CH 90

The waves crashed along the shore on a secluded beach.

A black shadow of a man wearing a robe casted in front of Diego, who was spending a comfortable afternoon sitting in a chair with his upper body bare.

He thrust something filled with dark energy into Diego’s chest.

At that moment, Diego opened his eyes.

His purple eyes glowed nonchalantly, and the man in the robe stood motionless with his sword driven into Diego’s chest.

The shape of a moving chain in the man’s black shadow could be seen.

“Nice to meet you.”

The black sword disappeared from Diego’s chest as if it was being absorbed.

The man in the robe tried to resist, yet Diego’s strength kept him hanging in the air.

“You must have weakened a lot by focusing all your energy on the gate, but to think you even sent your kin here.”

His red lips moved gracefully.

“You must be very disappointed in me.”

Chains entangled in the man’s shadow, and he struggled in pain.

“You were going to introduce the girl as a hero who prevented the destruction of the world in order to create a new version of the changed prophecy, but…”

A corner of Diego’s lips went up.

Leto’s original plan was to kill the Saintess in the mine and, at the same time, make a splendid debut of a new saintess.

“I took all the credits, so it’s understandable for you to be disappointed.”

The man struggling in pain stopped moving and began to turn to black ash.

Diego leisurely watched Leto’s kin disappear.

Soon all the dark shadow disappeared, and the beach regained peace.

“If you don’t adapt to the change, you will be left behind, Father.”

Diego closed his eyes and muttered languidly.

“Now the prophecy has changed.”

His voice was drowned out by the sound of the waves.

“Even if you struggle, you can’t overcome the huge flow.”

***

“Did you hear? A new saintess has appeared…”

“A new saintess? Hey, where is there such a thing? There is only one, Saintess Ariel… “

“No. They say she has stronger holy power than Saintess Ariel. I heard that even dead animals can be brought back to life.”

“No way. Even Bergheritta, the First Saintess, couldn’t do that.”

I was walking down the street with Kyuu in the clothes I borrowed from Daisy.

It’s been more than 15 days since I arrived at the temple.

Yesterday, I had a meal with Reihausd, and three days later, the sacred power confirmation procedure was arranged.

There were rumors that heated up the temple outside.

Camilla was quickly dubbed the ‘new saintess’. It seems that the aftermath of saving two dead Golden Crowns was really great.

“But the Saintess blocked the gate in Ares. There was almost a war with the Demon Realm.”

“That’s right. The Saintess is a hero who saved the country.”

“Still, wouldn’t even the Saintess be able to save a dead life?”

I felt lonely for no reason at the stories of people comparing Camilla’s holy power and mine.

“Do you really believe in Camilla?”

I remembered the subject I had with Reihausd yesterday.

Camilla came to Elium after being invited by none other than Reihausd.

Yet why is he trying to push her away so far?

‘Shouldn’t he rather like her, given his constitution that responds to holy power?’

While I was walking, thinking about this and that, I heard the cry of a child in the alley.

“Harry, open your eyes. Harry!”

I naturally turned my gaze toward the commotion.

A boy was seen squatting and crying on a limp white puppy.

“Harry! Hicc… No. You can’t die.”

“Ron, I think it’s already too late…”

Next to the boy was a girl, who seemed to be his older sister, with a sad expression.

I approached the children and asked.

“Is your dog sick?”

The older sister, who was standing next to the crying boy holding the puppy, answered me.

“Harry is Ron’s dog, and I think it’s been poisoned with rat poison.”

I turned my attention to the puppy.

The puppy in the arms of the boy looked like it would stop breathing at any moment, but luckily it wasn’t completely out of breath yet.

“Can I take a look at the puppy for a second?”

“Hicc…”

“I think I can help.”

At my words, the boy handed over the puppy, his eyes brimming with tears.

The white-haired puppy was very small and light, like it was still a baby.

It was dripping with frothy saliva, as if he had taken rat poison, and its eyes were barely focused.

It was the first treatment I had ever tried after returning to the temple.

I started focusing on my hands. Then, a familiar energy began to flow through my hands.

It was definitely the energy of life. I felt the divine power vividly.

“Are you… a priestess?”

I heard the girl’s startled voice.

In the eyes of the children, I looked like a priestess who came out of the temple.

I didn’t answer, focused my attention on my hands and let it flow to the puppy. I could feel the dying puppy sucking the sacred power.

As long as I hold my breath, all living things are willing to accept my healing power.

I put more strength into my hands.

A warm feeling passed through my hands, and my heart ached quite a bit.

The pain felt when I treated life was inevitable. I was a little out of breath, but I decided to accept the hassle for this little creature and the boy, who loves it.

“Oh my Gods… Harry!”

After about ten minutes, I handed the puppy back to the boy’s arms.

In no time, warmth returned to its body.

The tearful boy received the puppy back, who was sticking out its tongue and panted, in disbelief. He then looked up at me.

“You saved Harry… Harry…”

“Thank you, priestess.”

The girl greeted me with a deep bow.

I reached out to the puppy, stroking its head once.

“Be careful not to let it eat rat poison next time.”

The boy who was looking at me blankly nodded his head vigorously.

“Thank you. Thank you, priestess.”

“Thank you very much, priestess.”

“I will be careful. Thank you so much for saving Harry’s life.”

The puppy was wiping away the boy’s tears with its tongue out.

I smiled and turned around.

The joyous voices of a boy and a girl came from behind. It felt like I had done something I was proud of for the first time in a while.

A question came to me out of the blue.

The chilling, oddly creepy feeling I felt when Camilla brought the two Golden Crowns to life.

Is it really the same kind of holy power as the one I have now?

“Do you believe in Camilla?”

At that moment, I furrowed my eyebrows at the thought, which was just in case.

That feeling, I must have encountered it somewhere…

It was when I turned the corner once. A man was walking casually next to me. I didn’t even have to look back, I could tell it was Cass just by his voice.

“Did you go undercover to do good deeds?”

I shook my head.

“I just came out to do some market research.”

“If that’s the case, you might want to contact me.”

Cass, wearing a shirt and plain vest, said with a cool smile.

“Didn’t I tell you? To be careful.”

He said as I stopped and looked up at him.

“Bring it.”

And from the side alley, two men who seemed to be Cass’ subordinates dragged a man.

I looked at Cass and turned my attention to the man they caught.

“This person…”

I’ve seen him. Even in the temple.

“Looking at the clothes he was wearing inside, he was a priest. I mean this guy, who has been stalking you all along.”

I had seen this man with a torn scar on his cheek.

“I-I was just going out. It was only because the Saintess was there that the lines of our movement overlapped, is it okay to treat a priest of Elium like this!”

The priest protested to Cass, yet he smiled and went over to the man, searching in his backpack and inside pockets. And what came out was a small dagger and a string enough to bind a person.

“Your belongings are much more honest than your words.”

“…!”

“You need to tell me everything.”

Behind Cass, two of his men were warming up.

At Cass’ relaxed words, the priest glared at him and his body began to tremble.

“The great one. May your will come true!”

Soon, the whites of the priest’s eyes were visible, and foam began to fill his mouth.

I hurriedly approached him and tried to use my healing power, yet his heart had already stopped.

I was looking at the dead priest in astonishment.

‘What the hell is going on?’

I heard Cass’s voice in my ears as I clutched at my pounding heart.

“Let’s talk for a minute.”