Taming the Evil Saintess

---

Elf Vermina was a rebel from birth. A dull life in the Great Forest was utterly unbefitting her. The duties of protecting the order and balance of the woods felt like shackles, and the obligations espoused by the Fairy King seemed to her like mere façades.

Elves were fundamentally a long-lived race. With so many delights in the world, why squander precious time holed up in the deep woods?

Vermina was slowly, yet surely, rotting away.

That was lamentable.

Then, the Demon King appeared.

The movements of the Demon King’s Army plunged the continent into crisis.

In the end, heroes and Mark Holders gathered from all over the continent, ultimately slaying the Demon King and scattering his army.

The return of the Elf Great Warrior Kaius was grandly celebrated under the Fairy King’s patronage. Even in the Great Forest, which refrained from interfering in the continent’s affairs, they commemorated the victory. A week-long festival erupted, and Vermina felt honestly happy.

However, her reasons for joy were somewhat different from those of her fellow elves.

The resurrection of the Demon King was thwarted, and the Demon King’s Army awaited a new divinity, scattered like dust.

That news struck Vermina anew.

She craved stimulation, and the Demon King’s Army was the perfect stage for her.

“Want to go into the roots of the World Tree?”

“Yup.”

What would allow an elf to simply walk into the Demon King’s Castle and say she wanted to join?

Vermina needed evidence that could persuade the Demon King’s Army, and in that regard, the Seed of the World Tree was a splendid spoil.

While obtaining the seed, she killed dozens of elf warriors. Having completely turned her back on her kin, Vermina became someone worth welcoming even in the Demon King’s Army.

Thus, she built her résumé, gratifying her own desires while waiting for the new Demon King.

Continually tainting and corrupting the Seed of the World Tree, which symbolized life, she gained powers over plagues and poisons. This would lead her to receive the title of the Demon Lord of Plagues.

However.

“…sigh.”

That too had come to an end.

Why did old memories, now faded, surface?

Perhaps it was because she was faced with death.

Vermina was currently drifting in a nebulous consciousness throughout the universe. Her last memory was vivid. She was cornered and nearly killed by Hero Elliot. With her last ounce of strength, Vermina released the poisonous energy she had accumulated in her body for over a century, aiming to take him down with her.

Her physical form was collapsing. She could no longer return to her original state.

Now, Vermina was in a state resembling a natural phenomenon rather than a living being.

Injecting poison and infecting everything visible, transforming it into ash, she embodied death itself.

“Worst.”

It was the worst.

Chasing an addictive life, ending up in this unknown fortress was just pitiful.

The feeling of the plagues and poisons she had stashed away seeping out left Vermina with a bitter taste.

“….”

In the next moment, something golden appeared before her eyes.

Simultaneously, an indescribable energy enveloped her body. It wasn’t gentle. It was rather violent and pure in its power.

This wasn’t poison. It was too pure for poison, and also,

Also…

“Ah.”

It was stimulating.

Vermina’s body fell apart in an instant.

The stench of decay wafted, and the poisonous energies that had covered the surroundings vanished, leaving only the eerie silence and the remnants of what was once the Demon Lord of Plagues Vermina.

“…What the.”

The golden potion thrown by Ophelia.

That potion, which she claimed was a Love Potion, dismantled all of Vermina’s poisons with just a single vial.

Vermina’s phase two, which seemed impervious to nuclear bombs, crumbled with just that potion.

I blinked in disbelief at the spectacle and turned to Ophelia beside me.

“…Ophelia, what on earth is that Love Potion?”

With a wicked grin on her face, Ophelia shrugged and replied.

“I told you. It’s literally a Love Potion. Crafted by the greatest romantic of this era.”

“What’s the effect?”

“That is…”

Suddenly at a loss for words, Ophelia cleared her throat and, seeing my gaze, muttered softly.

“Ultimate…”

“Ultimate?”

“Ultimate aphrodisiac…”

“…”

“…But I also infused plenty of my divine power into it. It’s bound to be antagonistic with that bitch. I never intended to use this sort of thing here, but I had no choice.”

Ophelia scratched her cheek, looking displeased.

A Love Potion with an effect of an aphrodisiac. It was suspicious that Ophelia possessed such a bizarre and dangerous item, and it was even more suspicious that she had infused it with divine power.

When I looked at Ophelia with those doubts, she seemed to have something to hide as she tightly closed her mouth and abruptly turned her head away.

Her ears were red.

I frowned. A Love Potion. An aphrodisiac. Infused with divine power.

The conclusion that could be drawn from combining those keywords is…

“Ophelia, don’t tell me you intended to use that on me….”

“Hey! What kind of misunderstanding are you having! You lunatic! It’s not like that!”

“I haven’t said anything yet.”

“You did! With your eyes! That gaze is lewd!”

“The lewd one is you for having that, Ophel….”

“Shut up! Just shut up!”

Ophelia kicked my shin.

“It’s something Emily gave me! I just kept it because I didn’t want to waste it! In the end, it worked out, didn’t it? So isn’t that good enough!”

“…Huh.”

“What’s with that expression!”

“Well…”

“I told you to shut up!”

With her adamant denial, it would be odd to press further.

I cradled my throbbing shin and sank down.

My legs had given out on me.

Soon, the effect of the Mark would wear off. I needed to prepare for the aftermath.

“Anyway, is this the end?”

Sighing, I gazed at the remnants of Vermina. The blackened ashes lay strewn about. Some artifacts gleamed among them.

Demon Lord of Plagues Vermina was dead.

I had taken down one of the five Demon King’s Army executives. There were four left. It was a long way to go, but the important thing was that I had made a start.

“So,”

While I was lost in thought, Ophelia suddenly spoke.

“Isn’t there a thank you in order?”

“…Thank you?”

“I practically saved you, you know.”

“…Well.”

Ophelia had a point.

If it hadn’t been for her, I certainly wouldn’t have won.

It was all Ophelia’s credit that she blocked Vermina’s dark magic, continuously cast purification spells, diverted the demons’ attention, and put an end to the rampaging Vermina.

Here, it would be right to express gratitude as it was the truth.

“…Thanks, I owe you one.”

“Are you not going to apologize?”

“Apologize?”

“You broke your promise and used the Mark again.”

“I had no choice…”

“Do you want to take a hit for that?”

Ophelia lifted the Branch of the World Tree.

At the same time, she rubbed my discolored right arm, which had turned grim and murky. Must be her way of worrying for me.

Normally, I wouldn’t stand a chance against Ophelia in my condition.

Eventually, I lowered my head in submission.

“Sorry… I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Hmph. Look at you, so obedient.”

She turned her head with a snicker, but the twitch of her lips made it clear she wasn’t entirely displeased.

Finally, Ophelia approached the remnants of Vermina with light steps. Despite the lingering poison making it difficult to get closer, with just one wave of the Branch of the World Tree, the thick miasma dispersed like a gust of wind.

Soon, Ophelia retrieved a few items from the remnants and approached me with that notorious plunderer’s smile.

“Elliot, this looks super expensive!”

“Yup, no joke, it is.”

The grind of capturing Demon Lord of Plagues Vermina, dubbed the “Plague Run,” had gained popularity due to her artifacts having tremendous abilities.

Among the items Ophelia brought, I picked up a pendant that Vermina had around her neck. Inside the pendant was a blood-red seed.

At first glance, it merely looked like a seed, but among the items dropped by the Demon Lord of Plagues Vermina, it was the most precious one. I handed the seed to Ophelia.

“This is for you.”

“What’s this?”

“It’s the Seed of the World Tree. It’s basically a treasure of the elves.”

Ophelia examined the seed, turning it this way and that.

“This is a treasure?”

“Yeah.”

“Will it improve your health if you eat it? If that’s the case, you should eat it. You look like you’re about to drop dead.”

“It doesn’t have that kind of effect.”

“Then what’s it for?”

“You have it, after all.”

I pointed at the Branch of the World Tree that Ophelia was holding.

The Branch of the World Tree itself was a rare treasure, but combined with the Seed of the World Tree…

“It’s growing longer.”

“Yeah. It’ll grow like that.”

At the end of the combined Branch of the World Tree and Seed, a tiny fruit began to form. That fruit served as a core, or a mana core, embedded in a legendary weapon.

If I had to pick the strongest weapon currently in the continent, it would likely be the Branch of the World Tree that Ophelia was holding.

“What about the rest…”

I looked at the artifacts Ophelia had fetched and shook my head.

“Let’s check them later.”

“Why?”

“Because we’ve been here long enough.”

“What’s that?”

Ophelia tilted her head, and I tapped the Mark on my hand.

Her expression soured.

“Hey, you…”

“Ophelia, I’m going to need your help again.”

The moment the effect of the Mark wore off, I heard a sharp sound as my consciousness snapped.

It wasn’t an illusion; it was real.

My vision went dark.