Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The Star and the Saintess
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[That damn hero brat stabbed its reverse scale! Didn't I say he was a total idiot! It's all fucked because of you!!]
"...Ha? Mr. Death-Bringer, there must be some kind of mistake—"
[The dragon's corpse is crashing down right now! Anyway, with that crazy holy knight's barrier blocking everything below, there aren't even any souls worth harvesting, so I'm out first!]
Ruin had finally stabbed its reverse scale.
I couldn't help but smile at his admirable feat.
"No way... How could a half-baked hero who hasn't even grown properly..."
'Now's my chance.'
With its death aura wavering unstably from the shock, I spun my shotel and charged forward at full speed.
"Even if it was a weak undead specimen, this doesn't make any sense..."
The aura shook more and more erratically, as if deeply rattled.
Before I knew it, my shotel had reached Mocking Deception.
"!!"
Mocking Deception desperately tried to pull back, but I had no intention of letting him escape in a situation this critical.
-Thud!
"Urk...!"
I shoved my shield forward hard and fast, staggering him on impact.
In that instant, my shotel gleaming with holy power pierced straight through his chest.
-Stab!
"Grah...!"
Without stopping there, I dragged the shotel sideways.
-Riiip!
"Gaaaargh...!"
The blade tore from his solar plexus clean to his left arm.
Blood sprayed wildly from his body.
"Cough, cough! What... this is impossible..."
Mocking Deception wiped the blood from his mouth with his remaining right arm.
Unlike his grinning mask, he muttered gravely to himself before lifting his gaze to meet mine.
"...You. You were the problem all along."
Mocking Deception's demeanor shifted in an instant.
His mask's corners drooped in sync.
"At first, I was just curious about you... but it seems you're going to be a massive obstacle to our cause."
So.
"You'll have to keep me company on my trip to the afterlife."
"!!"
By the time I reached out to grab him, it was already too late.
-Stab... Gurgle...!
His muscles had already begun swelling grotesquely, and black fluid bubbled from every orifice on his head.
He was attempting to self-destruct.
'A suicide blast from a black mage of his caliber...'
The death aura contained within Mocking Deception.
It was an immense quantity beyond comparison with ordinary black mages.
If that much death aura detonated, Icicle Territory would be damaged beyond recovery.
Above all, Ariana, Adel, and countless others wouldn't survive.
"I can't just let that happen...!"
I hooked my left arm around Mocking Deception's neck and tackled him to the ground.
"Grrrgh...! You think... this will stop...!"
"Shield of Faith."
I enveloped myself and Mocking Deception in a massive surge of holy power.
"With this...! You'll just die like a dog toooOOOOH!"
His words cut off as his body ballooned like it was about to burst.
And then.
"...Be happy, Ariana."
-BOOM!
Swept up in Mocking Deception's explosion, I closed my eyes.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ -Crash!
The mental world shattered like glass, and life returned to Ariana's eyes.
This was because the caster, Mocking Deception, had vanished.
Staggering from the sudden return to reality, Ariana stared at the massive sphere of holy power before her, her face twisting in despair.
"Is!! No, Is!"
Her awakening meant Mocking Deception was gone—and that could only mean...
"Please! No, Is!! You're inside there, right? Right? Tell me you're okay, please!"
Someone had taken Mocking Deception's final desperate attack.
Ariana had witnessed, if only in her mental world, Mocking Deception's attempt to self-destruct right before death.
-Thud! Thud!
"Is! Is!!"
Ariana pounded on the barrier with all her might, calling for Is.
But despite her desperate pleas, the barrier held firm.
"Is..."
Ariana collapsed in front of the unmoving barrier.
The barrier vanished about five minutes later.
-Fizz...
The shield faded into a scattering of light particles.
The moment it disappeared, the death auras hidden inside spilled out.
"!! Warmth!"
Even in the chaos, she didn't forget to purify the death auras.
'This much aura...!'
The more she purified, the worse her thoughts grew.
"Is! Where are you, Is!"
Purifying the death auras that kept clouding her vision, Ariana slowly made her way inside.
"I... s...?"
She found Is in a horrific state.
"Is!!"
Ariana rushed to his side.
"No..."
Is's condition was beyond description.
Having shouldered the death aura alone, his left arm was blackened and necrotic, the armor melted away—and the corruption had spread across his chest to half his face.
Meanwhile, the other half of his face still flickered with holy power.
But even that was slowly dying out.
His eyes had been lifeless from the start.
"No, no, no..."
The star before her eyes lost its light.
The star who, from a young age, had fought goblin hordes single-handedly for others' sake, training tirelessly without fail to become a direct holy knight.
"Mother's Touch! Mother's Touch! Mother's Touch!"
She kept trying to heal him, but his body showed no change.
"No, because of me..."
The thought that another person had died because of her filled Ariana with guilt.
"What kind of saintess am I... if I can't even save Is, who's always been by my side..."
She teetered on the edge of self-loathing.
But in that moment, a memory flashed in her mind.
"Lady Saintess, you can save many people, but not 'everyone.' Not even His Holiness the Pope or the Hero can do that."
"You're right. I can't save everyone... I'm sorry, Is..."
She sank deeper into despair.
But then, his following words made her pause.
"You can't save everyone, Lady Saintess, but because you strive to, your heart is all the more noble and worthy of respect."
"...Ah."
Though words from the past, they felt as vivid as if spoken now.
Perhaps because she knew Is would say the same even in this situation?
Ariana wavered in confusion. Then, the final words etched themselves into her mind.
"So please, don't blame yourself too much."
"...Is."
The image of Is smiling as he said it burned brightly in her thoughts.
Back then, she'd simply been moved by his words.
But now, she was certain.
"I won't let you go to the Goddess's side... not like this!"
Now, she harbored different feelings than before.
-Whoosh!
Holy power erupted from Ariana's entire body in a fierce surge.
Unlike Hero Ruin, who writhed in agony using just half his holy power, Ariana had maintained herself daily through prayer, meditation, and acts of grace.
Thus, the holy power she unleashed now was 100 percent of her capacity.
She resolved to pour every ounce into saving the man before her.
Ariana clasped her hands, closed her eyes, and prayed fervently to the Goddess in the heavens.
"Mother of all creation in the heavens, please grant your pitiful daughter the power to save the star before her."
-Hummm...
The holy power enveloping her trembled faintly.
As if to say no.
But she persisted without backing down.
"While that man called the Hero felled the dragon, he burned his own body to save me, to save everyone—a star more brilliant than any other... Please, Mother..."
Tears streamed from her tightly shut eyes.
But the holy power trembled again.
Ariana gritted her teeth.
"If you say no, then I'll do it myself...!"
-Whoosh!
The holy power blazed even brighter.
Realizing Ariana was burning her own body to amplify it, the holy power tried to escape her.
But.
"I'm going to save Is!"
Her prayer forcibly held it in place.
The prolonged tug-of-war between the saintess and her holy power.
In that absurd battle, the holy power yielded first.
As if granting this one exception, it began swirling around her body.
"Urk...!"
Ariana grimaced in pain.
Yet even then, she didn't stop praying.
"Thank you... for Mother's grace...!"
Tears of pure holy power flowed from her eyes as she smiled.
As if exasperated, the swirling holy power gathered above her head. Only then did she unclasp her praying hands and reach out toward Is.
"Let that brilliant star shine once more."
Before she knew it, a golden halo like holy power spun above her head.