Rookie Guardian (5) - The Gate and the Appearance of Demonic Beasts
Rookie Guardian (5) - The Gate and Demonic Beasts Appear
Already four days had passed since I stayed at the temple.
Although it was a small, old temple that no one visited,
the air filling it, however, was warmer and more peaceful than anywhere else in the world.
That peacefulness was slowly melting the frozen hearts of the two women,
Clara and Mia, who had experienced a terrible hell.
"Goddess-isiyeo, please take away the pain residing in the bodies of these pitiful ones-hasoseo."
In a corner of the chapel.
A soft white light flowed from the fingertips of the Young Priest Elian, who was holding Clara's shoulder.
'That is Divine Power....'
It was different from the inner power, mana, that Rose wielded.
It was Divine Power, a pure authority granted by the Goddess to heal and comfort others. As that soft light enveloped Clara's shoulder, the scars and dark bruises, torn and scratched by goblins, visibly faded.
"Hmph... My faith is lacking, so it still hasn't fully healed. A little more time will be needed."
"No, Priest-nim. I'm so grateful even now. Truly... truly...."
Clara, holding her shoulder where the wounds had lessened, couldn't continue speaking and sobbed.
Although her face was still anxious and timid, it must have been due to Elian's utmost devotion that she was able to express her gratitude to this extent.
"What I did is nothing. It is all the power bestowed by the benevolent Goddess...."
Elian, as if embarrassed, scratched the back of his head and smiled kindly.
But regardless of his humble attitude, to Rose, who was watching him from the doorway, that Young Priest felt as magnificent as the benevolent Goddess herself.
'He's truly a good person, to the point of being foolish.'
It wasn't merely because he diligently treated the injured women.
"Priest-nim, my old man at home caught a cold...."
"All the firewood is gone, so I can't make a fire."
"May I use the temple bathhouse today?"
"Priest-nim, the window frame is loose, please take a look."
Elian was not a priest who merely offered prayers.
Every morning, he visited the old and sick elderly of the village, chopping firewood for them, repairing roofs, and sharing scarce food.
In this abandoned village, which had lost its vitality with all the young people gone, Elian was a warm presence, beating like a heart.
"I'll help too."
"What? No, Rose-yang. This is my job...!!??"
Rose, who was watching, rolled up her sleeves and helped him.
Not wanting to reveal her true identity, she moderately controlled her mana and used only a little strength,
but even with just that, when she showed physical strength about twice that of an adult man, Elian's eyes widened as if they would pop out.
"Oh... how could this be...."
"Unlike how I look, I'm a bit sturdy."
At Rose's efforts, lifting a cart stuck in the mud by herself and making firewood with a few swings of an axe, the firmly closed hearts of the village elders also began to open little by little.
"A young lady with a face as delicate as a noble lady's, how can she be so strong?"
"If my son were here, I think they would have been a good match...."
A few warm potatoes and a glass of cold water offered by wrinkled hands.
Every time she received such simple kindness, a strange feeling bloomed in a corner of Rose's heart.
'Is this... the life of a Guardian?'
She felt like she vaguely understood what Lucian had meant by 'the structure where good deeds become power.'
Every time she received people's sincere gratitude and smiles, she felt the mana residing in her heart becoming even stronger.
A few more days passed.
Before going to bed, Clara and Mia came to Rose's room.
For the first time.
They came first.
"Rose-nim. We... we want to stay here without going to Deluna."
And for the first time.
They spoke their own minds.
"Oh... but... it'll be too remote and dangerous here. If you go to Deluna, it would be much safer...."
"I know. But...."
Mia bowed her head and continued speaking.
"Even if we go to a big city, it's obvious what women like us, who have lost our families and whose bodies have been defiled, can do. We... no longer... want to do such things."
Clara also opened her mouth with a trembling voice.
"...Priest Elian-nim didn't even ask what had happened, nor did he pity us. He just warmly embraced us. We want to stay here, help Priest-nim, serve the Goddess, and live quietly."
The two women's eyes were not the empty pupils they had when Rose first met them.
Even if they were full of wounds, a firm will to choose a new life for themselves was contained within them.
Rose quietly smiled and held both their hands.
"Okay. I'll respect your choice. If you're by Priest Elian-nim's side, you'll surely be able to be happy."
After the two women left the room with relief,
Rose leaned against the window and looked towards the forest.
'My mana has increased further....'
The two women didn't say thank you to Rose. But she could feel their sincerity towards her.
She felt their clumsy gratitude transforming into mana in Rose's heart.
The selflessly devoted Young Priest.
The villagers who opened their hearts and accepted her.
The two women trying to overcome their wounds and rise.
Rose also wanted to do something for them.
And there was something she could do.
'The Gate of the Demon World... the Gate.'
The culprit that made the villagers tremble in fear and caused the young people to leave. As long as the Gate remained, peace like this
could not be guaranteed to continue in this small village.
Before the sun rose the next day.
Rose left the temple without anyone knowing.
She knew the approximate location from hearing it from Elian. Although no one had seen the Gate directly, rumors of Magical Beasts being found nearby were widespread.
As if to prove that the rumor wasn't baseless, the deeper she went into the forest, the more distinctly the texture of the air changed.
"Hmph... an unpleasant smell."
Rose frowned at the pungent sulfur smell that pierced her nose and the stench like something rotten.
Moreover, it was silent.
A chilling silence where even the sounds of birds or insects, which should be heard in an ordinary forest, had disappeared.
'It must mean I've entered the territory of a top predator.'
Rose gripped the hilt of her Shortsword tightly and cautiously advanced, muffling her footsteps.
After wandering deeper into the forest for some time.
"...I found it."
Below a massive rock face, a rift where the space itself was grotesquely distorted came into view.
A crack as if the void had been torn open by a knife.
Through that rift, pitch-black and viscous Demonic Energy continuously flowed out, turning the surrounding vegetation black and causing it to rot.
'The size is smaller than I thought.'
What she remembered about the Gate was merely that it was a passage connected to somewhere in the Demon World.
Nothing might happen, or perhaps a terrible army of Magical Beasts might endlessly pour out.
What was certain was that leaving it as it was, was no different from living with a ticking time bomb.
Rose hid her body on a thick branch on top of the rock face and observed the Gate.
Approaching closely and breaking it with a sword was dangerous.
She could be poisoned by the dense Demonic Energy swirling around the Gate, and she could be caught up in the explosion at the moment of its destruction.
'Should I try long-range magic....'
The flow of nature she had learned from Lucian.
Rose closed her eyes and drew up her mana.
And she felt the forest wind flowing around her.
[ Wooooong- ]
From Rose's fingertips, an intensely dazzling silver orb was created.
"Haat!"
The mass of magic power, leaving her hand, flew as if alive, riding the wind, and struck precisely into the center of the Gate.
[ Kwaaaang!! ]
With a tremendous explosion sound, the ground trembled.
But after the dust settled, the revealed Gate only had fine cracks on its surface and was still spewing black energy.
"As expected, one shot isn't enough."
Rose drew up her mana again.
As she continuously released a massive amount of mana, sweat beaded on her forehead, and her lower abdomen ached.
But since she had already come this far, she couldn't stop here.
[ Kwaang! Kwaaaang!! ]
Two times, three times.
Silver flashes consecutively struck the Gate.
Pasasasat-
With that attack, the rift in space finally reached its limit,
and with a sharp shattering sound like a breaking window, the Gate shattered into pieces and scattered into the air.
"Haa... haa... I did it."
Rose breathed heavily and leaned her body against a tree.
It was the first time she had consumed this much mana while traveling alone after leaving Lucian.
But more than the feeling of exhaustion that now weighed down her body, what she felt was a sense of accomplishment that she had helped people.
Just as she was about to climb down from the tree, enjoying that pleasant feeling.
Krrr-
The roar of a beast.
It's close? I didn't know it was approaching like this? Was it because I was too focused on the Gate?
Where is it? Below? The blind spot below the tree where I'm standing....
"...!"
Kwajijik-!
At the same time Rose kicked off the branch and launched herself into the air,
the thick branch where she had been standing was cut off.
Landing on the ground, what entered Rose's sight was a giant wolf.
A body larger than an adult human's even while standing on four legs.
Red eyes stained crimson, with pupils unseen.
Even black Demonic Energy flowing like smoke around its mouth.
'A Blood Wolf...!'
A wolf-type Magical Beast that Guardian Veil had fought when she was dragged away from the Entertainment District.
It was a sense of pressure on a different level from ordinary monsters.
"Krrr-...."
Even with its prey in front of its eyes, the beast didn't recklessly charge.
It seemed to think this opponent, who had avoided its confident surprise attack, was not to be trifled with.
Fixing its gaze on Rose, it slowly drew a circle and circled around her.
'It has intelligence... it's looking for an opening.'
Rose gripped her Shortsword tighter and calmed her mind.
Because she had consumed a lot of mana to destroy the Gate, she couldn't engage in a meaningless war of attrition.
She had to seize an opportunity and defeat it with minimal attacks.
As if it sensed that brief moment of hesitation,
it was the Magical Beast that charged first, closing the distance.
"Kyaoooo!!"
"!!"
An explosive speed unfitting for its massive size.
The beast kicked off the ground, flew in, and swung its sharp front paw.
Kaaang!
Power enough to push Rose's two feet back, digging into the dirt, as she blocked with her sword.
"Kueuk...!"
Her wrist tingled. But there was no time to rest.
Simultaneously with its landing, the Magical Beast opened its maw wide and came in aiming for her side.
Chwaaaak-
Rose barely dodged that attack by arching her upper body back.
Sharp teeth barely grazed past her, tearing a long rip in the side of her shirt.
'It's fast... but its trajectory is too simple!'
Rose straightened her posture and dove into the beast's embrace.
In that fleeting moment as the Magical Beast twisted its body for its next attack, Rose's Shortsword shot up like lightning from bottom to top, towards its jaw.
Puuuuk-!
"Kyaaaak-!!"
The blade, imbued with blue mana, pierced through the Blood Wolf's thick hide, from its jaw to the crown of its head, in one go.
Dark crimson blood gushed like a fountain, soaking Rose's face and body. The giant Magical Beast let out a terrible death rattle, fell to the ground, and convulsed.
"Huu... haa...."
Rose pulled out her sword and breathed heavily.
Due to the large mana consumption, her legs trembled.
"It's a relief... that it was only one."
Just as Rose wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a sigh of relief.
Krrr-
Kyaaaang!
"......!"
Behind Rose, in the darkness of the forest covered in thick fog.
Three pairs of red eyes, gleaming crimson, flashed simultaneously and appeared.