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"Hooray for Her Eminence!"
"Grand Duke's granddaughter! Hip hip hooray!"
"She's the hero of the duchy!"
The front yard of Saint Agnes Church was filled with people, all of them celebrating the victory and praising my honor. At the front of the bustling crowd were those who were most familiar and special to me.
"Allie."
"Baby."
"Ailette."
"Big Sis."
"Sister..."
My grandfather, mother, father, brother, Hestio, Ephael, Ash, and Hilde all called my name in their own ways. I walked up to Hilde who was standing closest to me and gave her a gentle pat on the head, then approached my family.
"I'm back."
"Allie!"
My mother looked emotional, so I drooped my shoulders a little and waited for her to scold me for making her worry, but what followed was completely unexpected.
"I'm so glad, sweetheart... Thank you for returning safely. I'm so happy to see you're okay."
"I missed you, Mom."
She gave me a huge hug, then my grandfather joined in and pulled both of us into his broad chest, while my father and brother who didn't know how to join in waited for their turn on the side.
"Move, Husband..."
"R-Right. My bad, Elthea," he said. Then, in order to get rid of the awkward air, he asked, "By the way, my child... What happened while you were away?"
"Well... I was trapped in a dungeon, but I'll tell you about it later. It will take too long to get into the details now."
"All right, all right. All that matters is that you're safe." He was very understanding as the situation wasn't over yet.
Next, I turned to Hilde and the Silver Citadel knight division. "Thanks for all your hard work while I was away, Vice-Bishop Hilde."
"I was so worried about you. I prayed every day."
"I know," I said sincerely. "I think I made it back safely thanks to your prayer. Thank you."
I was giving Hilde a hug when I felt a sharp glare on my cheek. When I looked, I noticed a pair of intense pumpkin-colored eyes.
Hestio was frowning fiercely, and as soon as our eyes met he shouted, "Ailette, seriously?!"
He looked like he was ready to scold the living hell out of me, unlike my mother, so I quickly cut him off. "I'm sorry I made you worry, Hestio. I will never disappear like that again, so please don't be too sad. It hurts to see you cry."
"What? I'm not crying!"
"You look like you're about to..."
"That's not true!"
After I had my fun teasing Hestio, I turned to Ephael, who gently gave me a fist bump. There was no need for any drama with this guy.
"You were paid on time, right?" I asked.
"Yup. Lady Bianca took care of that. By the way, she's currently hiding in the basement of the castle, away from the mess over here. She's safe."
Bianca was a regular person who couldn't use the Three Great Powers, so it was expected that she would flee to safety away from the dark green smoke and the demon soldiers. There was a bomb shelter in the basement of the castle in case of emergencies, so it was unlikely that the poisonous smoke would reach down there. Moreover, there were three reliable guards besides my grandfather's well-trained knights. Moriphys' chimeras, the parrotbill, cat, and squirrel that Hilde had fattened up by personally feeding them raw meat, blueberries and cream cheese, would have also been tasked to protect the shelter.
"I'm glad." My concern for Bianca was mostly put to rest.
"But, umm... Big Sis..." Ash said as he awkwardly looked around, seemingly sharing the same question everyone else had in mind.
Everyone seemed to speak at once.
"Where is Brother Tesilid?"
"Where is my son-in-law?"
"Where is my grandson-in-law?"
"Where is Tesilid?"
"Where is my brother-in-law?"
Their faces were filled with curiosity and concern, but they didn't press me when I struggled to answer. They simply watched my reaction and waited for a reply.
Umm, how should I explain this...
I didn't want the silence to persist any longer, so I finally said, "We were separated, but he's fine. He's going to join us soon, so don't worry."
When sighs of relief erupted in all directions, my tone shifted to something more serious.
"The more pressing issue right now is how we should deal with this situation. The dungeon has been closed, but we must find a way to heal the patients who were affected by the toxic fumes."
"I will take care of that, Allie," my father said. "I can concoct the treatment medicine soon if I visit Gilette County and gather the proper ingredients. I'll also ask the Golden Ivory Tower for help so that we can mass-produce it quickly."
"Great. Thank you, Dad."
Thanks to my father stepping in right away, I could focus on the most pressing problem we were facing. While Feronsa had been saved, disastrous dungeon bursts were still occurring in the capitals throughout the rest of the continent. With a hardened look on my face, I addressed the rest of the group.
"The other countries are most likely suffering from the same situation right now. We need to help them," I said sternly.
"Right."
"Yeah, I kind of figured..."
They reacted like they were expecting this, which saved me the time I would have needed to convince them.
"The Vatican has the Sacred Place Establishment artifact, so they should be better off than the rest. I suspect that the kingdom and the republic are suffering the most right now."
I quickly calculated the forces that were protecting either country. Vinchester Kingdom had Marchioness Romina Lecandro, an aura master, and I had already sent the Ragneif Republic of Magic a comparably powerful individual, even if he wasn't the most reliable person.
"Then we must decide which city we should support first and how we should split our forces," said my grandfather with a solemn voice that suited a man of his station.
It made more sense to go to the Republic of Magic first, when considering the level of damage they would face, but my mind and my heart had different priorities.
"I will go to the kingdom alone."
The dungeon burst that appeared at the royal capital of Vilhelon connected to the Black Market of Joy, and that was where I had to go to get Tesilid.
"Honey, don't you think it will be too dangerous to go alonâ Huh?"
My grandfather cut himself off, for the empty space beside him suddenly shook. Realizing that this was an incoming teleportation stone, all of us took a step away just before a familiar man in a royal knight division uniform appeared.
"Lord Raewyn?" I said in surprise.
Simultaneously, Prinz asked, "Raewyn? Didn't you go to Vilhelon?"
Prinz's confusion was understandable. Raewyn should not have been able to use a teleportation stone if he was in the royal capital of Vilhelon, considering how areas with the Demon Realm Effect only allowed entries and not exits.
That's when Raewyn replied, "I was at the royal capital."
"Then how...?"
He awkwardly added, "I came here as soon as the situation there was settled. The moons of the Demon Realm disappeared, and the daylight returned."
Everyone's eyes widened when they heard that Vilhelon had successfully subjugated the dungeon on their own, and I was no exception.
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Five minutes ago at Vilhelon, the royal capital of the Vinchester Kingdom, royal dames Chereli Lecandro and Shez Rinati stared forward with intense shock as they witnessed what looked like a mouth to hell opening up to expose a dark, endless abyss. The dungeon happened to appear inside the grand hall of the kingdom, painting the sky above the castle black and filling it with poison before demons started pouring in.
The people of the kingdom took the location of the dungeon burst as a dark omen, blaming the royal family for being cursed. They thought the royal castle had been transformed into a castle of a demon lord as punishment, which put the royal family in a dangerous position of possibly losing the support of their citizens.
The royal family decided to protect the castle instead of fleeing, so the royal knights led by Marchioness Lecandro, the commander in chief, entered the battle with the strategy of forming a defensive line. They were able to endure the barrage of monsters thanks to Marchioness Lecandro's formidable power, leading to what felt like a non-stop procession of demons gradually slowing until they eventually came to an end. After that, all of the forces gathered at the grand hall, where the gate had appeared.
The evil vortex of demonic energy slowly swirled in the gate of the dungeon as if it was hypnotizing the crowd poised before it. The gate remained inactive for a while as the defensive line waited with bated breath. No one was optimistic enough to believe that the disaster was over because the demonic energy exuding from the gate was at least SS-class, and they hadn't even seen a hint of the boss yet. It was the calm before the storm, and everyone was cautiously waiting for something to appear.
Amidst the tension so intense that no one dared to move an inch, a single drop of sweat fell from someone's chin.
Drip.
And right at that moment, something shifted.
Here it comes. Marchioness Lecandro's eyes, which had been closed in a meditative trance, snapped open.
Boom!
"Ahhh!"
"Arghhh!"
Demonic creatures poured out of the gate with monstrous screams, but the royal forces didn't immediately react. Instead, they held their ground, for what they were preparing for wasn't defense against a few low-grade demonic beasts. They were preparing to kill the boss. Everyone jumped to similar conclusions as they watched the demons flood into the hall.
They must be the defensive line that's protecting the boss! I can't believe there are so many guards protecting one demon! How powerful is this boss, exactly?!
Making the same judgment as everyone else, Marchioness Lecandro shouted at the top of her lungs, "All forces, hold your ground and prepare to face the boss! Only the seventh knight division shall march! Defeat the enemies at once!"
"Understood!"
Their formation changed as the knights who received a new command marched to the front. Chereli and Shez, who belonged to the seventh knight division, also adjusted their grip on their swords as they prepared for the upcoming battle.
"Don't die, Shez."
"Don't worry about me."
Shouts and roars erupted while the two of them shared words of encouragement.
"Let's get 'em!"
"Ahhh!"
The knights' swords glistened with determination as they charged in order to protect themselves, their comrades, the royal family, and the citizens. However, no one came in contact with any enemy.
"Gahhh!"
"Arghhh!"
Clatter, clatter!
The demons that were pouring from the dungeon cried in panic and simply ran past the humans.
"Huh?"
"Hmm?"
Chereli and Shez who had bravely charged to the frontline watched the path the demonic creatures took with confusion. They both wondered whether this was the demons' strategy to break through the barrier of knights' defensive line to reach the civilian population.
But as they observed, the demons frantically running straight ahead were being massacred by the knights at the far end of the barrier. There was obviously a total lack of strategy in their movements.
I think they're running away in panic. Marchioness Lecandro was thinking the same thing, when a new noise rang through the hall.
Step.
It was a sound that demanded everyone's attention.