Chapter 3
Chapter 3
I’m Telling You Right Now
After quickly moving close to where the demonic beasts were gathering, I kicked off the ground in one motion and shot into the sky.
Then I condensed divine power beneath my feet and stood atop the empty air.
The scene spread out below me was nothing less than a colorless hell.
Twisted dead trees devoid of all life jutted upward like the skeletons of giant beasts, while grotesque gray fog coiled between them like serpents, spewing foul demonic energy into the air.
Inside that fog, hundreds of demonic beasts surged forward like a wave.
The sight made me frown automatically.
“…Why the hell are there so many?”
Considering the sheer number attacking the outer edge of the Demonic Realm, I could finally understand why the Holy Knights had been making such a huge fuss since dawn.
Maybe predators from deeper inside the Demonic Realm had moved, forcing outer-region creatures to flee in massive numbers.
If that was the case, then someone here had truly rotten luck.
Ah, and I wasn’t talking about us.
I meant those demonic bastards.
They fled desperately from a predator only to run straight into something even worse.
“Huuup…!”
I inhaled deeply and poured divine power into Astra, the Holy Spear.
As if reflecting its master’s mood, the silver-white radiance surrounding Astra flickered violently.
Leonid, the vice-captain waiting on the ground below, seemed to notice the ominous divine power gathering overhead and lifted his head.
His eyes widened in horror as he looked up at me.
“…What exactly are you doing up there, noona?”
“Reducing their numbers a bit.”
“…You’ve got to be kidding me. Everyone fall back! If you get caught in that, you’ll die!”
Looks like he realized what I was about to do.
Leonid’s shout from below sounded incredibly urgent.
“I’m throwing the spear.”
“Seriously?! If you’re gonna do something like that, at least warn us beforehand!”
“I am telling you right now.”
After confirming the Holy Knights had retreated outside the attack range, I hurled the spear straight toward the center of the beast horde.
Wrapped in silver-white light, the spear tore through the air.
KWA-BOOOOM!
The instant Astra pierced the earth, the ground screamed and flipped upward alongside a massive explosion.
The divine power packed inside erupted violently, tearing the demonic beasts apart without leaving a single recognizable shape behind.
Fragments of flesh and black blood rained down from the sky.
Landing lightly amidst the foul-smelling black rain, I grabbed Astra where it stood embedded diagonally in the ground.
Then I lightly struck the earth with the butt end of the spear.
Thooong—
With a clear ringing sound, silver ripples spread outward like waves, filling the bodies of the Holy Knights with vitality.
“Waaaah! The Saintess is here!”
The trainees, who had been staring blankly at the devastation I caused, finally snapped back to reality and erupted into cheers.
Honestly, they should be killing demonic beasts instead of cheering.
But they were trainees, so I supposed it couldn’t be helped.
Well… my role was to lead the Holy Knights from the frontlines anyway. Good enough.
“Let’s wipe these bastards out.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I charged straight toward the demonic horde.
The Holy Knights followed behind me.
Without hesitation, I plunged into the middle of the beasts and swung my spear.
The sensation of the blade slicing through flesh traveled from my palms straight down my spine.
Yeah.
This was it.
That disgusting scent lingering around my nose, that bastard’s breath tickling my ears, those shamelessly sweet little acts—
Under the smell of blood and the weight of cold steel, they all scattered like dust.
“Hah… yeah, this is it!”
A crazed laugh burst out of me without realizing it.
I smashed apart the skulls of demonic beasts foolish enough to attack me with the shaft of my spear.
Using the recoil, I thrust forward mercilessly and punched clean holes through their heads.
Astra began to dance through the air in silver arcs.
Every stab, slash, and strike tore apart another beast, spraying black blood in every direction.
My heart pounded like it would explode, and every cell in my body trembled from the exhilaration of battle.
Sweat dripped down my chin.
My condition wasn’t great, and I had been swinging my spear far more violently than usual, leaving me short of breath.
Yet somehow, my mind only grew clearer and clearer.
I wanted to lose myself in the thrill of battle a little longer.
Unfortunately, the fight ended quickly.
After all, the number of beasts had already been drastically reduced from that single spear throw, and more Holy Knights continued joining the battle from the camp.
“Hoo…”
Only silence and the thick scent of blood remained.
I casually flicked Astra to shake the blood from its blade.
As I steadied my breathing, I sensed someone approaching and glanced sideways.
It was Leonid.
Red hair, blue eyes, and still somehow annoying as ever.
“…If you’re going to do something this insane, couldn’t you at least warn us ahead of time?”
“I did.”
“What good is warning us one second before throwing it?”
The guy came over complaining instead of checking whether I was okay.
Didn’t this bastard have problems with authority?
Still, it was fine.
I was broad-minded enough to tolerate this much whining.
“Anyway, you really slaughtered those beasts. You’ve been in a foul mood lately, so I guess something unpleasant happened?”
“Yeah, something did. But smashing demonic beasts apart definitely helped.”
“…Even so, since there are lots of rookies here, shouldn’t you say something more Saintess-like? You’ve gotta maintain their fantasies about you to motivate them.”
Leonid grumbled while sheathing his sword.
“The moment they become official Holy Knights, they’ll figure out what kind of person I really am anyway. What’s the point? You think I don’t know they call me a crazy bitch behind my back after training?”
“Eh? H-How did you know— Gah!”
I kicked Leonid square in the shin.
Smack!
Clutching his leg with both hands, he hopped around me in circles on one foot.
Watching him made me feel a little better.
“Hey, Leonid. Stop exaggerating. I didn’t kick you that hard.”
“You infused divine power into it! Ugh… I think the bone’s cracked.”
“Want me to crack it for real?”
“…Sorry, noona.”
I clicked my tongue while watching him groan pitifully.
The future of the Holy Knights was truly bleak if a lightweight like this was vice-captain.
“Let’s end the expedition here and return to the Holy Kingdom.”
At my words, Leonid’s expression stiffened as he nodded.
“I agree. If this many beasts are attacking even at the outskirts, then something’s definitely wrong in the Demonic Realm. And besides… didn’t the composition of the beasts seem strange too?”
“What was strange about it?”
I had been too busy slaughtering everything to pay attention.
Was something actually off?
“For some reason, haven’t we been running into Lust-type demonic beasts way more often lately? More than half of this wave was Lust-type beasts too. Come to think of it, they especially seem drawn to us whenever you’re around.”
“…Now that you mention it, maybe you’re right.”
Thinking about it, we really had encountered Lust-type beasts unusually often lately.
And somehow, hearing that left an unpleasant feeling in my stomach.
Could it be connected to the increasingly disturbing dreams I’d been having?
As my expression darkened, Leonid lowered his voice.
“Our church’s greatest enemy is Lilith, the Archdemon of Lust, so it’s not strange for her subordinate beasts to attack us… but lately, the frequency and numbers have definitely become abnormal.”
“We should report it to His Holiness and discuss it.”
“Yes. I’ll personally submit the report, so please handle the meeting, Saintess.”
“Got it.”
After roughly cleaning up the aftermath, we returned to camp and wiped the blood off ourselves with wet towels.
“Ah, noona. By the way.”
“Yeah?”
“Could you give us a chance too?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
I tilted my head at Leonid’s sudden complaint.
“Do you happen to know that one of the reasons the Holy Knights exist is to protect His Holiness, the Saintess, and the priests?”
“Probably.”
“What do you mean probably? That’s basic common sense. Please study a little, Saintess.”
“I hate boring scripture and doctrine lessons.”
“I just said it was common sense.”
“Shut up.”
Thunk!
“Gah!”
That look in his eyes was obviously saying, “How is this person even a Saintess?”
I dropped a divine-powered flick directly onto the top of his head before standing up.
“Anyway, we’re withdrawing immediately. I need to wash up. This blood feels disgusting.”
During battle, being drenched in beast blood had felt exhilarating.
Now it just felt filthy.
At this point I was probably covered in sweat and blood while smelling like absolute hell.
I needed a bath, even if it was only a quick one.
“Ughhhh…”
“Hey. If you keep whining, I’ll hit you again.”
While wondering how much water remained in the buckets, I casually spoke toward Leonid, who was crouched down rubbing the top of his head with both hands.
“Seriously! Does violence absolutely have to be part of every conversation you have?! Down with violence! Remove the delinquent Saintess from office!”
Honestly, this idiot was always begging to get hit.
Thunk!
I delivered a second strike directly onto his head.
A brand-new lump rose beside the old one.
Leonid collapsed face-first onto the ground, twitching.
As he weakly scratched the words “The culprit is the Saintess” into the dirt with trembling fingers, I calmly rubbed it out with my foot.
Then I headed toward my tent while humming happily.
Preparing for withdrawal took almost no time at all.
In the Demonic Realm, keeping essential supplies ready for rapid retreat at any moment was basic procedure.
Because of that, the camp was completely dismantled and ready to move within less than an hour.
If we hurried, we could probably return to the church by late evening.
I rode at the very front while Leonid followed beside me, still sulking.
As we crossed the boundary of the Demonic Realm, the calm scent of forest soil and warm sunlight brushed gently against my nose.
The exhilaration of victory gradually faded into exhaustion, and the quiet chatter among the Holy Knights slowly died away.
Soon only the rhythmic sounds of clanking armor and horse hooves echoed across the ground.
“Hey. Are you sulking?”
I glanced toward Leonid, who had been stubbornly silent for a while now.
“……”
Normally, he would’ve been rambling nonstop, so seeing him stay quiet with that sour expression meant he was seriously upset.
“You’re really sulking because I flicked your forehead a couple times?”
“…You infused divine power into it. And you hit the same spot twice.”
Leonid answered bitterly.
“Come on. Don’t you know getting hit with divine power clears your head? I did it for your own good.”
“At this rate, my head’s gonna get so clear there’ll be nothing left sloshing around inside except soup.”
“Pfft.”
“Don’t laugh. It seriously hurts.”
“I hit you because it was supposed to hurt, dumbass.”
He pouted and grumbled at my response.
“Still, next time please give us more chances.”
“Oh, this again?”
I stared at him in disbelief.
He’d already said something similar earlier. Did someone chew him out or something?
“Do you know what the Holy Knights from other churches say about us?”
“What?”
“They say we’re cowards who hide under the Saintess’s skirt and tremble whenever a battle starts!”
“Oh.”
A small sound of admiration escaped me.
Rumors really did get twisted after passing through even a single person.
Who would’ve thought my fighting on the frontlines would get distorted into something like that?
“So once in a while, try staying in the rear and supporting us instead. If something ever happens to your precious body, Archbishop Bartholomew will literally kill me. Or the captain will.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll hold back a little sometimes.”
No matter what, I couldn’t just sit quietly while people insulted our Holy Knights.
I was the only one allowed to insult these idiots.
So later, I should probably storm another church and cause a proper mess—
“Please don’t go starting fights with other churches.”
…This bastard.
How the hell did he read my mind?
I stared at Leonid with widened eyes.
Seeing my shocked expression, he gave me an incredibly smug grin.
“Come on, noona. Your thought process is always the same. It’s already been over a year since your coming-of-age ceremony. Maybe it’s time you stopped trying to solve everything with violence— GAAAH!”
Smack!
See?
I wasn’t violent.
This idiot just kept begging for it.
I dusted off my hands while watching him twitch across his horse.
Did I knock him out?
Hmm… maybe I hit him a little too hard.
Well, his horse was smart enough to carry him back to the church on its own.
The atmosphere became much quieter after that.
Holding the reins loosely, I looked ahead.
The cool breeze brushing past the back of my neck felt surprisingly pleasant.
The sound of hoofbeats, clanking armor, and the steady swaying of the horse tempted me into drowsiness like a cradle.
But I couldn’t fall asleep.
If I did, I’d definitely start dreaming again and probably scream myself right off the horse.
I closed my eyes slightly and drifted into old memories.
It had already been thirteen years since I fell into this world.
How exactly had a Korean man in his twenties ended up reincarnated into the body of a Saintess inside a webtoon?
Thinking back to the day I first arrived here, I slowly closed my eyes.