Chapter 110: Two Saintesses

Inside the forest near Wolfram’s Sanctuary.
I was rolling on the ground in a complete mess.
Since I had unleashed a massive explosion in the same posture as I swung my arm, I lost my balance and tumbled to the ground.
I finally stopped after rolling for a while and crashing into a tree.
My vision was spinning, but I forced myself to regain my senses and stood up.
My eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
In the distance, I saw Sentriole lying on the ground, having toppled over after destroying several trees.
That was the result of a desperate strike, mixing variables upon variables.
If it hadn’t been that powerful, I would’ve been in serious trouble.
Feeling my dislocated right shoulder, I roughly wrapped it with the Veil’s bandages.
Since only my arm was exposed, my face remained hidden.
Thanks to that, I quickly returned to my appearance as Hanon.

Tuduk-
At that moment, I heard something.
As I lifted my head toward the sound, my face froze.
I saw the ground stained with red blood.
And the person soaking that ground was none other than Acrede.
Acrede’s side was pierced by a sword.
Blood flowed from that wound, soaking the ground.
The owner of the sword was Sentriole.
Even while being hit by my punch, this madman had managed to strike Acrede with his sword.

Chijijik-
The widespread blessing that had formed the forest began to fade.
“Saintess!”
I hurriedly ran toward Acrede.
She lay limp on the ground, breathing faintly.
She had tried to do something about it, but the wound wouldn’t heal.
The blessing lingering on Sentriole’s sword was preventing Acrede from healing her wound with her own blessing.
“Calm down. Acrede, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”
At that moment, Acrede began to mutter to herself.
Her previously expressionless face began to waver.
“Please… pull out… the sword.”
If only the sword was removed, she could somehow heal herself with her blessing.
However, she had to remain conscious during that time.

Thud-
Suddenly, another sound came from behind.
There stood Sentriole, healing himself with his blessing.
Although his body was in shambles from taking my punch head-on, the widespread blessing Acrede had cast disappeared, allowing his own blessing to envelop him again.
As a result, he had returned to his prime, regaining his full strength as a paladin.
“I can’t believe you’re just an academy student.”
Sentriole spat out a broken tooth onto the ground.
A new tooth had already grown in its place.
“You’re going to be something great someday.”
An overwhelming surge of blessing power erupted from Sentriole’s body.
From the way he spoke, it was clear he had no intention of letting us see that ‘someday’.
The worst-case scenario was unfolding.
There was no way Sentriole would give me the chance to pull the sword out of Acrede.

“…Saintess, how long can you hold on?”
“…About a minute.”
Judging by the blood flowing out, even a minute was a close call.
That’s why I made up my mind.
My hand rose above my head.

Come, lightning…

Step-
“Boy, pull the sword out of the Saintess.”
Just as I was about to use Heavenly Dragon Fire, a voice reached my ears.
The moment I heard that voice, I immediately grabbed the hilt of the sword embedded in Acrede.
Sentriole moved, but someone was already standing in front of us, blocking his way.
She appeared, her snow-white hair fluttering, standing before Sentriole with her arms crossed.
“A young man is walking a heroic path.”
White petals swirled all around her.
“Would be a shame to interrupt.”
The swirling white petals instantly engulfed Sentriole.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak!

Sentriole, who had been charging toward us, was swept up by the petals and sent flying, smashing through the forest.
In that brief moment, I pulled out the sword embedded in Acrede.

Puuuk!
“…!”
With a burst of blood, Acrede couldn’t even scream, swallowing her cries of pain.
But at the same time, a massive blessing descended upon her body.
Her blood-soaked side quickly healed as fresh, white skin regenerated.
Acrede narrowly escaped death and collapsed on the spot.
I hurriedly caught her falling body.
At that moment, I felt an incredibly soft sensation in my arms.
Looking down, I saw that the clothes tightly wrapped around her body had torn from the impact of pulling out the sword, revealing her formidable chest.
The weight was considerable.
I couldn’t believe she’d been hiding something like this so well.
I held her closer to make sure nothing more was exposed.

“Boy, get out of here.”
“Yes.”

White petals continued to swirl around Baek Mokgong.
Because in the distance, Sentriole was charging back with tremendous momentum.
This forest was going to be completely devastated today by these two monsters.
So, carrying Acrede, I quickly escaped from that place.

Acrede let out faint, ragged breaths.
She had lost consciousness from the intense pain and the exhaustion of using her blessing.
The wound was healed, but she had overexerted herself.
It would be difficult for her to regain consciousness anytime soon.

“Ugh… Haa… Ah…”
Well, at least in one sense.
With a moan escaping her lips, Acrede looked up at me with wide, round eyes.
The calm, expressionless face she had maintained earlier was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a startled, doe-eyed gaze.
When our eyes met, I gave her a wry smile.

“Hello, Acrede.”
“H-Hello…”

She reflexively greeted me back, then quickly realized her situation, and her face turned bright red.

“Kyaaaa!”
With a piercing scream, she began to struggle, so I tightened my hold on her.
Because I had expected this reaction.

“Acrede, let’s save the panicking for after we get out of the forest.”
She flinched.
She was aware that this was still a dangerous situation.
Her big, round eyes welled up with tears.
She bit her lip hard.
Her cheeks puffed up as if they were about to burst, but I ignored it and kept running through the forest.

After running for quite a while, I finally made it to the edge of the forest.

In the distance, I saw the shattered remnants of the Mysticism group.
They were bound by the knights summoned by Baek Mokgong.
Among them, some seemed to have resisted fiercely and were thoroughly beaten by Baek Mokgong.
I couldn’t take Acrede outside in her current condition.
For now, I set her down somewhere out of their sight.

“Are you feeling alright?”
“Y-Yes, I’m fine.”

Acrede spoke with effort as she tried to cover her chest.
But that formidable weapon kept peeking out of her hands.
With no other choice, I took off my outer coat.

“For now, please wear this.”
“Ah, t-thank you.”

With a terribly shy expression, she accepted my coat.
Then she somehow managed to cover her chest with it.

“Um, a-about this incident…”

She glanced at me repeatedly, gauging my reaction.
Her timid demeanor didn’t suit the image of a Saintess at all.
It was a stark contrast from her earlier composed self.

I knew very well why she was acting so differently.
Acrede von Narea.
She had a dual personality.
To be precise, two souls coexisted within her.

And whose soul resided within her?
One of the six heroes who founded the six academies alongside the great hero Wolfram.
The first Saintess, Narea.
Acrede was the reincarnation of Narea.

* * *

Act 5 of the Blazing Butterfly Arc.
The main story of Act 5 revolves around the reincarnation of the heroes.
The six heroes who gathered around the great hero Wolfram.
The benevolent goddess honored their heroic deeds and granted them reincarnation.

Thus, the great hero Wolfram and the six heroes were reborn.
Their reincarnation and the stories related to the Evil Sovereign.
And revealing the misdeeds of Robliaju through the heroes.
That is the main plot of Act 5.

Act 4 serves as the foundation for Act 5’s story, where bonds are formed with those who will later be revealed as the reincarnated heroes.
‘And one of those heroes…’
The Saintess, Narea.

Acrede von Narea was the reincarnation of Narea.
The reincarnated heroes generally did not have memories of their past lives.
However, in Narea’s case, the goddess’s blessing was deeply embedded in her soul.

When Acrede turned five, she received the goddess’s blessing, and Narea’s memories flowed into her.
But for a child that young, those memories were too overwhelming to bear.
As a result, her mind separated Narea as a distinct personality.

Narea and Acrede.
This is how two personalities were formed within one body.

“What Lady Acrede wants is for me to keep quiet about this incident within the Holy Order, right?”

Acrede’s shoulders flinched.
Her eyes shook wildly from side to side.

“T-That… um…”
“Yes, I will keep it a secret.”

Acrede swiftly turned to look at me.
Her eyes were filled with a question—was I serious?

“I have no desire to get entangled with the Holy Order.”
Since Baek Mokgong and Sentriole clashed, Sentriole cannot avoid punishment for attempting to assassinate the Saintess.
Because of that, the House of Lium, who orchestrated everything, will shift all the blame onto Sentriole.
Therefore, the Holy Order must act before this incident becomes public knowledge.
Moreover, if internal conflicts within the Holy Order are revealed, it would damage their reputation.
To the Holy Order, this incident is a secret—they want to hold the House of Lium accountable but keep it under wraps.

‘As for the imperial knights, Baek Mokgong will surely handle silencing them.’
Baek Mokgong is a perceptive person.
Although she’ll likely take advantage of this situation to extract a lot from the Holy Order, she won’t make things difficult.

“Th-Thank you so much!”
Acrede flinched like a startled rabbit but bowed her head deeply in gratitude.
Then she glanced at me, as if checking if this level of thanks was enough.
Her behavior was nothing like that of a Saintess.

“Well then, let’s get you back.”
I decided to escort Acrede to a safe place.

Grab!
Until Acrede’s hand grabbed my wrist.

I slowly turned to look back.
The rabbit-like expression from just moments ago was gone, replaced by a cold, blank look.

“How did you notice me?”
Narea had awakened.

At her question, I tilted my head nonchalantly.
“What do you mean, notice?”
“If you were going to lie, you should’ve done it from the start. You’ve been addressing me and Acrede separately from the beginning—calling me the Saintess and her Acrede.”

Just as she said, I had deliberately used those names, hoping she would catch on.

‘Narea, in the original story, reveals her identity first after seeing Lucas’s fighting spirit.’
After Lucas rescues Acrede, Narea becomes convinced that Lucas can help her cause.
So, she willingly reveals her identity to him.

But I don’t have the fighting spirit that Lucas does.
There was no reason for Narea to reveal her identity to me.
Therefore, I aimed to make her curious enough to reveal herself.

“I made a mistake.”
“Was it truly a mistake?”
“Yes, that’s right.”

I said this with a bright smile.

“It was simple to learn about you, Lady Narea. There’s an ancient legend recorded in old texts, isn’t there?”
One day, when the world is in crisis, the reincarnations of the heroes will once again protect this world.

The persona I’ve taken on, Hanon, is a character whose hobby is archaeology.
In fact, Hanon misunderstood me as the reincarnation of Zeryon based on that legend.

‘In reality…’
That guy is going to appear next year, though.

But to keep Hanon from influencing the main story, I made good use of that misunderstanding.
Hanon’s past behavior provided me with credibility—
The credibility of having deduced the Saintess’s identity through specialized knowledge.

“I will keep this matter a secret as well.”

“…Who are you?”

Narea looked at me with eyes full of confusion.
So, I decided to solidify my connection with her.

“Hanon Airei.”

I shared my name with a gentle smile.
“A student of Zeryon Academy.”

Boom!
Behind us, white petals scattered as Sentriole was sent flying.
It was the moment Sentriole was defeated by Baek Mokgong.