Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Saint, You’re So Vulgar! – Chapter 29
#029.Huh?
!
The underground shook from Satern's onslaught.
How much time had passed since he had methodically cut down the heretics and corrupted entities charging at him with their overwhelming defenses?
The enemy's forces were dwindling rapidly.
However, the end was still nowhere in sight.
There was a difference in numbers.
Moreover, these were the heretics' combat troops gathered here.
A hundreds-to-one situation wasn't something he could wrap up with just a few swings of his hand.
It was at some point during the prolonged battle.
Satern felt an odd sense of unease.
It wasn't based on rational groundsit was an instinctive discomfort born from experience.
'Slow.'
The pace of clearing them was slow.
He hadn't noticed while prioritizing the ones rushing at him, but looking at the overall situation now, it was clear.
'A rotation?'
The enemies were moving under a thorough plan.
They were focusing more on providing support fire from the rear while minimizing sacrifices among their forces.
Only then did Satern feel a chill of.
It wasn't a threat to his own body.
It was a sense of crisis about the purpose of their actions.
If they had truly charged at him to defeat him, they would have thrown everything they had, sacrifices be damned.
For those who knew Baekrin's stamina and durability, a rotation tactic to 'slow down troop depletion' was no advantage at all.
In other words,
'They're stalling for time!'
Their goal was to keep him pinned down here.
Because there was something they could gain from that.
A look of dismay, and anger.
!
The moment he realized it, Satern charged toward the command post.
He grabbed one precisely by the head,
!
and smashed it against the wall.
The wall crumbled under Satern's attack.
The underground space beyond was fully exposed.
"!"
Satern's heart sank.
The deepest part held only traces of some biological experiment, with nothing else present.
In other words, at the center of that lab surrounded by countless tubes.
The space that appeared to have held something lying down was empty.
Satern recalled the purpose of this place.
'Artificial witch!'
It was at that moment.
!
Satern's ankle was grabbed.
Looking down, Satern was stunned.
The one holding him was the corpse whose head he had just blown off.
"Ah, aah. Busted."
Grinning, the surviving heretics laughed in unison.
Their heads exploded right after.
!!!
Blood sprayed out like fountains, filling the space.
The surviving corrupted entities began to twist and mutate grotesquely.
Gills and teeth sprouted from them.
Human arms that made up the corrupted entities tangled into tentacles, and their legs intertwined to form a quadrupedal beast.
It was a form like a mix of amphibian and fish.
A trap.
All of this was a trap to separate him from the main group.
[Aaaah, busted!!!]
!
The corrupted entities surged through the blood pool toward Satern.
Satern gritted his teeth and threw a punch.
!
"Get out of my way."
Baekrin shone even more brilliantly.
He had to turn back.
The upper levels were in danger.
* * *
Asher's group began moving after the bell tolled and vibrations rose from below.
"Hurry up!"
Asher, who shouted at the murmuring missing people, took the lead.
He was the one who could remember the path best.
Versia fell to the rear.
In case any of them noticed the escape amid the chaos and charged from behind.
And that positioning proved correct soon enough.
!
"Kwaaaah!!!"
Asher gritted his teeth.
He knew what that sound from behind was.
Versia was blocking the enemies rushing at them.
'Too soon. Did they anticipate it? No, not that.'
It was their defense system.
Living in complex tunnels meant enemies could invade any area suddenly.
So they would have a system in place to respond quickly no matter where the anomaly occurred.
Fortunately, amid it all, that was a relief.
Versia was making full use of Asher's body.
Her combat, wielding just a longsword with an unchanging expression, was practically a slaughter.
Asher steadied his mind.
'She's handling it perfectly.'
She couldn't use 'secrets,' but even judging by standard combat forms alone, she had the upper hand.
Of course. She might not match Asher exactly, but Versia was someone who could perfect forms infinitely close to the ideal.
Moreover, in this situation, Versia's range of prayers shone even brighter.
Unlike Asher, who focused on physical enhancement, most of her prayers were for mid-to-long-range sniping.
She slashed approaching foes with a sword coated in divine power and blasted farther ones with bombardment, keeping them from reaching the missing people.
The problem was the missing people's stamina.
They were filled with people in no condition to run.
"Lubena!"
"I know! I know!!!"
Lubena's face was streaked with tears and snot.
She shrieked every time the death cries of enemies echoed from behind.
But even so, she did her job properly.
!
She bolstered the missing people's stamina with healing prayers.
The downside was the efficiency wasn't great.
Asher gained one realization.
'Not all saintesses have vast divine power.'
Unlike the extraordinary Versia, Lubena's divine power was average.
Her prayer proficiency was a bit better than a regular priest's, but just that.
Nothing special aside from her body being able to receive oracles.
He could see her tiring out.
He worried she'd collapse.
At that moment,
!
Crisis piled on.
"Huh?"
Lubena halted abruptly and looked ahead with a bewildered expression.
Asher narrowed his brow as well.
'Enemy.'
Until now, enemies had only come from the rear.
So moving with the missing people hadn't been blocked.
But now.
Or rather, he could see it.
'It couldn't move from the start.'
In the straight passageway, a gaunt corrupted entity was writhing against the wall with tentacles embedded in it, creaking.
Asher recognized the type.
A variant strong within its territory but unable to leave a certain area.
To advance, they had to break through it.
Asher turned his head.
As he stopped, the missing people stopped too, and Versia halted her sprint accordingly.
Their eyes met.
Versia, spotting the corrupted entity behind Asher at the front, hardened her expression.
Asher deliberately smiled brighter and mouthed,
'It's fine.'
The message got through.
Versia bit her lip, turned, and charged at the pursuing enemies.
Meaning she'd buy time until he dealt with the corrupted entity.
Asher took a deep breath.
Now just one thing left.
"Hnnngh!"
He approached the slumped Lubena.
Her trembling body, surging tears, shaking eyes.
Her mental collapse was obvious.
But that's why she was important.
!
Asher slapped both her cheeks.
"Kyaaak!"
"Lubena. Snap out of it."
Focus returned to her hazy eyes.
She looked up at Asher with a face ready to burst into childlike sobs, grabbing his collar.
"Th-that thing what do we do."
Asher tried to understand.
Those seated as saintesses were ultimately immature girls who had become too noble too young.
If the world never fell into crisis, they would live eternally as children returning to the Parent God's embrace.
For Lubena, raised like a flower in a greenhouse, this situation must be utterly terrifying.
That was fine.
Of course. If she didn't know, he just had to teach her.
"We have to do it."
Asher stroked her cheek.
He smiled brightly to look reliable.
"We're saintesses. Shepherds guiding these people according to the Parent God's will."
"Hic!"
"You can do it. Surely, He'll protect us."
Being timid wasn't a flaw.
On the contrary, it could make one greater than others.
Asher believed that.
The reason he trusted Versia was the sameovercoming fear was what made one noble.
"So chin up and smile. A pretty face like yours suits smiling better."
Asher pulled up Lubena's mouth corners with his thumbs.
At the same time, he lifted his own into a smile.
As if telling her to follow.
Lubena muttered in a choked voice.
"In this situation!"
"That's why. We have to be something they can believe in."
"."
She glanced back at the trembling missing people.
Her lips pressed tight.
Her demeanor began to stabilize.
She was still shaking.
But she wouldn't flail like before.
"Lubena, from now on, remember what I say and help me."
Asher made his request to Lubena.
Then he stood and faced the corrupted entity.
He drew a dagger from his bosom.
He walked forward slowly, calming his breath.
He closed his eyes to focus his mind.
'It's okay.'
This short blade was fine.
No, in a situation like this, a short blade was ideal.
Asher rummaged through his memories, recalling a hazy moment.
Asher hadn't forgotten.
One of his parents who raised him had already given him the answer.
Huh? Isn't a dagger weak?
Yeah! The blade's short!
What a brutish kid! Hey, watch closely!
That guy's at it again.
You shut up! Listen well, Asher! This is the freest weapon in the world! It has a subtlety those guys could never imitate!
The face with patchy beard came fully to mind.
Yes, the man who said that was the freest person Asher knew.
Tension melted away.
Asher's lips curved into a smile.
The moment he opened his eyes,
the dagger's blade gleamed sharply.