The Saintess Has Fallen [04]

It was before the tower of unknown origin appeared.

An ordinary afternoon, the kind that stretched on without a single ripple.

Even that day, I yawned my way through the tedium as usual.

I was wandering in front of the bulletin board on the third floor of the guild building, leafing through request after request. Herb gathering, ore hauling, escort duty—every last one of them was trivial. I never imagined I would run this short of work...

"Miss Eunhye, still picking one out?"

The receptionist asked with a smile, and I gave a light shrug of my shoulder.

Always poking her nose into everyone's business, that one.

Not that I owed her a fair share of gratitude for it.

"If you're A-rank, you'd think I could afford to be picky."

"Be too picky and the good ones get snatched up."

"Oh come on, a few are bound to be left."

"Everyone's swamped these days."

She had a point. And still, my hand wouldn't reach for any of them. Something felt off. The crystal at the tip of my staff had been trembling faintly since that morning—a reaction it gave whenever my mana wavered. No reason I could name. Just unease.

My mood had been heavy for a while now, so I figured I'd shake it loose ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with a simple C-rank subjugation. But the moment I reached for one of the flyers, the floor shuddered.

At first I thought a truck had rumbled past.

The shaking didn't stop, though. Items rained down from the shelves, and the papers stacked on the reception counter went scattering into the air without mercy.

I barely stayed upright, braced against the wall.

Then, from outside, came screaming that hardly sounded human. Not one voice—dozens wailing at once until the very windows rang.

"Damn it! What the hell is going on out there?!"

Staff in hand, I bolted outside.

Had a massive monster broken loose from a dungeon? Some large-scale spell gone wrong? The questions flew back and forth around me, and the instant the answer became clear, everyone froze solid.

There it was, rising from the middle of a residential district.

Thousands of slick, blood-red tentacles wound around one another, reaching up toward the sky in a shape that could only be called a tower. Horrifying.

Words refused to come.

My stomach kept threatening to lurch.

Something like that was actually possible?

The crowd scattered in every direction. A woman clutching her child went down; an old man crumpled onto the pavement. Cars collided in a chorus of horns, and somewhere in the distance sirens layered over one another before a handful of military helicopters tore across the sky.

But I couldn't move a single step. I had lived as a hunter for years, passing through places called towers more times than I could count. I'd carved my way through monster hordes and cleaned up after fallen comrades more than once.

And even so, this was the first fear I had ever known like this. What do I do? Do I run? Or do I stand and fight it head-on? My head was spinning in that suffocating deadlock when—

My terminal rang. A guild emergency call.

The contents were obvious before I even looked, but it loosened my tension, if only a little. I slapped my own cheeks hard and read the message.

My hands were shaking. Even so, I hurried to the appointed place, determined to join. In the end, roughly fifty of us gathered. For how little time we'd had, it was a decent force at that. Thank goodness.

There were perhaps thirty A-rank hunters, plus about twenty from the government's monster special forces. A makeshift command post had been thrown up at the tower's entrance, and a woman stepped up onto the platform. She carried herself with absolute authority.

"Good to have you all. I am Han Yujin, commander of this subjugation force."

Cropped hair, sharp eyes. Even I had heard the name a few times. The A-rank swordswoman they called the Reaper of the Tower.

She'd been a soldier until quite recently, I believe.

The kind of person I'd only ever seen on TV programs.

I never expected to see her in the flesh.

"This tower's rank is unknown. We have no data on its interior, none on its monsters. Our objectives are reconnaissance and survival. I have no need for heroes."

The man standing beside me murmured as he checked over a rifle made of monster bone. Judging by the military uniform, he was one of the special forces.

"Talk about a raw deal. We're seriously expected to clear that thing?"

The name tag read Jeong Taeho.

I gave a nod instead of an answer.

And with that, we entered the tower.

The moment we stepped inside, I faltered.

It was peaceful—jarringly so, for a place whose exterior was that writhing red flesh. Grass beneath our feet, sky overhead. Old manors dotted the hillside. Was this truly the inside of a tower?

Stone walls, a well, a windmill. It felt as though an entire medieval European village had been transplanted whole. If there was one flaw, it was that not a trace of human presence lingered anywhere. Unsettling.

"Guess I got worked up over nothing. Inside's in better shape than I expected."

"Plenty of towers are all bark on the outside."

"Let's check the manors. There might be loot."

"Then I'll just take pictures."

The hunters drifted apart in twos and threes. Someone pushed open a manor door. The interior was completely empty. Not a stick of furniture, not a speck of dust. Which was, if anything, stranger. Something about this stank.

I gripped my staff and rejoined the column. Around me, chatter filled the air in a dizzying swirl. Years of hunter experience had left them all dripping with confidence. Is it really okay to be this relaxed? I couldn't tell.

"Grab whatever loot we find and get out. Simple as that."

"Maybe I'll draw a map of the place and sell it."

"Too much work. Let's finish this off as fast as we can."

"Air's nice, though. Feels like coming home."

Ordinary words. The same things people always said. And somehow, that was a comfort. The trembling of my staff seemed to have quieted, too. We wouldn't be going deep anyway. We'd just scout a little and pull back out.

Climb a floor, climb another, and the same scenery unrolled every time. Empty manors and grassland, nothing more. Not a single ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠monster showed itself. Then we reached the twelfth floor. We'd been walking about an hour by then.

We came upon a small river. The water was black as ink, and an old wooden bridge spanned it. The railings had rotted through, with planks missing here and there, left to rot.

"D-do we really have to cross that?"

"It's suspicious, sure, but there's no other way."

"Haah. Commander. This is a trap, isn't it? I'm telling you."

"Use a detection spell. Now."

"Yes. Yes, ma'am. If you say so."

Commander Han Yujin took the lead. Taeho swept our surroundings with his rifle raised. I spread my mana and probed for any presence. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Should we take a sample of the water here, Commander? Those research boys would be over the moon about it. Your thoughts?"

"Collect anything and everything for now. Understood?"

After that brief commotion, all fifty of us set foot on the bridge. The planks groaned uneasily beneath our weight. I stole a glance downward—the black water flowed quietly beneath our feet.

We were about halfway across, I think.

Then, without warning, the water erupted upward.

Faster than any of us could react.

But that wasn't the end of it.

Scarlet things came pouring out.

Tentacles. Blood-red as if gorged on gore, each one thick as a thigh, they burst from beneath the surface and seized us without rhyme or reason.

"Aaaaagh! Uuuugh! Damn it!"

"Fall back! Get back, aaaagh!"

"Shit! Physical attacks aren't working!"

"Mages! Area attacks, now!"

"Hurry! We're all going to die!"

A tentacle coiled around a hunter's waist and hauled him toward the water. He vanished beneath the surface before his scream had even died. The special forces operator next to Taeho was firing when something snatched his ankle and left him dangling upside down.

"Let go! Let go of me, you grotesque things!"

He thrashed, fighting to break the surface, and was swallowed whole. The water bubbled briefly, then went still. The mages in the rear had already been hit hard too.

I fumbled my staff up in a panic. Mana surged, and light burst from the crystal. One incantation and it would be over. That instant, something cinched around my waist. Wh-when did it—?

"...Huh? Kyaaaaaaagh!"

I was yanked straight up into the air, my feet leaving the planks. A second tentacle wrapped around my arm; a third seized the hand clutching my staff. The moment my mana was severed, the light guttered out.

"No, no! Nnngh! D-don't touch me!"

A tentacle tore through my clothing and coiled around my chest. The slick, cold sensation choked the breath from me. My ribs creaked, and my vision blurred.

Around me, my companions were vanishing into the water one by one. Someone called my name. Then even that voice was cut off. So I'm going to die too, in the end.

Like this. In a place like this. In a way like this.

The tentacle crept slowly up toward my throat.

It slid inward, between my legs, which had fallen limply open.

Filthy. It's filthy. Don't touch me. Please.

BANG! A gunshot slammed against my ear.

The tentacles wound around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my neck and chest flinched and burst. Red fluid splattered across my face. As the crushing pressure slackened, my senses came rushing back.

"Grab my hand! Now! Before they come again!"

I seized that hand without thinking. Someone heaved with all their strength, but a tentacle clamped onto my ankle at once. A second gunshot blasted even that away before my eyes. A genuine miracle.

My body dropped onto the planks. I crawled for my life. One single conviction—get out of here, now—drove me all the way to the end of the bridge.

A third gunshot behind me, then a fourth. Footsteps chasing after. By the time I came to my senses, we were on the hillside. I survived? That hell? I'm not dreaming, am I? Right? I'm not?

Lying in the grass, I could see the sky. My body ached everywhere and my clothes hung in rags. Someone had draped a military jacket over me—their own upper garment, ruined as it already was. I was grateful for the consideration.

"...Is everyone else safe?"

My voice sounded strange to my own ears.

Bright and energetic had always been my whole identity, but right now I didn't have the luxury of worrying about that. I was terrified those tentacle monsters might climb all the way up here.

"They're fine. I survived alongside this useless oaf here."

"That's harsh, Commander. Cherish me a little too, why don't you."

"Keep watch instead. They could still come."

"Then I'll set up a few traps while I'm at it."

"Get some rest first. It's a war of stamina now."

Commander Han Yujin answered from beside me. She sat with her sword across her knees. Next to her, Taeho stood as he maintained the monster-bone rifle.

A taut tension hung over the three of us.

"Did... the two of you save me?"

"I shot the things. She dragged you out."

"Th-thank you. You saved my life."

"...Well. This is the kind of place where you help each other."

Taeho's voice was gruff and stiff.

I pushed myself up and looked around.

No one was there. Just the three of us.

"...What happened to the others?"

"You know already. You saw it all."

"I—even so, maybe there were other survivors..."

Taeho tried to speak calmly, but rage boiled up in him and he suddenly slammed his fist into the ground. It sank deep into the grass.

"Damn it! What the hell WAS that? There was nothing there! You saw it, Commander, you saw it too! Damn it, damn it! A monster that even detection magic can't find? I've never once heard of a creature like that existing!"

"Mr. Taeho. Please calm down. Your w-wounds..."

"They call it a tower? This is a slaughterhouse, plain and simple!"

"Getting angry won't change anything."

"Shut it. Shut it. SHUT IT! I said shut up!"

He kept striking the earth. Three times, four times. The Commander didn't stop him. She only gripped her sword's hilt, her face hollowed out. I hugged my knees. Even tears wouldn't come. Everything was miserable.

Only after a long while did the Commander speak.

"First, we get out of here."

"Going back the way we came is dangerous."

"That's why we find another way."

"In a place this size? The three of us?"

The Commander had no answer. She was wracking her brain over how to escape this crisis. We'd lost our rations, our emergency equipment, everything. Devoured by monsters, or starve to death. Those were our options—

"...Hold on. What's this? Everyone, look at this."

Taeho examined the ground where his fists and kicks had hammered. Where the grass had been torn away, something that wasn't soil waited. A black fissure. A faint light leaked from the palm-sized crack.

The three of us huddled around it.

"Commander. It's not another trap, is it? Like before?"

"If it were a trap, something would've popped out by now."

"Some traps don't pop anything out."

"Then I suppose we'll wait here until we die?"

The debate was short. The answer had already been decided.

At length, the Commander drew her sword, then reached into the fissure. An unidentifiable light swallowed her arm in an instant. What was waiting on the other side?

"...Hold on to me. Even if we die, we go together."

We took hold of one another's hands.

And were sucked inward.

When I opened my eyes, there was only pitch darkness.

Even so, a hunter's instincts told me.

We were probably inside a cave.

A damp smell filled my nose as water splashed up from underfoot. I lost my balance and staggered, and Taeho beside me crumpled in a heap.

"Damn it! That last thing was a teleport trap!"

"Stay calm! Checking our surroundings comes first."

"Tch! Easy for you to say. And if something jumps out at us?"

Taeho shouted, but the Commander raised her sword and cut him off. Something was standing right in front of us. Surely not another monster. I swallowed dryly and alerted my companions.

"Enemy ahead! Everyone, combat positions!"

I raised my staff. Thankfully, my mana had returned. The crystal flickered to life. And then I stood rooted to that spot for a long, long while, frozen solid.

At the center of a pool of clear water ringed in stone, a woman stood motionless. Could she be a humanoid monster? I was suspicious, but I opened my eyes fully and scrutinized every detail of her.

Lavender hair spread out across the surface of the water. A thin black dress clung to her body. Her pale face turned toward us, and red eyes gazed at me quietly. I couldn't have moved if I'd wanted to.

It wasn't fear, exactly. How should I put it.

She was simply beautiful enough to stop my heart.

Even the two horns rising from her head.

So a face like that really existed in this world.

"Halt! Are you not a monster as well?"

The Commander leveled her sword. Her fingertips trembled.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I raised my staff too. A monster wearing a human form—they say one could wipe an entire city off the map. This was the first time I'd ever laid eyes on one.

The woman rose slowly from the water.

Her wet dress sagged and clung as the distance closed.

What is this fragrance? My head swam.

I flinched back in alarm, but the woman showed not the slightest intent to attack. She had been smiling like that this whole time. Warmly—warmly to the point of being strange.

"You were startled, weren't you. It's all right. I won't harm you."

Her voice was soft.

Like a mother soothing an infant.

My heart grew warm.

"I am the guide of this tower."

And so, inside the tower, we met our savior.

The one and only saintess in all this world.

A beautiful face, a gentle way of speaking.

Suddenly, I wanted to be held in those arms.

What this feeling was, I would not—

sadly—come to understand for some time yet.

All I knew was that I wanted to stay by her side forever.

How long had we walked? When her footsteps finally stopped, a door appeared. A pure white door—though I was so exhausted that I didn't even have the energy to be glad of it.

"Open this door, and you will find yourself outside the tower."

She stepped aside, and Taeho seized the door handle roughly. So we were finally leaving the tower. The Commander bowed her head. She hadn't believed it at first, but by now she was completely won over.

"Thank you."

"Not at all."

I looked back one last time.

Something about parting like this felt like a loss.

And so I ran to her.

"Can I... see you again?"

The woman smiled. A smile without a single fleck of dust in it.

Just looking at it made me happy.

"Yes. Whenever you like."

I etched that face into my memory and opened the door. Familiar sunlight poured down. The wind carried the smell of car exhaust mixed through it.

People surged toward us at once.

"What happened in there?!"

"Are there truly no other survivors?"

"What does the interior look like?"

Reporters shoved cameras in our faces. Soldiers held back the crowd. Someone draped a blanket over my shoulders; someone else handed me water. The questions kept coming.

The Commander answered in our stead. Taeho kept his mouth shut. I said nothing at all. I was thinking of the woman who had been with us only moments ago.

Violet. Violet. Violet.

I hoped, with everything in me, that we would meet again someday.