When I Maxed Out the Zero-Star Saintess, a Yandere Confinement Life with Overwhelming Love Began - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

That day, a thunderstorm enveloped the grand cathedral and the surrounding land.

“…She’s here.”

I stared out the window and muttered heavily. Vermilia, who had disappeared into the rain of despair that day. The bad premonition that flashed through my mind—the future where she touched the forbidden and returned as a powerful monster—was about to become reality in the worst way.

Zuuuuun…!

The atmosphere trembled as if screaming. Above the grand cathedral, pitch-black thunderclouds swirled, and from them, a single shadow fell like a meteor onto the nearby grassland.

I checked the impact point with a telescope from the window.

Emerging from the cloud of dust was a knight clad in jet-black full-body armor, with ominous dragon wings sprouting from her back. From deep inside the helmet, a crimson light devoid of reason leaked out.

‘…Power… I want power…’

The voice echoing from afar was no longer that of the former girl; it sounded like resentment rising from the depths of hell.

I gritted my teeth. The her now was not the Vermilia from that time. She was a merciless killer strengthened by the system, the endgame content boss, the “demon god.”

“…Please stay back, Lyle-sama.”

Beside me, Sizzle quietly drew a dagger from the shadows.

“Sizzle, wait! That’s on a completely different level from the enemies so far!”

“I am aware… But it was I who drove her away that day. Therefore, it is only right that I deliver the final blow.”

Unyielding confidence dwelled in Sizzle’s eyes.

“Besides, I have trained since then… My current level has reached 80, the limit of this body. I will not fall behind.”

Leaving those words, Sizzle leaped out as a shadow. Her movements were godlike in speed.

In the blink of an eye, she reached the grassland, got behind the black dragon knight, and took a lethal stance.

Countless shadow blades rushed in from all directions. It was the maximum and strongest attack Sizzle could unleash now. A shadow execution technique that no physical defense could block, undefendable.

Kaaang! A hard sound rang out, and Sizzle’s shadows were repelled just by the aura Vermilia wore. The overwhelming difference in power formed a conceptual wall that rejected the attack.

‘…In the way.’

Vermilia swung her greatsword carelessly. But the path of the blade was completely invisible. Only a storm-like shockwave swept through the world.

Sizzle’s body was blown away like a dead leaf and ejected from the barrier meant for fighting the boss.

She crashed violently into the wall of the grand cathedral, bounced further, and rolled onto the ground. Fresh blood overflowed from her mouth, and she did not twitch.

“Sizzle!!”

One hit. Sizzle, who had raised her level to the limit and should have been at the pinnacle for humanity in this world, was instantly killed without landing a blow.

This was inflation. The very embodiment of “despair” that no matter how one struggled, could not be overcome by the logic of the current world.

‘…More… more powerful strength aaaah!! Celesfiaaa! Come out!!’

Vermilia roared and raised her greatsword. Its tip pointed at us on the terrace. With the next strike, the grand cathedral and we would be obliterated entirely.

“…Master, I’ll go next.”

Though Aira tried to step forward, if 3-conviction Sizzle couldn’t match her, 2-conviction Aira would fare the same. In fact, even Celesfia might end up with the same result.

“No, Aira, just eat some meat or something.”

“…Got it. It’s frustrating, though. This might be our last supper.”

Aira set her bow on the floor and instead picked up a bone-in meat, starting to gnaw on it vigorously.

At the same time, someone grabbed my sleeve.

“…Lyle-sama.”

The hand gripping my sleeve was shaking. It was Celesfia. Her face had gone pale, yet she stepped forward as if to shield me with her back and faced me.

“Please escape… I will be your shield.”

Celesfia said this while her body trembled, as if recalling the trauma from when she had challenged the demon god multiple times in a no-conviction state.

“Even if I escape, there’s nowhere else to go.”

“No… But preserving your life…”

Tears welled in her eyes. Celesfia’s instincts knew that in her current state, she could not reach Vermilia’s power.

“…Don’t say stupid things.”

I pulled Celesfia’s arm and forcibly turned her toward me.

“Celes. There’s no need to escape, no need to be a shield… We’re going to surpass that unreasonableness right here.”

I gripped her shoulders firmly.

“I’ve tried all sorts of things… But there’s still something we haven’t tried, right?”

The conditions for 4th conviction remained unknown. I had investigated focusing on physical contact, but got no results.

But there was one thing left undone. A deep kiss. If anything, dying after that with my favorite character would be my wish fulfilled.

“Eh…? Ah… I-Is it okay!?”

“We can’t afford to hesitate, right? I don’t want to make you suffer anymore.”

At my words, Celesfia gasped. Her cheeks flushed crimson, yet a strong resolve shone in her eyes.

“…Yes. I entrust everything to you.”

“Good.”

The approaching black dragon’s magic bullet. As the light of death loomed right before us, we overlapped.

Our lips touched, and then our tongues intertwined deeply and hotly. It was not like the light greeting from the other day. What flowed from the tip of her tongue was not mere magic power.

The key to shattering the level cap, boosting abilities, and rewriting the logic.

(…Open! The fourth door!)

‘Contact Confirmed (ContactVerified)’

‘Target: Celesfia (PlayableCharacterID:201)’

‘Contact Depth: Level 4 (DeepKiss)’

‘Debug Mode Activated. Status Coefficients, Rewriting Starting――’

In that instant, a flash burst. When our lips parted, the one there was no longer just a saintess.

With six “wings of light” spread from her back, clad in a divine aura, stood the awakened ‘Saintess Celesfia’. She wiped her lips with dazed eyes and looked down at Vermilia floating in the air.

“…Ah, power is overflowing. Lyle-sama’s taste, deep into my body…♡”

‘Gwooooh!!’

Vermilia cried out on the grassland as if calling the next opponent.

But Celesfia did not move. She floated a smile full of compassion and slowly readied her right fist.

Celesfia moved in front of Vermilia in an instant. And she thrust her fist toward Vermilia.

What was unleashed was pure violence, not even magic. It shattered only the black dragon’s armor into pieces and blew away only the “cursed” magic power dwelling in her body.

‘A, gaaaaah!?’

I checked the situation again with the telescope.

Vermilia was blown away and slammed into the ground. The jet-black armor dispersed like mist, returning her to the girl in her original tattered leather armor.

However, as if regaining her sanity from Celesfia’s single blow, she raised her face. Terror and confusion at what she had done floated in her eyes.

She backed away trembling, then turned her back. Unable to bear the guilt, she fled into the sky using the remnants of her wings.

Celesfia did not pursue and instead flew back to me through the air.

“…Is it okay not to chase her?”

Sizzle, having regained consciousness, asked while supporting her aching body. Celesfia dispelled her wings of light and collapsed softly into my chest as she answered.

“Pursuing too deeply would be tasteless… Besides.”

She gazed at Vermilia’s fleeing back and smiled gently.

“She will be fine now. I, the saintess, have punished her.”

The rain had stopped. Light filtering through breaks in the clouds illuminated the square turned into a mountain of rubble.

Only I had a premonition. This battle was not an end, but the opening to a new world.