Ch.6969. The Saint and the Hero (1)

Isis was special.

“Oh my goodness…”

“The wound… has healed.”

It wasn’t something she suddenly realized one day. Just as one doesn’t learn how to breathe or drink water, Isis knew there was something special within her. From the first time she saw someone’s wound, she had a feeling she could do something about it. The first person Isis healed was a child her age who had fallen while playing together.

“This child is special. Isis, was it? As her parents would know, Isis’s magical power has qualities very similar to holy magic without undergoing any special development process. It’s as if she was chosen.”

The rumors spread very quickly. The Holy Nation sent priests directly, pleading to entrust them with the education of this chosen child. A large sum of money, quality education, and even regular visits with the child—there was no reason for Isis’s parents not to send her.

“Isis, what did you think when you saw injured people?”

When Isis had finally adjusted to the environment of the Holy Nation and the church. This was what Father Andre, before he became a bishop, had asked. Isis looked at him with sparkling blue eyes and answered in a bright voice.

“I thought I wanted to help them!”

The words of a lisping child. The priest smiled with his eyes and bent his knees to match Isis’s eye level. Seeing the priest’s approving expression, Isis brightened her smile even more.

“Good. From now on, the power Isis possesses will be able to help and heal many more people. Isis, do you want to be someone who helps others like that?”

“Yes. I want to heal sick people.”

Isis nodded vigorously in agreement. Bishop Andre’s hand gently stroked Isis’s head.

“That’s a good thought, a very admirable wish. Isis, you will become a wonderful adult.”

I want to heal sick people. Why had she forgotten that until now?

Isis’s hand met with fierce resistance. Skin and tentacles disrupted her magic. The holy power wouldn’t gather in one place and kept trying to scatter. She needed to concentrate. Somehow she had to break through that resistance and infuse her magic. Isis ignored the burning pain in her hand and pushed it down.

==

“It’s noisy outside.”

George said with a frown. I too felt the commotion. About 20 minutes had passed since Isis began the treatment. If things went as expected, there should still be quite some time left, but things don’t always go as planned. I couldn’t imagine anything going wrong where the bishop, Aryen, and Marianne were, but variables could always arise.

“Would it be better to stay hidden, or should we go outside?”

I looked at the makeshift bed in the corner. Beads of sweat were rolling down Isis’s forehead. Thud. Thud. The sound of something crashing and breaking came from outside. The sound of doors being roughly opened and closed, buckets being kicked, water spilling. And the shouts and footsteps of angry people. The sounds were gradually getting closer from afar.

“If they’re going to barge in here anyway, maybe it’s better to go out and observe the situation before acting…”

Knock knock knock.

The sound of someone knocking on the door of the house reached us. It was the code we had agreed upon. I quickly ran to open the door and was startled to see who was standing there.

“Marianne?”

“There’s no time, Hero. The villagers are spreading throughout the village trying to capture the Blue Orthodox Church’s people.”

Marianne glanced back and then looked at me again. The commotion entering through the open door. Marianne urgently grabbed my wrist. It seemed the option of waiting quietly inside no longer existed. I turned my head toward Daphne.

“Daphne, can you cast a protective spell over the entire house? Like a defensive barrier?”

Daphne nodded.

“Yes, I can… but I won’t be able to maintain it for more than 30 minutes.”

“Alright. Then, as soon as people find this house, put up the barrier right away.”

I picked up my hood. Daphne looked at me with a confused expression.

“What are you trying to do, Ilroy?”

“Draw some attention.”

I threw a cloak to George, who frowned as he received it and put it on clumsily.

“Right. It’s better if I join you in the distraction. There’s no guarantee all eyes will be on you alone. The three of us—me, you, and Marianne—can divert attention in three directions.”

George grumbled that he wasn’t good at running, and I smiled bitterly as I stepped outside. Marianne nodded slightly as she saw George and me with our hoods pulled up.

“Let’s go.”

We walked out into the narrow alley. Even amid this commotion, there was no light. The people were like angry blind men. They smashed, rummaged, broke, and threw everything they could feel. Kicks and punches were flying everywhere. Houses made of boards collapsed pathetically. Residents who hadn’t yet joined the cult of the apocalypse ran out into the streets trembling with fear.

“Damn the kingdom and those Blue Orthodox Church bastards! How much more do you plan to take from us?”

“You’ve taken our homes, our land, our families, and now you want to take away even our last refuge!”

People were howling and spewing their anger. At this rate, they wouldn’t care if it was the Holy Maiden or whatever—they seemed ready to beat anyone to death. George shook his head, climbed onto a roof, and made his presence known. A group of people started chasing after George, roaring with anger.

“I’ll go to that alley over there and draw people’s attention.”

Marianne said that and took off. I watched Marianne’s retreating figure. I waited until Marianne was out of sight. Now shouts began to be heard from the opposite alley. I exhaled deeply and stepped out of the alley onto the main road.

I saw people destroying houses and objects. One of them sensed my presence and turned his head toward me. Then, with a contorted face, he shouted.

“There’s another one of them over there!”

“Get them!!”

By the way, I’m not sure if this will really draw all their attention to me. I was about to let them approach me before starting to run, but I stopped in my tracks.

“I sense strong magic over there! They’re hiding in there!”

Damn it. It seemed that evil god worshippers were mixed in among the ordinary residents. People lost their reason and stopped chasing me, immediately rushing toward the man’s house. Daphne’s protective magic activated, creating a blue mana shield. People ignored it and threw stones, hurling themselves at the barrier to attack it.

“It’s their magic! Destroy it!!”

That damn evil god worshipper shouted. I could see sinister energy writhing in his body. Each time it collided with Daphne’s barrier, the wall shook greatly. If left like this, the barrier would soon collapse. I immediately turned and targeted the evil god worshipper.

“Drag out those hiding inside…”

BANG-!!

The evil god worshipper, kicked by my foot, flew through the air. I immediately jumped up to pursue him and grabbed him by the neck. His shocked eyes glared at me.

“Damn it…”

I descended toward the main road with him in my grip. The evil god worshipper in my hand made a choking sound. He coughed up black, dead blood. He tried to draw up magic to counterattack. Before his magic could manifest, I drove my fist into his chest.

“Kuhak-!!”

“I didn’t even use body enhancement, so don’t be so dramatic.”

I said that as I slammed him into the ground. Half the crowd was surprised and looking at me, while the other half was still pounding on the barrier with crazed eyes. The evil god worshipper had disrupted the barrier, and it didn’t seem like it would hold out much longer. I gritted my teeth as I watched the scene.

“You… are dangerous. You’re not just an inquisitor…”

He was still conscious? I looked down coldly at the evil god worshipper. The barrier was precarious. The people’s shouts were growing stronger. Stones, wooden boards, and tin buckets flew over the barrier. Daphne seemed to be trying to forcibly infuse more magic to repair the barrier, but it was too much to completely stabilize a barrier that had already begun to crumble.

“But… do you think you alone can stop that angry mob? I don’t know who’s inside, but with that level of magic, it must be someone important in the Blue Orthodox Church.”

The worshipper spat out laughter.

“My life doesn’t matter. If I can just remove that obstacle…”

I took off my hat. As my magic manifested, a halo appeared above my head. So that people could see me more clearly. The worshipper’s words were cut off in shock, and the people breaking the barrier began to turn their heads toward me one by one.

“…It’s the Hero.”

Someone’s murmur fell heavily into the silence.

==

CRASH-!!

Isis’s body was thrown back. She hit the wall on the opposite side of the bed and let out a small scream. The hand she had used for healing trembled. Her right arm, which had been circulating magic, burned with pain. But Isis’s magic still hadn’t penetrated that thick flesh.

“…Holy Maiden.”

The man watching Isis from the side called her with a concerned voice. Isis shook her head, signaling him not to worry. Again, she drew up her magic.

I want to help sick people. I want to save them.

That childhood wish had been overshadowed by her position as the Holy Maiden and the sense of mission to save the world. That heart was what a person called the Holy Maiden needed most, yet why had she kept forgetting it?

The light of healing gathered in Isis’s hand again. She staggered as she placed her hand over the child’s body. She decided not to think about how much mana she had left. Even if she lost consciousness and collapsed, even if her heart was wrung with pain, she would continue healing.

‘So let’s say we bring the Kraken ashore, binding its body to land to defeat the calamity. Then what will we do with those who remain? Who will take responsibility for those sacrificed in that landing?’

There was no one to take responsibility. We had to figure out how to defeat the next calamity. In all matters, responsibility fell on the victims. We were neither victims nor perpetrators. Was it that fact that blinded us, or was it the days of fighting the fear of death? And forgetting those left behind ultimately made Isis a sinner.

“I’m sorry.”

One must carry their sins for a lifetime. Isis decided not to turn away from the truth she faced.

Just as the Hero had moved forward to defeat the fourth calamity without her and Aryen. The Holy Maiden also had to move forward. She couldn’t selfishly justify it by saying it was already in the past. The calamity couldn’t be dismissed as something of the past. People were still suffering like this.

“Please live.”

You can resent me if you want. You can blame me for what happened to Barktins. But please, just live.

The holy power began to emit a stronger light. The resistance grew more fierce, rejecting the holy power. Isis poured in more than just magic. Her right hand truly began to burn up. She felt no pain. That single-minded determination—the determination to save—began to take Isis’s magic to a new level.

Bang. Bang.

Through Daphne’s barrier came the shouts of people who seemed to be coughing up blood.

“WHY!! Why did we have to end up like this?!”

Someone’s piercing cry was heard, followed by the sound of something being thrown.

Thud.

Ilroy, who had been standing in a daze, staggered as he was hit by a stone.