What Kind of Coincidence Is This?
On the third day, I felt this bizarre sensation.
"It feels like someone's been staring at me nonstop."
Even while treating people, the feeling persisted, leaving me with a really odd vibe. When I consulted Arios about it, she replied,
"It's probably the people who haven't been healed yet, staring desperately. Hoping you'll treat them soon."
"Is that it?"
Now that she mentioned it, that made sense. I was healing people at an insanely fast pace, but there were still tons of plague victims left. This place was a thriving territory close to the Arsen capital, so naturally, there were a lot of people. Some were in such critical condition that I had to go to them personally to treat them.
Maybe I should try boosting my treatment efficiency even more? But how? My current speed was already beyond what any ordinary priest could mimic. To improve further, I'd need something better than just going faster.
As I pondered methods, a sudden question popped into my head.
Come to think of it, how did the original Ayran heal a territory in even worse shape than this one? He had immense holy power, but not divine power like me. He couldn't heal with a mere touch like I could, yet he pulled it off alone. The novel didn't describe it, so maybe Ayran had some special trick of his own?
"Arios."
I called her quietly.
"Suppose someone else came here to heal instead of me, and they couldn't heal just by touching like I do."
"Then it'd take forever or fail, right?"
"No, assume they succeeded. What method do you think they used?"
For fantasy problems like this, you gotta ask the locals. Unlike me, Arios was a pure native, so I sought her opinion. She thought for a moment before saying,
"Maybe wide-area magic or something?"
"You mean spells with a broad range?"
"Yeah. I've never seen it myself, but even Seres knows Sibylius. A grand mage like her can cast magic that affects a huge area."
Could I do that too? If I spread my divine power as widely as possible for an area effect, efficiency would skyrocket. I immediately tried something similar with my divine power.
Since divine power takes the form of light, what if I shone it everywhere like actual light, healing the disease in the process?
"Light! It's light?!"
"The disease is gone. Breathing doesn't hurt anymore!"
It actually worked! The radiance bursting from my hand healed everyone within its reach.
"Hmm, seems like my illness is cured too..."
"But my body still aches in places."
However, because the power was dispersed, it only cured the disease itself—any severe physical damage from it remained. Well, I could handle those cases individually later. For now, just curing the plague would save a ton of time. Walking around while emitting light meant instant heals—this was revolutionary!
Probably how the original Ayran managed the whole territory solo. If things went well, I could wrap this up today.
Thrilled, I roamed around, blasting divine light everywhere. But shortly after...
"Ugh, I can't take it anymore!"
A woman burst out from the range of my divine power, yelling loudly.
"Stop that disgusting feeling right now!"
"Who the hell are you?"
I was puzzled by this woman suddenly ordering me around. She was about my height—on the shorter side for women in this world. She had a relatively petite build, a cute face, but fierce eyes. Her bobbed hair was blood-red, reminding me of Viol.
"You're Red?!"
I'd never seen her before, but Arios recognized her and gasped in surprise.
"Everyone, back off! Now!"
The moment she yelled that, followed by her next words, it all clicked.
"That woman's a demon!"
Arios revealed Red's identity, shocking the crowd—and me. I'd seen half-demons before, but a full demon? First time! In the original story, demons rarely appeared. It was just mentioned in passing, like Arios hunting them or Sibylius being half-demon. Even the protagonist Seres hardly ever encountered them.
So why was one showing up right in front of me, the protagonist who was supposed to avoid them?
"Seres, remember?"
Arios stepped forward with her sword drawn, shielding me.
"The time you first used that power."
"When you dodged a demon's attack during a fight, and your subordinates got hurt instead? You don't mean..."
"Exactly. That demon Red is the one I tried to catch back then but let slip away."
What the hell kind of ridiculous butterfly effect was this?! Because I blabbed unnecessarily—unlike the original—this demon survived what should've been an early death, and now she was here seeking revenge on Arios through me?
"Heh, you dare bring up that day right in front of me!"
Red bellowed in rage.
"Yeah, that humiliation of fleeing while dodging you—that was me!"
"Don't get pissed at me for that. I almost lost my subordinates because of it."
"Like I care. The point is, I never forgot, and I've been waiting for a chance to get revenge."
"So you came all the way here for me?"
"Lucky break. I came scavenging for plague-ridden corpses to eat, and heard you were here."
She even ate corpses infected with plague? I knew demons ate people, but this level of desperation? I almost felt sorry for her—until she suddenly pointed at me.
"I was gonna start with that precious boy of yours to make you despair. But you're blasting this gross power everywhere, and I can't stand it!"
...So the staring wasn't from patients—it was you? I'd spread the power wide thinking it was desperate patients, but it accidentally pissed off this demon and drew her out.
Recapping: My pointless chat with Arios let a demon that should've died early survive. She targeted me for revenge on Arios, but my divine power annoyed her into revealing herself.
From start to finish—what kind of insane coincidence was this?!
"A demon?"
"A real demon?"
Even after Red outed herself, people didn't flee. It was so sudden they couldn't process it—but seriously, run!
"Take this."
"Gah!"
Red snatched a guy who hadn't run and hurled him at Arios. Arios sheathed her sword to catch him safely and set him down. Red exploited the opening, lunging at her—but
"Die!"
A soldier charged in that instant, thrusting his spear at Red's heart with full force.
"You don't know your place."
But Red casually snapped the spear with her bare hands, gripping it and crushing it with raw strength. As the soldier gaped in horror, she seized his nape effortlessly. Sharp claws extended from her hand gripping his neck—she could rip it out anytime.
"Freeze. Move again, and this guy's dead."
Her warning halted Arios mid-counter. Seeing her hesitate, Red burst into mocking laughter.
"Hahaha! As expected, you self-righteous types are all the same."
"...What do you want?"
"Your humiliation and death. Arios, I'll repay that past defeat!"
Red pointed at me again.
"With all these people around you have to protect, you can't beat me! I'll chop off your limbs and play with that guy however I want right in front of you."
Her "play" probably meant eating me alive. Anyway, crisis mode. Too many bystanders to fight properly, and now a hostage. Even Arios would struggle here.
"Arios, what should I do?"
I asked if she needed my help, but she stayed silent, pondering briefly before speaking.
"If you're gonna kill the hostage, then do it."
"What?"
"What?"
Her unexpected words stunned me—and even Red.
"Have you lost your mind? A hero letting a hostage die like that? And this is foreign soil—do that, and it'll spark a diplomatic incident!"
"You said if you beat me, you'd insult Seres. The moment you said that, nothing else matters."
Arios glared at Red with terrifying intensity.
"How dare you taint my Seres with your filthy desires. I won't forgive it—I'll kill you a hundred times over! You'll suffer the most miserable death in this world!"
"What the hell? You blind to the hostage I'm holding?!"
"Kill him—I don't care about trash like that! Hero titles or diplomacy mean nothing compared to Seres. No matter the cost, I'll make sure you die for threatening him!"