Diary of Guarding Monster Girls

Kreti's abilities were somewhat in line with Herbert's expectations, but the abilities he obtained from Flora were quite peculiar.

As a unique Enchanting Demon, a Wise Man among Demons, she did not grant Herbert extraordinary wisdom.

Instead, she gave Herbert an unexpected ability—[Demon Body]

That's right, a physical ability again!

A truly solid physical ability.

Herbert's body seemed to be covered in Demon Scale Armor, greatly enhancing resistance to all spells and magic.

At the same time, he gained the ability of supernatural perception, with a keen sense of smell to detect changes in the external beings and environment.

Pairing this with his ability to sense malice from others, he easily found those nobles who were filled with hostility towards him.

And finally, Herbert acquired the ability that surprised him the most—to transform his body into a sharp weapon at any moment!

Highlighting this, this ability is incredibly useful.

Ve~ry~use~ful!

Imagine, in the heat of a fierce battle, transforming part of your body into a hard weapon, what a surprise it would be for the opponent.

For example... the palm.

Exactly.

Herbert had just slaughtered his way through the ballroom, relying on this very ability.

He infused Holy Power into his palm merely to cloak the truth, the actual damage wasn't dealt by the punitive Holy Power, but his razor-sharp palm...

So Herbert seemed to be using Holy Power to punish others when in fact, it was just raw strength and sharpness that directly severed those fine heads from their necks.

Magic damage?

Where is it simpler and more straightforward than physical attacks?

Just chop down hard.

After flying for a while, with the sun sinking below the horizon, the sky gradually darkened.

("By the way, can you become a bit smaller?")

Herbert recalled something and asked Valentina: ("This is too conspicuous, it might attract some unnecessary trouble.")

Though a hundred meters long might not sound as exaggerated in text, not matching those primordial beasts stretching thousands of meters.

But when compared in reality, it is indeed quite large—taller than two Statue of Liberty stacked together without the pedestal.

"..."

Upon hearing this, Valentina did not respond, but her hundred-meter-long body began to shrink gently.

Through a few proportional breaths of compression, she was finally reduced to just over twenty meters long. Although still massive compared to Herbert, she was much smaller than before.

It was at this moment Herbert truly felt like he became a Dragon Knight from a fairy tale.

Sitting on the dragon's back, he gently caressed the scales, asking softly:

("By the way, Valentina, where are we heading to?")

According to the original plan, after leaving the Royal Palace, Herbert would take a loop with Valentina and then return to the Royal City to reunite with Nun Kaplan and the others.

"..."

However, Valentina did not follow the original plan; she flew all the way west, and from her determined demeanor, she seemed to have a destination in mind.

("Don't worry, I won't stop you.")

Feeling her change in emotions, Herbert softly said: ("Go where you want, it's no big deal.")

"...Mm."

They continued flying like this for about an hour until night had completely fallen when Herbert finally felt Valentina's speed gradually decreasing.

Fortunately, he possessed pretty decent night vision to see the destination they were about to land on.

It was a steep cliff.

"This place is..."

Although Valentina did not explain, Herbert's heart had a vague guess.

Whoosh——

As they neared arrival, the giant dragon's wings flapped, drastically reducing speed, suspending in mid-air, and landing lightly on a cave platform on the steep cliff.

The action was smooth and skilled, as if she had done it countless times.

Underneath Herbert, Valentina reverted to her human form, appearing as a nun, staring blankly at everything in the cave.

Herbert landed softly, loosened his body stiffened from long sitting, and asked curiously, "Is this your nest?"

Valentina didn't answer immediately, and Herbert, realizing something, didn't press further, silently standing behind her and waiting.

After a long while, Valentina finally snapped back, looking at the dust-laden ground, softly speaking in an unusually gentle tone:

"Yeah, sort of."

"Originally, this was just a place I used for temporary rest, but Wendy insisted on treating it as my nest, stuffing it with lots of useless items."

"So later, this became my nest."

She slowly moved forward, walking past various corroded and weathered objects over time.

Stone tablets carved with giant dragon patterns, stone dragon statues, and wooden totems coiled with dragons...

Finally, Valentina stopped in front of a massive stone tablet.

There were no inscriptions on the tablet, just a few huge claw marks traversing its entire surface.

It could hardly be called a proper stone tablet, only vaguely retaining its original rectangular shape with irregular cut edges.

Over time, it had merged with the cave, no longer an abrupt, solitary entity.

It felt like a part of here, as if it had grown directly out of the mountain.

Though its original visage was unrecognizable, Herbert had a vague guess, stepping forward to gently embrace Valentina from behind.

"Is this... Miss Wendy's tombstone?"

Valentina remained silent, allowing Herbert to hold her tight, and after a while, slowly nodded, responding with an extremely gentle hum.

"Mm."

After a while, Valentina lifted her head, gazing up at the top of the cave, biting her lip and whispering:

"A dragon does not need a tombstone."

"But Wendy is not a dragon, at least not completely... Therefore, she needs a tombstone."

"A memorial proving her existence, showing she once came to this world."

"Otherwise... no one would remember her."

Valentina bit down hard on her lip.

Even though she holds the power to destroy everything, she cannot preserve life that has passed away.

Thus, Valentina felt great sorrow at this moment.

It was then that the strong arms holding her imparted a warm strength.

And a gentle whisper echoed:

"No, Valentina, as long as you remember her, she will never truly disappear."

"See, she has always been there within you."

Valentina blinked, lowering her head to look at the base of the stone tablet, eyes widening abruptly.

At this moment, her gaze seemed to pierce through layers of barriers, seeing the bones pressing below.

It was as if she saw Wendy at her old age and also at their first encounter as a girl.

Wendy indeed passed away, her soul returned to the Sea of Chaos.

Even if she comes back to this world in the future, there will be no memory of her past life in her soul, just a brand-new existence.

She might not even be human, possibly another kind of creature.

All existence from the past has disappeared into the past life.

Yet, she has not completely vanished from this world.

She always lives on in Valentina's memories.

Her turbulent, inarticulate yet remarkably gentle master never for a moment forgets her.

Because she has never been forgotten.

Therefore... she has never disappeared.