The Saint's Purification
Adele couldn't smile even as she finally laid eyes on the sea she'd longed to see. The reason was the magi that had swallowed up the western waters of Jeju Island.
I had rented a yacht at the pier and was about to start the engine when Adele approached with a displeased expression. I looked at her curiously.
“What's wrong?”
“The magi spreading through this place is touching Mr. Jihyeok's body. I hate it so much. I want to purify it right now.”
Calm down. I don't want to die.
“Is that magi having any effect on me?”
“Not exactly, but… a clean person like you shouldn't be here.”
Me? A clean person? I'm the Demon King who created this filth and lives within it. You'll soon be living in the Magic Realm, where magi far thicker than this lurks, so I hope you'll get used to it.
“If it's not affecting me, then there's no need to worry. Shall we set off?”
“Yes.”
Once we reached the middle of the sea with Adele, I turned off the engine as she left the helm and moved to the stern. She was staring down at the water while brushing back her hair, which the sea breeze kept whipping around. She even tilted her head this way and that, as if chasing something.
I approached her and pulled out the laptop I'd brought.
“Looks like you found something.”
“Something that appears to be a host for magi is writhing deep down there. Every time it moves, the surrounding ecosystem falls into chaos.”
“Falls into chaos? What do you mean by that?”
“The creatures are ignoring the law of the jungle and baring their teeth at one another.”
She saw it exactly right. As expected of Adele.
The thing I'd released here was a parasitic monster. It used marine life as hosts and scattered magi to drive surrounding creatures into a frenzy. It had no effect on high-intelligence beings like humans or dolphins, but it could easily corrupt anything below that level. Unfortunately, unlike a zombie virus, infected creatures couldn't spread the corruption to others by biting them. Still, destroying an ecosystem of this scale all by itself was a satisfying result.
“We need to use holy power right now.”
Adele's next words. I gently stroked her back.
“Can you purify it?”
“Yes. If I transform, I can spread it in one go.”
Adele looked at me with earnest eyes. It was a plea to let her transform. It was exactly what I wanted. My plan was to drain Adele's Aether as much as possible.
“Let's check first.”
“Mr. Jihyeok! The detector down there isn't broken! Once I purify it, everything will return to normal! Please trust me!”
Adele was starting to get angry. I calmed her with a composed expression.
“It's not that I don't trust you, Adele. And this isn't about the detector. You can sense how the ecosystem is being destroyed, but I don't have that ability. I'm recording the underwater environment to prepare countermeasures, so please be patient just a little longer. It'll be over soon.”
“...Yes… I'm sorry…”
I nodded and operated the laptop, linking it to the detector. Then I captured the surrounding situation with the camera attached to it. Looking at the transmitted photos, I frowned.
“The sea really does look gloomy. There are a lot of dead creatures too… You can start now.”
“A-already finished?”
Adele, who had been stamping her feet, stared at me in a daze. I shrugged.
“Yes. Oh, if purification is possible from the cabin as well, it might be better to do it there. Just in case someone sees.”
“Okay!”
Adele, now alert, hurried into the yacht's room and tapped her Device twice. A brilliant golden light began to burst forth. I quickly ran over and closed all the curtains in the room.
In the meantime, she had transformed into Celine. She approached me—my brow furrowed from the light—and said,
“Thank you, Mr. Jihyeok.”
Then she began reciting a prayer in the language of the planet she once lived on.
Oooong—!
Every time her beautiful voice spread through the air, the light grew stronger. There were no other boats nearby, but… with light this intense, someone might still see it. I'd have to tell Marcela to check everything. If there were any witnesses, I'd have to kill them.
Still, it was such a beautiful light. It felt like it was cleansing my heart. Yeah, if there are any witnesses, I'll just capture them, modify them, and turn them into biological weapons. Killing them would be too harsh. Even a Demon King should show some mercy.
The more Adele prayed, the stronger the radiance enveloping her body became. Since I was currently in a human body, I wasn't affected by her holy power and couldn't even feel it. But instinctively, I knew.
The sea below was being cleanly restored.
The intensity of the light reached its peak after five minutes, then quickly subsided. At the same time, Adele's prayer stopped.
Watching her, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. It seemed the purification had finished with only about five minutes of prayer.
“Haa…!”
Adele let out a tired sigh and opened her eyes with a bright expression.
Is it impossible to consume a large amount this way? Should I just release more monsters and go with the straightforward approach?
Swallowing a quiet groan, I approached Adele with a casual face.
“Is it done?”
“Yes… it's done. That monster has been eradicated… and the ecosystem has returned to normal.”
“Understood.”
I picked up the laptop to confirm the purification had gone well. At that moment, Adele approached with a weary look and called out to me.
“Um… Mr. Jihyeok.”
“Yes?”
“I used too much power on so many creatures and I'm tired… Can I rest for a bit?”
She used enough holy power to get tired? If the quantity is large, does it work the way I want? That changes things.
“Of course. Lie down on that bed and rest.”
“Okay…”
Adele shuffled over like a zombie and collapsed onto the bed with a thud. Soon after, she began breathing softly in her sleep.
After confirming on the laptop that the purification was complete, I watched her for a moment.
“Adele, are you sleeping?”
I even called her in a small voice. She didn't stir at all. Convinced she had fallen into a deep slumber, I carefully pressed the button on her Device to check the charge level.
And then I cheered at the number that appeared before my eyes.
Significant depletion confirmed.
Purification output: High
Target exhaustion level: Achieved
The method I had thought of had hit the mark perfectly. Now I could drain a huge amount of Adele's energy in a short time.
**
“Mr. Jihyeok… where are we…? The bed feels different…”
I had been watching TV with the volume turned down as low as possible. When Adele emerged from the bedroom with sleepy eyes, I smiled brightly.
“It's a hotel in Seogwipo.”
“A… hotel…?”
“Yes.”
Adele seemed unable to believe she was in a hotel. She stared at me blankly before asking,
“Why… did we come to a hotel…?”
“After you passed out, the yacht started rocking quite a bit. It looked like a storm was coming, so I headed back to land. You still hadn't woken up by then, so I brought you to a hotel. Did you sleep well?”
“I did, but… shouldn't we be heading back?”
“It's two in the morning right now. There are no flights. We'll have to go back tomorrow.”
“I… I slept until dawn…?”
“You slept for a long time, didn't you? Silvia was worried. Contact her quickly.”
Adele nodded, completely unaware of what was about to happen, and went back into the bedroom. A short while later, after finishing her call with Silvia, she came over and sat beside me. She took a modest sip of the water in front of her and said,
“I told her we'd go back tomorrow.”
You're alone with me in a hotel right now. Aren't you being way too unguarded? It was good for me, though…
“Let's do some sightseeing tomorrow that we couldn't finish today and head back in the evening.”
“Okay… But did I do well today?”
Well? You did more than well. I've discovered the weakness of your holy power, and I'm so pleased I could die. I gave her a bright smile and answered.
“Yes. You were truly amazing. I was proud of you too.”
Adele currently had a strong sense of duty as a Beast Slayer. Receiving such affirming words would make her joy even greater. Just as I expected, after hearing the praise, she excitedly began recounting her heroic tale.
I listened to all of Adele's story with a pleased expression, then stood up, moved behind her, and began massaging her shoulders.
“It's true you did well, but it was hard to watch. When you used your holy power, you looked really exhausted.”
“There were so many lives to purify, I couldn't help it. But I'm all better now… Hwaaam…!”
Adele puffed out her chest in a boastful manner before letting out a languid yawn. She licked her lips and continued.
“I wanted to play with you, Mr. Jihyeok… I'm sorry I only slept…”
“Don't say that. You still look a little tired. Would you like to rest more?”
“No. I want to talk with you.”
“What kind of talk?”
“Aren't you curious how I purified all those innocent fish?”
“I just told you, didn't I? You wrapped the struggling fish in gentle holy power and calmed them.”
“Ah, that's right… Hwaaam…”
Adele yawned again, stretching out, and leaned her back against the sofa. It seemed she liked the shoulder massage. This time, I began stroking her slender neck.
“.....”
As she felt my touch, Adele's ears gradually turned red. She must have sensed the strange atmosphere. She slowly tilted her head back to look at me.
“Mr. Jihyeok…”
“Yes?”
“When are you going back to your room…?”
There's only one room here… She's so innocent it's almost worrying.
“In a little while.”
“Not just a little while—stay for a long time. I just woke up… Let's talk, talk…”
“I will.”
“Then… can I go brush my teeth…?”
Brushing her teeth out of nowhere? Did she want to escape the situation? No, thinking back on our previous conversation, that wasn't it. Then was she indirectly asking me to kiss her?
I slowly shook my head.
“No.”
“Why…?”
“I'll give you a massage first. Relax.”
“Okaaay…”
I moved one hand to the back of Adele's neck and the other to her chin. When I pressed down with appropriate pressure, she gave me the same deep, misty gaze she'd shown in the car before arriving at Jeju Island yesterday.
Her acting has improved a lot since yesterday. Now I finally understand what you want.
I slowly lowered my face toward Adele's lips. Her eyes gently closed. She even turned her head slightly to the side. Seeing that, I let out a small chuckle and said,
“You can't bite today.”
At those words, Adele's brow furrowed. The corners of her mouth arched, as if silently scolding me for ruining the mood.
I laughed softly and brought my face right up to hers, then slipped my tongue slightly between her lips.
“.... Hoo…”
Hot breath escaped from Adele's nose, tickling my cheek. At the same time, a faint oooong—! resonance hummed from her wrist.
Today wouldn't end with just a kiss. What I was aiming for was 100% charge and an orgasm intense enough to reach the peak. I'd touch her thoroughly until then, so I hope she's mentally prepared even now.