Ch.57Heavy Relationship (5)

Tiria calmly examined Erich.

A penetrating wound on his side.

Better than being stabbed in the chest or head. But it couldn’t be called fortunate either. There was a high possibility of organ damage.

“W-what should we do?”

Riyo sobbed. Tiria steadied her breathing before answering.

“Leave it to me.”

Tiria took out herbs and natural gauze. She quickly removed Erich’s upper clothing. There was no time for modesty. The bleeding was substantial.

She deployed holy power to disinfect the wound and pressed the gauze against it. Stopping the bleeding was the priority.

Despite properly applying pressure, the bleeding wasn’t stopping to an alarming degree. Tiria’s expression darkened with each passing minute.

Riyo fidgeted anxiously and asked.

“W-why is this happening? Why won’t the bleeding stop?”

“…Mana.”

“Mana?”

Tiria raised her head. Rachel was engaged in combat with the tree monster.

“That monster injected some strange mana. There’s no coagulation happening at all.”

“Then what should we do?”

“I’ll try adding more Sephiron.”

When Sephiron meets mana, it transforms into Ekirel. Ekirel is only slightly heavy and generally harmless to the human body. She decided to try using that neutralization reaction.

However.

“…The neutralization reaction isn’t happening at all. Something’s wrong.”

“Does that mean we can’t stop the bleeding?”

More blood was seeping out. Tiria bit her lip hard.

At this rate, the Mage would die.

She felt powerless.

What kind of saint was she? Unable to save even a single person.

Rather, she had been nothing but a dogmatist who selectively saved souls. She had been killing people who were already dead. It was ugly. She was just another evil operating under the name of good.

That’s why.

“Erich.”

She wanted him to live.

“Please, there must be some way…”

“…There is.”

The voice came from Riyo’s mouth.

“If mana and Sephiron can’t mix, then we need to extract the mana itself from the magician’s body.”

Senior Riyo’s demeanor seemed somehow different.

No, it had changed. Someone else was occupying Riyo’s body.

“Let me try.”

“…Who are you?”

“This child’s sister.”

Miyo smiled calmly. She sat cross-legged and slowly began to breathe.

Tiria recognized that posture.

Breath Weaving, Mirkil.

It was the posture Erich often took when gathering mana.

Miyo recalled Erich’s teachings.

“Hoooo.”

Inhale, exhale. She put solemnity into each breath. She minutely controlled the amount of air she expelled.

The magician hadn’t taught her any theory at all. He said at this stage, one must rely solely on intuition.

Why was that?

Miyo realized.

It was because Magic Stone Studies was an experimental discipline.

Unlike mathematics built on deductive logic, it required observation and direct experience to develop intuition before asking “why?”

“Sssss.”

In this urgent situation, her mind became surprisingly calm.

Pure mana was gathering.

Miyo took the magician’s hand. The corrupted mana circulated through her body, then began transforming into normalized mana.

***

Rachel had exchanged several moves with the monster. She could discern not only her opponent’s skill but also its identity.

“Hey.”

Rachel spoke in a low voice.

“You’re the little one that was attached to that giant creature’s head earlier, right?”

[“…”]

“Looks like you were trying to control it to fight, but that’s unfortunate.”

The monster revealed its snow-white teeth in a grin.

[“Binyol.”]

“Binyol?”

[“That’s my name. Technical advisor of the Demon King’s Army’s Third Division. Witness my power clearly.”]

Binyol plucked a handful of fruits from his head. Then he scattered them on the ground.

[“Sprout.”]

The magic stones burrowed into the ground. Soon after, sprouts emerged. Baby monsters identical to Binyol trampled the ground as they rose up.

[“Though we’ve been reduced to this state, our skills remain as formidable as they were hundreds of years ago. Young one, I’ll carve the same fear your ancestors felt deep into your bones.”]

“Tsk.”

Rachel lowered her stance. She had no intention of listening to whatever the monster was saying. Right now, she was extremely angry.

“How dare you, how dare you reduce the magician to that state…”

Erich Lohnstein.

He was her mortal enemy who she needed to fight again. The reason she continued living despite losing her family and friends, with all her human connections severed.

To die at the hands of such a pathetic monster was unforgivable, even if she had to kill him herself.

Rachel summoned all her holy power.

This was no exaggeration.

She was literally trying to channel all her power throughout her entire body.

Perhaps because of this, white droplets were forming not only around her spear but all over her body.

[“That’s… a Sephiron condensation reaction?”]

Binyol’s mouth corners turned downward.

[“You’re truly insane. Desiring power beyond what the goddess granted. If you continue this, your body will be ruined.”]

Using more holy power than what was received from the goddess creates a “debt.” That debt becomes a sin of arrogance before the goddess, and one is judged according to the excess holy power used.

[“I don’t know how much you’re drawing, but you could die doing that?”]

“…I know.”

She wasn’t sure what the monster was saying, but she understood the meaning.

If she raised this much Sephiron excessively, she would collapse from exhaustion just like the magician. In the worst case, she could die suddenly.

Recklessness.

In the Holy Spirit Church, they called this arrogance. The church advised against using it unless it was truly for a noble cause.

Rachel asked herself.

Was this the time to demonstrate that nobility?

“Yes, that’s right.”

Even the magician had fulfilled his duty. He had struck critical blows against the monster despite experiencing mana exhaustion twice. It was an action that couldn’t be taken without trusting them, his enemies.

Rachel could do no less.

To survive, to minimize casualties.

She would end this quickly.

[“Foolish woman.”]

Binyol’s mouth corners turned upward with a sneer.

[“If you fall, the women behind you will die too. To charge in without realizing that, you’re more stupid than I thought.”]

From Binyol’s perspective, Rachel seemed to have lost her reason to anger.

Was she in a special relationship with that magician?

That wasn’t particularly important. What mattered was that once he dodged this attack, everything would be over.

Rachel charged in. Binyol’s clones that had been attacking from all directions were deflected pathetically. They were no match for Rachel.

In just a few seconds, the tip of Rachel’s spear reached right in front of Binyol’s face.

It was tremendous holy power. A direct hit would be fatal.

Yet he couldn’t dodge either, as she would likely follow up with consecutive attacks if he tried to evade. This was something he had realized after exchanging a few moves.

If that was the case, he would block it.

[“Balgyeong.”]

Balgyeong was a method of deflecting holy power by concentrating mana at a single point. It was the ultimate technique of mana combat arts requiring intense concentration.

With this single Balgyeong, he could perfectly block any amount of holy power.

He could see the trajectory of his opponent’s attack.

Just as Binyol, having activated Balgyeong, was about to confirm his victory—

[“Pierce through.”]

Tiing——!!

A beam that shot out from behind Rachel deflected Binyol’s attack first. This disrupted his posture.

[“…!”]

With less than a second’s delay, Rachel’s spear pierced through his maw.

“Oh Goddess.”

Rachel, dripping with white sweat, completed her prayer.

“Forgive this girl’s recklessness.”

Flames illuminated the night.

Binyol’s body shattered into pieces. At the same time, Rachel fell to her knees and collapsed. She breathed heavily.

Her head was spinning. Sweat blinded her eyes. This was the price of overreaching before the goddess.

Soon Rachel’s consciousness began to fade. After delivering that single strike, she collapsed.

[“Damn it.”]

Binyol’s final moment was approaching. Before closing his eyes, he sensed the pure mana energy behind Rachel.

[“Who was truly the foolish one?”]

A wheezing voice reached him.

[“The Valkyrie who poured out excessive holy power? Or the remnant of the Demon King’s Army who charged in knowing his skills were insufficient?”]

The magician, Erich Lohnstein. He was standing, clutching his side.

How was that guy standing?

He should have been critically wounded after taking that hit.

[“Clearly at that time, you fainted…”]

[“…When exactly did you assume I was unconscious?”]

Erich frowned.

[“I recognized you from the moment you launched your ambush. You’re weaker than the Valkyrie. Having lost your wooden puppet to a preemptive strike, you thought a surprise attack was your only option.”]

[“Kuh, kuhehe.”]

[“You said you were an advisor to the former Demon King’s Army? What is this island for? What are you plotting?”]

[“I have nothing to tell you.”]

Binyol’s consciousness was fading away.

[“That I, of all beings, to mere youngsters…”]

Death came even to him who had lived for hundreds of years. It was the price of disregarding humanity’s rate of development.

***

As the monster disintegrated, it dropped numerous magic stones. But among them, one particularly stood out.

[‘That must be the key to the next island.’]

[‘Senior, are you alright?’]

I collapsed right after picking up the magic stone. My legs gave out. Beside me, the Valkyrie lay powerless.

We looked at each other and shared a weak laugh.

“Idiot.”

“Fool.”

I wanted to demand why she had recklessly used holy power beyond her capacity, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the strength for that.

Instead, I raised my hand. The Valkyrie also moved her arm with difficulty.

Thud.

Our fists lightly bumped together before falling apart.

“Magician!”

Lying with my ear to the ground, I felt vibrations. It was the saint and the engineer.

“How could you use magic right after being treated! Are you stupid?”

I didn’t even have the energy to answer.

“I just disinfected everything and now I have to do it again!”

To be scolded like this by an enemy nation’s saint—my fate is truly peculiar.

I really had nearly died. I had pretended to be unconscious, but the strange mana injection caused continuous bleeding. Unable to perform Mirkil, I was in a desperate situation.

It was Miyo who helped me then. She, who had just awakened to mana circulation, suddenly began Breath Weaving. She extracted the turbid mana and infused pure mana into my body. I thought it would take three months to learn.

Thanks to her, I could use at least one small spell. I shot a Piercing Blue Stone at the monster to disrupt its posture so the Valkyrie’s attack would hit. It was improvisation, but we successfully brought it down.

The saint and the engineer helped us both up. Fortunately, the base wasn’t far, so we arrived quickly.

The saint’s voice was much louder than usual. She seemed thoroughly angry.

“Both of you rest properly! Real idiots! You’re perfect for each other!”

After receiving emergency treatment, the Valkyrie and I lay side by side on stone beds.

Heavy breathing could be heard all around. The saint and the engineer were sniffling, while the Valkyrie kept breathing heavily.

“Valkyrie.”

“Magician.”

“It turned out well, but it was reckless.”

“Please don’t get taken down easily by some other opponent. If you die so pathetically, I’ll hunt you down in the afterlife and kill you again.”

The Valkyrie closed her eyes first. It would be strange if she wasn’t exhausted after using enough holy power to cause collapse.

I was also about to close my eyes and try to sleep.

“Magician.”

The engineer’s voice reached me.

“…Yes?”

I opened my eyes slightly, wondering what it was.

In the darkness, the engineer was examining me and the Valkyrie. She squirmed and then carefully began to remove her clothes.