Placement Exam (8)
"Haa... haa..."
Isn't this a bit stronger than I thought...?
This was my first time actually using the Red Stone of the Radiant Sun, but I never imagined it would pack this much destructive power. I hadn't originally aimed to blow Albert's arm completely off, yet red vapor rose from the severed stump as if the flesh had been sublimated by overwhelming heat.
Is this even a sacred relic? Isn't it basically just a flame magic tool at this point...?
Since it was a relic designed to amplify the Sun God's purview—purifying divine power—and fire it as a concentrated beam of light, I could easily guess it would be devastating. Even so, I hadn't expected it to blow out an entire wall. Honestly, the sheer firepower was so absurd that if I had fired this at that werewolf earlier, it probably would've been vaporized without leaving behind a single splinter of bone.
Thank goodness nobody was watching...
If anyone had seen me freely wielding a relic like this, they would've grown suspicious of why I was letting myself get beaten to a pulp by a demon in the first place.
An even bigger relief was that I was the only person alive who understood this relic. At best, only members of the Hero Party from back during the Calamity War might know about it. Even then, the Saintess of that era hadn't used the relic herself, so even if Arhen—a member of that legendary Party of Salvation—knew of its existence, I doubted she knew how it worked.
Besides, between its name and its shape, wasn't it blatantly obvious where the design drew inspiration from? Even if one didn't know the exact lore, magical jewels that reflect, amplify, and shoot beams of power are a dime a dozen in pop culture. Anyone well-versed in subcultures couldn't possibly fail to figure it out.
The method was laughably simple: just channel purifying divine power into it in the form of light. The stone would amplify it automatically and blast it like a laser in whatever direction it was pointed. Because it merely scaled and fired whatever was put in, it effectively had no upper limit. The stronger I was, the deadlier the purifying blast. It was simple, but against demons, it offered an insane power spike.
What made it even more ridiculous was its description back in the game system.
In the game, the system just said it added fire attributes to purification skills and amplified holy power...
Actually using it in reality made me realize just what that meant. No wonder it had been considered completely broken in the game.
Even looking like that, his strength sits right on the border between a High Demon and a Supreme Devil...
Having lost an entire arm to the blast channeled through the Red Stone of the Radiant Sun, Albert stared down at his severed side with a blank, uncomprehending expression. Had it been severed by an ordinary attack, he could have regenerated it in an instant, but what struck him was the purifying light governed by the Sun God. A demon falling just short of a Supreme Devil stood no chance of regenerating through that.
Sure enough, unable to regrow his limb, he twisted his body in agony, a look of genuine pain twisting his face for the very first time.
"[Brother Albert...!]"
Granted, I wasn't doing much better myself. No matter how immortal I was or how fast my wounds closed, reattaching or regrowing severed limbs took time. My regeneration operated more like winding back a clock—holy power enveloping the body to restore its original state—so regenerating while rapidly draining my holy power was exhausting. My entire body was still riddled with wounds that would have killed a normal person ten times over. It was an effort just to remain standing, but I couldn't give up here.
After all, didn't they say people are most deeply moved when saved in their darkest hour of crisis?
There's... no other choice...
He had entertained me plenty, so I fully intended to do everything in my power to help him return to being human. If he hadn't turned into a demon, I would never have done something like this. Seriously...
While Albert was still reeling in shock, I dragged my creaking, broken body forward and wrapped my arms around him. In my current physical condition, unless I held him in a direct embrace, pumping purifying and healing holy power into his violently resisting frame was near impossible. To saturate his entire body with divine power as efficiently as possible, a full-body embrace was the only viable method.
Yet the being before me was still a demon. A demon's very instinct was to slaughter any living creature in sight, a reality unchanged even if he had only transformed minutes ago.
Thwack!
"Ngh, ahh..."
The moment I embraced him, his remaining hand shot out, impaling clean through my torso in a desperate bid to kill me. Not stopping there, any trace of his earlier calm vanished as he went into a rabid frenzy, sinking his fangs violently into my shoulder.
"Cough... hack, cough... glargh..."
As if screaming at me to let go, Albert drove his hand through my chest where my heart and lungs lay, crushing the organs within. With his arm impaling the space between my abdomen and ribcage, no matter how desperately I gasped, air simply wouldn't enter my lungs.
None of that mattered in the slightest. Pain only converted into sheer euphoria for me anyway, and right now, restoring Albert to his original self was far more important than any lingering sensation.
This is close enough...!!
Having locked him securely against me, I gathered my holy power and began forcefully flooding it into Albert's body. I hadn't spent two years playing Saintess for nothing; manipulating divine power at will was second nature to me. Because Albert's body was still in the intermediate stages of demonization caused by demonic energy, flooding his system with holy power wouldn't outright destroy him the way it would a true demon.
Halt the transformation of his cellular composition into demonic energy. Cleanse every trace of corruptive taint coursing through his veins to arrest the demonization process. Then, restore his mutilated, warped flesh back to its original human form.
All I had to do was pour in an ocean of healing and purifying divine power.
For an ordinary priest or nun, such a feat was utterly impossible. They would have been swallowed whole by the demonic energy and perished on the spot. But I had received the divine authority of holy power directly from the Goddess herself. Half-baked demonic energy might bring agony, but it couldn't snuff out my life.
How long did I hold him like that, cleansing the demonic energy while knitting his flesh back together?
"Ah... uh... wha...?"
Albert's body was reverting. While I couldn't see clearly with my impaired vision, the dense demonic energy choking his interior gradually dissipated, and the demonic horns that had jutted from his head had vanished without a trace.
With trembling eyes, Albert looked down at me held tightly in his embrace.
"Y-You... are..."
"[Ah...]"
He's finally back to normal.
It had taken far longer than I anticipated.
Albert looked at his own hand still impaling my body, his breath coming in wild, ragged gasps.
"Hah, ah... ugh... haah... ugh... W-What... what is this...?"
Just looking at his shivering eyes and trembling shoulders made it painfully obvious how terrified he was and how horrifically this reality was crashing down upon him. He was practically half out of his mind with sheer panic.
...Then again, looking at the state I was in, could anyone blame him?
...Since when did I care about looking presentable anyway?
It had always been like this. Once this whole ordeal was wrapped up, whatever happened to Albert was none of my concern.
Even so...
I have to... protect my concept...
To keep living this double life, staying above suspicion was paramount. I had to sell the narrative that every agonizing second of this desperate struggle had been solely to return him to his human self.
Looking up at Albert with half-lifeless, unfocused eyes, I gestured softly:
"[Thank goodness... I'm so glad... you've returned to normal...]"
Ah, wait a second, I'm completely wiped out...
Even during my grueling days rolling around the Demonic Realm, I don't think I'd ever been pushed this far. Experiencing death in every conceivable fashion at Albert's hands today had flooded me with such absurd, unadulterated pleasure that I half-feared I might actually die from sheer ecstasy—without exaggeration, nearly pissing myself.
Could a person actually die from euphoric shock...? Well, maybe it wasn't called shock, but I'd heard stories about people keeling over from heart failure due to overwhelming excitement...
"[I am... so sorry...]"
I knew I should pull myself off him quickly, so I felt a little guilty for lingering. But what else could I do? I didn't even have the strength left to twitch a single finger...
Forget it...
I'm just going to rest for a minute.
Lacking the stamina to stay upright, I slumped limply against Albert's chest. I felt a little bad for him, but hey, I had spent hours obsessing over character customization—I was gorgeous, wasn't I? He could bear with it for a bit. As soon as I caught my breath and regained some strength, I'd get up.
Ah... just a quick rest... then I'll go save Evan...
They say you get completely exhausted if you feel too much euphoria all at once, and this was definitely it. I really need to pace myself next time...
Just a quick... rest...
Then go rescue Evan...
I intended to just close my eyes and catch my breath, but an irresistible wave of drowsiness began to wash over me.
I was only supposed to rest, not fall asleep...
Ah...
Mmh...
...
...