Of Course a Saintess Is Connected to God (1)
Of Course a Saintess Is Connected to God (1)
A grim sky had collapsed. Over the land, a word like chaos fell short—the evening sunset draped itself across everything.
[Haa...]
I surveyed the entire area and let out a deep breath.
The 12th Iteration had just left Incarnation's side. My conversation with him wouldn't leave my head.
'Should I have fought...'
If I'd been aiming for victory, I should have. If I'd wanted to prevent whatever disaster might come, I should have crashed in. It wasn't that I lacked courage—the possibility was sufficient.
But I didn't.
'The 12th Iteration too.'
The battlefield was gradually shifting to cleanup.
The Clear Lightning Flash had killed Sicarius, a legion commander in all but name, and completely destroyed the dungeon core at the heart of the outbreak. The monsters that had poured out were being tidied up smoothly.
There were almost no casualties.
I bundled it all under the word 'casualties,' but only the injured counted as such. It meant there were zero fatalities so far.
No matter how sufficient our forces were or how much my own workshop had influenced things, it was a stunning result.
'There were no spirits.'
One Sicarius at most. With the 12th Iteration's ability, he could have devoured every last monster and turned them into soul ingots.
He might have simply lacked the time, but the army corps that had provoked Siyoram was nothing but pathetically weak monsters, too.
Above all, among the soul ingots the 12th Iteration held, there was no human soul.
[I don't know...]
[Complicated]
[Headache]
I couldn't find an answer.
No matter how strong I became, no matter how many authorities and abilities I held in my grasp, making a choice was always hard. Clutching my throbbing head, I descended toward the ramparts.
"Ha-yul!"
The people who'd been waiting on the ramparts swarmed toward me.
Just seeing them seemed to ease my headache.
I smiled faintly and folded my fluttering wings. Lee Ha-sol, who had dashed to the front of the group with remarkable agility, stopped dead in her tracks. The others did too.
I tilted my head.
"Lee Ha-sol?"
"...Whoa...."
Lee Ha-sol's mouth fell open.
In her pale-green eyes, a warm, sticky feeling bubbled up. When I blinked and slipped neatly into her arms, she trembled as if electrocuted.
'The Heavenly Thunder is off, though?'
Observation showed no injuries either.
For a moment, doubt and worry flickered, but once the warmth spread through my face buried in her voluptuous chest, none of it mattered anymore.
Lee Ha-sol's embrace was hot, flushed from having just finished fighting.
I wrapped my arms around her slender waist and buried my face even deeper. The heartbeat ringing right beside me eased the anguish and the headache.
[Happiness]
[Warmth]
[Softness]
"Ah, ah..."
Lee Ha-sol let out a few unintelligible sounds, then wrapped her trembling arms around me.
One hand stroked my hair, as always.
The other hand carefully touched my wings. When the touched wing twitched, Lee Ha-sol held her breath and pulled her hand away.
"Ah, ah, did it hurt?"
[Mm-mm... no]
[Ticklish]
Whether it was the Sky Wing Feather or a fairy's wings, the sensation connected to me was the same.
As the relieved Lee Ha-sol gently stroked my fluttering wings, Yeon-hwa approached and cocked her head with a sulky expression.
"You're drenched in sweat. You sure he's okay with you just snatching him up like that?"
"...Ah!"
Lee Ha-sol, who'd been holding me with a dreamy look on her face, widened her eyes as if she'd been dunked in cold water and hastily stepped backward.
[Kyaaak...]
But I liked it better that way.
The moment the warmth vanished, I let out a shriek, and Yeon-hwa, as if she'd been waiting for exactly that, swept me into her own arms.
It was even hotter and more feverish than before. The necklace stopped its screaming. As I burrowed into her chest, Yeon-hwa laughed with satisfaction.
"Hoo... that's it..."
"Goodness, since when did the kid start using schemes... anyway."
Clicking her tongue, A-rin poked my wing with her fingertip.
"Is that... Heavenly Thunder you manifested? So that's why the power and color changed?"
"Mm... yeah...."
I nodded, still buried in Yeon-hwa's chest.
The wing that fluttered softly, dodging her teasing finger, was still pure white right now.
The Sky Wing Feather was originally white, but once dyed by Heavenly Thunder, the color became deeper and more intense.
"You really killed a 2nd Rank all by yourself... last time, the Earth Dragon Tower Master died from being hit by some spear, but this time you only used Heavenly Thunder."
"...Tch, if I'd followed up White Night with Polar Night and punched it home, I could've killed it easily without any strain."
"Huh? No, that's not right, Master! The Heavenly Thunder battered it at insane speed, threw it off-balance, created an opening, and then you slammed it home, so the opportunity came—"
"A disciple talks back to her master...?"
"...This bitch! When words don't work, you use the master's authority to oppress the disciple... aagh...!"
Before I knew it, the surroundings had grown noisy.
"Heh."
Listening while nestled in Yeon-hwa's arms, a chuckle escaped me.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing."
I was just relieved that the immediate crisis had ended well. I was worried about the future, but at least for now, I wanted to keep acting like a spoiled child in her arms.
[Sigh...]
"Huh?"
But reality had no intention of coddling me. Choking back tears, I slipped smoothly out of her arms. I shook my head firmly at Yeon-hwa, whose mouth had fallen open in shock.
[Just a moment]
[I have a small task over there, so I'll be right back]
"What? What task?"
The hubbub abruptly stopped. I fluttered my wings and flew deeper into the frontline.
* * *
The inside of the frontline was in disarray.
A considerable number of non-combat personnel were moving back and forth, bringing in supplies, moving the wounded inward, and hurrying to settle the situation.
Occasionally, monster corpses came into view as well.
These weren't monsters that had breached the barrier and invaded. They were transporting expensive byproducts from the monsters that had been subjugated.
"Is this war as I know it? Didn't we just hunt while protected by a barrier?"
It was a result that made even a total victory seem insufficient. A superhuman who'd been sharpening his blade gaped at the byproducts piled up like a hill.
"Is that a Golden Bell Turtle? Wow... looks like there was one hell of a dungeon among them. How much is all that gold worth? Find that dungeon, preserve it properly, and we'll have a real money vein on our hands."
"Heh, the guy who was crying about how he thought he was gonna die, now the gold catches his eye?"
"Ah, shit! I lived, so I gotta collect my life's value and enjoy the riches and glory!"
The man snapped back at the woman's taunt, sliding his sword into its scabbard. The woman giggled and nodded along.
"Well, you'll enjoy a short taste of the good life. This mobilization order in particular will line your pockets nicely."
"That goes without saying. A 2nd Rank showed up here. Normally, we'd all be dead."
The grumbling man shuddered his shoulders, his face turning pale at the mere thought.
"Oof... hey, did you get hit by that mana wave disturbance up on the ramparts? I blacked out for a sec."
"Good thing you wore diapers, huh?"
"I didn't wear any, you bitch."
The man gritted his teeth and rose to his feet, still conscious of his pants.
Whatever the case, the outbreak was over. The insane hero who'd appeared like a ray of hope had slaughtered the 2nd-Rank monster like livestock.
There was no other way to describe it.
'As if I could've seen anything...'
They said the 2nd Rank had a stealth-based ability. On top of that, it was crazily fast with a speed-type unique ability, and it even phased through attacks.
'Insane monster bastard.'
A monster so terrifying you couldn't imagine the disaster it would have caused if it had fallen inland.
For the hero who'd beaten such a monster to death so it couldn't even breathe, all you could do was worship him.
"...! ...uck! ...!?"
"...! ...! ...!?"
"What now? Still at it?"
It was around then.
The man frowned at the shouts pounding his eardrums. His female companion, standing up beside him, also tilted her head.
"Isn't that the Association?"
"Yeah, the Association combat unit."
Association staff in matching field uniforms had surrounded a superhuman and were attempting to subdue her.
The superhuman was a woman, beaten to a pulp as if she'd rolled across the ground dozens of times. Exposed skin was covered in soot.
The man fastened his sword to his waist and approached.
"Excuse me, what's the situation?"
"We are subduing a suspect."
"A suspect?"
The man blinked. Before the Association staffer could reply, the woman, her teeth clenched, shouted.
"Suspect my ass, you fuck! Is it right to suddenly barge in and try to subdue me with zero evidence!? I'm the victim here from the start! I was fighting perfectly fine and then out of nowhere lightning struck me—!"
"Ah."
The man, who'd been listening half in doubt, grasped the whole situation at the word 'lightning.' He turned back to the Association staffer and shrugged.
"Uh... keep up the good work."
"Yes, as a member of the Association, I thank the hero for his efforts."
The Association staffer smiled bitterly and bowed his head. The woman, staring blankly at that sight, ground her teeth.
"What the hell are you saying, you crazy bastards! Whispering behind my back and making a fuss...!"
"You just got to this city?"
"......"
The man's question made the woman's expression twist. She had no idea what he meant.
It was true, too.
The woman had accumulated too many warnings from the Association, so she'd had no choice but to answer the summons and had only arrived just before the outbreak began.
"Sigh, tsk tsk..."
Having confirmed her silence, the man clicked his tongue as if she were an idiot. Not just the Association staff, but superhumans gripping their weapons also began to approach one by one.
The woman, grinding her teeth audibly, drew her own weapon as well.
[Go ahead, draw it.]
"......."
She tried to draw. The hand gripping the hilt froze. Her arm, her shoulder... her whole body went rigid, tingling all over.
Do not draw.
A voice warned her.
Her instincts also screamed at her not to draw. For a long moment, she stood frozen like an ice statue, and only when the paralysis faded a little did she creakily turn her head.
- Fwaah...!
She saw wings. A figure fluttering twelve wings of pure white alighted gently on the ground.
The woman's mouth fell open.
A personage wrapped in a white color that seemed utterly detached from this world.
It was Lee Ha-yul, the one who'd unilaterally beaten the 2nd-Rank monster that had appeared on the battlefield to death.
[I said, go ahead and draw.]
"...N-no, no I won't...!"
Lee Ha-yul gave a slight nod.
If I draw, I'm screwed. The woman, grasping the situation, hastily shoved her half-drawn weapon back in and desperately shook her head.
Eyebrows as white and delicate as perpetual snow arched slightly.
[Then shut up quietly and comply. Do you want your limbs hacked off and to be thrown in a cell?]
The words spat by the necklace were chilling.
"...Th...! Still... still, shouldn't someone have done something wrong before they're detained and comply...?"
The woman bit her lip and managed to force the words out haltingly.
"I'm well aware that the Association is fair and, uh, just! But I really did nothing at all! All I did was build up spells behind the front lines and fire them at monsters...!"
[Is that so? Then was the mid-to-low-grade hero, Lucas Bennett, whom you tried to fire a spell into the back of, actually a monster all along?]
"......."
[My, how impressive. What kind of trick did you pull with a physical-type unique ability to notice a transformation that detection-type ability users and the observation unit didn't?]
The complexion of the woman who'd been pleading her innocence instantly hardened. It was a reaction far removed from innocence. Realizing her blunder too late, the woman hurriedly opened her mouth.
"Th-that's not—"
[Th-that's not it! The battlefield was just so chaotic, a simple mistake occurred during incantation!]
"—a-absolutely de—"
[Absolutely not deliberate! Believe me! For what possible reason would I slam a spell into someone else's back!]
In an instant, the surroundings fell into dead silence. The woman who'd been about to rattle off rehearsed excuses silently opened and closed her mouth.
The words came out. Not from her own mouth, but from the necklace Lee Ha-yul had given her.
A chilling coolness grazed her skin. The woman froze rigid like a commoner who'd met a tiger in the middle of the night.
She didn't meet his eyes.
Lee Ha-yul's eyes were simply gently shut.
Yet it felt as if every inch of her skin was being laid bare one by one.
As if he had no desire to see the likes of her, nor any need whatsoever.
[To try and blast someone with a spell in the back over a minor dispute... you're defective as a human being.]
Lee Ha-yul swept her with Observation.
Beyond the physical viewpoint, he observed the inner psychology and mind. Based on that, he predicted future actions.
Merely reading a single person—a weak bitch like this at that—for just a moment ahead was not a difficult thing.
With an expressionless face, Lee Ha-yul nodded.
[Do I need to keep digging and lay it all out for you?]
"......"
The woman sank down on the spot, her face pale as a sheet.
Lee Ha-yul, his face still devoid of all emotion from beginning to end, took a moment of silence.
[I will ask you one last question. You are free to answer, but you will bear the responsibility along with it.]
"......."
[If you spout deception with that pathetic tongue of yours, I will make certain to stuff the price right down your gullet.]
- Crackle!
[This is the last question.]
The pure-white wings blazed. At the fleeting, distant output of Heavenly Thunder that flickered for an instant, everyone nearby trembled.
[Was it truly a misfire with no personal grudge?]
There was no reply. Clicking his tongue, Lee Ha-yul extended his hand.
"Ah, aaagh!"
The fired restraint magic coiled around the woman. Thinking it was Heavenly Thunder for a split second, she screamed and rolled on the ground.
Lee Ha-yul turned his head. The Association staff who'd been holding their breath stiffly straightened their postures.
[Put her in a cell. I'll have her transferred to Headquarters later to be dealt with.]
"Yes!"
The detainee was dragged away limply amid a reply sharp with discipline.
Smiling wryly at their stiff movements, I lightly patted the shoulders of the waiting Association staff.
[You've worked hard. I'm receiving much help thanks to your dedication.]
"...It's an honor!"
The ones who'd been holding their breath when Lee Ha-yul approached now shuddered at the indescribable sensation of his touch on their shoulders and answered with force.
'That ruined my mood.'
But the clean-up was done. Maintaining my outer expression, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Of all the times to pull this shit, it had to be when I was already feeling unsettled.
I could have just slammed her with Heavenly Thunder and knocked her out, but I came over to use her as a punching bag to vent on.
How would they react if I revealed such true feelings?
One thing was certain: the eyes of these staffers, who'd been looking at me with respect and deep emotion, would definitely change...
"......."
"......."
Those who didn't know my true feelings had no choice but to perceive me differently.
An otherworldly presence and a distant, sculptural beauty.
The twelve wings in which both sanctity and divinity resided, and the lightning that smashed into sinners wherever they were...
"Aah..."
Erteria, now the center of the frontline, was a religious city. As such, there were many believers of the Tower Faith, and a significant portion of the mobilized combat forces were also believers of the Tower Faith.
From the perspective of such religious folk, Lee Ha-yul was an irrefutably holy existence.
"...He stopped."
[Ah.]
His mood somewhat improved by the venting, Lee Ha-yul turned his head. Wrapped in Gale, Lee Ha-sol landed beside him.
She was soft and fluffy, having apparently rushed to wash up quickly.
The expressionless, statue-like look on Lee Ha-yul's face brightened.
The moment those around him widened their eyes at the change, Lee Ha-sol tilted her head with an intrigued expression.
"Ha-yul... just now... uh... your way of talking was really..."
[Ah, hahaha... you heard that?]
Lee Ha-yul laughed awkwardly and clutched the necklace.
[My nerves are just... a little sensitive right now...]
"Does your whole way of talking really change that much just from that?"
[Mmm... I do have the fairy's innate talent, you know.]
Plus, my personality was pretty shitty to begin with—I just hide it. Concealing the important words so those around him couldn't hear, I trotted briskly over to Lee Ha-sol.
To relieve my psychological and physical fatigue, I needed to receive a generous dose of affection.
My footsteps openly dripped with anticipation.
As Lee Ha-sol smiled tenderly and opened her arms, the brightly smiling Lee Ha-yul quickly snuggled deep into her embrace and began acting spoiled.
"Heok..."
Everyone's jaws dropped at a sight so utterly worlds apart from how I had just dealt with the sinner moments ago.
"...Ah."
The Tower Faith believers nearby had their eyes gleaming. They'd realized Lee Ha-sol was an important figure in the Tower Faith. They clasped their hands together.