Chapter 127 – Radiance
My gaze lingered on Ophelia for a while, and the girl tilted her head as she gulped down what was in my mouth.
“Huh? What’s wrong? Oh…You look healthy as always. Sir Wolfgang. Ehehe…”
“No, nothing.”
An action that did not feel the slightest bit of dignity as a saintess.
“Whew…”
Seeing her smiling brightly, not knowing that she had almond crumbs attached to her lips, the Scarlet priest who assisted her sighed beside her.
Besides, that kid. She must have just said brother.
It just makes it look even more awkward to see him quickly correcting himself in an attempt to improvise in his own way. Perhaps because of that, Agnes’ eyes, who had been quietly keeping her seat with her arms crossed, became subtle.
In many ways, it is really immature and clumsy.
Considering that she and Alicia, who are only a year or two older than her, carry around her outwardly mature womb, Ophelia is very innocent for her age.
Yes. The girl in front of me is just a little boy who still needs to grow up. Either as a woman or as a saint of the Catholic Church.
As her thoughts reached there, the hazy fog of her that filled her head began to slowly clear.
And what filled her place was an ominous imagination that materialized more clearly than a moment ago.
What if they’re targeting Ophelia?
Based on intuition, it is an assumption that is close to a leap that skipped several steps of logic, but it is rather full of probability.
From Eclipse’s point of view, she would be the most annoying enemy.
This is because the divine power of the heavenly god, Estella, acts as a superstar against all the powers of reciprocity that go against the order of things.
Therefore, for those who follow evil and those who are affected by demons, the existence of a saintess who has more powerful divine power than anyone else was tantamount to a disaster.
The incarnation of starlight that destroys evil.
The saintess was such a being. Also, history proves that fact time and time again.
However, the current Ophelia was weak and immature to the point of being incomparable to the saints before her. She was a low-class priest, and it had only been about a month since she awakened as her holy woman.
So, from their point of view, now is a golden opportunity.
Just as wild beasts immediately cut off their breath when they see a competitor’s offspring, it is only natural to deal with potential enemies before they show signs of budding in earnest.
It was something that has been repeated countless times in human history, regardless of whether it is good or bad.
Of course, the Tenshinkyo side would be well aware of that fact.
So, for this mission, which is the main purpose of Ophelia’s growth, she must have prepared her own safety device called Cardinal Malleus…
To be honest, the current situation could not be said to be absolutely safe even in empty words.
The group had already suffered one raid and suffered casualties. Besides, even if it’s quiet right now, you don’t know when the enemies will attack again.
If they really are after Ophelia, we might already be sitting in the middle of the enemy’s jaws.
So, should I ask for help right away? Just call, and reinforcements will arrive right away. All knights headquarters in the empire are designated as the coordinates of the teleport magic.
However, it was not clear yet, so as a commander, I couldn’t make a hasty decision.
For the same reason, I was cautious about sharing my opinion in front of my companions. As the de facto leader of the party, my opinion will affect everyone immediately. In fact, it will come as an order.
If so, what should I do? I was thinking about it as carefully as possible, but…
‘Damn it.’
I can’t come up with a good way at all.
Compared to the body, the performance of the brain is not very good, and I feel resentment for no reason. If I had been a little smarter, I could have come up with a more plausible plan.
I suddenly feel annoyed. Damn you rebel bastards. Anyway, there is no law that helps my life. I wish I had suffered so much during the war. After losing, what kind of lingering lingering remains, so it’s still so nasty…
The middle of the day quietly staring into the air with the pods on.
—Goooh…
“Look, look!”
The old man’s worried voice woke me up.
“Hey. What the hell is going on? I’m almost out of breath, so let’s just straighten our faces.”
“…Yes?”
Then, only belatedly, I suddenly come to my senses. I then raised my head and looked around.
At some point, the meeting stopped, and everyone was looking at me with nervous faces.
“Hey! Oh, I’m sorry… I’ll never touch snacks during an important meeting again…”
Ophelia in particular was on the verge of bursting into tears as her body trembled.
It seems that I expressed my displeasure unknowingly because my emotions were intensifying. Being a knight commander at a time, he couldn’t capture even one image.
It was truly disgraceful.
“It’s nothing. Stop because I thought of a bad idea.”
After gathering her momentum, she calmly shook her head as if nothing had happened, and only then did the air lighten a little.
At that, Cardinal Malleus laughed and muttered.
“Heh heh. Even this old man doesn’t look bad anywhere, but he can’t even show his business card in front of a real man.”
“…”
There were so many things I wanted to say in a teasing tone, but because I had committed sins, the complaints only echoed fleetingly in my head.
Instead, I cleared my throat once and finally decided to openly tell myself what I was thinking.
If you stay like this anyway, nothing will be solved. Wasting more time was embarrassing.
“Hmmmm. Everyone, I have something to say for a moment.”
There are many people here, including Agnes, who are intellectually superior to me, so even delusional thoughts can somehow be organized and transformed into plausible results.
I hope my comments do not cause meaningless confusion.
“It seems that the enemies are the saintess…”
But, before I finish my words.
— ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ !
In the distance, a terrifying roar resounded, almost like the roar of hell.
* * *
“What?”
It was the first terrifying cry I had ever heard in my life.
It was a malicious echo that lingered in the mind for a long time and caused deep discomfort, completely different from the roaring roars that high-ranking monsters like dragon bells show off their strength to the world.
The reaction came immediately.
The leaders sitting around the round table in the command center began to visibly shake, and the confusion soon spread to one wave.
Ophelia and other physically weak priests openly covered their ears and complained of pain.
“Kyaaaaagh!”
“Heaven, protect us!”
The strong knights and heretic questioners were at least better off, but even their expressions showed fear and displeasure that could not be hidden.
“What?!”
“Devil, I can hear the demon’s screams! I need to pray to God right now!”
—Paaah!
Cardinal Malleus was the first among the party except me to regain his composure.
As he gnashed his teeth and opened the barrier of holy power, the agitation slowly began to subside.
The old man looked at the source of the roar with hateful eyes and murmured.
“…It’s a roar mixed with demonic energy. I heard that something similar to this happened when the Great Demon descended on the ground. I never thought I’d actually experience it.”
Then, he stretched out his hand toward the Heretic Questioner next to him and began to show his fighting spirit.
“Brother Karas, hand me the hammer. My blood boils for the first time in a long time.”
The appearance of my subordinates looking at me with a firm expression. I nodded at them and gave the order.
“The Black Lion Knights. Everyone, prepare for battle.”
“Yes!”
Then, following the hastily running men, he spurred his seat and stood up. Because I couldn’t just stay like this.
If this is the case even for those with high levels of realm, there will probably be chaos between rank knights and low-level priests. I had to act quickly.
“Wait a minute! Sir Wolfgang!”
But, for some reason, Ophelia tried to catch me while I was in a hurry.
“Please come with me. Please.”
After thinking about it for a while, I nodded my head willingly and answered.
“Yes, saintess.”
Anyway, it was the car that I thought the enemy might be aiming at the girl a little while ago. It would be nice if she could keep her close to my sight of her.
I went outside with Ophelia and her escort.
— ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ !
Then, as if they had waited, the roar resounded once more. It was a reverberation full of vicious hostility.
“Oh my God, how could this…!”
“What the hell are you doing to make such a fucking cry?”
“Damn it, this mission is so damn unlucky.”
While the commanders were struggling to organize their battle lines, another blow was struck, and the flames of confusion that were barely being extinguished grew stronger again.
“It’s him, it’s him! He barely escaped… We’re all going to die!”
“Aaaaagh!”
In particular, the survivors of the Ropes Knights began to talk wildly, clutching their heads as if they were almost out of their minds, and there were even people who collapsed on the floor screaming.
“Commander Fractal, give orders!”
“…No. I can’t win.”
Even their leader, Lord Fractal, was agitated beyond measure.
Could this be the monster in question who almost drank the Knights of Ropes?
‘Damn it, what a troublesome bastard.’
It was a disaster. At this rate, morale would drop to the bottom before the full-scale battle had yet begun.
In the midst of vibrating the mana core by concentrating as much as possible to take his own action.
“…Brother, can you hold my hand just once?”
“Yes?”
Ophelia, who was staring at the field of chaos unfolding before her eyes, suddenly whispered to me.
I wondered if he was trying to complain in the midst of this.
The girl’s expression was more determined than ever.
“Thanks.”
When I held her hand for a moment as she wanted, the girl made eye contact with me for a moment and smiled.
Then, after taking a few deep breaths, the girl takes a step forward.
Before long Ophelia knelt on her bare floor and began her prayer.
Waves of her warm divine power wave as if answering her prayers.
“This…?”
“Saintess, it’s the saintess.”
Before long, all eyes on her are focused on her, and her confusion subsides.
And finally.
“Estella. Your daughter earnestly wishes. Please shine the light of hope on this land.”
Let’s end the prayer with the girl’s low chanting.
There was light everywhere.
