28 - The Saintess Descends (1)
"Haa... haa..."
Piarot's ragged breathing gradually steadied. A strange silence settled over the battlefield.
Hans was the first to speak. Lowering his staff, he asked as if he couldn't hold it in any longer. "What... exactly is your relationship?"
His gaze flicked back and forth between Piarot, nestled in my arms, and me. No matter how you looked at it, we weren't just senior-junior or employer-employee.
I wiped the sweat from my brow and gave an awkward smile. "Ah, well... it's about work..."
"He's my husband."
"......!!"
Piarot cut me off sharply and dove right in. She burrowed even deeper into my embrace, her eyes gleaming as she faced the party members.
"Ah!!"
"Gasp!!"
The party members' jaws dropped. Husband. What clearer declaration of our relationship could there be?
We were supposed to keep it secret until next year...
Well, no helping it now.
"Haha... yeah, that's how it turned out."
"I-is that so!! Ahaha, you two... y-you really make a great pair!!"
The male students were struck dumb with shock, like they'd swallowed a mouthful of honey. Meanwhile, Rena alone tried to salvage the mood with some awkward applause.
"Haha... no wonder! Your teamwork was so seamless! Congratulations!"
Just as the atmosphere started drifting into a weird pink haze—
"Urk!!"
A pained groan from the ground poured cold water on everything. It was Leon.
"......Leon?"
I hurried over to him. The bleeding had stopped, but the stump of his severed arm was gruesome.
"You okay?"
"No... ugh... not okay at all."
Leon stared at his empty right sleeve, his voice choking up. "My career as a knight... it's over... sob..."
Drip, drip. Thick teardrops fell from his eyes, soaking the dirt.
For a knight, losing an arm was as good as a death sentence.
"......"
"......"
The joy of victory was short-lived; a heavy silence descended. Rena and Kai bowed their heads, and even Hans bit his lip.
I carefully helped him up, supporting his weight. "Let's head back for now. This is just a temporary fix. If we leave it like this, shock could set in. His life might be in danger."
"...Yeah. Let's go."
Hans nodded grimly. We supported our wounded comrade and shuffled toward the exit.
That's when it happened.
Zzzzzzzzt!!!! A ripping sound far louder and sharper than when the Abyss Wolf emerged tore through the air.
"......!!"
We whipped around instinctively. The gate's surface, once bluish, was now staining red, as if drenched in blood.
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Again!! Damn it!!"
Kai clutched his head and screamed. We'd beaten the boss monster—another change now was beyond comprehension.
"E-Evangeline!! Mana left? Can you transform one more time?!"
Hans shouted urgently. But Piarot, leaning on my shoulder, weakly shook her head.
"Sorry... I can't push anymore."
Her face was deathly pale. Her legs trembled. Two back-to-back battles—she'd depleted all her mana.
"Ah... r-run!! Get outta here!!"
"Hurry!! Carry Leon!!"
At Kai's yell, we scrambled to prepare for flight. But there was no time to escape.
Woooong—. The blood-red gate rippled. Something was emerging.
A slender white hand pierced through first.
"Humanoid!! It's a demon!!"
At Hans's cry, we held our breath and stared. Hand, then arm, then head...
But then.
"......A nun's habit?"
What stepped out of the gate wasn't a monster. A woman in black-and-white clerical robes, veiled head. Flawless, pristine skin, and a faint golden halo rising behind her.
Her eyes gently closed, hands clasped in prayer before her chest. A benevolent smile graced her lips. She evoked an angel stepped straight from a cathedral's stained glass.
Standing nobly amid the blood-soaked monster corpses, utterly out of place.
"Sera Argent!!"
Leon cried out in shock. His eyes filled not with fear, but astonishment.
"Who's that?"
"Sera Argent!! The priestess who vanished two years ago... the church's youngest-ever Saintess!!"
Saintess. The weight of the word crushed the air.
I recognized her face too. The priest who joined the protagonist's party with high probability.
But Piarot's reaction beside me was entirely different.
"Urk..."
Her face drained to corpse-like pallor. The ferocity she'd shown slaughtering the Abyss Wolf was gone. She trembled like prey facing its natural predator.
I whispered urgently in her ear. "Piarot, what's wrong? You know her?"
"......In my previous life."
She bit her lip until it bled, whispering back. "She was one of the people who came to kill me."
"!!!!!"
Butterfly effect again? In this timeline, she hadn't even enrolled—she'd gone missing instead. And now she emerged from the gate before our eyes.
Damn it, what's going on here?
My mind tangled in confusion. But the situation unfolded faster than I could think.
"A... a person?!"
Rena asked in a trembling voice.
"Yeah!! There were rumors demons kidnapped her... She's alive!!"
Leon staggered to his feet, ignoring the pain of his severed arm. With an oddly exalted expression, he approached her.
"Lady Sera Argent!! I'm Leon, a knight aspirant at the academy!! Could you please heal me?!"
As he limped closer, the priestess called Sera slowly raised her head. Still smiling serenely, eyes closed, she spoke softly.
"Ahh, poor soul, you've been wounded. I shall heal you."
"!!!!"
Her voice echoed like in a cave—dreamy, holy. It spread hypnotically.
"W-wait!! Stop!!"
My instincts screamed danger. Trusting something straight out of the gate just like that? Even if she was a saintess, approaching so defenselessly?
"B-be careful!!"
But my warning fell on deaf ears. Leon was already kneeling before her like a devotee seeking salvation.
Damn it!! Nothing's getting through to him right now!!
That instant—
Fwaaah—! Dazzling white light burst from her fingertips, enveloping Leon.
And then, a miracle unfolded before our eyes.
Szzzzzzt—!!
"U-ugh...!!"
Leon groaned. Not just from pain. From his severed elbow stump, bones extended, red muscles twisted like threads, flesh filling in.
Squirm, squirm. It was grotesque, like a swarm of living snakes devouring each other to form a shape.
Perfect Regeneration—impossible even with high-grade potions.
"A miracle... God's miracle..."
Thick tears streamed from Leon's eyes. "I'm saved!! I... I can be a knight again!!"
He clutched his regenerating arm, overcome with sobbing gratitude.
Thud. All strength drained from me; I collapsed limply to the ground.
"Hahaha... so she's an ally, huh."
Piarot said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah... She's as close to a true saint as it gets. That's why she came to kill me."
"Ah......"
Piarot's eyes wavered. I could picture it. The countless loops without me. What she'd endured in them.
She'd always been alone, branded a "witch" by the world. Then the protagonist Leon and Saintess Sera came for her. Heroes who looked righteous and radiant to anyone, labeling her "evil" and coming to subjugate her.
What must her heart have felt like? How pathetic to die slandered in the name of justice.
It was a depth I couldn't fathom. As I opened my mouth, unsure how to comfort her—
"It's done!! My arm's fully regenerated!! Thank you!! Thank you, Saintess!!"
Leon bowed repeatedly to her in gratitude.
But then.
Gurgle, gurgle. Something was wrong with his fully revived right arm.
"U-ugh...?!"
The saintess didn't stop, pouring more holy light into Leon. Veins began writhing like worms across his freshly smooth arm.
"S-Saintess!! Stop!!"
Leon’s arm muscles twisted wildly. They swelled uncontrollably. Muscle fibers screamed, proliferating excessively.
Pop!! Skin split past its limit. Blood sprayed from ruptured vessels like a fountain.
"Stooooppppppp!!!!!!"
Splat!! With a horrific rupture, Leon's arm—bloated like a cancer—exploded like a balloon.
"Gaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!"
The entire right arm burst off. Leon clutched his mangled shoulder, collapsing to his knees in a pool of blood. Shock flipped his eyes back; he couldn't even scream anymore.
"......"
The forest fell deathly still. The party members froze in terror, not daring to breathe.
Before that horrific sight, only Saintess Sera remained serene. She gazed down at the bloodied Leon and tilted her head, as if genuinely pitying him.
"Oh my, your shoulder's injured."
She raised her hand again. White radiance gathered at her bloodstained fingertips.
"Don't worry. I'll heal you."
Her voice held not a speck of malice—just an excruciatingly benevolent tone.
