Chapter 55
“Looks like the fragment of your deity is gone, so what now, huh?”
Scarlet and Vine felt a strange sense of unease as they watched Devrant, who showed no change in expression even after the necklace containing the deity’s fragment was destroyed.
He should be showing despair or at least anger. Instead, he seemed more composed with the deity gone.
“What are you thinking, you bastard?”
Vine intensified his attack, pressing Devrant further.
“It means this trivial battle is over.”
As he uttered these cryptic words and whistled, Gluttony, which had been engaged with Hisran and the White Tower mages, came rushing toward them.
“Ack!”
Scarlet and Vine had to dodge the fearsome tentacles, preventing them from continuing their assault on Devrant.
“It should be easier now that some of its mouths are occupied elsewhere. Do your best.”
With a kind voice, Devrant quickly withdrew from the battlefield.
“That damn bastard!”
Scarlet shouted in fury, but there was nothing they could do. Not only Gluttony but also the rats and cats seemed to be aiding Devrant’s escape by relentlessly hindering the mages.
However, with Siord joining the battle after dealing with the deity’s fragment, they started clearing out the rats and cats quickly. Scarlet and Vine could finally catch their breath and hurried toward their disciples.
“No… Hesed, please! Please wake up! You said you loved me. So why are you hurting me like this…?”
“Irina!”
Irina was holding Hesed’s cooling body, tears streaming down her face as she cast healing spells.
Her healing magic was powerful enough to cure most injuries in an instant, but it seemed ineffective on Hesed now. Perhaps because the one who dealt the final blow, even if it was a fragment, was a deity.
Scarlet and Vine’s expressions hardened as they looked at the lifeless Hesed. Though they found the disciple, who pretended to be good only in front of Irina, annoying, they never wanted to see him hurt like this.
“I’m not done being mad at you. Get up and explain yourself! Explain what I heard from your office!”
Using a body that had once housed divine power to cast continuous, mana-draining healing spells, Irina began to bleed internally.
“Irina, stop! You’re the one who’ll die at this rate!”
“No! I haven’t even responded to Hesed’s confession yet… I never once told him I liked him.”
Scarlet and Vine looked at each other in surprise.
They had suspected since they saw the two hanging out together in the bustling city, but now it was clear. What started as a one-sided affection had turned into mutual feelings.
“Hesed!”
– Calm yourself, Irina.
Amid her desperate cries, Irina heard a solemn voice soothing her.
“Wh-Who are you?”
“Irina, what’s wrong? Are you so exhausted that you’re seeing illusions?” Scarlet’s worried voice mixed with the unfamiliar one that continued.
– I didn’t want our first communication to be like this. Normally, hearing my voice would be fine, but you are in a very strained state right now.
“…Are you Magia?”
Irina asked in a trembling voice. Though she couldn’t do anything while her consciousness was suppressed by the fragment of Tumor, she had overheard enough through her intact ears.
– Yes, I am the one who can convey my will to this world through you.
Irina immediately knelt in reverence.
“Please, save Hesed. I will do anything you ask if you save Hesed…”
– His soul has not yet left his body. It can be held back. If you believe in your strength and earnestly wish for it.
“…My strength?”
– Yes, you possess a radiant potential unlike anyone else. A potential that will protect your gentle nature and make it shine even more.
“Isn’t it more that I am weak and easily taken advantage of?”
Irina’s voice, feeling the gentleness in the once solemn voice, involuntarily sounded petulant.
– Not at all. A great heart that wishes for the peace of all cannot merely be weak.
Magia gently reassured her, then added in a firm tone,
– Remember this. You cannot be loved by everyone. It is also difficult for everyone to achieve the best outcome. To avoid falling apart, you must keep your balance.
“Balance…”
– The wind can be gentle, but it can also be ferocious.
When Irina nodded, there was a hint of laughter in the voice.
– You will do well. Once you finish what you want to do, rest thoroughly. You need to rest very well for a while.
With a final reminder to rest, the voice fell silent.
Irina felt paradoxically both very tired and invigorated. She cast another healing spell on Hesed.
A gentle yet powerful force.
The energy that resembled Irina so much seeped evenly into Hesed’s wounds. Scarlet and Vine realized that her healing magic had significantly improved. Now, as long as there was a breath of life left, she could likely save even someone on the brink of death.
As Irina noticed Hesed’s breathing becoming steadier, she turned her gaze back to the battlefield.
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