Karma

“What… was that?”

Diana was still alive despite being swept along by the flash of death.

However, that was only to say that she was alive. She fell on her back, her priest’s robe in tatters, burns all over her body, and a large hole in her abdomen. Her silver whip was blackened and shattered, no longer bearing its holy radiance.

Beside her lay the rotting bones of Hugh, as if exposed to the rains and winds of a thousand years.

“… The ‘Rose Princess of Hellrage’ is not a Dullahan.”

René walked up to Diana and put her hand on the skeletal head. She grabbed it by the hair and dislodged it.

As the body regained the weight of its flesh, the magic staff reverted back to the red blade, and René became a Dullahan again.

“The main body is spiritual, and the physical body can be anything, anything at all … as long as it’s an Undead.”

The “strongest Undead” may be an apt description. The main body was the highest spiritual form, the undead Abyss Spirit, but at the same time René was all Undead.

She could become a zombie or a skeleton if she wanted to, and she could even turn into a zombie dragon if she somehow managed to compensate for the missing parts. For the time being, Dullahan, the most powerful in hand-to-hand combat, was the one that could be produced from a human body and was easy to use. And then there was the Lich, the strongest magic-focused Undead.

It was questionable where the flesh had disappeared while being transformed into a Lich, but perhaps some kind of storage-type magic was at work.

The magic attacks were performed while in the Dullahan form, which limited magical power, making them think that the output was limited, and then she unexpectedly turned into a Lich and smashed through their defenses.

In the Lich form, her ability to fight in combat is reduced to the level of a human child, so it was a gamble knowing that she could suffer a painful counterattack if she was outdone.

“What the …, I was outclassed from the very beginning.”

“That’s not true. I was a little scared… that maybe everything would end here.”

Feeling embarrassed and humbled, René said.

–Wait a minute. Why am I praising Diana under these circumstances?

“Are you going to destroy this country?”

“Oh. Yes. I will not stop with this country. I’m going to make them all pay.”

“If I told you not to do that, you probably wouldn’t listen to me anymore…”

The breathless Diana, however, was still the same.

Somewhat aloof, her voice was as gentle as the spring breeze.

“Before I die, may I have a moment to pray for my friends and … you, Princess?”

Laughing quietly, Diana said.

–Praying? For me?

“Unfortunately, I’m in a position where I can’t be saved by prayers to God.”

“No, no, no. If God doesn’t like it, so be it. I just can’t help but wish … that your soul will be at peace someday… Even if God doesn’t hear this prayer,… I hope my prayer will change your destiny… I wonder if that’s a good idea…”

It was as if her heart, which should have been still, throbbed with a high pulse.

René, who could read emotions, knew that Diana’s words were not a lie or deception, but that she meant what she said.

But she did not understand the process that led to that thinking.

“I need you to tell me, Diana. What were you thinking when you fought?”

“I told you. I wanted to stop you because you looked like you were in pain. Of course, I also wanted to help Benedict and return Iris’s body to the earth…”

Her languid words sounded as sweet as the fragrance of a ripe, fallen fruit.

With a huff and a pained exhale, Diana moved her head to look at René.

“Because… I feel sorry for you, don’t I, you poor little thing…?”

Her eyes were loving and compassionate toward the weak.

They were not the kind of eyes that should be directed at the Undead.

“I wanted you to live your life as a … normal girl. Instead of getting killed in some boring adult scuffle… Maybe…　What …, you’re just a little bit scared. You can go out and play,… or study. You can get dressed up,… you can fall in love,… you can have fun,… you can eat well,… you can drink,… Eating good food and drinking alcohol until it comes out of your neck… Even if you’re bored or tired, you can find something to do besides … revenge. Anything… that makes you happy enough to believe… ‘I don’t have to take revenge anymore’, I’d be happy if you could find that happiness.”

René felt as if her body, which should have had no body heat, was on fire.

Breathing unevenly when it shouldn’t even be required for her to breathe.

“Why? I killed Iris and I killed Benedict, so why…!”

“Haha …you lonely little thing… I was thinking, “What on earth have you done to us?” But, you know what? But that being said, I feel sorry for you, and I wanted to do what I could for you. Because you wanted me to take care of you, didn’t you?”
 

–She remembered that…!

It was a conversation the four of them had while escorting the carriage.

Diana remembered René’s question, which sounded like a child’s playful question.

And she was going to extend a helping hand simply because René had asked for it.

Yes, she did. She could not deny it at this point in time.

René was seeking salvation from Diana.

She wanted to make up for something she had lost before she died.

But it was too late for René to be saved.

There was an analogy of the overturned tray.

René’s heart, which had long since been broken and shattered, could never be filled with love. Water poured into a broken vessel will never fill it.

Revenge. Revenge was the only thing left for René.

So, for that reason… Diana must be killed.

–Not quite yet. The “Rose Princess of Hellrage” still has to work stealthily. It’s just a little more. Just one more move. Until then, I cannot afford to be distracted.

She went on quite a rampage. Someone in town might have noticed the magic glow or the impact of the fallen tree.

She must quickly destroy the evidence and flee; in case someone came to investigate. They would be able to solve the mystery to the extent that ‘monsters might have been on the rampage’. It would at least buy time for René to make her move.

René pointed the red blade at Diana.

She just pointed it at her.

If she wanted to kill him, she could do it simply, and yet René was still looking for a reason not to kill Diana.

–Keep her locked up? Take her around? Nonsense. Killing her would be the fastest way. It’s sure and safe. I can’t afford to keep such a dangerous enemy captive. If I let Diana live, she’ll be cursed. Besides, if I don’t finish her off now, she’ll recover…

It was surprising that she was still alive under the circumstances, but on the contrary, her wounds were beginning to heal little by little.

Even the large hole that had opened from her abdomen to her left side seemed to have shrunk a little.

“You shouldn’t take revenge…”

As if seeing through René’s hesitation, Diana muttered.

It was not begging for her life.

“You shouldn’t … look so pained right now, well…”

It shouldn’t be hard, René thought.

She hijacked and killed Iris, and slaughtered both Benedict and Hugh.

Slaying Diana would only increase that number by one. It only increased. What was so special about that?

Letting Diana live here would be like giving up on revenge.

It was not that she held resentment against Diana, but killing her is a step toward revenge. So kill her. She had to be killed. That’s the way it had to be.

Even if she hesitated now, she would probably think nothing of it when she actually killed her. She was sure of it.

–The strongest Undead revived with the Divine Protection of the Evil God for revenge…

It takes more than was taken from her, and hurts more than she was hurt. The targets of vengeance haunt and kill even to the last generation, whether they are parents, siblings, or innocent children. Kill unreasonably. Kill savagely. If anyone held resentment against René and plotted to revenge vengeance, she would trample it down and ridicule it.

…She would feed even the innocent if she had to.

Such actions cannot be just. However, such things as right and wrong were no longer important. René would not stop until the black flame of resentment burning in her heart consumed everything.

However.

“Oh, you’re still going? Poor Thing. I hate those people who turned you into this.”

The red blade dug shallowly into Diana’s neck. Diana did not move.

There was no pain in her heart, no fear.

“… Good luck. I’ll always be … watching you…”

“Aaaaaahhhh!!”

René swung the red blade.

Diana’s head flew off.