Chapter 222: Reinvasion (19)
Chapter 222: Reinvasion (19)
As soon as Han Shin entered the sanctuary through Laysia, he hurried to lay Grace down on the bed.
Grace was still clad in her silver armor; it was best to remove it for treatment.
"Han Shin, I’ll take it from here."
Having moved to the sanctuary, Laysia immediately reverse-summoned her own silver armor. Beneath it, she wore a form-fitting, spandex-like bodysuit that clung to her curves.
"Right. Shin, Laysia and I will look over Grace."
Kang Yujin felt the same.
The reason the two women spoke with one voice was that they shared the same sentiment.
While Kang Yujin and Laysia had been leading the civilians to safety, Han Shin had continued the battle alongside Sitri. Both women felt that Han Shin needed to rest as well, so they stepped forward to take charge of Grace’s care.
"Alright."
Han Shin didn't stubbornly refuse. He stood up and stepped back immediately.
Once he moved out of the way, Kang Yujin used her psychokinesis to strip the armor from Grace’s body.
As the silver helmet was removed, Grace’s sweat-drenched face was revealed, her platinum-blonde hair clinging to her forehead and cheeks. A single trail of blood had trickled from the left corner of her mouth. It had already begun to clot, a clear sign that she had suffered internal injuries.
With a grave expression, Laysia quickly cast a simple recovery spell on Grace, while Kang Yujin used her psychokinesis to remove the rest of the armor.
As she worked, Laysia turned to Han Shin and Sitri.
"Can you tell me what kind of attack Grace was hit by?"
"Uh... an Ego Artifact self-destructed. She was caught in a massive explosion."
Han Shin’s expression darkened as he spoke. This was the first time since becoming the Proxy of Tiamat that someone close to him had been injured badly enough to lose consciousness.
During his training with Grace and Laysia, they had told him that he had to accept that people get hurt in battle and that maintaining composure was vital. Because of that advice, Han Shin had handled the situation remarkably well for a first-timer, even managing to destroy the Black Spire.
However, he felt no joy.
The fact that Grace—his woman—was hurt pained him deeply and weighed on his mind.
The other women could see Han Shin’s feelings written clearly on his face. His devotion to Grace was so evident it might have sparked jealousy, but instead, the others took it as a positive sign of how much he cherished them all.
Laysia wanted to tell Han Shin not to worry, but she decided it was better to show results through her actions.
‘If she was caught in an explosion from a self-destruct attack, at least it’s not a curse.’
Certain that Grace’s muscles were torn and her internal organs were in disarray, Laysia began to channel the appropriate holy magic.
Closing her eyes, Laysia focused her mind. A warm, cozy energy radiated from the beautiful woman, her light-red hair cascading down her shoulders. Using the Divine Power of Tiamat, she began to heal Grace’s broken body, pushing her natural recovery to its absolute limit.
Ereon’s final act of desperation—triggering a massive explosion by overloading his dark mana—had been devastating. Grace had realized the danger a split second late, but by retreating and bracing herself behind her shield, she had managed to avoid the worst of it.
The equipment granted by Tiamat had also played a crucial role. Had her armor been of lesser quality, her injuries would have been far more severe.
It wasn't unheard of for monsters or demons to resort to self-destruction. However, the reason Grace had found it difficult to react this time was that her calculations had been thrown off by the support of the Black Spire.
Right until the moment she reached him, Ereon had been firing Dark Blasts wildly, consuming a vast amount of dark mana. Seeing this, Grace had assumed that even if he attempted a follow-up attack, it would be slow or weak due to his depleted reserves.
If he hadn't been receiving backup from the Black Spire...
If the Demonic Human body Ereon inhabited hadn't been modified by Mammon’s demons to increase its mana capacity...
Her calculations would have been correct. Given that he was using a Demonic Human body, her assumption was the standard logic.
Grace was currently wearing only a form-fitting black sports bra and panties, revealing dark bruises scattered across her body. As the holy power channeled by Laysia touched her skin, the bruises began to fade almost instantly.
Grace’s face, which had been pinched in a pained grimace, gradually smoothed into an expression of comfort.
After about five minutes, Laysia finally stopped channeling her holy power and slowly opened her eyes.
"She’ll be fine now."
"You did great, Laysia. Thank you."
"It was nothing. Healing my comrades is my duty. It’s only natural."
Laysia was pleased by Han Shin’s praise, but she maintained a humble attitude. Just as she said, she didn't think she had done anything extraordinary. In fact, she felt a lingering sense of guilt.
She hadn't been able to participate fully in the battle because she and Kang Yujin were busy moving the civilians—who had been suffering at the hands of the Demonic Humans—to safety. Even if it was a pre-arranged plan and unavoidable, it didn't sit well with her that a comrade had been hurt while she was performing a safer task.
"Once she gets some sleep and her body recovers further, she’ll be perfectly fine."
"Right."
"Han Shin, are you hurt anywhere?"
"Oh... I’m fine. In fact, my condition is strangely good."
When Laysia asked out of concern, Han Shin realized belatedly that his physical state had been remarkably high since the middle of the battle.
While approaching the Black Spire, he had been consumed by rage at the sight of the Demonic Humans using civilians as hostages. He had tried his best to regain his composure, and from that moment on, he realized that no matter how much power he exerted, he didn't feel tired at all.
He had pushed through the interference of the Demonic Humans and demons to finally destroy the Black Spire. It was the same goal as before, but back then, he had barely managed to destroy it by exhausting every ounce of his strength.
Today was different.
"Shin, then isn't that a good thing?"
"Well... I guess, but... I clearly used a massive amount of power, yet I don't feel drained at all. I feel like I'm still overflowing with energy."
Laysia and Sitri also found Han Shin’s words strange.
"For now, Grace needs to rest undisturbed, so why don't we move to another room?"
"Yeah, let's do that."
Han Shin agreed immediately, relieved that Grace was out of danger and just needed sleep to recover.
Since this was a sanctuary, there was no risk of intruders. With Laysia’s assurance, the three of them moved to the room where the archives were located.
Once there, Sitri and Laysia checked again to see if Han Shin was experiencing any exhaustion or abnormalities.
"Han Shin, you don't feel tired or lethargic right now, do you?"
"No. Like I said, I feel great. Almost too good."
For the time being, they viewed it as a positive development for Han Shin.
★ ★ ★
After the Knight and his party vanished, the US Awakeners were thorough in mopping up the aftermath.
Since they were in a desert, they could track every fleeing Demonic Human. In the Death Desert, where there was nowhere to hide, their outfits stood out vividly.
Of course, the Demonic Humans didn't go down easily. They fought back desperately, causing a fair amount of casualties.
This was because the Ego Artifacts were still active.
In addition to Asmodeus’s demons, there were also demons belonging to Mammon. Aside from the three demons who had been forced to Earth after losing a power struggle to Deborah, there were several other subordinates of Mammon present.
The US command reacted sensitively to these foes, who possessed greater strength than anticipated.
Frederick vented his frustration loudly once, but the US Awakeners refocused, engaged the enemy, and eventually suppressed them all.
They achieved this through air and artillery support, and the US had already recorded the entire engagement to use as promotional material. This kind of PR was a staple for the US, and since it was incredibly popular with the public, they weren't about to stop now.
Frederick and the other US Awakeners were highly encouraged by the new prisoners they had captured. They believed they could extract a wealth of information from them.