The Villainess Proposed a Contractual Marriage

Chapter 84: Humanity's Last Line of Defense

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: posted in discord

Harte threw the sword he had been gripping.

His target was the Demon King's aide who had been dragging Elphisia.

By the time he realized the sword's trajectory, it had already pierced the aide's heart.

"Sorry I'm late," Harte said.

Whoosh!

Harte swiftly closed the distance. He then used his cloak as a shield to block the blood splattering towards Elphisia.

"Why are you..." Elphisia couldn't finish her sentence.

It felt surreal. She couldn't believe the man wrapping his arm around her waist was Harte. For a moment, she thought a demon had cast an illusion to crush her fleeting hope and plunge her into despair.

But this was reality.

This warmth, this gentle touch, those earnest eyes - she couldn't possibly mistake them. There was no way she could. This man was undoubtedly the most special person in her world.

"Harte..."

"Yes, Elphisia."

The dreamlike feeling crashed down quickly.

The Demon King spoke.

He said the territory from the border to the capital had been reduced to ashes.

Honestly, she still couldn't understand it.

Was that really Harte's doing? Could this man, who struggled to even step on a blade of grass, have committed such atrocities?

Elphisia was ignorant of the bearer of the baptismal name. Therefore, her concept of war was a fight between many and many. A fight between one and many was more aptly called violence.

So she asked, "How did you get here?"

"I followed Elphisia's lingering scent the whole way."

It was a romantic answer, but it widely missed the intent of her question. However, Harte usually didn't enjoy metaphorical exchanges. So, Elphisia finally pressed him directly.

"Did you... kill many?"

Harte affirmed after a brief silence. "Yes."

"..."

Self-loathing set in.

Harte said he committed murder. To put it politely, it was murder, but in reality, it was a massacre.

Vast territories had been reduced to ashes. Inevitably, countless lives must have withered away, burning in the flames.

If one were to trace the cause, it would lead to Elphisia.

For meticulously accumulating evil deeds from the past. For growing into such a detestable villainess. And for reaching the point of paying for her sins like this. Yet, despite all that, for wanting to love someone.

In the end, she had tainted the soul of the person she loved from its very roots.

'It's too much.'

It was a sin to be alive. She should have committed suicide rather than being taken hostage.

'I resent the fact that I'm alive.'

Harte was a man more suited to clumsy tea ceremonies than wielding blades. At the same time, he was like a large dog, naively imposing himself without realizing he was a burden.

She hated herself for inducing such a man to commit murder.

'But... even so... I... I find it hard to hide my joy that you came.'

She felt she might go mad from how lovely his warmth felt, spreading throughout her body. The temperature of this most upright man in her life... it was so incredibly dear to her.

"Elphisia."

While Elphisia's insides were festering, Harte called her name.

"Don't worry too much. I told you, didn't I?"

Harte, interpreting Elphisia's dark expression as worry. In this scene where moonlight brightly embraced the world, he smiled as warmly as the sun.

"That I will definitely protect you."

"Ugh..."

Golden particles enveloped their surroundings. It was divinity responding to the manifestation of a miracle.

Soon, Harte created a hemispherical barrier around Elphisia. Then, with a brief eye-smile in lieu of a greeting, he faced the Demon King head-on.

"You... Don't tell me you burned down the temple?."

At the moment the Demon King opened his mouth in this confrontational stance.

Thwack!

Harte's fist exploded into the middle of the Demon King's body. The Demon King's figure, staggering and floating, tumbled through several layers of walls without mercy.

"Kuhak!"

Rumble...!

The ground shook. The foundation sank from the aftermath of the first attack, and the pillars of the dungeon began to collapse. Then, sensing the threat of being crushed, the Demon King leapt towards the collapsed ceiling.

"Cough!"

The Demon King coughed as if his lungs were rupturing. When he regained focus, he realized he was coughing up blood. In an instant, his pride, which had been full of lofty ambition, shattered, and his gleaming golden eyes grasped the reality.

'... I was foolish. That thing is something far beyond the category of living beings...!'

He never imagined that the experience of "coming to his senses after taking one hit" would happen to him.

Who was he? He was the king of demons who needed the bloodline of Letitia-Baskhill due to the immense power he possessed.

Surely, that should have been the case.

"...... I merely lowered my sword."

The moment the man before him raised a sword carved with divine radiance, his thoughts froze. When he realized this, the Demon King unleashed a roar deeply embedded in his gut.

"Haap!"

Don't be ridiculous. Fear is suppressed by a battle cry. He couldn't die without putting up a decent resistance.

The Demon King's toes tensed. His center of gravity shifted extremely, and the soles of his shoes scraped the ground.

Moreover, the sword in his hand was the finest among demonic swords, bestowed by his subordinate. It was a holy relic that inherently contained various abilities.

Decisions were made in an instant.

The Demon King opened all his stored power and abilities, engaging in a desperate clash.

"Uoooooh!"

He was the ruler and leader of a race. He had already lost hundreds of elites due to one misjudgment, and he had hurt Letitia. Yet, due to a second misjudgment, the demon realm had suffered irreparable damage.

Either way, it was a matter involving the holy knight before him.

This cursed connection must be tied off. That was the duty he ought to fulfill as king.

Just as he felt time splitting into fragments while closing the gap, at that moment.

Bang, bang!

He heard the sound of urgent knocking on a wall. The Demon King slightly turned his eyeballs towards the direction of the sound. There was Elphisia, desperately calling out to Harte from inside the barrier.

Elphisia, screaming for him to look over there. And Harte, unconsciously meeting her eyes.

The Demon King realized.

To this man, his existence was no different from a pebble rolling on the street.

Also, that his desperate resolve was merely an insignificant factor from the start.

"Ah."

When about three or four steps of gap remained, only then did Harte look this way and click his tongue.

Clearly, the Demon King swung his sword first, but Harte's sword split the Demon King's field of vision like a thunderbolt.

The sword forged by divine radiance was the end.

The vast land forming a straight line with the extended sword path twisted. As if gravity and repulsion were acting arbitrarily, it scattered into the sky and sank. Pillars of soil completely overturned the ground, swallowing the light of civilization.

"Why..."

Those were the Demon King's dying words.

The strongest living being in the material world vanished without even leaving a corpse.

With the Demon King gone, the system of the demon realm would lose its function. The demon realm's territory was already a tattered rag, too worn to wage a retaliatory war.

With this, Elphisia could safely return.

"Haa... Kup."

Blood that had filled his mouth spilled out. He deliberately turned his back to Elphisia and vomited, but she wasn't one to overlook the floor being soaked in blood.

"Harte...! Are you now...?"

"It's fine. It's nothing. It's just that the Demon King was stronger than expected."

Harte made a far-fetched excuse. However, Elphisia, unaware of the truth, couldn't refute. Therefore, she could only watch helplessly as Harte's body died moment by moment.

"Let's go back, Elphisia."

"Yeah... Okay."

"Let's live together in the temple. Not even the nobility or the imperial family can touch the temple, right? So surely Elphisia too..."

It was when Harte was rambling on about his hopes. Elphisia stopped him, covering his mouth.

"W-Wait a minute! What are you saying? Living in the temple, it's so sudden! Not that I dislike it... I mean..."

Elphisia was unaware of the situation at the imperial year-end party. So she couldn't even imagine that she had been branded as humanity's betrayer. If anything, she might have thought she was a victim of the demons.

Therefore, to her ears, Harte's suggestion was almost a proposal. In other words, the invitation to live together in the temple could only be interpreted as an offer to live in Harte's family home. While cutting off all the karma given to her...

It would be foolish to hesitate at this point.

So Elphisia was about to accept the proposal.

"I'm fi?"

Until she heard the voice of an uninvited guest.

"Am I too late..."

He was an old man with deep wrinkles.

There's a saying that the old look to the past and the young to the future. However, the old demon who appeared before them was looking at the present with solemn eyes.

A crimson light flashed and disappeared in his eyes. Like how a rainbow light flickers and vanishes in the Pope's eyes.

It was a phenomenon that occurred when the Sovereign God borrowed the eyes of its representative.

Harte clearly deduced the identity of the old demon from a single clue.

"High Priest..."

"Sharp eyes for someone with barely a spark of life left."

From the High Priest's perspective, Harte was already a walking corpse. It wouldn't be surprising if he suddenly collapsed. Apparently, the constraints related to the baptismal name were simultaneously constricting both his soul and body.

"You've really done it this time. Thanks to you, our losses are so severe that we can't recklessly declare a holy war."

Even if they declared a holy war, it would be difficult to handle the aftermath. In the past, after losing the Holy Maiden in Baskhill, the temple's forces were weaker than the demon side. Now that the national territory had been scorched, it was time to consolidate internally and look to the future.

Having finished organizing his thoughts, he sighed and tossed out his next words.

"Kill that woman and then commit suicide. I'll wrap up this matter to that extent."

"..."

"What's there to hesitate about? It's a negotiation that favors the human side, no matter how you look at it."

"Favoring the human side... Who decided that?"

The High Priest's eyebrow twitched. Harte's atmosphere reversed, his eyes turning as sharp as frost.

"I decide. That's the kind of promise it is."

A tone and gaze similar to his childhood. He had stepped away from the kind and affectionate Harte that Elphisia knew. The excessive use of divine power had loosened the seal of the baptismal name, eroding part of his humanity.

But Harte was burning his soul and body for the sake of a promise.

[I will definitely protect you. Elphisia.]

He was still Harte.

"I find it utterly incomprehensible why you insist on drawing your sword."

The High Priest closed his eyes tightly. His sigh, tinged with resignation, grated on the ears.

Eventually, as if realizing that further dialogue was a waste of time, both men surrounded themselves with the light of miracles.

Crimson droplets and golden particles intertwined, vying for dominance.

The manifestation of miracles occurred without any prelude.

Boom!

Far away, from the distant sky, a massive sword pierced through the clouds and fell. To Elphisia's perception, it was a sword with a mass rivaling the imperial palace.

Crash!

Harte leapt into the sky. He tore off the pommel of the falling sword with his bare hands, forcibly creating a handle. Immediately after, Harte swung the palace-sized sword in mid-air, bringing it down on the High Priest.

Kwaaaaaaa!

Heaven and earth shook. It was only natural, given that it was no different from a palace crashing down from the sky. Despite such a strike, the High Priest calmly blocked it by surrounding himself with a barrier.

"Sword."

The High Priest didn't even need an impressive holy utterance. As God's representative, miracles were as natural a right as walking upright.

Crimson divine radiance, and golden divine radiance. Swords carved by each one's authority split the world.

The High Priest's martial prowess was far from that of an old man.

He engaged in swordplay with Harte, who had reached the pinnacle of human capability, without taking a single step back. Rather, it was Harte, pressing the sword fight, who swallowed the acrid taste of iron.

The more their swords clashed, the more devastated the surroundings became. The only thing maintaining its form was the barrier enveloping Elphisia.

"Harte..."

She chewed on her sense of powerlessness. While Harte willingly risked death for her sake, all Elphisia could do was call out his name from within the comfortable barrier.

Clang, clang!

The center of the sword fight where the one who loses focus loses.

The High Priest's mindset was beginning to waver.

'This bastard...! Is this truly the spirit of a dying man?'

There's a limit to the excuse of a dying flame burning brightest. It's just not apparent because there are no wounds yet, but in the High Priest's subconscious, anxiety was beginning to sprout.

'His body is like a rag, meaningless. A single moment of carelessness means death.'

That's what a holy war is like. Each tiny attack shatters the earth and splits the heavens. If he allows even one hit, it won't end with just losing a limb.

"I thought you'd just make your last struggle and die...!"

Whoosh!

The High Priest created distance. Immediately, crimson light filled the world, saturating everything with an ominous hue.

Rustle.

"Huh?"

Elphisia stumbled. Harte's barrier was being eaten away by the crimson mist as if decomposing. Not only that, but the miracle sword in Harte's hand was also rapidly disintegrating as if undergoing accelerated weathering.

"Did you believe a mere vanguard could challenge the Sovereign God's avatar?"

"This isn't... divinity."

If divinity is a tool transformed to match human caliber, the current crimson light was the raw, unrefined authority itself.

Originally, it's a higher-grade power that can't be realized from a human perspective.

Before this authority, divinity becomes utterly powerless.

"Haa..."

But Elphisia was standing behind Harte.

The most special person was worrying about him from inside the corroding barrier.

That's why Harte showed her a bright smile in her direction.

As if his eroded humanity had been instantly restored.

Solely to reassure Elphisia.

"Elphisia."

"... Yes."

"I'll protect you. I, definitely will."

"...... Yes."

"It's a promise. Forever."

It's not the vow of a baptismal name.

Simply as the human Harte, he wished to protect Elphisia, who he liked more than anyone.

So, Harte, harboring pure desire, offered an impure prayer to the Sovereign God for the first time.

"Give me your world."

A brief request - it was a prayer directed at two beings.

Elphisia, who he desired, and the mother he worshipped.

Yet, a prayer with different meanings.

He desired Elphisia's past, present, and even future. He wished to be present wherever she was. He vowed to protect his precious person for his entire life, throughout his lifetime.

Thus, he wished your world to be the closest.

For this, Harte prayed.

He prayed for the authority to manifest your world that observes all things.

Merely to fulfill Harte's selfish desires.

"... What."

At that moment, an anomaly occurred in the High Priest's authority.

A rainbow-hued, refreshing world gradually expanded its domain. It drove away the crimson space and returned transparent moonlight to the world.

A rainbow light flickered in Harte's purple eyes.

"You...! Despite the Pope and Holy Maiden being right there on the other side...! You dare to covet the position of God's representative?!"

"The Lord always saves those who believe."

Tang!

Harte launched himself forward.

The sound of rushing wind filled his ears.

He clung to the High Priest like a beast, forgetting even the basics of martial arts. He engaged in close combat, mixing in hand-to-hand techniques and even headbutts when necessary, persistently dragging the fight into a brutal brawl.

"This is ridiculous...!!!"

To the High Priest, Harte felt like a wildfire. Yes, like a wildfire that, once ignited, grows uncontrollably and devours everything in its path.

Does he even have a limit to his stamina?

His body should be on the verge of having his soul ripped out at any moment. Hasn't he done enough? Shouldn't he just collapse already?

No more variables could be allowed.

Having made that decision, the High Priest shouted:

"...... Sword...!"

Unlike Harte, who could no longer use even divine power, the High Priest was still a living miracle.

He forged a sword from divine radiance.

At point-blank range. A miracle sword constructed in an instant.

The High Priest's flash of the blade finally severed Harte's neck like an executioner's guillotine.

The aftermath of the sword strike cleaved the mountain range beyond the horizon, simultaneously crossing the joy and sorrow of Elphisia and the High Priest.

"Haha...!!!"

He had won.

Despite the anxiety, he had finally achieved victory.

Just as he was rejoicing in anticipation,

"... Huh?"

Kwak!

Harte's headless body snatched his head that had been suspended in mid-air. Then, as if inserting a toy block, he stuck it right back where his neck had been.

The joint healed as if thread and needle were stitching the flesh back together.

The dumbfounded High Priest momentarily lost his senses.

"Wh-what on earth happened...!?!?"

By the time he regained his wits, Harte's hand was already gripping the High Priest's face.

Kwang!

Harte, still gripping the High Priest's face, smashed it into the ground with all his might, pulverizing it.

The sound of the skull being crushed was chilling.

The long holy war was about to end.

It was quiet.

The unsettled dust and the stars floating nobly in the night sky maintained their silence.

Likewise, the center of the commotion remained utterly still.

"Harte...!"

Elphisia rushed towards Harte, who remained motionless.

"Harte... Harte...!"

"Elphisia... why the long face?"

"In this situation, you're still...!"

Elphisia found him endearing yet incomprehensible. She thought this man was a fool for going to such lengths to save a mere villainess.

But she couldn't bring herself to hate that foolishness, which brought tears to her eyes.

Elphisia, unable to lean on the injured Harte for fear of burdening him further.

The only words she could muster were:

"Thank you..."

For saving even a villainess like her. For bundling up that nonsensical goodwill like a gift.

For giving such a colorful world to someone who had been living in a gray one.

"Thank you... Harte."

It was the first time she had offered such sincere words of gratitude.

Harte felt it was somehow unlike Elphisia. It might be a foolish sentiment, but that's how he felt.

"Harte."

"Yes, Elphisia."

"You asked for my world."

Elphisia thought that prayer was truly, stupidly Harte-like.

After all...

"My world has been—"

Yours all along.

Perhaps it was destined to be so from the moment we met at the Imperial Palace ball.

... Elphisia was clearly about to say that.

She would have finished her words if not for the unexpected presence she sensed.

"This is troublesome."

It was the Pope.

Another representative of the Sovereign God tore open space and descended into the heart of the demon realm.

At that moment, the bells of the temple rang out from the distant imperial capital.

It was the bell heralding the new year.

One week from then.

Their selfish story would finally come to a tragic end.