Chapter 24: 24

A demon was accidentally thrown by one of the knights and it bounced off, hitting the outer wall of the temple, and the demon began to devour that outer wall.

The temple wall crumbled, and many problems arose. First being, the common people.

Reneben, as well as the priests who were evacuating people outside, tried to deal with it as best as they could but they couldn’t stop the damage completely.

It was practically chaos.

I could only hope that the reinforcements would hurry up and help us overcome this situation…

After eliminating two more, my arms, which was slashed by the thorns, had no more strength. Quite literally, both of my arms were in shreds.

Frankly, I didn’t know how much longer I could hold out in this state.

Just as I was moving relentlessly, I saw a child, who seemed around 3 or 4 years old, running around while crying and falling to the floor.

Their parents were nowhere to be found and while everyone was running far away from the temple, the child was running towards us.

I tried to run over to the child, who was trying to get up, but of all the timings, a demon in the form of a large rabbit dashed in the direction of the child.

Next to the child, was a fat magician who screamed while trembling and struggled to find something to stop the approaching rabbit demon.

Then who knew what conclusion the magician came to, but their next action was to throw the child.

For a moment, the world moved slowly.

My sight blurred, my blood felt like it was flowing backwards, and my hand moved before I could even think.

I grabbed the arm of the drifting child, pulling them violently, and the child was thrown into my arms. The warmth in my arms only relieved me for a second, and with trembling eyes, I turned to look at the man who looked relieved while everyone else was doing their respective jobs.

As I opened my mouth to utter a scream of rage, something I had forgotten flashed through my mind.

Slash—.

My back throbbed and the area around it was aflame like it had been torched with fire. Amidst that, the fact that such a young child was with me made me concerned. I pressed down the back of the child’s head so that they couldn’t look up.

At such a young age, nothing good would come out of witnessing something like this.

Strength left my body at the constantly surging pain, and my knees bent of their own accord.

Right then, I felt an unexpected presence, and turned my head, only to realize that I wasn’t the only one bleeding.

“I promised to protect you…”

The same half-sized wound on my back was also on Duke Cassian’s forearm. And that wasn’t all.

I was quite certain I never heard of the Nestro Ducal family attending this meeting…

Seeing the man standing in front of Duke Cassian, I blinked.

The gorgeous silver hair immediately told me who it was.

The Ducal Prince who subdued the rabbit-shaped demon with an unknown chain… It was Veron.

“Lady Saintess seems to have many people to protect you. I said I would protect you as well.”

He mumbled.

I was half-sprawled on the floor, only forcing my head to turn, and Ducal Prince Nestro continued.

“Don’t get me wrong…..The reinforcement from the Imperial Palace have arrived.”

At those words, I strained my head to look forward again, and gazed at the nobleman who had shoved the child.

He was trembling, but as I looked into his fearful eyes, I realized I couldn’t see any regret towards the child who had been crying and hiccupping in my arms.

It was okay to be scared. I, myself, was scared.

Still, trying to survive by using someone else as a shield while you ran away was just…

Instantly, my anger towards the man surged. Not because he was a nobleman, or a magician, rather his very existence disgusted me.

“…Infuriating.”

I mumbled, looking at the man who met my eyes. Some sacrificed themselves to save others, while some sacrifice others to save themselves.

“How can you not know how selfish that is?”

No, he knew but he was feigning ignorance.

“That makes me really furious.”

It was unforgiveable.

I wish neither these demons nor this human existed in front of me right now.

The moment my heart grew cold and indescribable rage filled my body, I uttered those words in my heart.

Fwoosh—.

It was as if an optical illusion was cast before me.

The clumps of red demons squirmed and melted to the ground without warning like scorched paper turned ashes.

I never once resolved to destroy something with the power given by God so I never knew. I stared blankly at this amazing scene, unable to speak, then I heard a loud racket.

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!”

I was surprised, and the child in my arms was just as surprised.

The nobles who were yet to adapt to sudden situation, as well as the reinforcements who just arrived from the imperial palace, got off their horses and their jaws went slack.

The man in front of me, rolled back and forth, letting out a vicious scream.

It was the man who had pushed the child. The flesh sticking out of his clothes squirmed as he tried to draw closer to people, but he disappeared without a trace before he could reach anyone.

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A static silence descended after that shocking scene.

A nobleman broke the silence with a whispered utterance, “Divine Punishment…”

…Was that truly it?

If that’s the case, then sorry to say this, but I don’t feel guilty at all.
A person disappeared just now because of my words, but interestingly enough, I didn’t feel bitter at all.

I looked down at the child I was holding.

Blood flowed down my back, and every inch of my body was riddled with wounds. When the little child looked into my eyes, they burst into tears; their breath wracked with sobs.

When I heard that cry, I felt like I could finally breath. If no one was here, I would have cried too.

Everything hurt so much, and only those who have experienced it knew how hard it was to protect so many people.

Duke Cassian took off his coat and placed it over my shoulder.

As I was about to get up, I looked at the expression of the nobles and thought that I should at least be thankful for one thing.

From the looks on their faces, it seemed the agenda of lowering taxes and creating an orphanage would pass easily.

I squeezed Duke Cassian’s coat over my shoulders and slowly rose to my feet.

“Child, are you okay?”

I looked away from the nobles and lowered my head.

I didn’t think I could hold on much longer, so I tried to entrust the child to the Duke Cassian, but he looked at me somberly and held out his hand.

“Let’s go inside.”

For a moment, I stared blankly at his hand.

Duke Cassian held the child with one hand, and then lightly picked me up with one arm and led us into the temple, which was intact, unlike the collapsed outer wall.

* * *

As I stepped into the temple, the quiet interior greeted me.

Every time my back stung, and I almost collapsed, the Duke supported me. Thankfully, my pain shouldn’t last too long with my resilient body.

I felt a lot better than before, but he was still holding me firmly.

After forcing myself down from his arms, I needlessly mumbled softly. “…The wound isn’t deep, so I don’t think it’ll take long to heal?”
“……상처가 깊지 않아서 이 정도면 일 걸리려나?”

Duke Cassian stared at me, and I shrugged, then pulled my hand away from him.

“There is no separate infirmary in the temple. After all, it is only I, the Saintess, that cannot be healed, not the other priests.”

I took my hand away from Duke Cassian because of the discomfort.

The discomfort wasn’t due to Duke Cassian holding my hand but because of the blood dripping from where we touched.

The wound on my back wasn’t that deep, but in comparison, Duke Cassian’s was serious.

Frankly, his tattered arm was more of a problem than my wounded back. I was covered in blood from being scratched and stabbed with thorns, so I almost mistook Duke Cassian’s blood for mine.

Still, with the exception of Duke Cassian, no one was hurt as I promised.

Because I seriously clenched my teeth and protected them. Both the priests and the nobles. And the common people as well.

I grabbed his forearm while he remained mute and turned his arm without asking, exposing the messy wound.

“Bear with it even if it hurts.”

He was holding the child steadily with one hand. I glanced at the child, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion, then I injected divine power into Duke Cassian’s wounds.

As I watched the wound heal, I took off my hand and shook it, causing some of my blood and Duke Cassian’s to drop to the floor.

It was practically a force of habit, and I regretted it once I saw the stain on the floor. Duke Cassian looked down at my marred arm and asked in a low voice.

“…You cannot heal yourself?”

“Unfortunately. I have no other choice but to wait for it to heal on its own.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Well…that’s part of what I have to endure.”

I looked down at my arms too and frowned slightly.

At this point, I’d gotten somewhat used to the pain, but whenever the remaining streaks of demon blood on my body flowed into my wound, demon’s blood left in my body flows into the wound, that part ached like it was being purified.

It wasn’t exactly an ache, but more of a subtle feeling like a snake slithering under my skin.

While I was looking at my arm, Duke Cassian forcefully took my arm again.

“You’re very wounded. There is no risk of infection like normal people, but I recommend that you get enough rest, hydration, and sleep.”

“Is that so? You know this well?”

I wanted to pull my hand away, but I couldn’t deny the fact that he had supported me as I walked here, so I just let it be.

The place I was confidently heading to, with no hesitation, was my room.

“This much is common sense.”

“That so. As a matter of fact, medicine isn’t as efficient for me, so as you said, rest is the best treatment.”

“I see.”

The exchange of words was short, but it wasn’t awkward. It was easy to keep conversation going.

On the way, we stopped by the breakroom and Duke Cassian placed the child on the sofa. He seemed hesitant for a moment, then he spoke to me.

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