Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 18

With this certainty, Eir’s momentarily halted movements resumed. She pushed past the blocking Rubel and headed outside.

As soon as she stepped out, she realized how comfortable the house had been. The wind and rain instantly soaked her entire body through her raincoat.

Along with thunder, the howls of Alupu occasionally echoed throughout the mountain. She persistently climbed toward Granny’s grave. When she glanced back to check, it seemed Rubel wasn’t following.

He had always been somewhat cold-hearted, and being someone who only knew God’s will, he often failed to understand human stubbornness. He probably thought he had fulfilled his duty by warning her once.

Since she was prepared to use divine power if necessary anyway, Eir actually preferred that he didn’t come.

After climbing the mountain for a while with her magic lamp, she finally spotted Granny’s grave in the distance. Her rush hadn’t been in vain—fortunately, the grave was still intact.

But she couldn’t let her guard down. The Alupu’s howls were growing louder in the distance. They were definitely coming this way, just as she had predicted.

Eir sat with her back against Granny’s gravestone. Then, holding her dagger tightly, she waited with bated breath.

‘The way to kill an Alupu is surprisingly simple.’

Recalling what Rubel Shinote himself had once taught her.

‘You must strike straight down from above, right in the center of the head. There’s a tiny gap there—if you hit it properly, they die instantly.’

Of course, whether she had the ability to accurately target the crown of each head when faced with a pack of approaching Alupu was uncertain, but what mattered was…….

‘What matters is not losing your composure.’

“Stay calm.”

She steadied her breathing. Rain poured down as if someone were emptying water from above, and the world was loud with the sounds of rain and thunder. Every time lightning struck and the world turned white, her shoulders tensed.

But Eir tried hard not to lose her composure. Since reciting prayers would obviously cause her divine power to fluctuate, she calmed herself by reciting prayers backward.

Tap, tap.

The wet earth trembled. What awaited at the end was obvious. Eir held her breath and waited for the monsters to arrive.

Light flashed for an instant.

In the silver-tinted forest, her eyes met blood-red ones. Her breath caught with a gasp, and her hand holding the modest dagger twitched briefly. She gripped it tighter, trying to stop the trembling.

“…….”

The pack of Alupu stopped momentarily upon discovering her presence. Eir carefully rose from her position, hiding her divine power-wrapped hand behind her back.

She knew well they would charge at once for her throat. Eir’s plan was this: just before they lunged to tear at her neck, she would stun them with divine power, kill only the closest one, then use divine power to lure them far away.

The beasts seemed to realize that the human before them had resolved to fight. Soon the ground was deeply gouged as the nearest one prepared to pounce.

But then.

“Squeal!”

From somewhere distant came the short death cry of an Alupu. Following it came loud thwacking sounds, like wood being split.

Both Eir and the Alupu pack were momentarily dumbfounded. Who could it be? Had God aided her? Had the villagers arrived first?

Then lightning flashed again, illuminating the forest, and this time she saw a crimson-dark head moving in the distance, raising a sharp axe.

And again, thwack.

An Alupu’s body was instantly split in half.

Thwack, thwack.

Flesh flew and violent sounds of slaughter echoed through the wet rain. The sight was so horrific even in the dim magic lamp light that Eir quietly turned her gaze away.

Rubel Shinote was indeed Rubel Shinote.

To think he could slaughter monsters like this even with lost memories. When lightning flashed and thunder roared, honestly, seeing his blood-soaked figure covered in dark monster essence, one might wonder who the real monster was.

“Ugh.”

A faint groan escaped from Rubel.

He seemed to strain from raising the axe high and pulling it back out of the monster’s body. He shot Eir an annoyed look and complained.

“What kind of house only has an axe for a weapon?”

“There’s this too.”

She held up her dagger, and the man turned away with a sigh. He blocked an Alupu charging with open jaws by swinging the axe sideways, and remarkably, sent it flying with a kick.