Pierced by the Blade
When the barrier unfurled, peace settled over them as if by magic.
The thin membrane-like sensation coating their skin vanished, as did the oppressive presence beyond the forest, and their bodies felt lighter for it.
"Much better... And look at this, will you?"
She let out a light sigh of relief, then pointed with a brightening smile at the light pouring from the center of the circle.
"These white streams of light melting into the gold — they're yours, aren't they?"
Too opaque to call pure holy power, and carrying a slightly dark — or rather, murky — tint, it seeped into her gold. And then, with light grown brighter still, it sent out ripples as if resonating, spreading outward.
It was beautiful.
And more than that — it suited them.
The way two different energies filled each other without so much as a single discordant crack made it feel as though He Himself had sanctioned it all, and a smile rose unbidden to his lips.
"It's pretty."
The moment the words left her mouth, the barrier responded with a soft pulse of light. Then a dazzling fragment, shaped like a flower petal, fluttered down through the wall.
When it touched their skin, every scrap of fatigue built up under the uninvited guest's rude surveillance washed away as if scrubbed clean.
This was a new miracle.
"This is..."
She too reached out to touch the petals, marveling just as he was. Not merely stacking prayer upon prayer to strengthen a single effect — but the discovery that one miracle could hold multiple powers. At least two effects, from what they could feel: blocking unauthorized miracles from outside, and restoring vitality to those within the barrier.
As she approached with petals cupped in her hands and a smile on her face, he smiled back and spoke the thought that had just occurred to him.
"Thea, if we told people about this..."
They could surely save more people. If they spread this barrier over hospitals and battlefield outposts, more lives could be saved. Those defending them could fight on with greater vigor.
"We can't do that."
But she gently shook her head, slowly scattering the petals into the air. The golden fragments filling the room faded gradually, revealing her hardening expression.
"If the Church found out what we did to stop that miracle, they'd launch a thorough investigation, of course. Our opponent is the child of people who belong to the leadership of the forest clan. No matter how faint the family bonds among our kind, social standing remains. I worry it could escalate into something far worse."
Tolfen — he'd sensed more than ordinary arrogance in the elf's words and manner. But learning of a status beyond his expectations left him a little frightened. And of just how serious what they'd done truly was.
"Then..."
"You don't need to worry, Evan. They won't move rashly either. Someone meant to lead their own people, obsessed with a single woman, chasing her all the way into short-lived races' lands to hound an exile... and using miracles for his own selfish ends, no less. If word spreads, they'll be the ones who suffer more."
Arms crossed, she glanced briefly toward the trees where they would be, frowned for a moment, then moved toward the window.
"Wait, what are you doing—"
Before he could finish, her face went white and she threw herself toward him — and with a shock that shook the house, the back of his head slammed hard against the wall.
"Let go of me! Let go!"
A dull pain surged from his stomach. At the same time, the breath burst from his mouth.
"Guh— kuh, khek—"
"Finally opening your eyes. I was starting to wonder if you ever would."
His mind was hazy. There was even a metallic smell.
"You bastard, I won't let this go, never! I swear to God, I'll—"
"If you'd just accepted me from the start, none of this would have happened, Thea. I'm done being patient."
Her voice, filled with a rage so unlike her usual self. The raw, unrestrained emotion let him gradually take in his surroundings... but—
"Ugh, kuh, hah—"
A pain that made the back of his head throb and muffled the sounds around him began surging from his stomach. Had he been kicked? Him? How many times had he been kicked? How hard had he been beaten that his body ached and he could only sink weakly back to the floor?
The petals no longer fell. Instead: prayer texts scrawled and smudged, and elves gathering themselves. And she, held fast in their grip, came into view.
"The...a."
He felt the chalky grit of dust coating his nose and throat. With a throat going dry, he managed to send that faint sound her way.
"Evan, Evan, stay with me, okay? Get up—"
In an instant his vision lurched hard. His head jerked left and struck the floor.
"Gah— hrgk?!"
Before that pain could fade, his stomach was kicked again. Nausea climbed his chest and finally burst from his mouth — right in front of her eyes.
"I'll kill you, I'll kill you!!! I won't let this go, never, the moment I get free—"
"Stop thrashing and stay still. I don't even care about you anymore."
Of course rage would surge at the shameless man before him, grabbing her collar and shaking her at will.
"But I need to set a precedent, leave a clear example for those I'll lead, so I have to do this myself, and you—"
Spat.
His words stopped cold.
"Eat this."
Tolfen, frozen in place, looked thoroughly flustered. His hand trembled, then he brought it to his face and wiped his cheek. And then—
A sharp crack rang out before his eyes.
"Kh—"
"You... how dare you."
Her face, red and swollen. A little blood even trickling from her pink lips. What had happened was all too clear —
"The— kuh—"
—and the injustice raining down on them had gone beyond all bounds.
Crack — her cheek snapped to the side once more. This time without even a scream, she opened her eyes again and glared at him.
"Didn't your mother and father teach you any manners? Well, of course not — that's why you'd say something so ridiculous as wanting to be with a short-lived race like that."
At the sight of him daring to insult her — at him who had committed every sin imaginable and still showed not a hint of remorse — in the end, his body moved first.
"Lord Tolfen, behind you!"
His feet staggered. He could barely keep his balance. His eyes couldn't even see straight ahead. But he was steadily charging forward, half-falling as he ran.
Looking at Tolfen's face again now, it wasn't so handsome after all. That face tangled with every kind of emotion could have belonged to a demon. So putting a little holy power into his fist wasn't such a bad thing.
Feeling his all-out blow slam through flesh and into bone, he toppled to the floor once more. And Tolfen, who had been tormenting her, finally hit the floor as well.
"...This short-lived trash!!"
But one punch wasn't going to end it. As Evan lay on the floor catching his breath, Tolfen tried to rise in an instant, fist clenched — but the way he staggered pitifully and collapsed again, clutching his head, made clear the blow had landed well.
"Ugh, you— you bastard, what the hell did you..."
A hit near the jaw will stagger even the biggest frame. Every priest who went into the field learned basic self-defense — that was how this moment had been possible.
"Lord Tolfen!"
The elf who'd been leaning against the right wall catching his breath was suddenly charging at him, one arm clutched. Evan lunged and grabbed the elf around the waist, half-falling into it. Slender but firm muscle registered against his shoulders and arms.
"Damn it, this bastard... get off me!"
A knee slammed hard into his chest, but he had no intention of letting go. The blow hurt so badly he couldn't draw breath for a moment, but—
"By my plea to Him, I call forth a thread of light to this place — Bind!"
A thread shot from his sleeve, raced to the elf's arms and legs, and formed a perfect knot.
"Waaah?!"
The elf who'd been holding him and driving knees into him rolled across the floor like a caterpillar, hands and feet bound together, and Evan dropped to his knees, pounding his chest over and over to force air back into lungs that wouldn't rest.
"Keh-huck — huck—"
Feeling arms and legs still twitching to his left, he snapped his head around — another elf was there, writhing in pain, reaching a hand toward him. The moment he saw those lips moving busily, he rolled backward — and it was the right choice.
A beam of light shot from the elf's hand and left a massive scar on the wall. The split and warped wood recalled the hideous sight of a boar-headed monster once slamming a stone wall with all its might.
"Da...mn..."
Pain arrived at once from the backlash of forcing a miracle with that much power. The elf finally curled up, gasping, and Evan decided to leave him be. There was no need to treat a wounded man more harshly than that. And he had himself to look after as well.
As he caught his ragged breath and steadied himself for a moment, he gently laid a hand on his swimming head and his stomach that felt badly bruised — and couldn't endure the pain that raced through every fingertip that touched, expelling a rough gasp.
To use a miracle, he'd deal with the aftermath later... for now he had to heal himself, keep moving, tear free the hands holding Thea this instant — so he whipped himself onward and poured power into his hands.
But then a sound reached his ears. It was something he had to hear — that much was certain. Otherwise his head wouldn't have jerked reflexively.
Where he turned his eyes, Thea was thrashing. With a face stricken by terror, she seemed to be struggling to run to him. Even the elf holding her had gone deathly pale.
Why was everyone looking at him like that?
In the moment he wondered—
A massive impact struck his back.
Had Tolfen punched him? Or hit him with a scrap of wood lying around? He realized it was neither when he happened to look down.
There, with his reddening clothes, was a blade that had come through him.
A silver blade that had pierced clean through his chest.