Chapter 76

“That scene—everyone who witnessed it in person will probably never forget.”

The sky and the earth were connected.

A holy light, like the spring sun, shone down from some noble being above, illuminating a girl.

The magic power that shot up into the sky fell down like clear water without meaning. It was raining in a place that hadn’t seen a drop of rain for hundreds of years.

The priests forgot their prayers, and the hunters forgot to fight as they stared up at the sky.

As the rain flowed into the lake, the lake began to bubble. All the monstrosities born from the lake surged up and vanished as if evaporating.

A clear membrane formed above the lake. Purified water flowed incessantly upward, like a spring bursting from black soil.

The bags of sand that had sunk down there, the small sacred artifacts that couldn’t float, were purifying the lake.

But all of that was over in an instant.

Flicker, flicker.

The light from the sky flickered like a lamp installed in an unstable place before extinguishing all at once.

The monsters that were being purified didn’t collapse but held on, and the rain that fell became magic power again.

Although the priests brought back their saint power without much issue—

For some reason, amidst all that chaos, people thought they heard someone’s scream.

—

Ria had no idea what was happening at that moment.

With her excellent dynamic vision, she could sense a danger approaching her in an instant.

However, the speed of that incoming danger was so fast that even Ria couldn’t react to dodge it.

It was literally faster than a regular bullet.

She pulled her body back a little, but that was all.

She tried to block it with her arm, but it was clear that it would pierce her chest before her arm could even intervene.

Yet—

As the warm light vanished, the sky turned overcast.

The sky, which had just been so blue it was blinding, now gloomed.

Or was it just Ria’s emotions that had shifted? Was it merely a shadow that had been cast on the creature’s hand still directed toward the sky?

None of that mattered.

What mattered was how Anna could have been in front of Ria at that moment and taken that spear for her.

“…Anna?”

Anna had surely been up in the sky.

So she shouldn’t have been caught up in something like this.

The spear was piercing through Anna’s abdomen. No, not just her abdomen. Right below the diaphragm. It was a place that could be mortally wounded no matter where it was hit. It may have even penetrated part of her lung—

“Anna!?”

Ria rushed over to Anna.

“I’m fine.”

Stabbed by the huge spear, Anna said that while unable to sit up or fall down.

It turned out there wasn’t just one spear. It seemed like there were multiple ones from all directions that were all meant to definitely kill the presence there.

Only the position that Anna pushed Ria away to was barely safe. Or maybe it was not.

Red blood spilled from Anna’s body.

It was like a drop of water falling on a heated frying pan, purifying the magic power piercing through Anna’s body. However, this time the purified magic power was not clear and transparent but bright red.

“Ah, it seems like changing reality itself is—impossible.”

“Anna!!”

Although Anna spoke as if a thought had struck her, Ria didn’t care about that at all. She stood up with her sword and swung it wildly. What had penetrated Anna’s body was terribly cut up by Ria’s blade.

Just like that.

*Cough!*

Anna coughed up blood. Bright red blood.

As Ria caught Anna falling forward, she felt warmth from Anna’s body. But Ria was creeped out by that warmth. It was not just the warmth of a body; it was the warmth of pouring blood.

The surroundings were crumbling. The monster’s body would probably crumble too.

“Not yet…”

“No, Anna. Don’t say anything.”

Seeing Anna speaking with unfocused eyes while coughing up blood, Ria grasped Anna’s hand. She felt chills again. Unlike the blood, that hand was so cold.

“I’m okay.”

“Okay, my foot!”

Ria shouted.

What should she do? If the wound was minor, stopping the bleeding would suffice, but there was blood everywhere. Ria pressed one of the wounds on Anna’s body with her hand, but blood flowed from another—

“I think I understand a little.”

“Don’t say anything, Anna.”

“The reason I came here…”

Ria’s vision blurred. Holding Anna on her knees, she kept trying to recall the things she had learned when she was little. First aid taught to hunters when they got injured. But what came to mind now were not things she could do—

…One thing came to mind.

Holy water.

As Ria took something out of her pocket, Anna raised her index finger to point at the sky.

Following the tip of that finger, the sky slowly opened up again. Warm light flowed down onto Anna’s face once more.

Anna smiled softly.

“Ah, so that’s why.”

A thin, thread-like light unlike anything she usually saw touched the tip of Anna’s finger. That light, connected all the way to the end of the sky, looked particularly ominous today. She had never thought of it that way before.

She had just thought it would be best for Anna to stay in the Church. There was no reason for such a naive, pure child to step out into society.

Being inside the Church wouldn’t be completely safe either. There would be power struggles and intrigues. She could get hurt in the midst of that.

She had said just being beside her would be enough.

She didn’t think of staying there for life, but after settling down somehow, they could be friends later—

For the first time, she doubted.

If the being above was watching Anna, why? Why at this time?

She just thought Anna believed in God more than others, albeit in a somewhat unique way. She was capable of such pure thoughts, and since she believed that this power was ‘not her own,’ she thought God would respond that way.

The chocolate didn’t melt at all in the bouncing embrace. In fact, it was cool to the touch. The light that emanated felt like the chill seen after pulling something from the freezer.

It couldn’t be used on her wound like that.

Ria put it in her mouth and crunched down.

“…I see. So it was like that…”

At Anna’s weak voice, tears inevitably flowed from Ria’s eyes.

Could it be, if, perhaps…

If Anna was merely supposed to bear something…

What if Anna only wanted to escape that fate?

…If Ria’s actions had only pushed Anna into that.

—I’ll believe it.

“…”

The light that fell from the sky gently enveloped the surroundings.

The monster’s body collapses as if melting. The surrounding area was slowly purified in the light that followed.

Even among the crumbling monster, the two didn’t fall apart. The lake remained calm.

The sacred artifact they had poured in there seemed to have successfully done its job. The monster’s body slowly crumbled like a sandcastle.

Ria tried to spread the crushed sacred artifact on Anna’s body, but the bleeding didn’t stop. The wounds were slowly filling, but the speed was too slow.

Anna’s hand fell limply. The strength left her body.

“No.”

Ria put the chocolate back in her mouth.

She didn’t want to let go just yet.

The fastest way to see the effects of holy water is to drink it directly. In emergencies, they spray it on wounds, but that only heals surface injuries.

In this situation, spraying wouldn’t help. It wasn’t water to begin with.

Then, there was only one way to properly push the saint power into Anna’s body.

The expression on Anna’s closed eyes was calm. As if she had accomplished what she needed to.

…What made her feel so at ease alone?

Who gave her permission?

…She said she believed.

Anna said she believed Ria would completely protect her. Even if she was treated a bit roughly and harshly, even on a battlefield where lives were at stake, Anna had entrusted herself entirely to Ria.

Then, it was time to return that trust.

Ria lifted Anna’s chin.

Without thinking about the implications of that action—

Looking back later, Ria realized she was slightly out of her mind at that time.

A hint of softness.

And an endless sweetness.

That was the first time.

—

“…”

The sunlight streaming into her view was somewhat dazzling.

I raised my hand to wave in front of my face. Since it wasn’t disappearing, the light falling from the sky seemed to be literal sunlight.

“Ugh… Huh…”

And what I felt was—a warm sensation that transcended mere warmth.

My body felt sticky. I was quite soaked. It didn’t seem like it was just because I was in the lake.

“…Ria?”

As I asked, my vision shifted a little.

Ria, who had been holding me, let me go a little with a surprised expression.

Her blood-red eyes, soaked through and tragic, looked at me.

“Anna?”

“Ria.”

Seeing Ria’s face, I called her name once more.

Ria hugged me tightly again.

…Hmm.

It seemed I really had almost died.

Before my eyes lay the lake.

I was lying down, and although Ria was sitting, it only reached up to her knees, the lake.

…Was it because it had been purified? The ruins of that monster?

I wasn’t sure. People who would see the situation later would explain it all.

“…”

There was a lot to think about.

The sweet taste of chocolate lingered in my mouth. It must have been the chocolate I had handed to Ria. It looked like she fed it back to me.

…

Truthfully, I need to start calculating a few things.

Not the people using my power.

…But the one who made me use this power.

I felt like I would have to charge that being high above later.

Later.

For now, well.

For now, shall we just rest a bit?

Both I and Ria—and the people running towards us from afar calling us, should probably take a break for now.