CH 235

Act 10: The Power Of The Archwitch

“Heave-ho!” The saintess pulled at Kane’s body with all her might. “He’s so heavy with all his muscles!”

Seeing how large he was, the saintess had braced herself ahead of time, but she was really struggling to tell whether she was dragging a man or a boulder. A long trail was marked on the ground from her efforts to drag Kane over to this random patch of grass. Lying next to the unconscious knight commander was Irene, who was also passed out.

Exhausted, the saintess struggled to catch her breath as she slumped down between the unconscious pair. “Hah, hah… My holy power… There should at least be a little left.” However, when she raised her hands, the holy power she’d been able to sense just a little while before had disappeared without a trace. For the second time, she found her reserves utterly depleted. She had used it all up to return Estian to his human form.

Glancing to her side, Kane’s face entered the saintess’s eyes. Sighing deeply, she gazed at his face for a long time. “Honestly, it’s not like I have a thing for sub-characters or anything, so what possessed me to do all this?”

When Kane and Irene disappeared from her sight, the saintess had immediately felt an urgent desire to save them. Their safety had become more important to her than Estian’s, at least for that brief moment, which was what propelled her to muster all the holy power she had to restore the emperor’s human form.

Though it seemed straightforward enough, it really wasn’t. The spell’s effectiveness was predicated on Estian remaining in place. In the original storyline, this wasn’t an issue because the spell was cast when he was trapped in a location where he couldn’t move. Still, somehow things managed to work out.

When she ran at Estian earlier, she had noticed two figures battling him with such speed they were practically flying. She was sure that one of them was Tania, whom she had encountered before back at the empress’s palace. ‘But who was the other one?’ She couldn’t place the young blond man. In any case, thanks to the inadvertent assistance of the two preventing Estian from moving forward, the saintess had succeeded in casting the spell.

“I didn’t know that writing up such a flashy setting would end up helping like this.” Lifting her head, she stared at the heavens filled with twinkling stars as far as the eye could see. There were dozens of times more stars than usual, and they shone so brightly that they appeared almost within reach. Even now, there were several that seemed to hang just above the saintess’s head. “This was supposed to be the pretty backdrop for the kiss scene after Estian was saved for the second time…”

In spite of the author’s original intention, the plot device to create a twinkling sky in Aluna was probably what gave rise to the misunderstanding that quickly followed. In the eyes of the festivalgoers, they had just witnessed a black monster disappear after a brilliant flash of white light, followed by a sky that was dotted with dozens of times more stars than usual. It created a beautiful vision, and was the first of its kind any of them had ever witnessed in their lifetimes. Incidentally, this was a phenomenon that occurred from Estian returning to his human form, but none of them would have known this.

The unbelievable sight caused someone to loudly exclaim, “Aluna Tourism Association, you’re the best!”

Other festivalgoers exchanged glances in wonder. Was that it? Was it all some sort of festival production? Amid the confusion, someone in the crowd began to applaud.

“That was some epic production!”

“I thought it was real. I was terrified!”

“They must’ve spent quite a sum on that!”

Soon, the cheers and clapping grew louder, and some whistling could even be heard from the crowd. Seeing all this, the saintess gave up fretting over the matter. ‘Whatever. Estian will probably deal with the aftermath.’

Instead, she returned her attention to the unconscious man at her side. She had given up Estian and chosen Kane. Oh, and Irene came along as a bonus. Casting a scrutinizing eye over Kane, she muttered, “I admit it. He’s a handsome one too.”