Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Saint, You’re So Vulgar! – Chapter 30
The moment combat began, Asher had a habit of erasing everything from his awareness except for "the opponent and me."
Even his parents, who had raised him, acknowledged that his ability to slip into a state of extreme focus so easily was one of his strengths.
He stepped forward, leaning his upper body as if about to take flight.
With a flick of his wrist, he hurled the dagger precisely toward his target.
Schwick!
The dagger embedded itself in the Corrupted Entity's tentacle.
[Kiiiiieeeek!!!]
The creature twisted its body and let out a scream.
In that instant, Asher charged forward.
With its body pinned in place, the opponent's only means of attack was to flail its limbs.
However, the power contained within those limbs was indescribably immense, and the poison that spread the moment those claws made contact was utterly lethal.
Close-quarters combat.
It was never easy.
The slightest lapse in concentration, and his entire body would surely melt away.
Even so, why choose close combat?
If asked, Asher's answer had always been the same, from past to present.
-Can't you just dodge it since you can see it all?
-...Sigh, fine, you're the boss, kid.
-Don't feel rivalry with a child. Idiot.
Because he trusted himself.
Asher's senses were so acutely developed that even the mercenaries hailed as the strongest would click their tongues in admiration.
No, he had been born with them that way.
[Kiaaaak!!!]
Asher was different from others.
His ability to perceive the world deviated from the norm.
He had lived his entire life in such a world.
Thus, with that experience, the way he viewed the world approached the ideal.
The Corrupted Entity's screeching wail, the rippling motion of its tentacles, its breathing, even the pulsing of its musclesall of it appeared endlessly slow to him.
If he could see it, he could dodge.
He could counterattack.
And he could win.
The frailty of the flesh was no obstacle.
Whoosh!
That was what the talismans were for.
He activated the first one: [Prayer of Swiftness].
As he did, he reached out and
Kwaduduk!
grabbed the dagger lodged in the tentacle and twisted it.
He spun his wrist, tearing at the wound.
With a snap, one tentacle was severed.
[!]
The scream was now at a level that tore at his eardrums.
The Corrupted Entity swung its claws in rage.
Asher ignored the grating noise and moved to his next action.
Whoosh!
The second talisman: [Prayer of Air Rending].
Chzeeeok!
He stomped down on the back of its hand with his heel.
The air's flow warped.
Soon, the claws' trajectory twisted, slicing into its own tentacle.
[Kiaaaak!]
It was using the enemy's strength against itself.
Asher employed a method that relied solely on the dagger's sharpness and the opponent's power.
It was an exceedingly effective approach.
Especially while using Versia's frail body.
Whoosh!
He activated another [Prayer of Swiftness].
He focused on drawing out the dagger techniques he had learned long ago, the sensations at his fingertips, while boosting his speed.
A voice echoed in his mind.
-You can do anything with this dagger. Throw it, grip it normally, reverse grip, slash, stab, block. Combine it with hand-to-hand! Basically, it lets you do everything swordsmanship can do!
-Even so, it's still short!
-That's the point! Listen up! Because it's short, you can do everything with precision! With a long sword, it's hard to pull off tricky paths!
The dagger was the freest blade.
Because it allowed every motion possible within the sword category.
Its short reach was merely a minor trade-off.
-It's a clear upgrade over bare-handed techniques! Stabbing with a blade hits harder than punching with soft flesh!
-...You done talking?
-Yeah, time to fight.
So, he broke free of preconceptions, abandoned the idea of relying only on the blade, and used his entire bodyenhanced by the edge.
Shkwaaak!
Asher thrust like a dancer, carving wounds.
Through the feedback of sensations, he distinguished attacks from defenses and neutralized them thoroughly.
The more talismans he consumed, the faster and sharper his onslaught became.
The Corrupted Entity's tentacles dwindled until only two or three remained.
That was when it happened.
[Kiaaaak!!!]
Another agonized scream, though he had lost count.
But this one was different from before.
Dying creatures lash out with venom.
It was a common saying, but this Corrupted Entity was special.
When its tentacles fell below a certain number, it had the habit of spraying deadly poison in all directions.
Asher, who knew this, shouted.
"Now!!!"
Lubena gritted her teeth and thrust out her hand in response.
* * *
Lubena Pradeiri was a coward.
Not born that way, but shaped into one by the world around her.
She had been born the child of a slum prostitute, raised on filthy mud floors.
Her childhood was spent fearing her drunken mother's beatings and the leering gazes of thugs waiting for her to grow up.
After receiving the oracle, she lived in fear of the nobles' greedy stares.
Even after taking their name and entering the church, the world surrounding her had always choked her with an oppressive dread.
If all her boasting, her adorning herself with finery, her aggressive put-downs of others were desperate flailing to protect herself from that fear, would it be easy to understand her?
In short, Lubena was someone who could only breathe within the shelter of being a Saintess.
That's why Lubena despised Versia.
She who feared nothing, truly great unlike herself.
She hated how Versia shone even without the title of Saintess.
It felt like she herself was losing her light.
Like her ordinary selfmediocre in everything but hearing God's voicewas being denied.
But if she peeled back even a little of that hatred, Lubena's true feelings shone clear.
It wasn't hatred, but envy.
A desperate craving for recognition.
Lubena simply hated how Versia looked down on her.
She rejected her because she couldn't bear Versia acknowledging her as nothing without the Saintess title.
For such a Lubena
-We're Saintesses, right?
just those words
-You can do it.
that tiny bit of recognition
-Smile. A pretty face like yours suits smiling better.
that single shred of kindness
Flash!
Lubena could muster her strength.
With just "you're special," Lubena Pradeiri could stand tallshe was that fragile a coward.
Versia, whose hand-to-hand prowess was miraculous, was butchering the Corrupted Entity.
It was like a butterfly dancingbeautiful motions.
Her pale sky-blue hair fluttering ethereally was so fantastical that, even amid splattering blood and the monster's screams, Lubena stared blankly, following her with her eyes.
Then the signal came.
-Use the Prayer of Purification when I signal. At your maximum capacity.
Lubena wove her prayer.
Its completion was unlike any before.
The prayers Lubena had crafted until now could only be called "paltry" in comparisonexquisite, dense.
It was inevitable.
Prayers were a calculated, technical art, but at their root lay desire.
Fervent longing.
That alone elevated the prayer to another level.
'I can do it...!'
She gritted her teeth.
She didn't want to betray those eyes that believed in her success without doubt.
If she failed now, she'd have to admit she was truly nothing.
The completed prayer
Paaaang!
engulfed Asher and the Corrupted Entity.
Radiance filled the space, and Lubena couldn't see what followed.
But the feedback told her.
Kwadudududuk!
A chilling sound rang out.
[Kiaaaak!!!]
A death cry echoed.
Then, with a thud, came the grinding twist of bones.
As soon as her vision cleared, the sight before Lubena was this:
Versia exhaled softly and retrieved her dagger.
At her feet lay the Corrupted Entity, tentacles severed, head lolled off in death.
She looked up.
Beaming innocently at Lubena.
And said the words Lubena might have longed to hear since their first meeting.
"You did great! I knew you could do it!"
Even in this dire moment, those words seeped into Lubena's heart.
An indescribable swell of emotion at the praiselike pride, like unwavering faith.
Lubena pressed her lips tight.
The corners twitched upward. Her cheeks burned.
Her chest tickled with it.
So Lubena whipped her head away and said,
"O-Of course! I'm a Saintess, after all..."
That was the moment.
Kwaaaang!
"...Kyaaah!!!"
The explosion made Lubena jump.
Her earlier smugness vanished in an instant.
With a pale face, she whipped around.
Sure enough, Asherwho had been guarding the rearhad unleashed a big move.
His furrowed brow, scratches everywhere.
He looked unmistakably exhausted.
"Ah, not the time! Let's keep going! Just a bit further, so hang in there!!!"
Versia approached and supported Lubena.
They gathered the missing people and dashed down the passage again.
Lubena followed Versia, suppressing her trembling legs.
Clutching the hem of her garment tightly with one hand.