73. The Saint (8)
73. The Saint (8)
A very fierce battle.
'The Ners are trying not to kill us.'
The Captain grasped the Ners' behavior without even watching them for long.
They were acting more aggressively than when they were protecting the pregnant women, but they were acting in a way that wouldn't kill the Holy Knights.
'Why on earth?'
Something is strange.
The village made up of pregnant women was also strange.
But this is somewhat understandable if you think of it as the Ners' method of increasing the human population.
The Ners aren't just simple monsters; they have a leader called the Queen, and they are highly intelligent beings capable of using various strategies and tactics.
It's plausible that such beings would kidnap women and impregnate them to increase their food source, humans.
But what about the Holy Knights?
The ratio of Holy Knights is overwhelmingly male.
Viviant's Holy Knight unit consists of 50 members.
It might seem like too few to protect a Saint Candidate, but each and every one of the Holy Knights is stronger than your average veteran knight.
Their skill might be the same, but they possess powerful martial strength added by the Goddess's power, known as Holy Power.
'It's possible.'
At first, I thought we had to retreat.
The Ners alone were threatening, but a tremendous mage was pouring magic down from the sky.
Anyone could see it looked like a battle with no chance of winning. However, thanks to Viviant's blessing, we were able to fight to some extent.
But as time passed, the Holy Knights were the ones at a disadvantage.
That's why I thought about retreating, but I felt that there wasn't as much killing intent in the Ners' movements and magic attacks as I had expected.
'If we use this, we can win this fight.'
The Holy Knights were also starting to realize it.
They were becoming more daring.
They left small wounds or injuries to Viviant and started pushing forward with all their might.
'Damn it!'
Yui is feeling painfully aware that capturing them alive is harder than she thought.
She gave up on the idea of capturing them all alive to earn great merit and eat many Holy Knights, and ordered the Ners to use their full strength, but it was already too late.
The Holy Knights, who had already become as accustomed to the Ners as they could get, were cutting down the Ners along with Viviant's blessing.
'Ah, no!'
Yui used her magic with all her might to attack the Holy Knights, but Viviant was blocking it all.
'Is this the Saint chosen by the Goddess?'
It's annoying.
Yui gathered mana until her mouth bled.
She learned magic from the age of 14.
She became an adventurer at 16, and she didn't neglect her training until she turned 23.
She had lived with magic for 9 years.
Yet, the one blocking her magic is none other than a human who has only been transmigrated into this world for 5 years.
A human who hasn't even known mana or magic for 5 years is blocking the magic she grew by even giving up being human.
Just because she was chosen.
She felt jealous.
"Hraaaaaaah!!!"
Countless magic spells that originally made it impossible to see the sky.
But Viviant blocked even that.
"Huff...! Huk...!"
"Haa...! Haa...!!!"
'I need humans. I need humans who possess mana—'
Yui ordered the Ners to bring her at least one Holy Knight.
But there was no response.
"Ah..."
Before she knew it, there weren't many of the numerous Ners left.
'If I had ordered them that it didn't matter if they killed the Holy Knights from the beginning...'
Pudeuk.
Blood flowed from Yui's lips.
It was the first time.
It was her first chance to earn merit.
That opportunity had already drifted away, beyond her reach.
'It's over...'
Yui squeezed her eyes shut.
Lea must be watching this.
In this continent right now, one cannot escape Lea's eyes and ears.
Before the fight, she had already felt one creature in the sky.
It meant Lea was watching the situation up until now, but she had failed.
'I was too greedy...'
Just as she was about to give up, feeling regret for her choices.
"You look like you're having a hard time?"
Lea's voice was heard.
Yui, whose brain hadn't been eroded yet, hadn't entered the Hive Mind.
She was flustered by Lea's voice, which she heard despite communication through the Hive Mind being impossible.
"Shall I help you?"
Yui raised her hand. And when she checked her palm, there was a mouth.
It was just a mouth on her palm, but it was such a beautiful mouth that the thought of it being pretty crossed her mind for a moment.
It was Lea's mouth.
It's not strange.
In the first place, Yui's limbs are not human limbs, but a Mimic Creature mimicking human limbs.
Then, naturally, having a mouth appear on her hand is a very simple matter.
"I, I'm sorry!!!"
Yui bowed her head to the mouth on her palm.
"B, because I was greedy, Queen-nim's Ners..."
"It's okay. They were a unit made up of low-importance children anyway."
Lea is aware of the fact that she is strong, but she also thinks there might be enemies in this world that could threaten her.
She didn't think there wouldn't be beings that could threaten her life in a world with magic, Holy Power, goddesses, status windows, and various Unique Abilities.
That is why she entrusted this fight with Viviant to Yui.
She was curious.
Just how strong a human chosen by the Goddess and designated as a Saint Candidate would be. And what kind of power they would show.
The conclusion was.
'Boring...'
That was it.
Lea had expected something flashy, dazzling, with angels appearing, but it was just magic spells she had seen a few times going back and forth.
Viviant, whom she had the highest expectations for, just used magic that looked like a protective shield all day long.
Ah, that was a little interesting.
The blessing, that is.
But the blessing wasn't particularly attractive.
Light just comes out and permeates. That was it.
As the fight continued and she judged there was nothing more, Lea spoke to Yui.
"I have no face to show you..."
"It's okay. It's definitely good if even one more Holy Knight lives, so that's why you made that choice, right?"
Lea has no intention of punishing Yui or anything like that.
It's not like she suffered a huge loss.
She had organized it with ordinary Ners on purpose so there wouldn't be a huge loss.
It's damage that can be restored within a day or two if she sets her mind to it.
She was able to gain quite a lot of information from such small damage. Considering that, it's a gain, not a loss.
Furthermore.
'Reprimanding, getting angry, being annoyed, and nagging because they made a mistake?'
That's the worst.
That makes humans timid and lowers work efficiency.
"I'll send Gluttony and additional Ners."
"G, Gluttony? Thank you...!"
==
'What is that now...'
Viviant opened her status window as soon as she saw the creature that suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
<Information>
Name: Gluttony
Race: ???
Affiliated Country: -
Affiliated Organization: -
Gender: ???
Height · Weight: ???
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
<Stats>
Strength: 95
Durability: 78
Agility: 55
Stamina: 83
Mana: 0
<Unique Ability>
Voracity
'What? Why is it so weak?'
The total stats did exceed 300.
Usually, if the total exceeds 200, it's useful, and if it exceeds 300, it's a veteran, someone with quite good skills.
And if it exceeds 400, that's when they start being called heroes.
Gluttony, with a total stat of over 300.
It is clearly a strong being, but after seeing beings like the Ners, Stacey, Amber, and Yui, one couldn't help but think Gluttony looked weak.
Its appearance was quite scary, but looking at the stats, it just looked weak.
Until Gluttony started eating the Ners.
'What, they weren't allies...?'
Their appearances were completely different, though.
The Ners are spider-shaped, and Gluttony is a lump of mud with teeth.
Both are creatures.
Furthermore, they appeared together at the cave entrance.
But Gluttony started eating the Ners as if it were nothing.
The creepy part is that, as if they knew they would be eaten, the Ners next to it didn't move at all even though they were being eaten by Gluttony.
'Wait a minute, by any chance, is "Voracity"...?'
<Stats>
Strength: 98
Durability: 95
Agility: 91
Stamina: 87
Mana: 0
It increased.
The stats increased.
<Stats>
Strength: 100
Durability: 96
Agility: 95
Stamina: 90
Mana: 0
It keeps increasing.
Viviant grasped it in an instant.
That monster gets stronger just by eating.
"We have to stop it! We have to interrupt that monster from eating!"
The Captain rushed toward Gluttony before Viviant even finished speaking.
The Captain had also noticed that they had to stop that monster from eating.
Because the monster was getting bigger the more it ate other monsters.
==
Now that Gluttony has appeared, I won't have to worry about it much anymore.
There is only one problem.
The Return Scroll.
The Return Scroll is the problem.
Gwen almost failed to catch them because of that too.
Just click. Then they teleport to the location designated on the Return Scroll.
There's no way to stop it yet.
They just whoosh and disappear.
According to Gwen, the Return Scroll isn't just expensive; it's a very high-priced scroll.
To the point where there aren't even 10 scrolls in Medherun City.
It's said that only the Lord, the Knight Commander, and the Vice Commander usually possess them.
Then the probability that Viviant has one is very high.
She's not just a cleric; she's a Saint Candidate.
There's a 100% chance she definitely has one.
According to Gwen, she said there's almost no way to stop it the moment the Return Scroll is unfolded.
The simplest and most certain way to stop it is to prevent the Return Scroll from being unfolded.
'I need to go to the bathhouse.'
This doesn't seem like something I can stop just by watching.
I've been reducing my body size recently to reduce my hunger, but it's literally just reducing it.
So these days, if I try to use my power, it consumes quite a lot of mental energy.
To reduce that even a little, I need to be in my most comfortable state.
The moment I arrived in front of the bathhouse and took off the nun's habit I was wearing.
"Lea-nim! Let me help you take it off—"
Amber came running urgently.
"Ah, it's okay."
No matter what, it's not like I can't take off my clothes by myself.
After becoming naked, I entered the bathhouse.
I relaxed my body and naturally entrusted myself to the bath.
I closed my eyes, feeling the warm energy felt all over my body and the fragrant scent wafting gently.
And I entered Gluttony's consciousness.