The Price of Ascension

The Grand Helm Knight offered no reply to the Heir Knight’s shouts.

Yet, as the saying goes, a lack of an answer is an answer in itself.

The Heir Knight’s desperate cries gradually faded into silence.

Within the dense woods, the warbands began to spread out, forming a clear encirclement.

This “semi-encirclement,” however, was predicated on the four knights being their allies.

Moonlight fell upon the four silent knights, their armor glinting with reflected light.

Sovenia instinctively leaned closer to Wawalde. She didn’t consider fleeing; instead, she saw this as a golden opportunity. An opportunity to prevent any future blunders, to avoid being spanked by that foolish dog, to mold his values into something as unyielding as her own… an opportunity to ensure the foolish dog would never leave her side.

‘It’s time to make the foolish dog “fall”… no, “fall” isn’t the right word. This is “ascension.” He should embrace his ascended, powerful form.’

Sovenia knew that, regardless of anything else, Wawalde’s defeat of the Demon Queen would be a legendary feat, ensuring his place in history as a hero of the human realm.

Though no one in this small city knew him, and he hadn’t sought recognition, this was merely a temporary state of affairs.

His eagerness to teach her how to survive in the human realm, to avoid revealing his identity prematurely, signaled one thing: he would eventually leave her.

‘Otherwise, when I probed him earlier, asking if he would leave me, why did he remain silent? His silence was an implicit agreement.’

‘How could she possibly let such a useful, foolish dog slip away from her?’

While Sovenia didn’t fully grasp the rules of the human realm, she knew that humanity would never worship a demon of the Demon King rank as a hero.

“Wawalde…” Sovenia whispered. “We’re surrounded.”

Wawalde said nothing. He simply extended an arm, blocking Sovenia and gently pushing her back behind him.

Beneath the moonlight, Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight, remained silent. His gaze, hidden behind his visor, swept left and right, over the broken trees, over the Heir Knight sprawled on the ground.

‘Fight! Start fighting! Hurry up, stop dawdling! Quick! Draw your sword and shout, “My minions, follow me! I’ll hack that man to death and ravish that woman!”‘

‘Anything to infuriate Wawalde, to force his hand.’

“I might reveal my corrupted form,” Wawalde murmured.

Sovenia immediately offered him reassurance. Behind her veil, she smiled faintly. “No matter what you become, I will be by your side.”

Wawalde stiffened, his eyes reddening. He said nothing, simply turned his head away and tightened his grip on his broadsword.

‘Transform quickly, little virgin foolish dog.’

Sovenia glanced at the warbands stirring and spreading out in the dense woods, then continued her whispered pressure.

“Wawalde, the woods are full of warbands. I see a warband of Four Gods’ corrupted demons among them. There are so many of them, at least a hundred are closing in…”

“I will protect you, Lady Sovenia,” Wawalde stated.

This adventure was truly full of twists and turns.

This particular adventure lesson proved to be quite eventful.

The Heir Knight called out to them once more, even rising to his feet to speak:

“Quick, it’s still not too late! We can fight side-by-side, just like when you taught me to fight on horseback. We can slay these demonic scoundrels who threaten our home!”

“Silence! You demon!” Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight, barked.

“I—”

“Silence!”

Sovenia’s breathing grew heavy. She tightened her grip on her sword hilt, then relaxed it. Her long ears flattened back against her silver-furred head, making her head appear unusually round.

Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight, raised both hands and waved them in the air—an unmistakable signal.

Sovenia immediately turned to the warbands in the dense woods. She watched as they gradually halted their advance in the moonlit forest.

Her suspicions were correct; they were working together.

“Adventurer, you who bear the same name as the Hero,” Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight, began.

“I must admit, your strength, and that of your agile elven companion, surpasses my imagination—if only by a little. You truly are excellent hounds.”

Wawalde remained silent.

Sovenia’s snowy eyebrows arched. A sense of unease began to creep over her.

“Now the culprit has been apprehended: the demon who spied on the Lady, the demon who relentlessly assassinated our people—”

The Heir Knight roared, “I was merely protecting my sister! Raymond, what trickery is this?”

Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight, raised his voice.

“Now, adventurers, your task is complete. Return to the castle, report to the Lady, and she will provide your proof of completion. It is now our turn, the four of us, to act.”

The Heir Knight cried, “You! You traitor! You’ve broken your oath!”

“I fail to see what right or audacity a demon, masquerading as our young master, has to accuse me.”

Wawalde stood motionless, but Sovenia grew increasingly impatient.

‘What? Yesterday, this Grand Helm Knight was eager to provoke and kill, yet now he’s suddenly rational? He should be laughing, declaring that not even three gold coins would be given, and that no one would leave this forest alive today.’

‘A hundred soldiers would charge, and Wawalde would roar once more.’

‘”Why do you force my hand?”‘

‘Then he would transform into his Demon King form on the spot, unleashing his claws in a bloody rampage. All she would need to do was shout to him: “Leave a few for me to finish off!”‘

Sovenia mused, her gaze drifting to the top of Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight’s head. As her intent to kill him intensified, a thought occurred to her.

A silver question mark card appeared above Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight’s head. It wasn’t as good as a gold card, but it could still be charged and used to draw other cards.

Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight, moved. His iron-gauntleted hand dipped into a money pouch, then scattered its contents directly towards the two of them.

A handful of silver coins, interspersed with a few gold ones, sparkled under the moonlight as they rained down onto the grass before them, like scattered dewdrops.

“Take this, it’s your reward,” Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight, said.

“Your equipment is so shabby, you look like peasants working in the fields. Even working peasants could scrape together this gear for battle.”

Wawalde remained silent.

‘No, I repeat, my taste is excellent! Far better than yours, you demon in tattered armor!’

Sovenia’s heart lightened. Her long ears, which had been pressed flat against her head, now relaxed and perked up.

“That’s a splendid insult. Do go on, I love to hear it.”

“Hey, I’m talking to you! Buy more iron to wear. And that elf beside you, quite pretty, but all spirit? Did you just walk out of an elven village? Go buy some shiny silver trinkets to drape over yourself.”

Sovenia took a deep breath, her voice chilling as she retorted:

“You dog-faced wretch! On a demon battlefield, your taste would be an absolute joke. A bare set of full plate armor, utterly devoid of embellishment—anyone can tell you’re just a random grunt, forged with a single hammer blow. Any demon warrior you pull off the street would have better taste than you!”

“You long-legged, pointy-eared creature!”

The Canine Helm Knight said, “What? Don’t want the money? Or do you want to…”

With that, he drew his sword, its tip pointing directly at Wawalde. Behind him, the three other knights either angled their halberds towards Wawalde or unsheathed their own swords.

Black clouds instantly obscured the moonlight. A faint red glow was visible behind the Canine Helm Knight’s visor as he continued his threat: “…or do you wish to die here?”

‘Perhaps he’s already received some divine blessing, making him, at best, half a demon.’ Sovenia thought.

The Heir Knight exclaimed, “Raymond, you’ve actually fallen!”

“Silence! It’s not for a demon like you to judge my choices!”

“Whether you’re the young master or not, you’re just as deplorable. Just like your father, you abandoned our family, abandoned our lands! You ran off a thousand miles away to fight demons for a multitude of strangers you’d never even met. Do you know how hard it’s been for us to hold on all these years? Our lands are ruined, and yet you two, father and son, have your heads filled with the priests of the God of Light—what holy war nonsense did those charlatans instill in you? You cling to it day in and day out!”

The Heir Knight’s face actually flushed. He shouted, “We fight for humanity!”

The Canine Helm Knight cursed, venting his anger, then roared at Wawalde once more:

“Adventurer Wawalde, why aren’t you picking up the money? Do you expect someone else to do it for you?”

“I cannot kill the son of a martyr,” Wawalde stated, “even if he is a demon.”

“Fine. Then you’re harboring a demon, and you must die too.”

“Are those warbands yours?”

Sovenia seized the opportunity to fan the flames.

“Elf, your cleverness has sealed your last escape route.”

The Canine Helm Knight raised his right hand, forcefully sweeping it down towards the warbands in the nearby woods, and bellowed, “Kill them!”

Wawalde, however, let out a roar: “Little White!”

A divine steed galloped through the moonless darkness. This intelligent warhorse had somehow navigated the dense trees on its own, racing to Wawalde’s side.

“Sovenia! Mount up!”

Before Sovenia could react, Wawalde swept her up into his arms.

Sovenia’s face burned with heat. The mighty First Heavenly King, carried by her sworn enemy—

Wawalde immediately cried, “No! I can move!”

“Run! Don’t mind me!”

Wawalde tossed Sovenia onto

‘Get lost, don’t touch me.’

the horse’s back. Sovenia instinctively clutched the horse’s neck, before she could even raise her head to shout.

The divine warhorse, Little White, reared its hooves and galloped away.

Sovenia only managed to cry out, “No! My silver card!”

The divine warhorse ran far faster than she anticipated, seemingly able to see perfectly in the night, galloping without obstruction.

Little White carried Sovenia deep into the dense forest, branches whipping past her sides. Sovenia gripped the horse’s mane tightly, her body rising and falling with its stride. She twisted her head, trying to look back, but could only see the moonlit clearing receding into the distance.

A tree blocked her view.

Sounds pursued her from behind.

First came the furious roar of Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight: “Kill th—”

His voice abruptly cut off, transforming into a shriek of terror: “Monster!”

This was followed by the grating screech of tearing metal, as if an entire suit of plate armor had been ripped apart.

Sovenia’s long ears instinctively perked up, catching every sound that echoed from behind her.

The warband members’ battle cries erupted, then swiftly devolved into screams of agony. Not just one or two, but a chorus of terrified shrieks, as if the monsters had suddenly realized they faced not a mere hound, but a dragon.

In the midst of the slaughter, she heard someone bellow: “What kind of monster is th—” The voice was cut short by a dull thud, as if an entire body had been slammed into a tree trunk.

The thunderous crashes of snapping trees echoed one after another, *crack*, *crack*, as if some colossal beast was tearing through the dense woods. The ground vibrated; Sovenia could feel the earth trembling slightly beneath Little White’s hooves.

A roar erupted, powerful enough to tear the very sky asunder.

Little White bolted even faster, making Sovenia too afraid to leap off.

The sounds of battle gradually ceased.

Little White finally halted, panting heavily. Sovenia patted its neck. It stamped a hoof reluctantly, but another pat from Sovenia prompted it to turn around, carrying her back.

As Sovenia rode through the trees and returned to the clearing, the black clouds parted, and moonlight once again spilled down, banishing the darkness.

The ground was littered with corpses. Warband members lay haphazardly in pools of blood, some with bodies twisted at unnatural angles, others with deep claw marks scored across their armor.

The intricate helmet of Sir Raymond, the Grand Helm Knight, was shattered in two, blood seeping from beneath its visor.

In the center of the carnage stood a three-meter-tall black figure.

Black scales shimmered with a dark luster under the moonlight, fixed upon Sovenia.

A gaping maw stretched to its earlobes. Blood still dripped from its black claws, and the tattered membrane wings on its back trembled slightly.

Its eyes, glowing with a dark crimson light in the shadows, stared intently at Sovenia.

It was Wawalde, or rather, what remained of Wawalde, standing there.

Upon seeing Sovenia, his voice was choked with emotion: “Lady Sovenia… I feel terrible.”