<h4>Volume 17, Prologue</h4>
Fragments of memories left behind by the Demon yer.
The final moments of the girl who had saved the world, revered as the Sacred Maiden—
"Master..."
"Don''t make... that kind of face... Est."
After countless trials and tribtions, mountains of innumerable corpses had umted on the bloodstained battlefields.
In the end, the body of the maiden who had vanquished the Demon King was turning into a pure spirit crystal.
There was not the slightest shred of surprise in the girl''s eyes.
Because she already knew.
That was the only fate awaiting her after fulfilling her mission as the Sacred Maiden.
All contractors of the ultimate sacred sword were doomed to an untimely end. As such, one could consider it a cursed sword too.
Nevertheless, the girl seemed to ept it all, simply smiling serenely.
"It''s not... your... fault."
Her fingers, stained with the Demon King''s sttered blood, gently caressed Est''s silver hair.
However, those fingertips soon turned into hard spirit crystals.
"Farewell, Est... My one and only eternal friend."
"...No... Master... Areishia!!!"
"...Fufu... I''m hearing you say my name for the first time, you know... I''m so... happy."
Overflowing tears slid across her cheeks, falling on her neck that had already crystallized.
This was her first time to shed tears ever since she took on her mission as the Sacred Maiden.
"Est... I... I..."
Her facial expression seemed to be crying and smiling. The girl''s lips slowly fluttered.
"To be honest, I never wanted to be some kind of Sacred Maiden."
These were the final words of the girl known as the Sacred Maiden.
They were a cry from her heart, her innermost thoughts, revealed to her only close friend.
And so, the Demon yer sealed her own existence away.
Never again would she allow anyone to enter a contract with a cursed demon sword.
Never again would she allow herself to lose someone precious.
Never again would she open her heart to anyone.
Thus, she solemnly swore.