Chapter 23 : Following

Following

"She's still alive, give Her Highness Serea back!"

The cross-shaped silver sword was thrust into the carriage, its cold edge pressing against Serea's neck. The assailant was none other than Celia, 'Serea's' royal guard!

"What a bother. Had I known, I wouldn't have agreed to her request. I saved you only to be repaid with ingratitude—is this really the doctrine of your church?"

"What I do has nothing to do with the church."

The cross-shaped silver sword glowed with white light. As it shone, the Skeleton Warriors became tense, but Serea remained unharmed.

Seeing Serea's untroubled demeanor, Celia was somewhat surprised. Why did this creature, who commanded the undead, not fear the holy light?

"Holy light? Do you really think I'd be afraid of that?"

Serea mocked her, tired of Celia's unreasonable behavior, and simply turned to the side.

As Serea tried to break free, Celia pressed the holy sword down harder.

Unexpectedly, Serea drew a dagger and used its spine to strike at Celia's wrist.

The joint on the wrist's outer side was one of the body's weakest points, containing sensitive nerves. Struck with the back of the knife, Celia was caught off guard and involuntarily let go of the holy sword with her right hand.

Taking advantage of the moment, Serea grabbed Celia's right hand and pushed her forcefully against the carriage. With her arm restrained, the sharp pain in her joints forced Celia to lean against the carriage.

Grabbing Celia's free left hand, Serea pinned it firmly to the outside of the carriage, while the holy sword was stabbed into the vehicle just a few centimeters from Celia's neck.

Pushed against the carriage, Celia still tried to break free, but she was still too weak, unable to summon any strength, and was easily subdued by Serea.

"Do you still have the nerve to talk to me like that now?"

"You!!!"

Celia turned her head, fury blazing in her eyes.

"You, what? You won't listen when I talk nicely, so you're forcing me to get rough."

Celia tried to struggle, but Serea pulled her wrist up, and the twist in the joint made it impossible to break free no matter how hard she tried.

Eventually, Celia gave up resisting. Still unwilling to let her Highness's body fall to this monster, she thought of another way.

"I'll trade my body for yours. This body's talent far surpasses her Highness's. As long as you're willing to let her go, I'll offer this body to you with both hands."

Upon hearing Celia's proposal, Serea shook her head.

"Haaa, trying to reason with a woman like you is just asking for trouble."

With that, Serea let go of Celia's restrained hand. Celia immediately broke free, standing face-to-face with Serea.

"Stop, stop, enough fighting. Once you see this, you'll understand."

As Celia tried to close in again, Serea signaled for her to pause and pulled a pale blue crystal from her pocket.

"Here."

Serea tossed the crystal to Celia, who caught it. The crystal felt oddly familiar.

"This is Serea's final relic."

"A relic? Impossible! Her Highness Serea, she..."

Celia, trembling, tightly clutched the crystal as tears welled up once more.

"Believe it or not, but before I occupied this body, Serea was already dead. What you saw before was just her lingering soul. She asked me, as a final request, to use this body one last time and save you. After that, her soul dissipated. If I didn't have a few tricks, even her soul crystal wouldn't have remained."

Hearing Serea's explanation, Celia slid down and sat weakly against the carriage, tears streaming uncontrollably.

"Serea actually, for me..."

Halfway through, Celia's voice grew softer until only sobs remained.

"It's not that I don't want to return the body, but even if I did, it would be useless. 'Serea' without a soul would just rot away, and I am merely continuing her life."

It was unclear if Celia understood her explanation, but Serea didn't want to argue with her any longer.

"Well, by my usual standards, you ought to be just another corpse here. But Serea's last wish was for your life, so I won't kill you. Take care of yourself."

Serea said these words and stopped caring about the grieving girl.

She left Celia behind, heading deeper into the Corrupted Jungle, with a group of Skeleton Warriors following close behind.

"Women, what a headache."

Serea muttered as she walked farther away. She hadn't gone far when Celia caught up to her.

Turning back to look at Celia, Serea saw her tightly holding the blue crystal.

"Wasn't I clear enough?"

Celia didn't answer, still hesitating.

"Retrace your steps, whether you return to the Otto Kingdom or to your church. You're free now."

"You said Serea's death wasn't caused by you, right?"

"Of course. If it was, I wouldn't have bothered to save you. If you died, you'd make for a fine raw material."

"Fine then—if so, please let me follow you."

Tear stains had barely dried from Celia's cheeks, but her eyes shone with determination as she looked at Serea.

"As long as you understand. Now... um, what did you just say?"

"I believe that as long as Serea's soul remains, she will have a chance to be resurrected one day. Until then, all I can do is take care of her body. So please, let me follow you."

Celia's tone was full of resolve, strengthened by the soul crystal she held.

That crystal was formed from Serea's lingering soul; theoretically, it was Serea's soul itself.

"Such admirable persistence. But you, a Judgement Cross Church member, following someone like me—a... well, a 'monster' who plays with corpses—is that really a good idea?"

"I told you, this has nothing to do with the church. It's a promise I made to Serea. Whether you agree or not, I will follow you. Even if I die, my determination won't change."

"You really are something..."

Serea was at a loss for a response. But to let Celia follow her...

As a church member, Celia was like a ticking time bomb at Serea's side.

A candidate for bishop—even if she didn't cause trouble herself, if the church came looking, then what?

Serea really didn't want to attract more enemies.

But looking at Celia, it was just as she said: unless Serea killed her, she really might follow her forever.

So, should she...

While Serea was struggling with this decision, Dogsius poked his head out from her pocket.

The moment he saw Celia, Dogsius knew—this was absolutely a perfect body!

(To be continued...)