Waves crashed against the shore, bringing a rich, salty scent. By the time Mia regained her senses, she found herself back at the seaside. Standing before her was the monster Lovene, newly emerged from her cocoon.
“She's already turned into a monster!”
Gale's voice erupted in the night. Grasping his newly regenerated right hand around the longsword he had not yet fully grown accustomed to, he lunged at the winged beast and engaged it in combat.
But this time, Mia did not follow immediately.
She took a deep breath, stood at the edge of the reef, and said in a deep voice:
“Just hold it off. Wait for the sun to rise!”
Dawn was already not far off when the monster emerged. They only needed to stall it for two hours at most, and sunlight would bathe the land.
Clement's chains had just slid off his shoulders. He glanced at Mia and asked in confusion:
“What do you mean?”
Mia's gaze fell upon the dark horizon in the distance, where light had yet to touch. She explained:
“The contamination source has self-awareness, and it fears sunlight. We only need to stall until dawn, and it will leave Her Highness's body on its own.”
“Self-awareness? Fears sunlight? How do you know that?”
Clement's confusion only deepened.
It had only been a few minutes since the Saintess turned into a monster, hadn't it? How was this Holy Knight so familiar with it? She even knew its weakness?
“Her Highness was the one who said it fears sunlight. As for the self-awareness... I deduced it myself.”
Mia said, casting a brief glance sideways.
“...As expected of the Holy Knight by the Saintess's side. Your perception is far superior to ours.”
As Clement spoke, he shifted his tactics from attacking the monster to trapping it. The chains in his hands flared with a light far more blinding than usual.
Even so, his heart was filled with skepticism.
A contamination source with self-awareness?
What a joke. Contamination sources with self-awareness were extremely rare. Of the countless contamination sources he had contained so far, no more than five possessed self-awareness.
So, this one before them also had self-awareness?
Honestly, he couldn't see it at all.
As for its fear of sunlight, he found it even more absurd.
Though he thought this way, he wouldn't voice it, let alone oppose her. After all, if they wanted to save Lovene right now, it would be best if that were indeed the case.
Otherwise, the Saintess was as good as dead.
“Gale, do as Mia says! If the contamination source really has self-awareness, this might be the only way to save the Saintess!”
“Understood! I'll do whatever it takes as long as we can save her!”
Gale shouted. His combat strategy shifted; he no longer tried to kill the monster but focused on holding it back.
Not only that, but after learning that Lovene could still be saved, he seemed to relax significantly. His swordsmanship and footwork recovered a great deal.
He really didn't want to kill Lovene.
Such a gentle and kind Church Saintess shouldn't end up sacrificing herself for the territory, let alone dying a painful death as a monster!
Every attack from the monster was parried by Mia's sword. It flapped its wings, trying to put distance between itself and the group, but in the next second, Clement's chains would rain down from the sky, dragging it back to its original spot.
Gradually, it seemed to realize what they were planning.
As time ticked by, the horizon slowly brightened. The monster grew increasingly anxious. It forcibly broke through the three-man formation, no longer lingering in the fight, and lunged headlong toward the ocean.
It wanted to plunge into the deep sea at once!
Seeing this, Clement cried out in shock:
“It's true! It really does have self-awareness!”
Before, he could have explained the monster's actions as mere instinct, but this escape attempt was clearly a conscious decision. This proved that the contamination source indeed possessed self-awareness.
Clement fell silent, giving Mia a complicated look.
Saintess Lovene's mystery was already beyond his comprehension, and now the Holy Knight by her side was showing an extraordinary side as well. This gave him an inexplicable sense of frustration.
After all, as a Heresy Inquisitor, he was supposed to be the enigmatic and profound figure in the eyes of the world!
The monster's attempt to flee ended in failure under Mia's interception. Dawn arrived at that very moment, a brilliant beam of light piercing through the horizon and spreading rapidly like a drawn curtain.
The monster's wings snapped open as if preparing to adjust its direction one last time. Then, its body dissolved into a rapidly spinning vortex, vanishing from everyone's sight.
This move again!
Before time had wound back, this very move had nearly cost Clement his life!
But this time, Mia knew its target could no longer be Clement.
She let out a cold snort and closed her eyes, sensing the fluctuations of the sea breeze. Wave after wave, they felt like ripples born from raindrops falling into a lake.
In the next second, she snapped her eyes open and flashed across the sea. At the same time, she brought her sword down with a brilliant, silver flash.
“Skreeech!”
The monster shrieked in pain, its form instantly forced out of hiding. One of its wings was severed by Mia, and blood sprayed across the ocean, washed away by the waves in an instant.
Sunlight completely cleared the sea level at this moment, bathing the monster in its rays.
Sizzle!
The moment the black contamination met the sunlight, it boiled violently like ice water doused in magma, fleeing the monster's body in an incredibly short span of time.
The edges of its wings began to melt, and the dark patterns representing the devouring consciousness retreated inward from the wing veins, as if pushed back by an irresistible force.
Soon, the monster's body dissolved completely, revealing Lovene's form. Her face was pale and her eyes were tightly shut as she coughed violently, as if she had choked on seawater.
Mia carried her to the shore. Countless wisps of black contamination rose from her chest, slowly coalescing into a black crystal in the air.
The black crystal hovered in the air for a moment. Sensing the stinging pain of the sunlight, it fled toward the sea like a flash of lightning, aiming to plunge straight into the deep sea in an instant.
At that moment, Mia said with a cold face, “Now!”
Clement, who had been prepared, produced a wooden box covered in golden seals. He opened it immediately toward the black crystal. A terrifying suction force erupted from within the box, pulling the fleeing black crystal entirely inside.
Clack!
The wooden box snapped shut, and Clement locked it instantly. He muttered a few low incantations. Only after the golden seals on it flared with a blinding light did he put it away.
The territory's contamination source was officially contained!
Rate on N.U.
