Chapter 102
“I’ll lure the spirit upstairs. Camilli, you get out of here.”
“And you?”
“I can’t teleport you, but I can manage alone. It’s important you get out.”
Now I understood why she kept urging me to find the exit. Even if it meant abandoning me, it was still incredibly selfless—if I got out, we both could win.
“Rats. How long are you going to hide in there?”
Bang! Bang!
The black wings lashed the barrier repeatedly like whips. After one strike, cracks appeared; it seemed the barrier would break any moment.
Bang!
As expected, when the spirit struck even harder with its evil energy, the barrier collapsed.
“You rotten bastard!”
Ailrose poured flame magic on the spirit while heading upstairs, and I dashed toward the exit.
Pant, pant.
It really did hurt to move—I was probably fractured. I clutched my ribs and tried to breathe shallowly. If the pain was this bad with adrenaline, I’d be miserable soon.
But to feel that misery, I had to survive first. With all my remaining strength, I barely reached the front door.
But—
“…It won’t open!”
I’d forgotten: once inside the playfield, I couldn’t leave until the spirit’s hunt ended.
Frustrated, I pounded my feet. Then I heard Ailrose’s scream from above.
“Damn it.”
I never thought of myself as selfless, but this time I instinctively knew I had to act. After all, Ailrose risked her life for me, and I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Summon!”
I pulled out the last holy water I’d saved for dousing the object where the spirit first took root. The watch was already in Rudolf’s hands, and if I waited any longer, I’d be dead.
Let the priests with sacred power handle the exorcism.
I grabbed the poker near the fireplace, soaked everything but the handle with holy water, and cautiously climbed the stairs.
Halfway up, I found Ailrose collapsed on the steps—she’d apparently been attacked before teleporting and lost consciousness.
Please don’t be dead.
I prayed desperately, staring at the evil spirit that hadn’t noticed me yet.
The target was its back—more precisely, the path from back to chest.
“Yaaah!”
Gripping the poker tightly, I charged, shouting. I’d never understood why heroes in movies yell before a finishing blow, but now I got it—it was fear, trying to overcome anxiety, convincing yourself to succeed despite the odds.
That was me at that moment.
Thud.
An unpleasant sensation traveled up the weapon into my hand. For someone stabbing a person for the first time, it was an unnerving experience.
“Aaaah!”
The spirit screamed in pain, the holy water having burned it badly. But the stabbed area was small, so it soon recovered, turning toward me with the poker in its back.
“You coward… I’ll chew you to the bone.”
With the iron stuck in its back, the spirit’s words sounded even more threatening. My legs went weak. The holy water was spent, and it was too close to try another artifact. Like before in the study, it would probably dispel the magic before it activated.
Where was Hawk? Even if he was coming, it was probably too late.
What now? Is this really the end?
I stared in shock as the massive wings unfurled, approaching me fiercely.
“Ugh!”
A new blade pierced below the poker. Simultaneously, blue runes surrounded the spirit, emitting binding threads.
“Argh!”
The spirit knelt, pierced by a man clad in white cloak and black uniform, silver hair flowing.
But he wasn’t the long-awaited paladin or priest.
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