Chapter 34: Saints And Saintesses (6)
“Ugh……”
Pia let out a sigh of pain, accompanied by the sound of her bones cracking.
Her shoulders were aligned with tremendous pain.
Despite how absent-minded one could be, her resilience was admirable.
While aligning her shoulders, Ray also assessed her condition.
Treating the bruises immediately wasn’t ideal, but the sword wound on her flank required urgent attention.
Without hesitation, he tore his sleeve and tightly bound it around her flank.
He thought about using mana acupuncture, but the battle situation made it unsuitable.
Her body was covered in bruises, and if she bled out, they would be helpless.
Since there were no blood packs, they couldn’t transfuse blood from anyone else.
Initially, they weren’t even aware if blood types existed.
Feeling the severity of their lack of information, Ray did his best within his capabilities.
Aira felt a secret relief seeing this.
She felt reassured knowing that Ray, who had treated her, was watching over her.
Compared to her, Pia’s current condition was like a mere scrape on the knee.
At that moment, a saintess approached Ray.
Iriel spoke with a smile on her face.
“Saint, you must go to the Holy Kingdom. God is calling you.”
Her voice was filled with reverence.
However, the blood on her clothes seemed out of place to anyone who saw it.
Without responding, he stood up and looked at her. Sensing that his words had gotten through, she continued speaking incessantly.
“You have been chosen by God, so it is time for you to achieve a feat worthy of that.”
“A feat?”
“Yes. How can we not call it a feat when we are carrying out God’s will? The great task that we must do starts now.”
“The great task? Do you call this a great task with your own eyes?”
He asked, pointing at the blood-stained bushes.
Ray’s anger was palpable in his words, and Iriel stopped smiling and spoke.
“We certainly asked, and we also offered compensation. However, the elves refused. Since we could not back down in the face of God’s will, we warned that we could demonstrate our power. Moreover, we did not kill this elf with them in mind…”
“So, without their consent, you trespassed on their territory and are attempting to abduct me by force?”
“That’s an unavoidable circumstance.”
“So, you expect me to simply agree that you’re right and accompany you?”
Iriel shook her head.
“…I do not desire to use force on the saint.”
Upon hearing her final words, Aira, who had been silently listening, reacted.
“I can’t believe it. You not only caused a disturbance in front of someone else’s house, but now you dare to draw a sword against my benefactor… Then show it. Show me this power you speak of.”
Iriel narrowed her eyes at Aira, who had abruptly interjected.
“The power of the Holy Kingdom is formidable, but… I wonder if a mere elf can withstand it.”
“Whether it’s bravery or foolhardiness, you’ll discover it more quickly by experiencing it firsthand.”
“…You don’t know your place.”
Aira was slightly shorter, so she looked up at Iriel.
But there was a calmness in Aira’s eyes.
It was the gaze of a strong individual.
Perhaps disliking that, Iriel scowled.
Then, suddenly, the shouts of those surrounding them filled their ears.
“How dare you speak to the saintess like that!”
“What audacity you have to spout such nonsense!”
The believers, filled with faith, drew their swords against her, who dared to speak against God’s representative.
They seemed to have lost their minds, their faces twisted with rage as they charged forward.
The swords that had swiftly reached her neck all halted at her single word.
“Halt.”
The crowd of people stopped in their tracks at her command.
It was truly astonishing.
“My body…”
“Saintess… Please help us…!”
“Kuek… Even our divine power is frozen!”
Their bodies, as well as the divine power they could control, had all ceased.
Yet, they believed they had restrained Aira’s movements.
After all, they had frozen with their swords poised near her neck.
Even the slightest movement would cause the sword to slice their necks.
Aira smirked and advanced a step.
Pakang-
There was an indescribable sound as the sword struck the neck.
The swords that made contact with her body shattered into fragments.
The Holy Kingdom’s holy knights, who had been wielding fairly good swords, glimpsed despair as their swords disintegrated helplessly.
Was this truly an elf?
No, an elf could not exhibit such divine presence.
Then, what was the identity of the elf standing before them?
Before the diminutive Aira, who was half their size, they quaked.
The thought of what could happen to them incited fear.
The primal instinct to survive overpowered their faith and began to seep in.
“Pl-please spare us! I was just…”
“Aaaaah! Save me!”
Even though she hadn’t taken any action yet, their screams were spectacular.
Aira grinned mischievously.
“Are these the knights who will accomplish the ‘great task’ you spoke of?”
“…They have weak faith.”
“How pathetic. Did you think the god granted power only to you? Confined in the framework of God’s judgment…”
“You talk too much.”
Iriel frowned and charged at her.
Regardless of the outcome, since the elf had initiated the confrontation, they still had ‘justification’ as their weapon.
The pure white light radiating from her hand pressed onto Aira.
This time, her hand was filled with full power, unlike when she faced Pia.
As evidence, the golden divine power had turned white.
It had the power to penetrate even the large-scale barrier erected by the magicians.
With this move, it was clear that Aira’s head would fall to the ground.
But her hand, too, had halted like the holy knights scattered around.
“Hold.”
It was just one word.
Even though she wanted to kill the adversary before her, she had no choice but to halt at her single word.
She attempted to break free by infusing divine power, but it failed to respond.
It was as if her body, her very flesh, had frozen in time.
Aira slowly approached the struggling Iriel.
And then she quietly intoned.
“How does it feel to have the power of the Holy Kingdom you trusted in be blocked by ‘one’ elf?”
“The power of the Holy Kingdom is not yet exhausted!”
“How grave.”
Aira looked at Iriel as if she was observing something pitiful, and Iriel clenched her teeth.
She was filled with rage and yelled.
“Addeuk! We will transport the Saint to the Holy Kingdom by any means necessary! Even if we only bring his body….”
Zzaak-
She couldn’t complete her sentence.
Because Aira slapped her cheek.
Cold blue eyes stared directly at Iriel.
“Do not speak thoughtlessly. The Saint you’re trying to take, even if it’s just his body, is more valuable to me than life itself.”
The slap was so forceful that blood flowed from Iriel’s mouth.
But even then, Iriel couldn’t utter a word.
The eyes that displayed a murderous intent in the silence were gazing at her, and she understood.
If she spoke one more word, she might actually die by her hand.
Her body quivered with the fear that had seized her.
Even though she pretended otherwise, she didn’t want to confront the elf before her.
Indeed, she wondered if it was feasible to oppose such a frighteningly powerful elf.
She questioned if the High Elf she had heard of was the elf before her.
Aira lifted her chin with her small hand.
She knew that Ray wanted to go to the Holy Kingdom.
He seemed reluctant, but he was attempting to go there of his own volition for some reason.
That induced an unpleasant emotion in her.
Because of that unpleasant emotion, her hand gained strength.
“How audacious you are to take what belongs to others. I want to obliterate your repugnant country right now….”
Umjjil.
Iriel reacted to Aira’s chilling words.
It was clear that there would be total destruction or at least partial destruction.
This was because she couldn’t move her body with just a single word from her.
But could she kill her, even if it resulted in partial destruction?
The answer was obviously no.
Aira would partially destroy the Holy Kingdom and then disappear gracefully.
She possessed that level of skill.
After laying Pia next to a large tree, Ray approached Iriel.
And he spoke in a low voice.
“I will go to the Holy Kingdom.”
Those words brought mixed feelings.
Even though she knew that Ray would go to the Holy Kingdom, it pained Aira’s heart.
Even if it wasn’t immediate.
On the other hand, Iriel’s expression slightly relaxed.
Because she was confident that he would come to the Holy Kingdom.
Ray didn’t care about the situation around him and continued speaking.
“But there’s a condition.”
“Condition… you say…?”
“Firstly, I didn’t become the Saint for the god. I became the Saint by my own will, and it’s also my will to quit.”
Even for her, who was cold-hearted and full of pride, her mouth was wide open at that moment.
Oh my. What does it mean to be a Saint?
Isn’t it a position where one is chosen by a god and serves the will of the god in a sacred nation ruled by the god?
But he said he would quit by his own will.
He must have lost his mind or didn’t understand what being a Saint meant.
However, he didn’t care about her reaction and continued speaking.
“Secondly. If this kind of thing happens even once more, I don’t know what the situation will be.”
He pointed at the grass covered in blood and said.
“…What kind of situation will it be?”
“I don’t know either. I might leave the Holy Kingdom and become the Saint of the enemy country.”
“……”
The Saintess thought the Saint wasn’t really making the right decision. He was threatening the Holy Kingdom, even God. If this happens again, he might choose a different country over you all.
However, Iriel was not concerned about the second condition. If a Saint, who had received divine power, betrayed their faith, that divine power would return to God. Her lack of worry stemmed from her lack of understanding about Ray.
He did not need any power; his knowledge and skills were power in themselves. He had even resurrected the dead in this world, so adding the knowledge from here, even he did not know what kind of synergy could occur.
Take away his divine power? Ray would likely be pleased about that. After all, he preferred mana.
Iriel asked in a tense voice,
“Is there… a third one?”
“Yes.”
His expression, as if asking why she was asking the obvious, felt annoying.
“The third is that I have the right to use all the library facilities in the holy kingdom.”
“… That’s easy.”
The third condition was like a perk that naturally came with being a Saint. Saints and Saintesses had the right to use all facilities in the holy kingdom.
“Fourth.”
“……”
She did not want to believe there was a fourth, but there was.
“I will be paid for the work I do during my time. Of course, the holy kingdom will provide for food, clothing, and shelter.”
“… Food, clothing, and shelter?”
Ah, she realized ‘food, clothing, and shelter’ might not be a common expression here.
Ray explained,
“It means the holy kingdom will provide what I wear, eat, and where I sleep.”
After thinking silently in her stiffened state, she asked with curiosity,
“What do you mean by payment?”
With a look of confusion, he responded to Iriel’s question,
“Money, of course.”
This was also beyond her expectations. It was money.
For Iriel, her fantasy of a Saint shattered at that moment.