Chapter 221: The Holy Power Thief
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 221: The Holy Power Thief
When their eyes met, he jerked his chin toward the top of the stone wall.
“If you don’t want to die, stay by the mage.”
Tiern spoke gruffly before heading out of the cave.
“Um, Saintess. Please, come up this way.”
Miel called out to her, his lips twitching as if he were unsure of how to address Constine.
Standing there alone and dazed would only make her look more ridiculous. Ultimately, Constine climbed up to where the mage and the Grand Duchess were waiting.
“Saintess, please sit here.”
The Grand Duchess gestured to her as she approached.
The title ‘Saintess’ had never felt so uncomfortable. Constine hesitated before moving toward them.
The mage had already summoned chairs that looked like they belonged in a drawing room of the Grand Duke’s castle. The four of them sat down awkwardly.
“Will they really be alright?” the Grand Duchess asked, her face clouded with worry.
“I told you, there’s no need to worry,” the prickly-looking mage said, attempting to comfort her. “Most monsters would struggle to leave even a scratch on His Highness.”
The Grand Duchess’s shoulders slumped.
“And so what if he gets a few nicks? With Your Highness’s holy power, you could probably reattach a severed arm—!”
“Ahem, cough!”
The mage, who had been speaking without filter, fell silent when the recording priest caught his eye and glanced toward Constine.
The situation was incredibly awkward.
‘I need to head back to the capital as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.’
Constine shifted restlessly in her seat, feeling as though she were sitting on a bed of needles. It was then that the Grand Duchess’s shoulders gave a small shiver.
“Are you cold?” the mage asked, looking puzzled. “I’ve already cast warming magic around us.”
“I’m not cold, but I feel a sudden chill.”
“Is there a draft coming from deeper inside the cave?” the priest asked, also shivering.
Now that they mentioned it, the temperature hadn’t actually dropped, yet goosebumps broke out all over Constine’s body. As she instinctively rubbed her arms, the mage’s brow furrowed as if he had sensed something.
At that exact moment—
Crack!
Something resembling a massive whip lunged from the depths of the cave, swinging violently toward the Grand Duchess.
“Tsk!”
The mage reacted instantly, thrusting his hand out to deploy a defensive magic circle. He was just a fraction of a second faster. What slammed into the magic circle was the thick tail of a living creature.
While everyone stood dazed by the sudden turn of events, a pair of massive golden eyes appeared from the darkness of the cave. The pupils were slit vertically.
“…A dragon,” the Grand Duchess murmured blankly.
The mage tried to cast another spell in haste, but the dragon’s eyes flashed, and the mage froze mid-motion. Constine, too, found herself unable to move a muscle. It felt as if heavy weights had been attached to time itself; she couldn’t even blink.
The dragon then turned its gaze toward the Grand Duchess.
‘Is it targeting her?’
The dragon deployed a magic circle pulsing with a dark red energy. Soon, crimson chains erupted from the circle and flew toward the Grand Duchess.
Constine tried to scream, but the sound wouldn’t leave her throat. The chains pierced through the mage’s frozen defensive magic in an instant and coiled tightly around the immobile Grand Duchess.
Before long, brilliant streaks of light began to flow out of the Grand Duchess’s body, traveling along the chains to be absorbed by the dragon.
“Ugh…!”
The Grand Duchess writhed as if trying to stop it, but the light drained away at an ever-increasing speed.
That light was undoubtedly her holy power. If it continued to drain at that rate, her life would soon be in danger. Her complexion grew paler by the second. Eventually, the light stopped traveling through the chains and began to be absorbed directly into the dragon.
Heh heh heh.
A low, satisfied chuckle rumbled through the air. Though no words were spoken aloud, it seemed as if the Grand Duchess and the dragon were engaged in some form of silent dialogue.
Then, at a certain point—
The Grand Duchess gritted her teeth, her eyes hardening with resolve. The rapid flow of light suddenly faltered.
Constine was trembling with terror just watching, yet the Grand Duchess was glaring at the dragon with a terrifying intensity, as if she were ready to tear it apart if given the chance. The form of the transferring holy power began to waver and break apart.
‘Did she just win a battle of wills against a dragon?’
The dragon seemed taken aback, exhaling a ragged breath. In that moment, a swift shadow lunged forward.
Clang!
A blue sword aura sliced through the air, instantly severing the chains binding the Grand Duchess.
It was the Grand Duke.
The severed chains crumbled into black ash, as if they had been incinerated. The dragon also seemed to take a hit, as the pressure pinning Constine down vanished instantly.
The mage didn’t miss the opening. He quickly cast a defensive magic circle, and while he did, the Grand Duke swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc. A wave of blue sword aura flew toward the dragon.
Roar!
The dragon’s enraged howl echoed through the cave before it vanished without a trace. Simultaneously, the mage disappeared as well.
The Grand Duke, who had been about to pursue the dragon, saw the Grand Duchess stumble and immediately caught her in his arms. It had all happened in the blink of an eye.
“Annette, are you alright?”
Having one’s holy power forcibly drained was an experience I never wanted to repeat. The sensation of something being ripped from my body was still vivid, and I dazedly clutched at my chest.
‘I almost died.’
The dragon had appeared out of nowhere, paralyzed everyone, and started absorbing my holy power. The feeling of my life force slipping away was terrifying. Fear had consumed my entire being.
— “Do you feel it? Your power is becoming mine.”
Thinking it had won, the dragon had spoken to me. Its voice was laced with satisfaction.
But why wasn’t I as afraid as I expected to be? Was it because the situation felt so surreal? Was my mind simply refusing to accept reality?
No, that wasn’t it.
‘Because Loik is here.’
Unlike last time, Loik was close by. I knew he would realize what was happening and appear in no time. I just had to hold out until then.
— “Were you the one who summoned the monsters?”
The dragon snorted at my blunt tone. It was a silent affirmation.
— “Wow, you’ve got some nerve. Is that a dragon thing? Last time you resorted to a cowardly kidnapping, and now you’re a thief?”
— “A thief?”
— “You’re stealing my holy power.”
At my reckless provocation, the dragon’s golden pupils dilated with displeasure.
— “Have you lost your mind in the face of death? You’ve certainly lost your fear.”
— “Unfortunately for you, I’m not particularly scared of you anymore. Didn’t you run away with your tail between your legs last time, too?”
Loik, please, hurry!
— “Honestly, I heard you were a ‘great’ dragon, so I thought you’d have something impressive about you. I didn’t realize you were this pathetic.”
— “Do not mock me!”
The dragon’s murderous intent flared violently.
— “You lowly creature! You don’t even realize who you owe your life to! Once my full power returns, a mere insect like you won’t even be worth my notice!”
— “Stop lying. You already lost to me once.”
The dragon faltered at those words, and the suction on my holy power momentarily weakened.
‘My guess was right.’
The one who had turned back time was the dragon. Taking advantage of its weakened momentum, I pulled my holy power back toward myself. I simply focused on the thought of pulling it back, and to my surprise, the energy actually began to flow back into me.
— “You really are weak, aren’t you?”
Even in that moment, I kept taunting it to break its composure.
— “Urgh, how are you already…!”
It seemed genuinely shocked that I could manipulate holy power so well.
— “I’ve always been a fast learner.”
And as soon as I said that, Loik appeared, cut the chains, and the dragon vanished.
Drained of energy, I leaned against Loik and looked toward where Enolius had been standing.
“Where did Enol go?”
“He went to track the dragon.”
Since the dragon used magic circles, Enol explained that if he followed quickly enough, he could find traces to track it later.
It was then I noticed that Loik’s hands, which were holding me, were trembling. He seemed deeply shaken.
“I… I failed to protect you, Annette.”
“What are you talking about? Who was it that just saved me if not you, Loik?”
I tightly grasped his cold hands.
“I almost lost you to that dragon….”
“Don’t say that. Do you know how cool you looked just now? You were like a real prince.”
“A… prince?”
At that, Loik’s eyes wavered even more violently.
“Are you referring to Prince Lucion?”
Oh, for heaven’s sake.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I just meant you were that gallant—”
“…Have you been thinking Lucion is gallant?”
That guy doesn’t even have any muscle on his chest.
Loik muttered to himself, looking even more traumatized than before.