The Yandere Demon Lords & Me-Chapter 29: The World is Watching - 5

Dawn was just a lighter shade of ash.

The village ruins sat still—quiet but for the slow drip of rain from broken beams and thornbushes.

Rein dozed in a half-shelter beneath a collapsed smithy roof, wrapped in his cloak, Zeraka asleep with her back against the stone beside him, tail twitching, blade still in her lap.

Valaithe watched the sunrise.

She didn't sleep.

She said her dreams left mold in the bedding.

...

...

...

The attack came just after the stillness.

No warning.

No war horns.

Just the sudden crack of light breaking across the sky, and a spear of golden fire slamming into the dirt a few feet from Rein's head.

He jolted up with a curse as the ground exploded beside him.

Zeraka was up before her eyes opened, already snarling, claws flashing.

From the ridge above the village, they came—

Seven riders in white and gold, cloaks billowing, armor untouched by the dirt beneath their horses.

And at the center, like a sword carved from sunlight, rode Saint Caelus.

His expression was calm.

His voice wasn't loud.

It didn't need to be.

"By decree of the Ivory Order," he called, "Rein of the Flame-Walk, Blasphemer of the Cathedral, and Companion of Corrupt Wives—you are condemned."

Rein blinked. "Companion of what?!"

"You may surrender."

Zeraka cracked her neck.

Valaithe tilted her head.

Rein stood up slowly, one arm out. "We don't want a fight."

"Then kneel."

Zeraka rolled her shoulders. "He's not built for kneeling."

Caelus raised one hand.

The knight to his left stepped forward.

She carried a banner of light. Not fabric.

Condensed magic.

The kind used to purge entire towns during the last Divine Schism.

Valaithe murmured, "You don't bring that for an arrest."

They brought it to cleanse.

Rein didn't wait.

"Zeraka—"

She was already leaping.

The first knight didn't even see her coming.

One moment he was aiming a crossbow, the next, a wall of fur and fury crashed into him, claws slicing through his shield like it was parchment. He flew off his horse with a scream.

Zeraka landed, crouched low, eyes flashing.

Valaithe exhaled.

"My turn."

She opened her hand, and a cloud of black spores erupted from her palm, spiraling into a sharp, needle-thin mist that darted straight for the glowing banner.

It struck—and screamed. Holy magic and rot clashed in midair, burning the mist into golden embers.

The second knight aimed at her.

Too slow.

The spores redirected—entered his nose.

He fell.

Seizing.

Eyes rolled back.

Valaithe smiled, sweet and rotted.

Rein grabbed a downed lance, parried a sword swing that nearly took his shoulder off, and ducked under a crashing horse that panicked mid-charge. He wasn't fighting to win.

He was fighting to stay alive.

But then he saw her—

A knight.

Shorter than the others.

Her armor half-burned.

A squire, not yet full rank.

She stood frozen behind a ruined well, sword trembling in her hand, watching the battle unfold like it wasn't real.

Then she locked eyes with him.

And her blade lowered.

"It's you," she whispered.

"From the dreams."

Rein paused.

Confused.

She stepped forward slowly, ignoring Caelus's shouted orders behind her.

"You've always been in them. Since I was little."

Rein stepped back.

Zeraka tackled a screaming knight two feet away. Valaithe was laughing through the smoke. Fire, spores, holy light—

The squire didn't blink.

She dropped her sword.

And walked straight to him.

"I'm not here to fight."

He blinked. "Then why—" freёnovelkiss.com

She knelt.

"I'm here to serve."