The Hero Party had vowed to return for the experimented children later.
They were now walking through an ominous passage revealed by a hidden door in the prison.
"..."
Having faced the horrific prison, they didn't speak lightly.
The Church's situation was heavier than expected, and since Estia, the person at the center of it all, remained quiet, they read the atmosphere.
"Estia, but how are you still alive after being experimented on?"
"S-Saten! That's rude!"
"How is this rude?"
Except for one person who was worst at reading the room.
Estia smiled brightly at Saten and answered lightly.
"I survived because I have a special constitution! I endured the experiments well, and I've had a lot of Divine Power since birth!"
"Then, did those children with dead souls end up like that because they lacked Divine Power?"
"No! That's not it! Those were probably different experiments from mine!"
Estia shook her head.
There were traces of someone intentionally damaging those children's souls.
"They probably intended to use them only once!"
"...For what?"
"For Holy Water! They seem to have mixed demonic energy to create an effect similar to mine!"
"Those bastards..."
Grrr—
Luna ground her teeth and struck the wall with her fist.
Bang—!!
Remembering the faces of the children in the prison, she couldn't contain her rising fury.
"How could...! The Church do such experiments...!! This isn't something humans should do...!!"
"The Demon King is doing it though."
"That's not what I mean! I'm talking about people in the Church!"
"Aha."
Luna's anger flared even more thanks to Saten.
However, remembering the old man's advice not to be swayed by emotions, she calmed herself.
"Phew... I need to hold back..."
After organizing her emotions briefly, Luna steadied her mind and headed toward the end of the passage.
At the end was a door identical to the entrance, and Estia boldly opened it wide.
Before their eyes unfolded a massive auditorium with a giant crystal in the center.
Saten could guess what that crystal was.
"It's a seal..."
"...A seal? What's sealed in it...?"
"You don't need to know, Hare. I can't be certain if they're alive or dead either."
*If the seal is old, it would use life force instead of mana, so they might have become an undecaying corpse.*
Thinking this, Saten scanned the entire auditorium.
In the center was a giant sealing stone. Holy Knights were stationed as guards throughout, and where they were looking, two men sat in the auditorium chairs having a secret conversation.
Estia pointed at one man and whispered quietly.
"That's him. The person who tormented us!"
"Us...?"
"Yes, the person who tormented my friends. The Pope!"
"That's the Pope...?"
Looking closely, he was wearing a strange white hat on his head.
He gave off the feeling of a sewer rat.
His appearance made her physiologically not want to approach him.
"...Why does the Pope look like that? Anyway, Estia. Can I kill that person? I really hate him!"
"Luna can decide that! I don't care!"
At Estia's words of not caring, Saten immediately spoke up.
"It's not that you don't care, is it?"
"Uh, huh? What do you mean!?"
"I mean, don't you want to think of it as a dream and run away? If not, never mind."
Drinking Holy Water when things are hard.
Drinking Holy Water when the old man isn't around.
Isn't it because she wants to escape into dreams?
Estia frowned at Saten for pointing out her behavior and answered.
"Shut up if you don't know."
"You can say things like that too? Interesting."
"..."
Estia glared at Saten as if daring her to say one more word.
Saten wanted to open her mouth but stopped under the gazes pouring from Luna and Hare.
Their enemy was elsewhere.
"...Everyone stop fighting and look at the man next to the Pope. Doesn't he look familiar?"
"I don't recognize him."
"I remember. I saw him back then."
I saw him clearly in the old man's memory.
His face had changed a bit, but those jealous eyes were unforgettable.
Saten looked at him gazing longingly at the sealing stone and said.
"Demon King of Envy. The old man's target of revenge. That bastard is right there."
"...Two people to worry about."
"Let's go."
Luna ran toward the two men with her Holy Sword without hesitation.
"You pieces of trash—!! Die—!!"
The old man who drinks himself to sleep every night from mental anguish.
Luna recalled the old man's pitiful back and swung her sword, channeling the children's fury and the old man's revenge into the Holy Sword.
To make the world she lives in peaceful.
The Hero swung her Holy Sword at the Demon King.
"So you're the Hero Party."
"Ugh...!!"
However, Luna's Holy Sword didn't reach the two men.
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Demon King of Envy Envy caught the Holy Sword with one hand.
No matter how strong Luna was, it was difficult to push back a Demon King alone.
"Die quickly—!! You trash of this world—!!"
"No. I still have many things left to do. I can't die."
"That thing you have to do is killing children—!!"
"That's also a worthwhile task. So I can't die."
Until I break that seal and live a happy life.
I can't die.
"If only that bastard hadn't come between us..."
"You crazy Demon King—!! Aaaah—!"
Roll roll—
Thrown far by the Demon King's power, Luna rolled across the floor.
Since the floor was clean with no need to dust herself off, Luna immediately stood up and glared at the Demon King.
"The old man suffered so much because of you...!!? Estia too...!! I will definitely annihilate you—!!"
"Old man? Estia? I don't know about that. I only need one thing, so why are you all trying to torment me? You're not trying to interfere between her and me, are you? If you try to interfere, I'll kill you."
Envy spoke coldly.
At his voice, Luna felt goosebumps all over her body.
It was the most chilling and vile killing intent she'd ever received in her life.
The Pope shouted cunningly at Luna.
"Holy Knights, kill those intruders immediately...! D-Demon King, you've given us the strength to live, so you can just stay still..."
"Okay, I'll stay still. But Pope."
"Kuh, kkeok..."
Envy grabbed the Pope's neck tightly.
"When exactly can you break the seal? Mana doesn't work, demonic energy doesn't work. I entrusted it to you Church people for 8 years because you said you could break it. Why do you always just say 'a little more' but never show results? If you happen to like her..."
"Th-that can't be...! W-we've gathered money and keep supplying children...! With the combination of Divine Power and demonic energy...! W-we'll be able to break the seal soon...!"
At the Pope's words, Envy loosened his grip.
"...One year. I'll wait that long to see her."
Crazy bastards.
Luna listened to their conversation while taking down the Holy Knights one by one.
It was a conversation flow that couldn't be considered human, and only made her anger grow.
"Tch, those pieces of trash...!! Estia...! Aren't you angry?!"
"I want to punish that Demon King!"
"What about the Pope?!"
"I-I don't care."
"Ugh, so frustrating!"
Slash—
Luna cut down the Holy Knights one by one.
Hare and Saten also continued fighting the Holy Knights, and Estia provided buffs using Divine Power from behind.
Stabbing swords into hearts, striking heads, burning with magic.
As a result, the Holy Knights were easily dealt with by the Hero Party's skills.
"...Now you kill people without hesitation, Luna."
"Those people might be wronged. But not the people here right now."
The people fallen on this floor are those who remained knowing everything.
Luna stabbed the Holy Sword into the heart of the last remaining Holy Knight.
"The Hero Party is stronger than I thought."
"I trained hard to eliminate Demon Kings like you!!"
Luna immediately ran toward the Demon King.
The startled Pope reached out and deployed Divine Power.
However, Estia, who acted the same way, immediately blocked that action with her Divine Power.
"You're Estia... It was regrettable that you ran away despite all the effort I put in... Where did you learn such tricks?"
"I learned from my teacher!"
"...You're still as ill-mannered as ever. Rebelling against me who follows the Goddess's will... The top floor is still empty, so I'll give you a chance..."
"No! I'll never go back! Idiot!"
Estia used Divine Power applications to block the Pope's attacks.
No matter how long he'd used Divine Power, he couldn't exert power before such massive Divine Power.
The Pope's arms were bound and he couldn't do anything.
"The Saint will help you, Hero! Hurry to the Demon King!"
"Got it, Estia!"
Thus, with Estia's help, Luna was able to leap over the Pope and reach the Demon King.
She swung the Holy Sword at the Demon King once more, and just like before, her attack was blocked by the Demon King.
"This Hero seems to lack learning ability. Didn't the Holy Sword tell you?"
"What! This time I'm not alone!? Hare!"
As soon as Luna's words ended, Hare thrust her dagger at the Demon King.
Since the being who tormented the old man was right before her eyes, Hare could concentrate much more than usual.
"The old man suffered because of you... So...!! Die. Die. Die...!!"
While blocking Luna's attack, Envy barely dodged Hare's attack.
"You're fast. More than that, you keep saying 'old man.' Who exactly is this old man?"
Envy expressed his doubt.
Who exactly was this old man the Hero Party kept talking about?
Unusually feeling instinctive curiosity, at that moment, the closed passage door opened and the old man the Hero Party had been shouting about revealed himself.
He was a man familiar even to Envy's eyes.
"Is this an auditorium? Hero Party, how are you all doing?"
Saten immediately ran over and clung to the old man.
"We're fine, old man."
"And that sealing stone..."
*It's a spell technique I've seen somewhere.*
Lee Jun-woo's gaze was instantly captivated upon seeing the sealing stone.
A sealing stone that seemed familiar somewhere and carried the scent of longing.
Though he didn't know who was inside, he could recognize at a glance the face of the being standing before the sealing stone.
Lee Jun-woo clenched his hands so tightly his nails dug into his flesh.
"You are..."
"The old man you mentioned was that interferer?"
"I finally found you, Raul."
Drip drip—
Upon seeing Raul's face, Lee Jun-woo shed tears.
Remembering the difficult times, he couldn't help but cry at this moving moment.
"I waited a long time to find you, Raul... In that sealing stone..."
"Aina, the old man's master is inside."
Though I don't know if they're alive or dead.
Saten confirmed the fact that his master was inside.
Hearing this, Lee Jun-woo slowly walked forward.
Intense fury was contained in his eyes.
"Killing my comrades... doing that to my master... the porter Raul who became a Demon King..."
"Shut up!! I-I'm not a porter anymore!!"
"Your appearance has changed a lot, but... I'm truly glad..."
That you still have the same heart from those days.
That you've remained the same trash for over 10 years.
"I'm truly glad you remained so easy to take revenge on..."
"I-I won't let you steal my woman anymore...!!"
Demon King of Envy Envy.
Porter Raul.
After lightly ignoring his words, Lee Jun-woo muttered while dropping hollow tears to the ground.
"I'm quite late, but I'll take my master back."
It was the moment to deliver the long-sharpened revenge and reclaim the lost time.