Chapter 26

Step. Step. Step.

The sound of footsteps descending the staircase echoed through the cave until she stopped at the bottom. Right behind her was a woman who looked like a nun, except that unlike the other nuns who wore black habits, she wore a white habit that looked like silk, decorated with golden embroidery, along with a matching veil that draped gently over her head and shoulders, with a golden cincture tied around her waist. She did not wear a wimple or scapular like the nuns I sometimes saw when I passed by the town’s church, so a little bit of her blonde hair could be seen underneath the veil.

Behind the nun stood three knights who seemed fairly strong. Maybe not as strong as my father, but they were definitely skilled, probably around the level of First-Class martial artists. I had seen many First-Class martial artists during my time living in the Cheon Clan’s main estate, and the aura they gave off was certainly similar to theirs. It was very obvious from their gait that those three knights were guarding the nun.

The dead body of the Dark Mage that had gone berserk and tried to kill Lirael and me before hadn’t made another move yet. Maybe it was surprised by the sudden arrival of several people after the ceiling broke, though I doubted that it was conscious enough to be surprised. Maybe it instinctively sensed danger from Master Elara. That would make sense. After all, Master Elara was one of the only seven mages who stood at the peak of magic, an Archmage.

Master Elara simply gave it a glance and walked toward where I was. Kneeling down, she checked my condition, and I could see her pupils tremble when she saw both of my arms, crushed.

“Seriously, kid? I left you for a bit and you end up like this?”

She was grinning, but the aura I got from her was nothing like her usual self. None of her usual playful and chaotic self was there, replaced by a stillness that felt eerie.

“Hold on for a bit. I’ll finish it quickly.”

I couldn’t say anything to her. The pain from my crushed arms was too much, and it took all the energy I had left just to keep myself conscious. The miasma I had breathed in was also starting to poison my body even further, damaging my lungs.

Master Elara stood back up and turned on her heels, facing the berserk Dark Mage’s tendril-covered dead body, which had simply remained still in place.

“You sure beat up my disciple thoroughly for a dead man.”

Her voice turned low as her grip around her staff tightened.

Grrrrkk…!

It stood in place, keeping watch on Master Elara while letting out a low guttural sound. As silence and hostility filled the place, the tendril-covered dead body made the first move.

GRAAAAAAAGH!!

Tendrils shot toward Master Elara at a speed even faster than when I fought it. She stood firmly in place, her face showing no emotion whatsoever even with the onslaught of tendrils coming at her. With a wave of her staff, the tendrils never reached their target, as an invisible force pushed the creature down to the ground.

GRAAAAAAGHHHH!!

“If you will, Saintess.”

“Of course.”

The nun Master Elara called “Saintess” made her way toward the creature, with the three knights following closely behind. Stopping a few steps away from the tendril-covered creature in front of her, she knelt down and clasped both of her hands together, interlacing her fingers before closing her eyes.

“Oh, our merciful Father, hear my prayers.”

“Let Your divine light descend and drive away the darkness that has taken root in this place.”

“Purify this body that has been defiled by evil.”

“Wash away the corruption staining its flesh.”

“Burn away everything that does not belong beneath Your light.”

“Oh, our Father in Heaven.”

“Let Your light cleanse all that has been tainted.”

“Let Your light cleanse all that has been defiled.”

“Only Your light can guide us out of the darkness.”

“Amen.”

A faint golden light began to shine from her body as golden particles appeared, slowly drifting through the air around her before gently descending onto the creature’s body.

GRAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

A painful screech filled the cave as its body began to dissolve the moment the golden particles made contact with it. One by one, the black tendrils covering the Dark Mage’s dead body dissolved, and the miasma coming out of it stopped.

Slowly, the creature’s scream that had been filling the cave faded away, and the cave fell silent once again, leaving behind the now completely still corpse of the Dark Mage.

“May the Father’s guidance be with you.”

…

“Stay still, Hwi.”

Master Elara stood right beside me and tapped the bottom of her staff against the ground. A magic circle with runes written inside it appeared under me, glowing blue. The size of the circle was not too big, just enough for my whole body to fit on top of it.

A blue glow shone from the gem on her staff, and light gathered around my arms. The excruciating pain and swelling gradually lessened. The crushed bones in my arms assembled and fused back together.

“There. You should be fine now.”

With the treatment done, the magic circle under me disappeared. I tried to move my arms and clench my fists to make sure nothing was wrong, and there was no problem.

“Thank you, Master.”

“Heh, that’s right. You should be thankful to me. This is the second time I saved your life.”

Now that the Dark Mage’s body had returned to just a regular corpse, her usual haughtiness returned.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m always grateful to you, Master Elara.”

“How grateful?”

“Super grateful.”

“Prove it.”

“Prove what?”

“If you’re really grateful to me, then I want you to run around the Tower’s courtyard ten times every morning for a week while screaming, ‘Elara Veynes is the best and most beautiful mage in the world!’ at the top of your lungs.”

“…Haahh. I don’t even have the energy to argue. Have some shame, Master.”

I put a hand on my knee as I was about to stand, but immediately fell back to the ground.

‘Must be the effect of the miasma I breathed in before.’

I couldn’t gather my strength, and my breathing was still painful.

The Saintess, who had been watching from a distance right after purifying the Dark Mage’s body, walked toward us.

“Looks like some of the miasma is still in his body.”

“Sure looks like it.”

“Hm? You’re not going to ask me to heal your disciple, Archmage Elara?”

“Don’t play dumb, Saintess. With your skill, you must have already noticed the miasma affecting my disciple. If you really wanted to help him, you would direct your purification light toward my disciple too, but you’re not.”

“Oh my, you’re overestimating me. The abomination was simply too far away, so your disciple was out of reach.”

“Is that so? You’re here now, so he’s not out of your reach anymore.”

“I’m sorry, a miracle isn’t something that can be used so easily. I simply can’t do it anymore.”

“Yeah, figures. You Church bastards are always the same.”

Master Elara easily dismissed her, not even interested in arguing with the Saintess.

“Forget it. Just that amount of miasma can be left alone. It will dissipate with time and will be a good experience for him.”

I had lived in this country for almost three months now, so I knew what was going on here. Basically, Mages and the Church didn’t have a good relationship.

The Church doctrine taught that magic was a heretical technique despite the fact that they also used magic, Divine Magic, just like what the Saintess had used to purify the Dark Mage’s dead body. The thing was, they did not call it magic but miracles. In their view, supernatural abilities like this should only be possessed by them as God’s children. That was why they didn’t like mages who could do something similar to their miracles despite not believing in their faith. Mages lowered the authority of the Church, and Master Elara, being one of the seven greatest mages of the current generation, must be a thorn in their side. That sentiment also included me, her disciple.

‘Despite the fact that they hate each other, the Saintess still came here. Must be because Luna managed to come back and told Master Elara about the Dark Mage, and somehow the Saintess heard about it too, so she tagged along.’

A sigh of relief came out of my mouth knowing that Luna was safe.

“By the way, kid. Why is there a spirit with you?”

I glanced at Lirael, who also glanced at me, then I told her how we had ended up together.

…

“I see, so that’s what happened.”

Master Elara turned toward Lirael and bowed her head to her.

“Thank you for helping my disciple, Great Spirit.”

“It’s fine. I helped Hwi because I also need him to help me, too.”

Lirael looked bashful now that there was someone who was acting courteously toward her.

“Hmm… A spirit under an ancient Moon Goddess, huh?”

The Saintess, who had been listening to our story until then, chimed in.

“A servant of a false god.”

The three knights immediately drew their swords.