Mia drew her sword instantly!
The sound of the blade leaving its scabbard rang out in the cramped study. She stepped in front of Lovene, slashing her blade directly at the nearest tentacle.
“Get back!”
Her voice was cold as ice.
The blade sliced through the tentacle with a wet squelch. The severed limb fell to the floor, still writhing on its own.
Dark red liquid welled from the cut. Dorothy's body swayed, her face growing even paler, but she did not fall. She didn't even look down at her severed tentacle.
More tentacles surged from beneath her skirt. No longer merely testing them, they lunged at Mia and Lovene simultaneously, attempting to kill them both.
Mia's sword spun into a silver-white screen of light.
Every incoming tentacle was severed by her blade. The severed limbs wriggled on the floor, and the mucus splashing onto the ground hissed with a faint, corrosive sound.
Dorothy's tentacle attacks were dense, and her strength was absurdly immense. Any ordinary knight might have been defeated within the first moment of engagement.
But Mia was no ordinary knight.
She was a Holy Knight trained by the Church of the Morning Light, possessing Rank Four magic power. Her combat experience rivaled that of knights who had fought in wars for years, not to mention her knowledge of numerous forbidden spells.
Boom!
Stepping forward, she unleashed an invisible shockwave of air that blew back all the regenerating tentacles, exposing Dorothy who was hiding behind them.
This was her chance!
With a soft grunt, she raised her longsword high, preparing to cleave Dorothy in two.
But at that moment, Lovene's eyes flickered.
“Mia, don't hurt her!”
Mia's blade veered at the very last second. She struck Dorothy with the flat of her sword, sending the girl crashing into the bookshelf. Several thick books tumbled to the floor.
“Your Highness, she isn't Dorothy right now...”
“She is,” Lovene said softly.
She took a step forward. Mia tried to stop her, but was gently pushed aside.
“Dorothy.”
Lovene knelt down, bringing herself to eye level with the little girl surrounded by tentacles.
“Can you hear me?”
The tentacles suddenly froze in front of her, suspended in midair like a nest of startled snakes. They reared up in unison, as if they would pierce her heart in the next second.
Mia rushed forward to protect her, but Lovene waved her back.
“I didn't have the chance to answer your question earlier.”
Lovene spoke gently as she reached out to touch Dorothy's hair. A faint Holy Light emerged beneath her palm, and the power of purification quietly spread throughout the study.
“I didn't come here to kill your father. I came to cure him.”
These words seemed to restore a sliver of Dorothy's sanity. She struggled slightly, her lips parting, before she rasped:
“Everyone says that. The priests said it, the emissaries said it, and those people in black robes said it too, but they all failed.”
“Father is still sick, he still can't get up, and he still screams. Mother cries more and more, Father screams louder and louder, and more and more locks are put on the doors.”
“I can still hear it... I can hear it all the time...”
Her eyes reddened, but no tears fell.
“I don't know if I can believe anyone anymore.”
Lovene stroked her hair, feeling the thin, soft strands as the Holy Light beneath her palm grew even brighter.
“You don't have to believe me, but you can believe one thing—I will not hurt your father. I promise you.”
Dorothy looked up at her. Within those increasingly monstrous eyes, a trace of human scrutiny flickered.
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
Dorothy stared at her for a long time. Suddenly, the corners of her mouth curved slightly, a clumsy response as if she didn't know how to react to such tenderness.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
In the next second, her entire body began to tremble.
“It hurts...”
Accompanied by her low whimpers, the tentacles on her body began to melt like snow, dripping onto the study floor with wet, sticky splats.
Yet even as these tentacles melted, many more began to sprout from beneath her skin. Like prey cornered by a wild beast, these new tentacles tried frantically to flee from the Holy Light, but to no avail.
Gradually, Dorothy seemed to grow accustomed to the pain.
She did not scream, but merely looked down at the tentacles beneath her with a blank expression.
“See? I'm a monster too.”
The Holy Light shone even brighter. Looking at the tentacles being forced out of Dorothy's body, Lovene asked, “Does it hurt?”
Dorothy froze for a moment, as if no one had ever asked her this before.
“...Yes. When they sprout, it hurts a lot. It feels like something is germinating inside my bones. But I got used to it.”
“You won't have to feel this pain anymore.”
Under Dorothy's bewildered gaze, Lovene reached out with her other hand and laced her fingers with the girl's delicate little hand.
“Because as I said, I will cure your father—and that includes you, too.”
Dorothy's eyelashes fluttered as she whispered her thanks once more.
After that, she lost the strength to speak and drifted off to sleep, leaving Lovene to use her Holy Light to purify the contamination within her body.
Soon, fewer and fewer tentacles emerged from her body, until they vanished entirely.
They dissolved into a puddle of disgusting mucus on the study floor.
“What happened?!”
Alerted by the commotion of the battle between Dorothy and Mia, Lady Elena rushed in. She hurried into the study, holding up her skirt, the blue light of her lantern swaying behind her.
Her gaze swept from the bizarre puddle of mucus on the floor, to the blade in Mia's hand that was still stained with dark red liquid, and finally landed on the unconscious Dorothy in Lovene's arms.
“Dorothy! What... what's wrong with you?!”
She threw herself forward, kneeling on the floor, and cradled Dorothy's face with trembling hands.
The little girl's fingers twitched slightly, her breath was warm, and her chest was still rising and falling. When Elena's fingers touched her skin and felt her heartbeat, she let out a sharp sigh of relief.
Holding Dorothy close, she turned her head. Her gaze, sharp as a poisoned blade, gouged into Lovene's face.
“Lady Elena...” Lovene began.
“Enough!”
Elena's voice was filled with a deeply suppressed rage. Gathering the unconscious Dorothy into her arms, she said coldly, “You really are just like the others! Talking about purification and salvation, but in the end, all you want is to kill them!”
“My Lady, we aren't—”
“Aren't you? Then what is that on the floor? And what about the wounds on her body?”
“My Lady, those tentacles attacked us first,” Mia replied. Her hand remained on her sword, her vigilance never wavering.
“Attacked you? She's only a seven-year-old child! How could she possibly attack you?!”
Elena's eyes could no longer hold back the tears. Hot drops spilled down her pale face, splashing onto Dorothy's skirt.
Rate on N.U.
