The crimson curtain was devoid of moonlight, let alone starlight.
In that darkness, where nothing existed but the flickering firelight of the campsite, only Yona’s face was as pale as a ghost.
– Decide. What will you do? If you intend to test my patience, it’s best to stop now.
With her forked tongue flicking about, Vervaria scanned Yona.
Her murky white hair was unkempt, a total mess, while her golden eyes swirled in confusion.
Despite possessing divine power, even now, Vervaria was beyond anyone’s capacity to confront.
There was no doubt she was just an ordinary human, and more so, a dim-witted priest healer.
“Yona…!”
A voice that was cracked and tense.
Yona looked up at the sky.
Kaiyak, seemingly unconscious, was hanging limp, entangled in Vervaria’s grip.
On the other side, Alex was similarly bound—he was in a rather embarrassing state.
Struggling to breathe, his face was turning blue, and blood was trickling from his ears.
Yona, gazing up at this sight, repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists.
With Alex in that state, she needed to heal him.
But because of Vervaria’s face looming so close to her, Yona felt paralyzed, just like a mouse in front of a snake.
“Don’t, stop…! You’re a priest, a healer…! Don’t submit to that jerk demon… I’m fine… we’re okay… Guh!”
Alex coughed up a mouthful of blood.
As his face turned to the side, another face of Vervaria came closer to inspect him.
– A priest, you say? What a ridiculous thing to say. Such a worthless creature.
“Alex, Alex—!”
Yona screamed Alex’s name with all her might.
She bit her lips so hard they bled.
“What the heck are you doing this for…! Why are you doing this, why!”
Yona cursed Vervaria.
Why was this happening? If she had just come in and killed her, it would’ve been a sudden tragedy—she could have just blamed the demon for her misfortune and died without knowing anything.
But instead, Vervaria insisted on requiring her acceptance, and she couldn’t grasp the reasoning behind it.
– You are useful, human. I have my reasons to spare you.
Vervaria’s face circled around Yona.
“Usable…? A reason to spare me…? What does that even mean?”
– I don’t need to explain. You don’t need to know, and I have no reason to tell you. You simply need to accept me, as you would that mark on your right arm.
‘The right arm…?’
She had thought there was something significant about the tattoo on her arm.
But since that tattoo hadn’t caused any problems, she had gradually stopped worrying about it.
“Yonaaaaa! Don’t do it…! Stop…! Guh…”
Alex couldn’t finish his sentence before throwing up more blood.
Yona couldn’t take her eyes off the splatters falling onto the ground.
Kaiyak had already lost consciousness.
He might have even been dead.
Alex was on the brink of that fate too.
“…If I accept you… what happens?”
– You’ll just get more runes engraved. At least, it won’t be a loss for you. Killing you and taking your body could be an option, but consider it my final mercy.
‘A demon talking about mercy—how insane can this get…’
“Yonaaaaa!”
Alex’s scream echoed like a wail.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
It wasn’t just a scream.
At that cry from Alex, Yona’s attention instinctively shifted to him.
– This, this guy…?!
Vervaria’s voice sounded flustered.
Just as her voice trailed off, there began to be cracking sounds from Vervaria’s grip around Alex’s neck.
Alex’s muscles were bulging as if they were about to burst.
Already tall and stocky, Alex’s solid muscles swelled, turning his face a deep crimson.
“Yona, Yona, Yonaaaaaaa—!!!”
With a desperate roar, Alex called Yona’s name, channeling all his strength, and the cracking sounds from Vervaria’s grip intensified.
In response, Vervaria turned her gaze, previously fixated on Yona, toward Alex.
– You’re struggling pretty well, aren’t you—!
“Who do you think you are, spouting nonsense like that, you pitiful insect?!”
“Are you talking big now?”
When Alex yelled his battle cry, Vervaria, furious, finally swung its tail at Alex.
With a fierce crack, the tail charged towards Alex, and Yona screamed at the sight.
“AALEX!”
KABOOM!
It was a sound that shook the very ground.
Along with that sound, a flash erupted.
As if the whole world was enveloped in blinding light, when Yona barely opened her eyes—
At that moment, Alex stood before her, gripping his hammer and raising his shield.
“…I’ll explain later, Yona.”
Divine energy surged from the hammer.
The manifested divinity rippled like waves, and it also flared from the shield Alex was holding.
“Here I go, Demon. Are you ready to die?”
— So pathetic!
The tail flew at him once more.
The tail charged at Alex but was blocked by his shield, and while holding off the tail, Alex kicked off the ground and dashed towards Vervaria.
“The Heavenly One declares that you are worthless in this world.”
The hammer soared through the sky, slicing the air.
As the solid head of the hammer glimmered golden in Alex’s grip, it struck down towards Vervaria, and with each swing, Vervaria rolled desperately to avoid it.
“Become the shield of this world against the wicked!”
The rectangular shield slammed into Vervaria’s head, cloaked tightly in divine energy.
As the hammer came crashing down, each hit broke one more piece of its head apart.
“Ah, Alex…?”
What on earth is happening?
Yona stared blankly at Alex’s figure.
It was undeniably the Alex she knew, but this version was just too alien.
Even though she had known him for years, this was as if she was seeing him for the first time.
Didn’t he look just like a Holy Knight?
“The Heavenly One sees you as extremely wicked, and thus commands you to rot away.”
Alex’s shield struck Vervaria’s head right in the center.
As Vervaria’s body staggered and revealed itself, he swung the hammer down without hesitation.
With a tremendous sound, Vervaria’s body vibrated violently.
— You’ve become bothersome, human!
As soon as the words left its mouth, Vervaria began to change.
As if its already cracked and damaged head was returning to normal, Vervaria’s head suddenly morphed into that of a serpent.
In a flash, Vervaria transformed into a nine-headed serpent, flicking its tongues and glaring at Alex.
— For a human, you have some skill, Holy Knight. But your blunder is that you stand alone.
With every word, venom dripped from the corners of the serpent’s jaws.
Alex gripped his shield tightly again.
If it could spew poison like that with nine heads, Alex might be fine—but not the trembling Yona behind him.
And the deadly gold binding already tightening around his entire body.
With every passing moment, it gnawed savagely at his flesh.
— Now die. It would be better for you, Holy Knight.
The venom bubbled at the corners of Vervaria’s mouth.
As the poisonous breath engulfed the moment, Alex plunged his shield into the ground and pulled Yona close.
At the same time, the divine power slowly began to vanish from his shield and hammer.
The aftermath of the poisonous breath was catastrophic.
The shield was nearly melted down, barely recognizable, and Alex, who embraced Yona, was in terrible shape as his armor corroded away.
Only Yona, solely Yona, remained intact in his arms.
“Alex, Alex!”
Yona shook him and yelled.
But there was no response, and instead, as Yona shook him, Alex slipped sideways and collapsed.
— You held on quite well, but humans are ultimately helpless. I must crush this sprout for good.
Vervaria’s serpent head moved closer, flicking its tongue.
As if ready to pounce on Alex at any moment, Yona quickly spread her arms, blocking his way.
“D-Don’t joke around.”
— Step aside, vessel.
“Vessel or whatever, just don’t mess with me, you snake!”
— Heh.
Vervaria’s serpent head morphed back into a human one.
With Alex down, Yona couldn’t possibly oppose it alone.
Thus, there was no need for it to maintain its original form.
There was probably no need to maintain composure.
“Touch Alex with even a fingertip, and I won’t let it go!”
– Oh, how amusing, vessel. Do you really think your threats would scare me?
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t let you go, you fucking snake!”
Yona’s eyes gleamed with menace.
Swiftly, she rolled up her nun’s habit and drew out the hunting knife strapped to her left thigh.
The very one Alex had given her.
The one she had thought of using to learn combat skills.
Yona unsheathed it and pressed the blade against her neck.
“I said I won’t let myself be taken. You should listen to what I say!”
– Huh…?
When considering how she called him a vessel and asked him to accept her, Yona thought that snake wouldn’t actually harm her.
She was sure that the poison breath from earlier was because Alex would protect her, and now that he was down, it was all part of that expectation.
Yona was gambling on that.
“…If I tell you to leave, you won’t listen, right?”
– Of course. There’s no one to stop me, so I could just take your body by force.
“…I’ll give it to you. I’ll give you my body. Just save Alex. Save Kaiyak too. All I need to do is give myself up, right?”
– Why should I do that? As I said, there’s no one to stop me, so I could…
“You snake-brained bastard! I told you, I told you!”
Yona shouted in frustration.
Why couldn’t he understand, even after she’d gone this far? It drove her mad.
“I can, I can stop you! You think I can’t slit my own throat with this knife?! You want to take me by force?! Then screw you, I’d rather just end it myself! Don’t you get it? If that’s the case, I’d rather die myself!”
– …Hmm.
After all, he was just human.
Even if that guy Alex was strong, he wasn’t so strong that it would matter if Vervaria didn’t let their guard down.
– Fine. Let’s do it your way.
*
Yona stared blankly at her left hand.
It was filled with dark tattoos from her shoulder to her wrist.
While it was densely etched, the difference compared to her right arm was that the design was a snake coiling around rather than text, making it truly look like a tattoo.
With the serpent’s words echoing in her mind, a burning pain surged from her left arm, and Yona fainted without even being able to scream.
When she woke up, the campfire was slowly dying down, having burned through the firewood.
After throwing more firewood onto the fire and looking around, she found Kaiyak and Alex there.
Kaiyak was breathing, and so was Alex.
Even after Yona healed both of them, they didn’t regain consciousness.
That’s something that happens often.
Sometimes, even after healing, they remain unconscious for a long time.
After healing all of Kaiyak’s wounds and then all of Alex’s, Yona crouched beside him.
As she looked at her left hand, a strange, incomprehensible feeling welled up inside her.
They said it would dwell within, but there was no real change.
Having some ink decorated on her body wouldn’t really be a big deal.
Since her nun’s habit covered her left arm completely, if she just wore gloves, no one would notice.
Yeah, that should be fine.
Yet for some reason, Yona felt a haze clouding her vision.
She thought it must be the smoke from the campfire being too harsh, but still, she remained seated there.
Quietly beside Alex.
When Alex opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Yona.
Seeing her looking down at him with a messy face triggered feelings of guilt, relief, suspicion, and worry.
Alex sprang up and grabbed Yona by the shoulders.
“Yona, you…!”
“I’m fine. I’m okay.”
Before he could even finish his sentence, Yona’s reply came back as if she was waiting for it.
But Alex already knew.
He could tell something was wrong with Yona.
She had been avoiding his gaze.
Yona, clutching his shoulders while avoiding his eyes.
It was the first time he had seen her like that, but still, Alex understood.
Yona was a sight to behold, but still, Alex could figure it out.
“…Don’t hide it, Yona. Tell me what happened.”
“Stop hiding… No, really, nothing happened. I actually think I’ve gotten a bit cooler.”
Yona flashed a smile.
She fumbled with the buttons of her nun outfit, then suddenly thrust her left arm out.
“Hey, Baldy. Look at this, don’t you think I’m cooler now?”
Alex froze at the sight of her outstretched left arm.
Her arm, covered from shoulder to wrist by tightly coiled snake tattoos.
Now not just her right arm, but her left arm too had the tattoos.
Not letters, but a tattoo of a snake wrapping around her arm, coiling itself.
“Y-you… what is this…”
“Isn’t it cool? Huh? Isn’t it cool…”
Yona’s voice trembled.
“Baldy… just tell me it’s cool…”
Alex said nothing.
Instead, he opened his arms wide.
“Just say it’s cool… please…!”
Yona leaped into Alex’s arms.
With her warm body wrapped around him, she buried her face in his chest, weeping like a beast, tears streaming down her face.
Alex silently embraced the sobbing Yona, who was shaking silently as she cried.
Holding her tight, Alex patted her back without a word.
And Yona cried for what felt like an eternity.
“Are you done crying?”
“Sniff. Yeah.”
Alex wiped Yona’s nose with his sleeve.
After a good while of crying in Alex’s embrace, Yona looked a bit relieved.
“…I think it’s time to discuss what we’ll do next.”
Kaiyak had also woken up by now.
Morning had already broken, and it was time to set off.
But should they head to the Mage Community, or should they return to the Church Region to report about this demon?
A discussion on the matter was necessary.
“I’m against going back to the Church Region, Yona.”
At Kaiyak’s words, both Yona and Alex nodded slightly.
If they returned to the Church Region, they would definitely not see good times ahead.
Instead, it was more likely that they’d suggest getting rid of Yona now that the demon had taken residence in her.
“So should we go to the community then?”
“That’s probably better. If we go to the community, we can contact the regent directly, so in many ways that would be better. Plus, Yona, if you really are a guy and somehow return to being a guy in the community, it might be possible to resolve that tattoo and the demon too.”
Kaiyak’s suggestion seemed plausible.
But it wouldn’t all just work out so conveniently.
Still, there were no other options.
“Is your body really okay? Having a demon reside isn’t usually a small matter.”
At Alex’s worried voice, Yona forced a smile and nodded.
In truth, she felt just fine.
Nothing had really changed, and she didn’t hear any demon voices in her head despite it.
“…Let’s go to the community. Since we’ve started this journey. If we go back to the Church Region, it feels like we’d be hanged for heresy, so let’s just head to the community and contact the regent from there.”
Yona made the decision, and Alex and Kaiyak agreed.
Now all that was left was to tidy up.
They needed to clean up the place they’d stayed and set off.
As Yona stood up to help clean, she turned around at the sensation of someone grabbing her hand.
Alex was sitting there, looking up at her.
“Yona.”
“Yeah?”
“…I’m on your side, no matter what. Even if you’re no longer human, I will always be on your side.”
Yona opened her mouth to respond, her lips moving.
The weight of trust felt immense.
Alex’s unwavering trust in her.
Could she even convey half her gratitude for that with just a few words?
In the end, Yona said nothing.
She simply smiled at Alex.
“…Let’s talk later, Baldy. Got it? Since we’re on the same side, let’s not hide anything from each other.”
At that, Alex finally thought, “This is a big deal.”
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