Attack (4)

She had heard the sound of bones breaking many times before.

As a healer, Yona had rolled around a lot on the front lines and seen many people get injured right in front of her.

She had seen many gruesome sights as a result.

Severed limbs, broken bones, protruding intestines.

But among them all, if she had to pick the worst—

It would be right now.

“That, that…”

Yona was blankly looking up at the scene.

Berbaria, boasting a massive body that required looking up to see, was continuously stuffing the remaining pieces of the mermaid into its mouth.

“That, that… that’s, a demon…”

Yona muttered without realizing it.

The demon named Berbaria that had been dwelling in her left arm.

The demon that had been spouting useless words in her head.

Because it had been like that, Yona had treated Berbaria carelessly.

More precisely, it hadn’t felt real.

If asked whether anything had changed after the demon took up residence, nothing had.

Except for one more noisy thing chattering in her head, Yona was just Yona, nothing else had changed.

But witnessing Berbaria like this changed everything in an instant.

Yona was at a loss for words as she looked up at Berbaria pushing the last of the mermaid’s leg into its mouth.

“…Yona.”

At the sudden warmth enveloping her shoulder, Yona’s body stiffened.

That warmth created a strange contrast to the horrific sight overwhelming her vision.

Yona unconsciously bit her lip.

An inexplicable feeling stirring in her chest— fear, terror, and relief, reassurance.

These emotions, none of them properly mixing, were weighing down on Yona.

“Yona.”

Alec, while holding Yona’s shoulders, pulled her into his embrace.

This scene that unfolded with Berbaria’s manifestation was truly horrific, but Alec was more worried about Yona’s current state.

Having witnessed the demon dwelling in her arm like this, Yona’s shock must be enormously great, without a doubt.

From what he had observed of Yona during their time as companions, she wasn’t particularly strong-willed.

As he thought, Yona stood blankly in Alec’s embrace without any resistance.

Vessel.

As soon as Berbaria’s voice resonated, Yona’s body in Alec’s embrace flinched greatly.

At that title — “vessel” — Yona once again realized the reason why Berbaria was keeping her alive.

Have you come to miss a man’s embrace? The way you’re nestled there is exactly like that of a woman, truly a pleasing sight.

Berbaria’s voice reverberated, shaking the surroundings.

Even the surviving Lizardmen who had been watching Berbaria devour the mermaid were now blankly staring, and now that Berbaria was addressing Yona, their gazes naturally turned to her.

This is how it will end up eventually. After all that resistance, it was all for naught.

Berbaria uncoiled itself and twisted its body around once.

Wriggling its long body, Berbaria straightened up again and looked down at Yona and Alec, who was embracing her, with eyes that had suddenly turned bright red.

You too had quite some holy power. The woman you serve, this Cheonsin, is ultimately female. That she treats her followers so lightly, this is the inevitable result. How absurd.

“…What are you trying to say, demon?”

I merely say what I wish to say. Even if you ask me, I have no obligation to answer you.

Berbaria laughed with a “kukukuku” sound.

That laughter came only from Berbaria; none of those standing around could laugh.

Now I must return.

Berbaria floated up into the air.

With its head pointed towards the sky, as Berbaria rose, a strong wind blew.

Yona’s left arm was wrapped tightly in Alec’s shirt.

As Berbaria emerged, the left sleeve of the nun’s robe was torn to shreds and disappeared without a trace, and since there was no way to find a nun’s robe in Lizard Den, this was the only option.

The assembly hall was gripped by silence, with a strange tension hanging in the air.

With Yona, Alec, and Kaiyak sitting side by side in the center, none of the other Lizardmen dared to approach them.

Rather, the attention was focused on Yona and Alec, but even those gazes were far from friendly.

“So, the tattoo on that left arm wasn’t a tattoo, but a trace of a demon’s dwelling?”

The first words that finally came out after a long while.

Words that a Lizardman barely managed to utter.

And that this Lizardman was the one who had first bowed in gratitude to Yona.

“…Yes.”

Yona nodded with difficulty.

It wasn’t that she had tried not to tell, or tried to hide it.

Who in the world goes around saying that a demon is dwelling in them, that a demon is dwelling in this arm?

If there were such people, they would be considered mentally ill, so Yona simply didn’t mention it first, but she never intended to hide it.

“Why did you hide it? That a demon was dwelling in you, that you had a connection with that mermaid.”

“Rikaldon. Your words are too harsh.”

“Kaiyak, you’re the one who’s changed. You’ve been wandering around saying you’re an adventurer instead of protecting the tribe, and now you’re going to defend a demon?”

The Lizardman named Rikaldon flicked his tongue and glared at Kaiyak.

Kaiyak, too, was glaring back at Rikaldon with fiercely flashing eyes.

“Yona is not a demon. Rather, she gave her body to a demon to save me. She is my benefactor, and the benefactor of our tribe. Have you forgotten that?”

“How do we know it wasn’t a ploy to sneak into our village? As soon as that female entered our village, the mermaid attacked today. Is this all a coincidence?”

“Rikaldon!”

Kaiyak shouted angrily and stood up abruptly.

Others might not, but Kaiyak believed in Yona. Kaiyak knew what she had done for him. It wasn’t just once or twice; every time there was a battle, Yona had saved him. Even in life-threatening situations, in the face of death, when death had its blade at his throat— Yona had willingly rushed to Kaiyak’s aid.

Kaiyak had to defend such a Yona. Kaiyak had to stand in front of Yona and protect her. That’s how it should be, and that’s what’s right. The code of conduct towards benefactors passed down among the Lizardmen dictated as much.

Yona was watching the scene with blank eyes.

She was quietly observing Kaiyak and the Lizardman named Rikaldon engage in a fierce argument.

She felt like laughing. It felt like laughter would burst out.

This is what it meant to accept a demon, after all.

Perhaps Yona should have anticipated that it would turn out like this.

There’s no guarantee that someone will be grateful for the salvation, even if they were saved by borrowing a demon’s power.

Yona didn’t want to die herself, couldn’t let Alec die, and couldn’t let Kaiyak die.

So she did it. She fell for the demon’s whispers and manifested Berbaria, and thanks to that, they were able to deal with the mermaid.

What remained now was this.

They were saved from death by a demon, but the one in whom the demon dwelt was here.

Was this truly a coincidence— or was it inevitable?

Since nothing could serve as evidence, Yona finally came to a conclusion.

“…Stop it, please stop.”

Kaiyak and Rikaldon were in a state with blood rushing to their heads.

In the midst of a fierce verbal battle to convince and enforce their own arguments on each other, Yona’s voice was quickly buried and went unheard.

“Stop… stop it.”

Yona muttered, looking down at the floor of the assembly hall.

It was noisy.

Whether it was Kaiyak or Rikaldon or whoever, it was now noisy and she wished they would be quiet, but they weren’t, and it was irritating.

Anger welled up in her chest.

‘What did I do so wrong?’

When you think about it, what did I do wrong?

‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’

A demon?

Did I summon a demon or something?

When that cursed thing crawls in and threatens to kill you, who wouldn’t accept it?

‘Then why am I getting cursed at?’

Moreover, if I hadn’t used the demon’s power, wouldn’t all of you have died?

Whether it’s a demon or whatever, isn’t it good that you’re alive? That’s a good thing. Better to live in a field of dog shit than die.

Didn’t that so-called great hero or whatever you keep talking about teach you that saying?

‘There’s no reason for me to be cursed at?’

And so, Yona finally concluded.

Having reached a conclusion, the next step was to act.

Yona slowly stood up from her seat.

She picked up the drink table placed in front of her, raised it above her head, and threw it with all her might right in the middle of where Kaiyak and Rikaldon were arguing.

Crash!

As the table shattered neatly, not only Rikaldon and Kaiyak but all the Lizardmen’s gazes turned to Yona.

Yona trembled at the array of yellow eyeballs glaring at her.

“You fucking ungrateful lizard bastards. Demon or whatever, use your heads if you have any.”

A sudden barrage of harsh curses.

The atmosphere became even more hostile.

“If I could control such a demon at will, why would I bother plotting through that mermaid or whatever? In the face of overwhelming power, strategies aren’t necessary. Kaiyak, am I wrong?”

Kaiyak didn’t answer.

Because there was nothing wrong with what Yona said. That’s what Kaiyak was going to say too. Why, if she were a demon’s underling, would she bother with complicated strategies?

But Rikaldon and the other Lizardmen, already in a state of paralyzed reason, couldn’t comprehend this logic.

“My nun’s robe was expensive, you lizard bastards. I saved you while it was getting ripped, and what? Something about a demon? Huh.”

As she spoke, she began to get even angrier. In this irritating situation of being cursed at after saving them, Yona stood with one leg cocked and scratched her head vigorously.

“Don’t go around saying you’re a race of courtesy or any such nonsense. I’ll disappear right away, so you guys live on your own. I must be crazy, I don’t understand why I made such a fuss trying to save such creatures. Geez.”

*

The path leading to the sacred place past the entrance of Lizard Den.

Alec patiently waited for Yona, who was standing still on that path.

Yona was standing quietly on that path with her head bowed low.

The image of Yona who had boldly and proudly spat out curses in front of the Lizardmen was nowhere to be seen; Yona was standing quietly on this path.

“Don’t cry.”

“…I’m not crying, you bald bastard…”

But her voice was thick with moisture.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re not crying, you’re not.”

Alec placed his hand on Yona’s shoulder and gently pulled her.

Yona, who was pulled into Alec’s embrace without much resistance, was trembling slightly.

“You did well, Yona. You did the right thing. Demon or whatever, you saved the Lizardmen. You were truly befitting of a cleric.”

Yona didn’t answer.

“…You did well, Yona. You really did well.”

Yona didn’t answer.

Instead, with a sound of suppressing something with a groan, only Alec’s shirt hem was getting wet.