Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Last Radiance
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-Hwaaaak!
“!!”
Adel, who had been expressionless, momentarily flinched at the sudden change in Is's aura.
'Holy Power?'
The golden energy enveloping Is's body—Holy Power—had wrapped around him like a shed skin. In an instant, it transformed into a blazing flame, creating the illusion that Is himself was burning.
Adel hesitated briefly at the fiercely burning Holy Power, but soon spotted its flaw and twisted her face in disdain.
'Crude.'
At first glance, the blazing Holy Power resembled the 'saints' from history books. But upon closer inspection, it was nothing more than a clumsy imitation using Holy Power.
Whenever it flickered, some parts of his body had too much Holy Power concentrated, while others fell outside its range.
This was obvious even to Adel, who wasn't a cleric, revealing how amateurish it was. She revised her assessment of Is.
From an intriguing Holy Knight to just another ordinary one.
Adel had watched Is face off against Lore in the training grounds with mild curiosity. When the Princess suggested a spar, she'd agreed without objection.
Someone who piqued Adel’s interest and earned the Princess's recommendation had to be different from the other Holy Knights.
Adel despised them—lazy and arrogant, relying solely on the Goddess and entrusting most techniques to Holy Power.
But in the end, Is was just like them.
“All for show.”
Holy Knights were always like that.
Shouting the Goddess's name, spreading hope to the people.
That the Goddess would save them, that the Holy Power granted to them was proof.
But if the Goddess was truly omniscient and omnipotent, then why had her family...
'...Let's end this quickly.'
Shaking off the creeping remnants of the past, Adel charged straight at Is.
Holy Power was an energy that brought fullness, omnipotence, and refreshment.
The man before her would surely be intoxicated by it and off guard. Without a word, Adel swung her sword.
Most Holy Knights crumbled after a few of her strikes, even with Holy Power cloaking them.
But.
-Hwaruruk!
The golden flames blazing across his entire body gathered into his shotel.
The shotel wreathed in golden flames matched her sword's speed and then clashed.
-Chaeeang!
A deafening clang that made it seem like one of them might shatter.
Yet neither Adel nor Is budged an inch.
'How?'
Contrary to Adel’s expectations, Is hadn't let his guard down. He'd blocked her near-sneak attack.
Moreover, the golden flames were so ferocious that her sword was visibly chipping away bit by bit.
Is murmured lowly toward her, hiding her shocked expression behind her helmet.
“Did I block it?”
“!!”
Unlike his previous weighty demeanor, his words carried a mocking edge. As Adel opened her mouth to retort,
-Thud.
“?!”
The golden flames extinguished, and Is's body went limp.
Instinctively, Adel caught him before his upper body hit the ground, then carefully laid him down, her mind reeling.
Fainted. Adel quickly assessed his condition.
“Is!!”
Seeing the Saintess and Princess rushing over from afar, Adel fell into thought.
'That flame...'
Unlike the Holy Knights she'd seen before, his golden blaze was wild and chaotic.
If typical Holy Knights' power felt like a neatly tended beautiful flower, his aura was like a dangerous carnivorous plant growing wild by the roadside.
It seemed to show he was somehow twisted, unlike the others.
Other Holy Knights might have scolded him for such a sight, but to Adel, that ferocity meant something else.
'Maybe he's different...'
Perhaps he truly was unlike the rest.
***
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“...Ugh.”
I felt the soft bed as I sat up.
During the spar with Adel, I'd pushed my body to the limit using Holy Power recklessly, so I'd apparently passed out...
Since I woke up in the room provided for me, someone must have carried me here.
Testing a new technique, it was bound to happen.
“Yawn...”
As I stretched with a long yawn, my mind suddenly cleared, and I bolted upright in bed.
“T-The time?!”
What time was it? I had to escort Ariana—
“Mm... Is, you're awake?”
“S-Saintess?!”
Why was Ariana sitting by my bedside?
Staring at her in confusion and alarm, Ariana smiled faintly and explained patiently.
“You collapsed from overusing Holy Power, so I was supplying you with some beside you. Good thing you woke up quickly?”
“I-Indeed...”
Embarrassed, I lowered my eyes, and Ariana let out a small laugh.
“Pfft, no need to feel so sorry. It was because of the spar, right? Even I, clueless about swords, could tell the huge gap between you and Adel.”
“Is that so...”
Thinking back to the spar with Adel, I sank into deep thought.
I'd forgotten at the time, but come to think of it, Adel seemed to harbor a dislike for Holy Knights.
I'd taunted her by blocking, but she wouldn't hold a grudge, would she?
Still, blocking once felt so damn good.
For a rookie Holy Knight like me to parry a powerhouse like Adel—how rare was that?
It was like a three-year-old kid holding a rock and blocking a burly man's punch.
As I rubbed the back of my neck with those worries, another issue came to mind.
'Come to think of it, the incident is in two days.'
According to the game, right on the day the Saintess arrives at the Empire, a major event unfolds.
But since we left two days early ahead of the game's schedule, we should have plenty of time...
“Still, after sleeping soundly for two days, you look fine! Our Holy Knights and priests worked hard in the meantime, so no need to worry!”
“Slept—what?!”
I'd slept for two days?
Then today's date is...
At that moment.
-Kwang!
Someone flung the door open urgently.
One of the imperial knights.
He looked shocked to see Ariana and me, who'd just woken, then shouted immediately.
“Black Mage! A Black Mage has appeared!”
“Yes?! Let's go, Is!”
“Understood, Saintess!”
I hurriedly armed myself and dashed out.
“Around here, you say...”
We arrived at a dark alleyway.
Despite being daytime, the shadowed narrow path was pitch black, thick with the stench of blood.
“Let there be light.”
I immediately created a light source with Holy Power in my left hand and took the lead.
The reporting knight, me, Ariana, the knights, and Holy Knights entered the alley in that order, slowly advancing.
“...Gruesome.”
The light revealed a corpse sprawled on the ground, blood oozing from every orifice in its face.
I clicked my tongue and scanned the surroundings further. Then.
“Hup...!”
The lead knight swung a dagger at my throat.
-Crack!
“Keurk!”
In an instant, the hand holding the light grabbed and snapped his wrist.
“What the—!”
Ariana behind me started to shout in confusion and anger, but I seized the knight's head and twisted it 180 degrees.
-Crack!
-Thud.
The knight's body collapsed to the ground.
“What happened?!”
The knights behind Ariana yelled, so I lifted the dead knight's body.
“He tried to kill me.”
“What! Could there be a traitor in the knight order—?”
“No.”
Before distrust could spread among the knights, I shoved a Holy Power light orb into the corpse's mouth.
Then.
-Kieeeek...!
Black, slimy liquid oozed from the knight's ear.
No—more like leeches. It resembled leeches.
The thing that burst from the knight wriggled grotesquely on the ground, and I crushed it underfoot.
-Saaa...
Its corpse melted away, spewing black smoke.
This was the cause of the deaths that the Holy Knights arriving at the Empire had met—described in just two lines of text.
The work of the Black Mage known as 'Devouring Parasite'.
True to his moniker, Devouring Parasite created parasites that devoured people's brains and took their place. No matter how strong the victim, once infected, they became his slave.
According to the game story, he'd long infected most of the knight order.
I whispered urgently to Ariana.
“Saintess, fire Holy Power bullets at every knight's head.”
“O-Okay!”
Trusting me completely, Ariana shot Holy Power like bullets at the knights' heads.
“Huh?”
For some reason, no parasites emerged from any of them.
“What was that...?”
The knights looked puzzled at Ariana and me for the sudden attack, and I was just as baffled.
'This is how you detect them, though?'
The way to catch parasites: blast Holy Power into the head.
I'd just done it to that knight.
Yet the entire knight order looked fine.
Perplexed, I watched them closely. Then.
“Kwaaaah!!”
From deeper in the alley, an old man in a black robe charged toward us.
“That guy...!”
It was Devouring Parasite.
Screaming in a mix of agony and rage, he kept coming. Our eyes met, and he pointed at me, yelling.
“It was you! You who destroyed my last remaining parasite!”
“What?”
Before I could respond, he pulled a pouch from his bosom and opened it.
“Come forth! Gu Poison!!”
“Wait—!”
And just like that, I was facing the final boss.
The Hero hadn't even arrived yet.