Chapter 134

Yu-Hyun and Min-Seo embarked on a search for the missing people, and they found Gabriel while they were searching the barn. The barn was crawling with demonic beasts. The animals had turned into demonic beasts due to the effects of the black magic. There was even a demon among them. As if holding a banquet, they danced in a circle while making strange sounds, and Gabriel lay in the center of the circle.

Yu-Hyun started drawing an array on his forehead using divine power, but he stopped right before using the blessing.

"Do we really need to check that? Isn’t it obvious that he’s not a taxidermied creature?” he said.

Min-Seo nodded in agreement.

Gabriel lay there surrounded by the demon and demonic beasts, and he was clearly not a taxidermied creature. Blood flowed out from his body, and his lower half was burning as if black flames were consuming it.

Min-Seo counted the number of enemies. There were around ten demonic beasts, and there was only one demon. From a rough glance, it was possible to determine that there was no chance of victory.

Yu-Hyun, that bastard, would be the key to resolving this situation...

Min-Seo stared at Yu-Hyun. Even in this situation, that guy with sharp eyes smiled like an idiot.

"...Hey, are you good at fighting?"

"Huh? Not really. I'm good at getting hit, though."

"Really?"

That was enough.

Smack!

Min-Seo kicked Yu-Hyun's back and pushed him toward the demonic beasts.

"Ah, huh-?" Yu-Hyun shrieked.

The demon and the demonic beasts turned their heads in response to the sounds. The red eyes and giant fangs of the drooling demonic beasts were all directed toward Yu-Hyun.

Growl...

Woof! Woof!

"Oh, guys. Don't attack me. We’re all friends here..."

Yu-Hyun shifted backward and tried to persuade the demonic beasts. There was no way he would be able to successfully convince them. After all, they couldn’t even understand what he was saying in the first place.

The demon was no different. The demon only showed hostility towards Yu-Hyun and refused to listen to his words.

Yu-Hyun turned his head towards Min-Seo and said, "Min-Seo, why’d you do that...?"

However, in the blink of an eye, Min-Seo had already disappeared from Yu-Hyun’s sight. Yu-Hyun let out a bitter laugh as his face contorted.

"Ha, hahaha. Wow, what a savage bitch..." Yu-Hyun muttered to himself while looking up at the sky.

Should he call it now? No, but wouldn’t it be a waste to call it over something like this? But thinking it was a waste was only possible if he was still alive after this. If he ended up dying, it would be too late for him to regret it. There was still some distance and time left until the demonic beasts could reach him.

Yu-Hyun kneeled down in that spot and clasped his hands together while looking at the sky. His thumbs that were gathered together formed the shape of a cross.

"To Adonai in the heavens... huh?"

As Yu-Hyun was reciting the opening of a prayer, his eyes suddenly widened. The light was shooting toward the demon and demonic beasts that were approaching him. Then the light gathered together and distorted. It was Min-Seo's blessing array.

Boom!

The light exploded. The demonic beasts were flung away due to the force of the explosion. A cloud of dust scattered as the dying demonic beasts writhed while bleeding out black blood. The explosion had been strong enough to send the demonic beasts flying, but it hadn’t been strong enough to subdue the demon. The demon limped toward Yu-Hyun.

Smack—!

Suddenly, Min-Seo's body flew toward the demon. She twisted her body and planted a knee kick on the demon's jaw. The demon’s body tilted as it lost its balance. Min-Seo didn't miss this opportunity. She explosively unleashed her divine power and drew a blessing array on the demon's body.

"Hey, you..."

Yu-Hyun belatedly tried to stop Min-Seo. He knew what Min-Seo was trying to do. She was trying to blow up the demon by applying the collision phenomenon inside the demon’s body. However, the distance between Min-Seo and the demon was too close.

If she utilized the collision phenomenon at that distance, Min-Seo would be greatly injured. No, she wouldn't just get injured. She would die.

Min-Seo was not unaware of this fact. Nevertheless, she engraved two blessing arrays on the demon's body and invoked the collision phenomenon. She had already prepared herself for death. Success was right in front of her.

Boom!

The light exploded. The demon's body shattered, and Min-Seo was hit by the fragments of the demon's flesh. Several large and small holes appeared in Min-Seo's abdomen. The explosion swept her away, and her cheek was half gone.

What? She’s still alive?

Yu-Hyun was astonished at this sight. Min-Seo's fighting style was so reckless. She wasn’t just insane. She was completely off-the-rails level of insane.

"...Yu-Hyun, why are you looking at me like that...? Did you do something wrong to me?" Min-Seo said.

"Y-you. Your face...." Yu-Hyun said.

"Go... you can call a priest that specializes in healing, or you can just call anyone. Just bring someone here, you dipshit. Don't just stand there..." Min-Seo spat.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Yu-Hyun slowly nodded and abruptly stood up from his seat. Unlike usual, he had a bewildered expression on his face as he went to find someone. He was searching for anyone who could be of help, whether that was priests specializing in healing or a teacher with a priest background. The image of Min-Seo giving him instructions with eyes filled with madness still lingered in his mind.

Meanwhile, Min-Seo was still alive. Even as blood steadily flowed out of her body, she continued to crawl forward toward Gabriel. She had taken care of the immediate bleeding through blessings of healing. The side effects of self-healing would come back to bite her later, but that didn’t really matter. She had put everything on the line.

Min-Seo looked down at Gabriel's face and smiled.

"Ah, ha. Hahaha. Gabriel, you saw it, right?"

"..." Gabriel did not respond.

It seemed like he didn't even have the strength to speak. Instead of answering, Gabriel blinked his eyes a few times or slowly rolled his eyeballs. Gabriel's lower body was burning, but like some sort of superhuman turtle, the stubborn old man was still alive.

Gabriel was an elder. In this country, or rather, in the Romanican Church, the position of an elder was quite significant. Just by catching the eye of an elder, it was possible to save a struggling household. Since the position of an elder was not light, the achievement of saving an elder’s life would not be light either.

"...Sir elder. The one who saved you... was me."

"..."

"Th-that... You really need to remember that... Alright? Do you understand?"

Gabriel did not respond. It was because he had no strength to respond. Min-Seo grabbed the unresponsive Gabriel's white hair and forced his head to nod. Min-Seo smiled.

"Well, it's good that you know... Let's go..."

Min-Seo grabbed Gabriel by the hair and walked away while dragging him along the ground.

While searching for missing people, Min-Seo saw the paladins were heading toward Eiden Hill after arriving late. Therefore, her destination was Eiden Hill. She had a vague hunch that if she followed the paladins, things would somehow be resolved.

"Elder... Your lower body is completely burned... I can't possibly lift you up. Please forgive my rudeness... Hehe."

"..."

"There's no other choice... You understand... Right? Hehe, hehehe..."

The pain of having a hole in her stomach and half a cheek was severe. Min-Seo mumbled various things to the unresponsive Gabriel and headed toward Eiden Hill. She continued to talk because she felt like she would faint from the pain if she stopped talking.

"Sir Gabriel... You absolutely cannot die. If you die, I will kill you..."

"...Urgh."

"That's right... Just like that... Try to make at least some kind of noise. That way... you’ll survive. Am I right? Hehe, he...”

Min-Seo firmly held onto Gabriel's hair. A sinister smile was on her lips.

* * *

"..."

Do-Jin looked at Sun-Woo's condition. There was a hole in this stomach due to being pierced by a sword. The sword that had pierced Sun-Woo's stomach was none other than the sword that they used during sparring. The right side of his body was engulfed in black flames. That was due to the magic called Corruption. Those were cursed flames that originated from a devil, and they had the effect of slowly devouring the target's body.

Crack.

Do-Jin took out a vial that he had kept in his embrace the entire time. It was the medicine that Chang-Won had given him. If he fed this to Sun-Woo, the flames clinging to his body would be extinguished. It was because those flames were not real flames, but flames caused by black magic.

"...Teacher, that, the medicine...!"

Color returned to Jin-Seo's pale face when she saw the vial in Do-Jin's hand. With reddened eyes, she glanced between the medicine bottle and Sun-Woo. A trembling smile appeared on her lips.

Jin-Seo didn't know what kind of medicine it was, but she believed that it was some sort of universal elixir that could save Sun-Woo's life. It had to be. If it wasn't a universal elixir, Sun-Woo would die.

"It's a potion that stops the progression of black magic..."

"Does he have to drink it, or do we have to pour it? Whatever it is, hurry!"

"..."

By administering the medicine, he could extinguish the flames clinging to Sun-Woo's body. He could stop the curse's flames from devouring his body. But what about after that?

"C... Cough..."

Sun-Woo's breathing was weak.

It was faint, yet rough at the same time. He wasn't sure exactly where, but it was clear that one of his organs had been damaged. Do-Jin's colleague had died due to a hole in his lung, and he had made such sounds before dying.

No matter how he looked at it... it wasn't a body that could survive. He was basically a corpse that was just barely clinging to its last breath. Moreover, the right half of Sun-Woo's body was almost completely rotten. Even if he stopped the flames, a decaying body could not be regenerated.

Even if he miraculously survived, half of Sun-Woo’s body would be completely crippled. He wouldn’t be able to become a clergyman. No, even living a normal life seemed uncertain.

"Wh-what are you doing? Please hurry! Either feed it to him or pour it on him!!"

Jin-Seo spammed blessings and healing over Sun-Woo's lifeless body.

Suddenly, Sun-Woo coughed up blood. She remained unfazed as she continuously unleashed her divine power. With the medicine that Do-Jin was holding, along with healing and blessings, Sun-Woo could come back to life.

"You damn fool. Why are you always doing things alone...?!" Jin-Seo cursed while suppressing the bloody vomit flowing up her esophagus. Her voice trembled. She could taste something strange coming from her mouth, no, from her head. Her head hurt because it felt like he wouldn’t come back.

"I-I'm sorry. I’m sorry for cursing. I was surprised. You must have been surprised..." Jin-Seo said.

She apologized earnestly as if she wanted to take back the words that she had uttered out loud. As always, he would come back. It wasn’t like he was going to die, so there was no need for her to curse like it was his last. At some point, he would suddenly get up and joke around, just like usual. Even if he ended up living with a disability, it would be okay.

He would lie in the hospital bed and look at me, and I would look at him, and we would exchange silly jokes.

That was all it took for her to be happy. No matter what condition he came back in, she was willing to take responsibility for his future. Rather, it was the opposite. Just by coming back alive, he would take responsibility for her life.

"Teach...er. If you're just going to hold on to that, just give it to me. If you keep hesitating like this, and if he dies... Anyway, hurry!"

Do-Jin looked at Jin-Seo and said, "...Alright. I'll do it..."

Jin-Seo wanted Sun-Woo to survive. Chairman Chang-Won, Jin-Seo's father, would also want that.

Chairman Chang-Won had given him this medicine. Therefore, it was right to use this medicine for Sun-Woo. Above all, Do-Jin also did not wish for Sun-Woo to die. He didn’t know if Sun-Woo would fully recover, but even if he ended up crippled, it would still be better for him to survive. At least, that was what he thought.

Pop.

He opened the lid and brought the medicine bottle to Sun-Woo's mouth. The medicine was thick and didn't come out easily. After giving him the medicine, all Do-Jin could do was pray. All he could do was pray to God for Sun-Woo's recovery.

"He-hehe... Here, everyone’s here."

At that moment, Min-Seo arrived. She was dragging along a man whose whole body was covered in mud. The man she was dragging along was Elder Gabriel. He was an important member of the Elder Council, and he was one of the people who held real authority in Florence Academy. Gabriel's lower body was engulfed in black flames.

He, too, was affected by Corruption.