Once things settled down a bit, it was Vigrind’s turn to wrap things up.
Having declared the sacred celestial domain upon himself, Vigrind wandered around, maintaining that state while under Ludvik’s protection.
Yona, unsure of what that really meant, soon saw the remnants around the area—those who had inadvertently stepped into the domain. They were screaming bizarrely and turning to char. It clicked in her mind; oh, so that’s how it works!
Meanwhile, Ceres was checking the damages to the Holy Knight Brigade. Three had died, and four were lightly injured.
“Well, it could have been worse, so I’m relieved. What do you think, Sir Luis?”
At Ceres’s words, Luis nodded while lowering his visor. To her, they were just numbers on a paper.
She was the chief elder of the Church of the Celestial God’s Kapatia branch and a mage, so he couldn’t expect her to have any particular view on life. Still, Luis couldn’t just say, “Eh, no big deal!” in the face of his fallen comrades.
“We’ll return the injured to Kapatia.”
“Go ahead.”
Luis turned away, visor still down. They couldn’t recover the bodies of the dead, just their equipment. Having met their end at the hands of the undead, it wasn’t hard to claim the gear they’d seen them wearing in their last moments.
His heart felt heavy. He had firmly vowed to meet his end on the battlefield, especially against demons. But witnessing the death of his subordinates…
He didn’t know. What did that vow really mean now?
“You did well today.”
Someone lightly patted Luis on the shoulder. Turning around, he found a tense-looking Ludvik standing in front of him, his expression serious.
“Surely the Celestial God will cherish the souls of your comrades.”
It was a comfort he hadn’t received from Ceres. Luis slowly raised his visor. With every inch it went up, his line of sight cleared. Ludvik’s face came into view gradually.
“You truly fought hard today. Your fallen comrades must surely rest in the arms of the Celestial Lord.”
Luis stammered, unsure of what to say in response. Ludvik, who had seemed a bit silly earlier, was now making it difficult for him to reply. Seeing that solemn expression made it even harder to find words.
“You… you were really heroic, Hero. We were lacking and couldn’t support you adequately.”
“No, it was I who realized my own shortcomings today. Especially when I look at that Holy Knight over there.”
At that, both Ludvik and Luis turned their gazes simultaneously. What they found was a Holy Knight in silver armor, standing tall, boasting an almost equal stature to Kayak.
In that moment when Yona thought she was really at death’s door, the arrival of the Holy Knight left quite an impression on her.
The shiny armor was impressive, and honestly, for Yona, who still had a shred of masculinity left, he was someone to definitely admire.
“Thank you for saving me, Holy Knight.”
Yona bowed her head in gratitude, representing her group.
The Holy Knights who joined the fight alongside that knight displayed truly remarkable prowess.
Even the ten members of the Holy Knight Brigade from the Duchy of Kapatia managed to hold back an overwhelming number of the undead, while the twenty-four knights who pushed in from the opposite side came charging in like a grinder, slaughtering the undead without mercy.
And astonishingly, not a single one of them fell in battle, and there were no injuries either.
Among them, one Holy Knight stood out, a huge guy whose shield and morning star smashed bones and flesh like petals in the wind.
Scarlet was staring intently at Yona as she expressed her gratitude.
Noticing Scarlet’s silence, Yona began to feel a bit curious, and then Scarlet spoke up.
“My name is Scarlet. And this battle was… thanks to the efforts of the Kapatia Cathedral Knights, who fought valiantly, allowing us to easily come down like the hammer of the heavens. So, they deserve the greater credit.”
Scarlet answered in a booming voice.
His deep voice created a comforting atmosphere, but hearing it made Yona suddenly feel a strange dissonance.
‘His voice is a bit too echoey…? Is it because he’s speaking from inside his helmet?’
Who cares about that, though. It didn’t matter at all.
Kaiyak seemed to have recovered and was doing well now.
“Thanks to you, I survived again. With this kind of performance, shouldn’t I be due for a promotion to the gold rank?”
“Well, look at that, the lizard’s mouth is still kicking, so I guess you’re doing okay.”
Yona teased as she playfully smacked Kaiyak’s mouth with her palm. It was just a tickle for him, so Kaiyak grinned and took it, thanking Alex too.
“Alex, you did great. Thanks for watching over me. You really can take pride in being a guard from Evian.”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“That’s not the point, though. I’ve noticed something important despite being in that situation.”
Kaiyak beckoned Alex over excitedly.
As Alex approached awkwardly, Kaiyak whispered into his ear.
“About that Holy Knight. His shield technique is out of this world. When we head to Infura next, you should learn some shield techniques from the Cathedral Knights. You can’t just be a guard forever, you know. If you want to properly rein in that thunder god of a Yona, you gotta learn some cool moves.”
Alex groaned at that.
It was a matter he’d been pondering over for a while.
Although shield techniques may seem purely defensive, Alex was pretty skilled at using a shield for defense by now. Plus, after facing multiple crises on this journey, he felt he had improved enough. Honestly, with the growth he had shown, vying for a promotion to silver rank was becoming a realistic possibility.
“Come on, honestly, at this point, I should be aiming for a promotion to the Silver rank.”
“But that’s not all there is, right?”
“If I want to stick with Yona from now on, just focusing on defense isn’t going to cut it.”
“…I need something cooler, you know?”
The undead always fell flat on their faces every time he swung his shield.
It was hard to tell if it was a shield or a blunt weapon, but he was quite skilled at using it for striking.
It was truly the essence of offense and defense combined.
– Someone famous where I used to live once said something like that.
– What did he say?
– National strength lies not in defense but in offense.
– What does that even mean?
– It means if you only focus on defense, one day you’ll get taken down, so you need to attack first and kill them before that happens.
Just like what Yona said once, even though she’s a bit off her rocker, she’s still a woman.
She’d prefer a reliable partner skilled in both defense and offense over one who only focuses on defense every day.
Alex’s worries deepened.
And those worries grew even stronger when he noticed Yona gazing at the Holy Knight.
To Alex, that look clearly seemed filled with admiration, which only added to his concern.
The leader of the Holy Knight Brigade, Luis, led the members back to Kapatia Port to evacuate the injured.
The escort was handled by a brigade from Inphula, and among them, the notably large Holy Knight—Scarlet—was sitting atop the carriage.
Yona began to feel a bit deflated as she watched Scarlet sitting upright, maintaining perfect posture without even taking off his helmet or visor.
“…If I were to turn back into a guy and become a Holy Knight, would I have to live like that too?”
Every time she looked at Scarlet, that thought popped into her mind and she couldn’t shake it off.
If she turned back, she wondered if her divine power would still remain. She believed it would, although there was some lingering doubt.
If the divine power vanished, her means of living would become bleak.
And if her divine power remained, should she continue to live as a Healer?
That too seemed a bit pessimistic.
It would be cool and good to become a Holy Knight, but looking at that, being a Holy Knight also seemed a bit off.
And leaving such thoughts behind, a map was spread out on the table.
At that table sat Ceres, Ludvik, and Scarlet, discussing the investigation into the recent disturbance in Cemetery Village Semek.
“The possibility of it being a necromancer is extremely low,” Scarlet asserted.
At that, both Ludvik and Ceres immediately turned their gazes towards him.
“Think about it. A necromancer wouldn’t have any reason to specifically target Semek. Corpses can be found anywhere there are people. There are even larger cemeteries. Why would they intentionally provoke Semek, knowing they’d face the wrath of the Church of the Celestial God? That’s not something a necromancer would likely do.”
“Hmm, I agree. Certainly, as Sir Scarlet has said, the scale is too large for a necromancer’s work. Plus, the risks are way too high.”
Ceres fiddled with her lips as she listened to Scarlet and Ludvik’s words.
As I listened, I nervously fiddled with my lips.
Just when Ceres’s cheerful expression made the two people question, she called out to Yona.
“Yona, could you come over here for a moment?”
“Uh, sure?”
Yona, who had been playing clapping games with Rubina, touched Rubina’s head one last time before approaching the table, her expression clearly showing she didn’t really catch what was happening. Ceres smiled brightly.
“Yona, how do you feel right now?”
“How do I feel? Um… I’m just okay, why do you ask?”
“Are you feeling excited? Or, um… maybe a bit riled up? You know, something like that?”
“Ex, ex, excitement?!”
Yona’s face turned bright red in an instant.
“I-I don’t feel anything like that!”
“Oh really? Hmm, then I guess not. Alright, then what do you think, Sir Scarlet, is behind this incident?”
Scarlet paused for a moment, deep in thought. Then, he lifted a gauntlet-covered hand and extended just his index and middle fingers, folding the rest.
“There are two possibilities.”
“Two?”
“One is a vampire known as the One Who Walks the Eternal Night. That’s also one of the higher demons.”
“And the other one?”
Scarlet folded his middle finger down, slowly shaking his remaining index finger.
“Lich. The King of the Decayed Mages. This case is the trickiest because it’s like having two lives. Breaking the body doesn’t mean it’s over—”
And at that moment, Yona interrupted.
“We have to destroy the life vessel, right? Am I correct?”
That was knowledge from a previous world.
A vampire known as the One Who Walks the Eternal Night, or No Life King, is pretty common, and while liches aren’t rare either, their defining trait is that life vessel.
So, she wanted to show off a bit.
But the atmosphere didn’t turn out the way Yona expected.
There was no reaction like “How does Yona know that?” or “Wow, Yona, you’re amazing!” Instead, Ceres, Ludvik, and Scarlet were all glaring at her.
“Um, am I wrong? Or… not?”
“Yona…”
Scarlet slowly stood up.
Despite being as tall as Kaiyak, his armor made him look even bigger, and as he loomed over Yona, an overwhelming pressure weighed down on her, almost making her speechless.
“How do you know that?”
The surrounding air grew chilly.
Yona’s golden eyes began to tremble in panic.
“And while we’re at it, you need to explain that tattoo on your right arm as well. In great detail.”
Yona’s back started to sweat.
With cold sweat.
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