froze. The commoners present, the nobles, everyone stopped moving like time itself had paused.

The body hit the ground with a sick plop as the arrow vanished into thin air and the blood began to spread out on the ground, staining the knees of Azel and Rain where they knelt.

Azel's face was completely blank, his mind processing what had just happened in the span of a heartbeat however Rain was the complete opposite of him. She moved over to Martha immediately and turned her over with shaking hands.

"Saintess…"

The word came out in a whisper as she lifted her hand to the hole in Martha's forehead and began healing frantically, pouring everything she had into it.

The place had become a complete uproar as the commoners screamed and split apart in panic while the nobles like Sybil's older brother and even regular guards with Griffins flew into the air as they looked for the demon responsible.

The Emperor himself was currently barking out orders to his guards and mages… However for Rain, the healing wasn't working.

The body was already dead. There was no life force to stimulate as healing magic only worked when there was a spark to reignite, but she kept on using her magic anyway like it would somehow change reality.

"Why…? Why…? Why…? Did you forget our promise?"

Just yesterday after she came back from seeing Azel, she had made Martha promise that she wouldn't die.

That she would live to retire and see the world with Rain, visit all the places she'd never had time for during her service. Martha had agreed to the promise with a chuckle and a warm smile, patting Rain's head affectionately like she always did but here she was now, dead with that same smile frozen on her face forever.

"Nyala." Rain called the goddess desperately.

[Yes, what do you want?] Nyala asked with a yawn, her voice echoing in Rain's mind lazily. It was clear that she had been sleeping and Rain didn't know why but it made her angry… Furious even.

"Why didn't you protect her…? Aren't you supposed to be the goddess? What kind of god doesn't protect their subjects?" Rain asked, her voice trembling with barely contained rage that threatened to spill over.

She tried to smooth it down but failed miserably.

[She chose to die herself… she could have easily defended against it however the Saintess wanted to leave this world. What do you want me to do about it?] Nyala spoke with infuriating casualness, like they were discussing the weather and Rain felt her heart tighten in her chest painfully with each beat hurting.

"No… not again…" She continued healing however it wasn't working, her magic flowing uselessly into dead flesh that couldn't respond.

Tears began to drop onto the old woman's face, mixing with the blood that pooled beneath her.

"I couldn't save you this time as well."

Azel looked over at her and took her hand firmly, making Rain glare at him with red-rimmed eyes full of grief.

"Get your head in the game… there's a demon in the Capital. Let's go." Azel said, he was more focused on the amount of people this demon could hurt. "The Saintess is dead, there's nothing you can do about it."

"Leave me be… You've never experienced the death of a loved one so how could you understand?" She asked and Azel's expression changed instantly.

He was glaring at her now and it made her shrink back slightly from the intensity.

Wings made of holy magic sprouted from his back in a brilliant flash and he shot in a certain direction like a missile, leaving Rain who was still holding onto the body of the Saintess with tears dripping down uncontrollably from her face.

She looked so small and broken kneeling there in the blood.

…

Azel hovered over the Capital, forcing himself not to focus on Rain's words and instead on where that arrow had come from.

He was already a considerable distance from the venue, high enough to see the entire layout of the city sprawled below.

Gwendolyn who was floating beside him placed both hands on her waist with a thoughtful expression.

"Use your Shadow Perception… or that bird familiar." Gwendolyn suggested and Azel knew she was referring to Erblim.

He hadn't really used the bird as of late and neither had he brought Arhya into the real world for missions. However Arhya preferred staying and training with Kyone in the divine realm and wanted to be brought out only for an emergency situation.

"How do I use Shadow Perception?" He asked, genuinely unsure of the technique.

He could just use a regular sensory spell but who was to say that hadn't already been done by the other mages searching frantically below?

"Expand your shadow over the city. You should have enough mana for it." Gwendolyn said matter-of-factly, like it was the most obvious thing. "It helps detect things better than ordinary sensory magic."

He did just that without hesitation, trusting her guidance. It took a lot of mana but he extended his shadow from the ground below all over a large portion of the capital, the darkness spreading like spilled ink across the streets.

However the capital was far too big for him to cover everything at once, even with his massive reserves.

"Regular sensory magic is obsolete compared to this because it lets off a detectable wave and objects or living beings that have mana can sense it coming and hide themselves, however Shadow Perception—"

"Found it." He said as he looked specifically at a commoner-like person running in the distance, mixed in with the panicking crowds trying to escape.

It had the feel of a human so he guessed perhaps it was a half-breed trying to blend in with the chaos or it was wearing some sort of artifact.

Regardless his wings flapped once powerfully and he shot toward them with a massive shockwave that rattled windows and shutters below.

Several commoners stopped upon seeing a projectile coming at them at full speed, including the demon who looked up with wide eyes.

And in the following instant, Azel reached down and grabbed the demon by the head with an iron grip and threw it upward violently, sending it flying through the air like a pinball bouncing off walls.

Several jewels fell from its body as it tumbled and its sickly mana as a demon was revealed, no longer hidden by whatever artifacts it had been using to disguise itself.

The corrupted energy felt wrong and twisted like the demons back at the base beneath the Military town.

Gwendolyn herself placed a hand on her nose in disgust at the vile aura radiating off it.

As Azel prepared to fly once again to pursue his target, a large rune appeared behind the demon and kept it suspended in place, glowing with intricate magical power.

He looked to the side to see Stella floating in the air and giving him a thumbs-up with a confident grin on her face.

"Your wife's pretty strong, huh?" Gwendolyn said with genuine approval in her tone.

They both floated toward the rune that kept the demon suspended helplessly in midair, struggling against invisible bindings.

Upon a closer look, it was revealed that Azel's assumption was right about its nature.

This demon was a half-breed.

Part of its face looked like a normal human with regular features and the other half looked like a demon that had crawled from the depths of the underworld itself.

It was pretty ugly, with skin that had scales and looked very twisted and malformed.

"We have a few questions to ask—" Stella started however the demon let out a pretty demonic laughter that sounded very unnerving.

"All hail the Demon Lord… Malazhara!" It said with fanatical devotion burning in its eyes. "My life is merely a sa—"

Its body began expanding rapidly before Stella's eyes as its corrupted mana surged outward uncontrollably, growing larger by the second.

It was becoming a living bomb designed to take them both out.

Right before it exploded, Stella could see Azel throw himself in front of her and hug her protectively, placing both hands firmly on her ass as the explosion began with a blinding light.

To the commoners and nobles on the ground far below, a devastating explosion took place in the sky, lighting up the entire Empire like a second sun had appeared.

And then it stopped, contained somehow by magic.

Stella gasped as Azel's palms strongly gripped her ass cheeks, the sensation drawing an involuntary moan from her lips that she immediately regretted.

"Don't worry, you're fine now." He said as he looked into her eyes with genuine concern written across his features.

However he turned around to assess the situation and check for remaining threats.

He had erected a small barrier of holy magic around himself specifically while holding Stella close so she could be covered by the protective effects as well, shielding them both.

However he had forgotten about the gem that would release a barrier to protect her during a life-threatening situation through her hairpin that he had given her.

She hadn't needed saving at all.

Azel let go of her and floated out of the barrier, leaving the Great Mage slightly flustered and touching her lips unconsciously with her cheeks flushed.

As the wind blew away the smoke and debris, there was nothing remaining of the demon except ash scattered on the wind.

'Ah, the demon lord scenario… It's refreshing to see that at least one event is going along with the game.'

Compared to the trouble of the Children of the Sky with their complex motivations, the Demon Lord situation was merely fodder in terms of actual difficulty.

Though it was an important arc and it was after this arc that the Church decided to burn Rain at the stake in the original timeline of the game.

In the game, there was no Hero coronation until after the defeat of the Demon Lord so the Demon Lord had to change plans drastically when she learned about the ceremony happening early.

Though it seems the demon lord had thought it out clearly and strategically, preparing contingencies.

After killing the old Saintess to create chaos, if the killer assassin had been caught before escaping successfully, he would be detonated to keep their plans from coming out and to cause maximum destruction.

Azel sighed heavily, he was exhausted already.

"And here I thought I would enjoy some slice-of-life…" He muttered under his breath as he dropped down toward the castle where people were gathering.

The commoners had cleared out in a panic and he landed next to the Emperor as well as the First Empress, Aegon, Varen, Naelia and Elizabeth who had all gathered near the body.

"Azel." Naelia ran into his arms immediately and hugged him tightly, checking him for injuries while the Emperor gave him a very complicated look that mixed gratitude with deep concern.

Rain had currently lifted the body of Martha gently in her arms, preventing anyone else from touching it with reverence and even the castle guards were kept at a respectful distance.

"Let all of us go… and bury the Saintess properly." The Emperor said solemnly, his voice carrying the weight of authority.

…

An hour later, the sky seemed to have darkened considerably and rain was now falling in harsh drops as they all stood at the Church grounds in mourning.

Not only was the Emperor here, and the King of Winter as well as their families, but the other nobles who had been close to Martha over the years of her service.

The church was packed with mourners dressed in black.

"Martha said that she wanted to be buried here if she ever died…" Rain said as she held Martha's body with one hand and raised her other hand toward the massive statue of the goddess that dominated the courtyard.

"She wanted to be close to the goddess… even in her death so we will bury her at the base of the goddess statue." Rain's voice was now a bit colder. "And she didn't want to be buried with a casket either. She wanted to return to the earth."

The way she died in her previous life never allowed her body to be buried here in sacred ground, she had been denied the peace she deserved.

So Rain would fulfill Martha's wish now, no matter what anyone said.

Her hand glowed with soft holy energy and magical lines traced across the sandy ground in intricate patterns.

A spot which was big enough to bury Martha's body right at the base of the massive statue parted and the earth moved aside obediently.

She walked over slowly.

Everyone, including Azel who was standing next to Stella right now with the Winter Family nearby, watched in respectful silence as the body of the Saintess who was still smiling with her eyes closed was lowered into that hole carefully.

Rain handled her like she was made of glass.

As she was placed there in the earth gently, the sand covered her wholly, separating her from Rain forever in this world.

Rain stepped back and looked at everyone gathered, her eyes were now as hard as steel.

"From today onward… I will assume the authority as the Saintess and I won't stop until the Demon Lord lays dead at my feet." Rain said coldly as the wind blew at their hair and the rain continued falling.

It was a declaration of vengeance.