CH 77

“Saintess!”

When I came out of Lloyd’s Merchant, the Paladins were waiting.

They looked very worried, yet I calmly got into the carriage.

“Do you want to go back?”

“No. Right to the mine.”

“Pardon?”

The Paladin asked again, but I answered firmly.

“I’m going to the mine right now. I will completely fill the hole today.”

Actually, I planned to go to the mine after recovering for a day or two more.

But now that I’ve heard that Kyle is coming, I feel like I need to finish the job a little sooner.

“I understand.”

However, all of a sudden, the status window flashed.

[The connection with the oracle is disconnected.]

Hmm, why is it like this again?

***

I thought it would be easier to connect to the oracle by blocking the gate, but today it didn’t seem to be going well.

In any case, only the oracle wasn’t connected, the divine power was still able to be used. After a bit of hesitation, I headed for the mine. Yeah, is there anything wrong?

When I arrived at the mine, the appearance of the mine was no different from yesterday. I saw priests, Paladins, mercenaries, and they bowed their heads to me.

Receiving their greetings, I entered a dark cave.

‘Now, let’s finish filling up this damn hole and go back.’

“Is the Saintess here?”

“Oh, Saintess!”

The aisles filled with men made way for me like a miracle of Moses.

At times like this, I feel like a superhero in a hero movie.

I saw a hole left about half the original size. The net-like barrier had loosened quite a bit as the number of demonic beasts escaping from the hole decreased.

“Then before we begin…”

I started doing simple stretches.

‘National gymnastics begins!’

Relax your neck, shoulders, back, and legs…

“What is the Saintess doing?”

“It seems to be a ritual, yet looking at the sky, it must be a sacred ceremony for the Gods.”

“May Hetuse blesses.”

My ardent believers have attached meaning to stretching. And the priest who diligently wrote down my national gymnastic moves seemed to follow me.

After finishing turning my ankle regardless, I cleared my throat once and reached out my hand.

After a while. A silver light began to radiate from my hand. At times like this, my hands tickle the most.

A beam of light radiated from my hand and reached the hole.

Then the wall around the hole began to be restored.

I had a hunch that I could definitely finish it by the end of today.

I concentrated more and poured my sacred power.

“…Saintess! The gate is almost restored!”

“Saintess! Just a little more now!”

It was definitely accelerating and the end was in sight.

Yet at some point, suddenly, something shook under my feet.

“What?”

“Is it an earthquake?”

“What was it, just now?”

The mercenaries stopped and looked around.

A brief earthquake could happen anywhere. As soon as it calmed down, I thought it was no big deal.

Then I focused on my hands again.

With the single-minded thought that the radiant light will quickly finish this task and I can return. And at that moment, something flashed inside the gate.

‘What…?’

I was overcome with anxiety from not seeing the unexpected.

‘Just now… Just now… !’

There was nothing more to think about.

A crack started from the hole I had been working so hard to fill.

The bottom split open as if a zipper had been unzipped.

“Gasp!”

“That is?!”

I heard the surprised voices of the Paladins.

The crack created a hole that was larger than the original hole underneath.

“…How crazy!”

I unconsciously cursed.

I had no time to think about my authority as a saintess or anything like that.

How hard I had recovered, though!

As I watched the crack grow again, curses came out first.

I watched the situation with my mouth wide open, unable to hide my shock.

Inside, the dark legs of the giant insect I saw at a glance came out at high speed. At the same time, the barriers the priests were setting shattered.

“Cough!”

“Ugh!!”

A strong wind blew and screams could be heard everywhere. And the intense Magi felt through my skin.

The same feeling I had when I met Diego Vester. I had goosebumps all over my body.

By the time I realized something was wrong, it was too late. When I looked back, everyone in the aisle had collapsed on their spots. As if they fell asleep in an instant.

‘What’s going on?’

The fact that it doesn’t affect me is probably because the sacred power is protecting me.

I raised my hand nervously.

It was a rift that I had managed to fill with all my strength over the course of several days.

Yet now the rift is back to its original size… Or maybe even wider than that.

I don’t know what happened or who did it. All I can do is take a few slow steps away from the demonic beast in front of me.

The ragged gate was soon pulled back like a curtain. And against the background of the purple light, the sound of drums were heard.

“…!”

The inside of the cave was covered with vicious Magi. It was as if a weight had been placed on my shoulders.

If it’s this level of Magi… I thought that it wouldn’t be an ordinary monster.

‘Dangerous.’

And it revealed its true self, which I had guessed a little bit.

“Ew…”

As soon as I saw that existence, I let out an exclamation.

I hate bugs. Insects too.

‘Insects and bugs look gross, so what’s the need to tell them apart?’

And in front of my eyes, I saw a huge monster that I had seen so many times in fantasy movies that I was sick of it.

It seems that it was the giant Spider Queen’s forepaws that split the gate, which was the size of a group of spiders.

In the center of the hideous Spider Queen was the face of a woman, and she wore a crown of sharp iron.

Her lips parted, revealing a terrifying smile.

I reached out and launched holy power into the Spider Queen’s face.

As her human face seemed to be her weakness rather than the armor-like black body.

“…!”

The Spider Queen’s expression twisted as if she saw a powerful light reflected in a mirror. And then she lifted her front paw, thumped, and slammed the front of me down, as if she thought she had to get rid of me.

“Ugh!”

I ducked behind to avoid the Spider Queen’s front paws, and rammed her on the buttock.

Luckily, I did well at dodging her front paws, yet the problem came next. The impact caused the cave to shake and the stones began to fall.

As my body fell backwards,  numerous demonic beasts were seen behind the gate, standing behind the Spider Queen.

Sitting on the floor, looking up blankly, I saw countless of them lined up behind the Spider Queen. Goosebumps ran all over my body.

A line so long with no end in sight. Lots of giant spiders and all sorts of oddly shaped demonic beasts.

“…”

It was a situation in which I couldn’t do anything. Perhaps even repairing the gate to this extent felt like a trap.

In the first place, it wasn’t a matter of restoring the gate itself.

The demonic beasts that came out through the gate were low-level ones, yet the ones behind them would probably do enormous, unpredictable damage to the Empire.

Was the Demon Realm preparing for war?

“…”

If I shoot sacred power at the Spider Queen again here, she will swing her front claw and destroy the cave.

‘What should I do?’

Gathering my holy power, I couldn’t bear to shoot it at the spider again and hesitated.

At that moment, the giant front paws of the Spider Queen pounced on me.

“…!”

I tried to protect myself by scattering the holy power gathered in her hands over my body, but it was a situation where I couldn’t tell if I would be safe even if I got hit by that.

But at that moment. The Spider Queen’s paws stopped abruptly.

I stood still with a stunned face.

“…”

Falling small stones, and sand were all still in the air. As if time has stopped.