Book 3: Chapter 4: Saintess with a self-acting special effect
âWhoâ¦exactly are you guys?â the muscular man struggled to stand up from the blood pool that had formed beneath him, a result of the internal injuries created from the massively powerful pebble. However, there was a complete lack of any of the rampant attitude he wore earlier. In fact, one could even see the sliver of fear present in his eyes.
From the looks of it, the earlier attack had left a deep impression in his mind. After all, despite all of the muscles he had packing on his body, he had still lost in power to a slender and petite young girl! Anyone in his shoes would definitely start to have doubts about their life.
Ah ha! This kind of straightforward, head-on battle is more my style! What magic spell, what martial technique! Only weaklings would use such a thing!!
Stretching my body, my joints, which had become stiff due to the last few days of sitting, were finally becoming loose and comfortable once again. In an instant, my mind became clear and my spirit was refreshed, with my entire being itching to make the muscular man my training partner.
âI have to say that weâre just good samaritans here to mediate this conflict.â
âAs if Iâd believe you. Since youâre here to mediate, what do you have against our side!â
âAh, sorry about that.â pushing my long golden hair aside, I replied in an exceedingly confident manner, âA gentleman like meâ¦will never hit a woman.â
âYouâ¦â a look of defeat appeared on the face of the muscular man. Clenching his teeth, he roared out, âYou win! Weâll leave!â
After finishing his rant, the muscular man proceeded to instruct his subordinates, who had been turned near unrecognizable from Saeâs toying, to leave. However, before he could do that, a purple barrier appeared in his path.
Sae stood quietly before the barrier, with a red and white fox mask on her face coupled with the perfect physique of her body, she gave people a strange and bewitching feel of enticement. Nevertheless, the bloodthirstiness present in Deviaâs body, whom she was using, had stopped everyone else from making a step forward.
âSo we canât leave? What else are you two trying to do?â the muscular manâs expression grew increasingly severe as he spoke.
âWhat weâre doing? Of course weâre waiting for your compensation. The rocks youâve tossed earlier smashed our carriage apart, so you must compensate us.â
I indicated a number with my fingers. However, upon seeing my actions, the muscular man appeared to be unable to control his rage anymore: â100 thousand? Are you joking? How can a measly horse carriage cost that much? Donât take advantage of us! Do you even know who stands behind us?â
âHuh? A measly horse carriage? Do you know that horseâs my distant relative? Iâm already being very kind to you by asking you to compensate us with 100 thousand gold coins, okay? Do you believe that Iâll turn you guys into pulp? Hurry up and compensate me the money! I donât wish to continue speaking to you.â
Cracking my fingers, I took step after step forward towards the muscular man. Seeing this, he and his subordinates trembled as they retreated backwards. Nevertheless, their attempt to retreat came to a halt from Sae blocking them from behind.
âDonât come over⦠Donât! Iâ¦I tell you that thereâs a big figure standing behind us! Youâve heard of the Cruelest of All, right? The one who dares to even kill royals and nobles, that Devia, the Cruelest of All. Weâre her followers, you know! If you kill us now, Mistress Devia will kill your families in return!â
The Cruelest of all, Devia? Isnât that nameâ¦ermâ¦familiar?
âHaha! Whatâs the matter? Afraid? You better let us all go, if notâ¦hmph hmphâ¦â
I exchanged looks with Sae. Despite the mask on her face, I could tell that she was on the brink of being unable to restrain the laughter exploding within her.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âSince thou art the subordinate of the Cruelest of all, Devia, Iâll make an exception this time,â a purple semi-spherical barrier started to encase Sae and the gawking muscular man within. Before Sae disappeared within the barrier, she spoke out in a joyful tone: âMay thou greet thine master noweth.â
10 minutes laterâ¦
âHaâ¦ha⦠y-you see boss, I have captured the Saintessâ¦haha⦠c-c-can I get down and lick your boots nowâ¦heheâ¦â
That guyâs gone crazyâ¦
From the trembling arms of the muscular guy, to the wacko nonsense that only a pervert would say, a chill ran through my heart: âExactly what did you do, Sae?â
Shrugging her shoulders, Sae replied in an indifferent tone: âNothing much. I just transmitted the last few hours Devia had experienced before sheâs gone crazy into his brain.â
ââ¦â¦ So what did you do during that few hours to Deviaâ¦â
âCough cough. Itâs better for you not to know, oh great Lilith.â
ââ¦Ohâ¦okay.â Although Iâm brimming with curiosity, my gut feeling tells me that itâs definitely not something that was worth knowing.
âHowever, how should I deal with them, oh great Lilith?â Sae pointed towards the half-naked muscular man who was doing some kind of unknown strip dance, as well as his crying subordinates, who had all cowered together into a bunch.
âThemâ¦â Scratching my head, I wasnât able to make up my mind on how to deal with them. As I did so, my gaze subconsciously moved towards the other side of the area, right onto the body of the white-dressed young lady.
She had a face that wasnât perfect, yet exceedingly nice to look at, with straight and long black hair. Dressed in a long white dress embroidered with golden flower patterns, her entire being radiated with a holy and saintly aura, giving people a feeling that she should not be tainted.
She appeared just like the envoy sent by the gods to the mortal realm. It was no wonder why she would be targeted by that strange and perverted muscular man.
âErmâ¦youâ¦â
âThis old man will not permit you to harm our great Saintess!â
Just as I was about to start a conversation with the young lady, a white-haired old man suddenly appeared between us. Dressed in grey priest robes, he glared at me with a ferocious appearance on his face.
âWho are you, old fellowâ¦â
âThis old man will not allow vile people like you to come near the great Saintess!â
âAre you joking? How can I be a vile person?â I made a spin as an indication of my harmlessness, âTake a look. Canât you see how cute I am? How the hell can you call me vileâ¦â
âHaâ¦ha, bossâ¦lickâ¦â
âMummyâ¦I wanna go homeâ¦â
ââ¦â¦â
Next time Iâll make sure to tell Sae to nip all troubles right at the bud.
âOkay, settle down, High Priest Alucard.â the young girl gave the old man standing before her a light shove, before speaking out in a soft voice, âThey shouldnât be bad people. You should move aside.â
âButâ¦butâ¦â
âAre you saying that you donât believe the intuition of this Saintess?â the young girl gave a faint smile. In an instant, anyone could sense the significant increase in the brightness of the surrounding sunlight.
Huh? This is strange? Whatâs going on? Weâre in the depths of the dense forest. Where the hell is this bright sunlight coming from?
Could it beâ¦my imagination?
Stepping past the old man by the name of Alucard, the young girl stood right before me, smiling as she gave a slight bow: âThank you for saving our lives. Iâm the Saintess of the Luminous Theocracy, Awilda Thea. From what Iâve heard earlier, it seems that your carriage can no longer be used, so would it be alright if we offer you two a ride?â
âYou can treat it as a small token of our gratitude.â
As Thea raised her head, I felt as though the light of sunrise had gently caressed my face, giving me a warm and bright feeling, while also making me subconsciously feel calm and relaxed.
Just like the sunlight from that afternoon when I met up with my first crush in my previous lifeâ¦
No no no. This wasnât love at first sight. From my superhuman senses and feeling, I discovered that those two instances⦠or should I say at any given moment, that young lady by the name of Thea, had light shining down on her.
This meant that this young girl⦠brings along her own set of special effectsâ¦