Priest Vigrind gasped for breath.
He knew that the efficiency of the priest’s holy powers was not great, but since she had become a Saint, he thought maybe it would be different.
And it was different, certainly. The power was definitely extraordinary.
At the very least, it was far superior to all the blessings he had used during his time as a priest.
The duration was longer too, and somehow, perhaps because she had become a Saint, she was doing much better than during her priesthood.
However, she was still inexperienced.
“I need to push myself, just a little more…!”
She had never seen so many undead swarm like this.
At least everyone present was seeing this many undead for the first time, but Vigrind couldn’t think that way.
Everyone was standing tall against the tidal wave of undead.
As if they had no fear at all, as if it were just what they were supposed to do.
Some were suppressing their fear with money,
and some were doing it through faith.
Vigrind had no idea about this fact.
She thought she was the only one who felt afraid.
Lack of experience, lack of boldness.
In her self-reproach for being so inadequate, the image of Yona reflected in her eyes was calmly doing her part.
A colleague she had grown up with in the orphanage.
Someone who got along well with everyone, smiled brightly, and made the surroundings cheerful.
Even though she had become a Healer on the Judgment Day, she smiled like she didn’t need any comfort from Vigrind.
She had already seemed to be moving ahead, but now it felt like she had dramatically surpassed Vigrind’s expectations.
Even in the face of that terrifying wave of undead, which made her knees weak just to look at, Yona darted around her allies, healing one by one.
That sight—
was one that transcended fear, devoted to her comrades.
Yona was fully displaying the mindset a priest should have.
But what about Vigrind? She was standing way in the back, just praying for purification and healing under the guise of supporting the hero, in a safe spot.
“…Perhaps, Yona might be the one more suited to being a Saint than I am.”
Her mouth felt gritty, like she was chewing sand. It ached like a fishbone stuck in her throat. The lump in her heart kept growing, without wearing down. That boiled potato she had eaten earlier was stuck in her chest and wouldn’t go down.
Vigrind blinked. Something felt wrong in her eyes, like dust had gotten in them. She kept nibbling her lips over and over. The truth she wanted to share, the thought that maybe you were better than me, seemed to be proving itself by others right now. It felt like everything in front of her was wavering as Vigrind focused her eyes on the hero.
It felt like a nightmare as Priest Vigrind fixed his gaze on the warrior.
Truly, he was a shining figure. Ludvik, the warrior. Always so confident.
Why had he made her feel so uncomfortable? As she thought back, it was that confidence that she lacked. Maybe that’s why, she pondered. Even before the wave of the dead, while others fought to hold it back, she realized it was wrong of her to sit there lost in thought.
Am I truly a person who can be confident in myself?
Her train of thought shattered at the sound of Alex’s shout.
“Yona—!”
Alex was fidgeting, glaring as if he was about to dash out at any moment. It was only then that Vigrind followed his line of sight. In the meantime, she didn’t forget to shower the warrior with healing light and the blessing of the holy crusade.
As divine energy drained and her body grew weary, Vigrind’s eyes widened. She saw Yona, struggling against a ghoul. Yona barely rolled away and managed to rise, one knee buckling as if she would collapse. Blood gushed from her side, soaking her priestess robes, streaming down to the ground.
“Y-Yona.”
She saw something being pulled out. Unlike the helpless priests, Yona, as a healer and adventurer, seemed to have some means of self-defense. Without realizing it, Vigrind gathered her divine power. There wasn’t much left, but the moment she saw the blood pouring from Yona’s side, she felt her sanity slipping away.
Vigrind reached out. Her hand glowed with white light, and a divine symbol appeared above Yona’s head, scattering the light.
The blood flow ceased, and she, fueled by adrenaline, invoked a blessing too. Then, towards Yona—against the ghoul that had wounded her friend, she cast purification.
One by one, she crushed the ghoul swarming around them, like squashing pesky mosquitoes.
However, soon the corpse giant appeared, eliciting a fear even within her.
At that distance, she had no choice but to step back.
And just then, someone gently grasped Vigrind’s shoulder.
Turning at the presence, she saw a silver-haired beauty with a solemn expression gazing ahead.
“Just a moment, I’ll be right back.”
It was Ceres.
*
Ceres took a deep breath.
A mage, in another sense, was the conductor of distances.
Always mindful of space, she had to consider the time for spell accumulation and triggering.
Now, in this fixed battlefield, it was precisely her time to act.
Ceres raised her left hand and extended her finger.
The blue magic circle slowly traced along her finger.
She raised her right hand and extended her finger.
The red magic circle flickered to life along her fingertip.
Her feet had already come to a halt.
Adjusting the exact distance, minimizing the magic power that vaporizes during flight, maximizing the impact at the point of impact.
She clasped her hands together, raising them above her head.
With just her index fingers extended, they touched each other.
The blue and red magic circles merged and intertwined according to her will, forming a purple magic circle that soon blazed fiercely.
Purple smoke billowed continuously as the burnt mana soared into the sky.
As she slowly lowered the hands she had raised overhead, the magic circle faced forward.
Left foot forward, right foot back.
Preparing for the impending shock, Ceres suddenly pulled back her extended index finger and clenched it into a fist.
– Paaang!
The magic circle erupted into a purple fireball and flew toward the corpse giant she was aiming at.
The purple fireball pierced right into the giant’s chest, causing a massive explosion. Chunks of ripped flesh scattered gloriously around, and viscous blood splattered everywhere.
‘…Crazy, is that magic?’
I began to wonder if what Freaky and Viola and those guys were doing was just childish games.
As the purple fireball hit the corpse giant’s chest, an enormous sound erupted from the impact.
Chunks of meat flew everywhere, and sticky bodily fluids were flung around.
– Kwooooaargh?!
The corpse giant, with its mouth full of stitched scars, roared while wildly swinging its meat club around.
But there were only allied zombies and skeletons nearby; it swung indiscriminately, and what went flying were the zombie’s flesh bits, while the skeletons’ bones shattered.
The problem is, it’s not just one corpse giant.
“Yona, are you okay?!”
Someone yanked Yona’s shoulder as she blankly stared up at the scene.
Thanks to that, Yona, pulled back into reality, looked back to see Alex there.
“Hey, bald guy, why are you here?!”
Uncontainable happiness was evident in her voice.
“I saw you, huff, getting hurt, heh, and I ran over!”
Alex, panting heavily, had a bright red face.
It seemed like he really did run over; he looked about ready to pass out any moment.
Questions like “Why did you come here? What about Beeg?” got all jumbled in her head, making it hard to say anything.
“W-wait, what the heck?!”
She was so flustered that she bit her own tongue without realizing it.
The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.
With a sharp pain accompanying it.
“Saint Vigrind, what now!?”
“The Regent said he’ll hold the line, so he told me to get to you!”
With that, Alex quickly rushed in front of Yona, raising his shield.
In response, Yona casually placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder.
It felt comfortable.
So incredibly comfortable.
For the first time, Yona felt like she found her place, and it was just… so comfortable.
With this tough guy ready to protect her no matter what, and the shield he was holding.
That’s why it felt so comfortable.
Yet, despite all this, the situation was not looking good.
The undead giants kept coming because once you dealt with one batch of corpses, more dead bodies came crawling back out. Even though a lot of Ceres’s magic was keeping them at bay, her mana wasn’t infinite.
“Endless, isn’t it? These little bastards.”
Ludvik tore off his blood-soaked shirt and looked around.
Despite being at a disadvantage, the undead didn’t know fear and swarmed him without hesitation, allowing Ludvik to slash through hundreds of the dead.
Yet the problem was, he could see no end in sight.
Support from Saint Vigrind was continuous, but her strength was noticeably waning.
Her divine power was definitely running low.
Ludvik thought it might be time to come up with another strategy.
But the problem was, he had no idea what that was.
If he kept fighting like this, he’d surely be overwhelmed soon enough.
And that’s when it happened.
– Whooooosh…
A sound like the wind slicing through the air came from somewhere.
Something heavy was falling.
When Ludvik’s keen ears picked up on the sound, he looked up just in time to witness a silver, shining object plummeting down.
– KWAAM!
The silver thing crashed into the ground.
It was so heavy that it left a deep crater where it hit.
And as the shockwave sent nearby zombies and skeletons floating through the air with a thud—
One figure, kneeling with one hand on the ground, flashed a gaze from beneath its visor, and with a chilling sound like a breath, divine energy seeped out like a mist.
“To the foolish insects trying to challenge the Celestial God.”
– KAAAANG!
With a sharp sound, it rose from the ground.
Shining armor and a gleaming large shield.
In its other hand, a morning star that was larger than an average adult’s head, adorned with spikes.
“—May you experience hellish slumber.”
The symbol of the Church of the Celestial God began to flicker around it.
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