Please, Just Run Away and Leave Me Behind
Frensia watched the hero fight desperately.
"Please... just abandon me and run away..."
'It's... all because of me...' She hadn't realized it amid the overwhelming terror, but now Frensia could see clearly. Until moments ago, the hero had been aggressively attacking and effortlessly dodging. But now, he stood motionless at the cave entrance. Whether the orc swung its club or the minotaur brought down its axe, he merely responded in place. Even when the griffin's feathers flew at him.
He didn't counterattack. He just stood there, taking every blow he could have easily avoided.
By now, Frensia had no choice but to understand. He was refusing to move from that spot to guard the entrance to her cave.
Drip.
Drip.
Tears began streaming from her eyes without her even noticing.
Why would a man she'd met only days ago sacrifice himself like this for her? Her birth mother had abandoned her and left the world. The woman she'd followed as a mother after being adopted had discarded her like a parasite. The gatekeeper who first saved her life had demanded her body as payment.
No parents, no acquaintances, not even strangers had ever sacrificed for her without demanding something in return.
Cough!
Capier coughed violently, spewing thin blood. At this rate, he would surely die.
Terrified beyond words, Frensia made her first resolve to give herself up for someone else.
"I-I'm okay if you abandon me!! Run away!! Please! You could escape on your own!"
Of course, the girl didn't want to die. If the man left the cave entrance, her frail body would be torn apart in seconds. Not just by griffin feathers—even an orc's club would split her in two horrifically.
She knew that full well.
But she screamed anyway. For the man risking his life to protect her without asking for anything, she poured out her heart.
"Run away! Please... hic... sob..."
Tears like rat droppings poured from her eyes. The man's wounds were visibly worsening. The thought that a few more might actually kill him made her wail and beg Capier desperately.
"Please... please... I beg you... please... run away..."
Capier gave no reply.
"Why... why for someone worthless like me...!"
She sobbed at the silent Capier. He answered in his usual curt tone.
"Shut up. I said I'd catch one more goblin..."
Those words reminded Frensia of their earlier conversation.
"When dawn breaks tomorrow, we'll catch one last goblin near the kingdom... and then go our separate ways."
"Who the hell risks their life for something that stupid!!"
She screamed in fury. But Capier remained still.
Sob...
Frensia wept. She hadn't shed a single tear when her birth mother died, when her adoptive parents abandoned her, or even when the gatekeeper tried to rape her. Yet now, staring at this nameless man, she cried more bitterly than ever.
Beibaros couldn't believe the scene before him.
"Kiik... f-fuck... they're all dead...?"
Capier was covered in griffin feathers like a porcupine. Yet he'd somehow slain every monster except the griffin right there at the cave entrance.
"You fucking idiot... you're done for now..."
"D-Don't bluff! You're half-dead already...!"
Beibaros's hands began to tremble. He no longer giggled grotesquely. A grim premonition crept into his mind.
'What if this guy actually kills the griffin too...?'
Beibaros wasn't strong in combat. Though it bruised his pride, it wasn't entirely wrong to say he'd risen in the Demon King's army through schemes alone. If the griffin fell, he'd be next.
The man's enraged eyes showed no mercy.
'Think rationally... he can't kill the griffin in that state, right...?'
The hero was already covered in wounds.
'Fuck... what kind of monster is this...'
'If he receives the baptism and fully wields the Holy Sword... even griffins like that wouldn't scratch him...'
He had to die. This man's strength dwarfed any other summoned hero. If he survived and returned, the fallout would be catastrophic.
"Griffin. Kill him now."
Whoosh!
The griffin charged at his command with blinding speed.
Kyigyigyigiiing!
Its talons aimed for the man's heart, but he desperately raised his sword with both hands to block. Only the chilling scrape of blade on claw echoed.
The griffin swiftly struck with its other foot.
Squelch!
This time, the man blocked with his bare hand. His left hand tore like a ragged cloth.
But—
Slash.
In exchange for his arm, he carved a long gash across the griffin's chest.
Boom. Boom.
The griffin writhed in agony, roaring savagely. Beibaros hesitated for a split second but soon faced forward, certain of victory.
'He's on the verge of passing out.'
The man's eyes were unfocused. His breathing erratic, left arm mangled. With one arm useless, he was finished.
"Griffin, finish it."
At Beibaros's command, the agonized griffin shot toward the man like an arrow.
The man could no longer raise his sword. He simply stood there in silence.
Just as the griffin's talons were about to mercilessly pierce his heart—
A brilliant light began to pour from the cave.
——
"Feeling wronged?"
"The powerless are always helpless, after all."
"Fate flows at the whim of the strong."
"It's only natural—no need to feel aggrieved."
Frensia, weeping mournfully in the cave, sensed something strange. Everything around her had frozen, as if time itself had stopped.
Then, a woman's voice spoke to her.
Her tone carried a mocking sneer.
"But this time, fate has veered strangely off course."
"That man isn't fated to die here."
The voice began to distort slightly.
"It's probably because of you."
"Praying for salvation with no power of your own... you dragged a fated hero here."
"Filthy wretch."
"He might actually die for real because of it."
Frensia first thought it was a hallucination from her frantic mind. But realizing it was no illusion, she screamed in rage.
"Who the hell are you to say that crap! If only I had power...!"
"Puhahat!"
The woman burst into laughter.
"Who am I? I've been called many things across eras, but now they call me the 'Goddess'."
The Goddess. The one who blessed heroes and granted immense divine power to chosen saintesses.
The goddess Frensia knew was supposed to be sacred.
"Don't lie. There's no way someone like you is the Goddess..."
"Stupid girl. Then explain time stopping."
"..."
"Whatever. Demon or goddess—does it matter to you?"
"Want power?"
The Goddess's power. Immense divine power.
"If I give you power, what can you offer me?"
Frensia couldn't tell if this woman was truly the Goddess or a demon. Clutching at straws, she replied.
"Take everything I have. Just please... give me the power to protect that man."
"Puhahaha!"
"As if your worthless all amounts to anything."
The goddess laughed at the girl's furious glare.
"Puhut. Still, you're amusing. Might make for brief entertainment."
With a gesture, sacred light shimmered around Frensia, flowing into her body.
"Oh, strictly speaking, this might be a curse."
"Even with this power, you can't do anything alone."
"So if you want to defy fate, struggle desperately—for my amusement."
The woman cackled for a while before fading into the air.
Whoosh.
Time resumed. Vast divine power surged from Frensia's body.
Frensia had just gained divine power. Like moving her limbs naturally, she instinctively knew how to use it.
As she clasped her hands and murmured, the power flowed straight to Capier.
"F-Fuck, what the hell is this...? No way...!"
Beibaros gaped at the divine power pouring from the cave toward the hero. He knew exactly what that sacred light was—the Goddess's power granted only to chosen saintesses.
'I... I gotta run...'
Splash. Splash. Splash.
Abandoning the griffin, Beibaros fled madly into the forest, trampling mud.
'F-Fuck, I'm really gonna die...'
He ran and ran, as if possessed.
"Kkigiyeeeeeeek!"
Suddenly, a horrific griffin screech echoed behind him. Glancing back, Beibaros froze, muttering at the sight.
'Ahh... Great Goddess...'
It was impossible. An un-baptized hero couldn't wield that power.
Yet the man's eyes clearly reflected the scene: the griffin's body exploding, its wings turning ghostly white, and a massive Holy Sword brimming with divine power gleaming ethereally.
The sight was as sublime as a noble god's judgment.