Steps Towards Destruction (1)

Hot.

It would be inaccurate to just say it’s hot.

Yona finally realized that something was wrong.

This wasn’t just heat, it should be called burning hot.

And the source of that heat wasn’t far away, it was emanating from her left arm.

“My goodness, what’s this? Yona, why is your left arm so hot?”

Ceres, who had been stroking her left arm, stepped back with a start.

However, Yona was the most flustered person here right now, to the point where she didn’t even care about Ceres’ reaction.

“Wh-What is this? What’s happening, why is it like this…?”

As Yona was flustered, Bigrind quickly approached her side.

Bigrind also asked what was wrong and touched Yona’s left arm, but quickly withdrew her hand.

“Wh-What? Yona, why is your arm…?”

“I-I don’t know. Why is this happening suddenly?”

Yona was on the verge of tears from confusion.

Her left arm was emitting heat like crazy, and knowing well what was in her left arm, she had a feeling that what was happening in this left arm now was definitely, definitely not a good thing.

“Yona. Let’s get out of here first.”

“It would be best to leave quickly.”

Alec and Kaiyak hurriedly came over and supported Yona as if embracing her.

Alec, whose hand touched Yona’s left arm emitting intense heat, instantly sensed it.

—Something has gone terribly wrong.

Wrong to a severe degree.

A temperature far exceeding normal human body temperature.

“W-Wait a moment.”

A voice stopped Alec, who was hurriedly trying to embrace Yona and leave.

Even to Bigrind, Yona’s condition now seemed strange.

Yona looked as if she had a high fever.

She was sweating profusely, and her complexion had turned pale.

Her trembling body was literally like that of a patient, making Bigrind anxious as well.

“L-Let’s try healing here. Yona might be s-sick, you know.”

“No, that’s not it. Saint, this isn’t because she’s sick.”

Alec shook his head firmly.

This was something he absolutely couldn’t tell the Saint Bigrind.

Even before that, Yona’s left arm must not be revealed here.

For now, they needed to get out of here quickly.

They needed to leave this place, and if possible, leave the church territory itself, regardless of the banquet.

Although there was an announcement planned for lifting Alec’s interdiction at today’s banquet—

Nevertheless, Yona was Alec’s priority.

She needed to be there for it to have any meaning.

“Hero, Saint. I’ll greet you properly later. Right now, the situation is a bit—”

“W-Wait. She’s my friend too, you know.”

Alec, Yona, and Kaiyak were hurriedly trying to distance themselves.

Seeing them like this, Bigrind quickly approached.

Even though their relationship had been twisted for a while, Yona was still a friend who had grown up with her since the orphanage days.

Even though their relationship had become somewhat distorted when Yona became a healer and Bigrind became a priest.

And even though they had grown apart due to the foolish inferiority complex Bigrind had harbored towards Yona.

Despite all that, she couldn’t just let her friend Yona go when she was in such pain.

Bigrind drew up holy power from deep within her lower abdomen.

Great Miracle Healing.

The Great Miracle Healing, which exerts the strongest power among the healing miracles invoked with the power of the Celestial God.

Before Alec and Kaiyak could say anything, Bigrind raised both her hands high.

The golden radiance swirling around her hands was incredibly brilliant, and when that radiance finally drew the seal of the Celestial God, the attention of everyone in the hall turned towards it.

The Pope, who had just ascended the podium to prepare his congratulatory speech,

Those who were looking at the Hero and Saint with favorable gazes,

Those who were moving between people serving glasses of wine,

The gazes of everyone in the hall turned to a single point—

Towards the seal of the Celestial God that Bigrind had formed.

Her hands pointed at Yona.

The seal also faced Yona.

The seal of the Celestial God directed towards Yona, who was leaning against Alec with her eyes closed, breathing heavily with a face flushed red.

Finally, the seal embraced her entire body.

The brilliant golden radiance flowed through her entire body, driving out the impure energy again and again, and just as it was about to envelop her left arm—

-BOOM!

A massive explosion occurred.

The hall turned into pandemonium.

The explosion that occurred with a thunderous roar was unexpected by anyone.

The seal of the Celestial God should have headed towards the patient, driven out the illness, then disappeared after drawing the image of the Celestial God.

However, that didn’t happen.

Overturning everyone’s expectations, the seal instead became a huge explosion that shook the hall.

People lost their balance from the roar, explosion, and subsequent vibrations, screaming as they fell to the floor.

Tables were overturned, food spilled onto the floor, and everything became a complete mess.

“Protect the Pope!”

Amidst all this, the clanking sound of greaves echoed.

As expected of well-trained cathedral knights, they prioritized the Pope’s protection as soon as the emergency situation occurred.

Dust rose thickly, obscuring visibility.

The Hero, Rudvik, who had rushed over at some point and embraced Bigrind, rolling on the floor, drew his light spear and aimed it towards the center of the explosion.

And right beside him, Scarlet held up her shield with one hand and gripped a morning star in the other.

“Saint, are you alright?!”

“I-I’m fine. Hero, I’m fine so—”

Bigrind looked towards the center of the explosion where the dust had risen, saying “Yona—”.

As her gaze fell there, the dust slowly settled.

And for a moment, silence fell over the hall.

Alec and Kaiyak had been thrown some distance away and were barely staggering to their feet, but Yona, who had been at the center of the explosion, appeared unharmed.

She was indeed unharmed.

There were no particular injuries.

Rather, unlike her state just moments ago where she couldn’t even support her own body, she was now standing on her own.

And on her left arm—

A dark and red energy was surging and burning.

“Wh-What.”

Bigrind’s murmur faded away helplessly.

The image of Yona at the end of her dazed gaze was both extremely alien and also too—

“It’s, it’s demonic energy—”

“Demonic energy has exploded——!!”

“What are the cathedral knights doing!”

“It’s, it’s the Dark Cabal!”

“Arrest them immediately!”

It didn’t take long for the hall to turn into chaos.

The first thing she felt was coolness.

Yona felt the disappearance of the heat that had been burning her body as if to incinerate it.

So the first thing she felt was coolness.

The next thing she felt was the gazes of hatred directed at her.

Yona felt bewildered by the knife-like gazes flying at her from all around as soon as she opened her eyes.

“Yo-Yona—!”

“Yona!”

Alec rushed towards her as if flying.

With his shield in front, and his hammer in the other hand.

Behind her stood Kaiyak.

Holding his double-headed axe, Kaiyak looked around.

But Yona’s gaze wasn’t directed there.

The left sleeve of her nun’s robe had burst open.

Nothing remained of the left sleeve of her nun’s robe from the shoulder down.

Over the snake tattoo that was proof of Berbaria’s presence, dark and red energy was surging and burning.

“Th-This… What is this…?”

A small, small voice muttered as if spitting out the words.

But she wasn’t unaware.

She wasn’t unaware of what this was.

Berbaria, who had seemed quiet, had been lying low.

He had been lying low, waiting for an opportunity to push her into the abyss.

And Berbaria was truly a demon.

“All cathedral knights, form an encirclement!”

With someone’s shout, the sound of greaves moving in formation echoed.

In the already chaotic hall, the cathedral knights surrounded Yona’s group, encircling them.

The banquet hall was instantly filled with a tense atmosphere.

Yona, with red and black demonic energy rising from her,

Alec, standing to block her,

And Kaiyak, protecting her from behind.

Everyone except them was hostile.

Demonic energy bursting out in the heart of the church territory.

And the source of that demonic energy being a healer named Yona.

“Yo-Yona. What, what is this? Huh?”

Bigrind approached Yona with a face that looked like she might cry at any moment, her steps unsteady as if she might collapse.

Yona’s gaze also turned to Bigrind.

Though not a face about to cry, it was a half-resigned look.

“…Bigri, don’t come closer.”

“No, no. It’s not like that. Right? Yona. You… you wouldn’t have s-sold your soul to a de-demon… Right?”

Bigrind’s voice was trembling.

Wasn’t Yona the one who shone brighter than anyone else at the orphanage?

The always positive Yona who said it might be for the best that she could leave the cathedral after becoming a healer.

Bigrind believed that such a person wouldn’t sell her soul to a demon or anything like that.

And at least because of the conversation they had on the carriage, Bigrind believed she had cleared some of the resentment with Yona.

“Saint, it’s dangerous to approach any closer.”

Scarlet stood blocking Bigrind’s path.

As always in his heavy armor, he was pointing the end of his morning star towards Yona.

“M-Move aside. Sir Scarlet. There must be, there must be a misunderstanding…!”

“I can’t. Saint, you must not approach!”

“No, move! I said move aside!”

Bigrind tried to run towards Yona from Scarlet’s side.

However, her body was too slow, and Scarlet could easily lift Bigrind by the waist and restrain her.

“Let go, let go! She’s my friend! There must be, there must be a misunderstanding…!”

“I can’t, Saint. She caused a demonic energy explosion! She’s someone who will harm you, Saint!”

“That’s not true—”

Yona stood dumbly staring at Bigrind.

She couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.

Perhaps she already knew this was reality, but just didn’t want to admit it.

“Yona. Just focus on escaping from here. Kaiyak, what will you do?”

Alec asked Kaiyak while holding up his shield.

But that was a foolish question too.

Once they’ve been identified as Yona’s companions, who would believe Kaiyak if he turned back now?

“Lizardman— No, I repay my debts. I don’t care if Yona is human or whatever.”

“I see.”

Alec glanced back.

Yona’s gaze was unfocused and blank.

‘…What do we do?’

They were on the left side of the banquet hall.

There was some distance to the main entrance of the banquet hall.

Moreover, the number of cathedral knights surrounding them was about twenty.

And in front of them were the Hero and Scarlet.

There didn’t seem to be any way out.

Alec took a deep breath.

Calmly and quickly.

He began to organize his thoughts.