Chapter 743
“Huff! Haa!”
The longer the battle dragged on, the darker Richard’s expression became.
The problem was the spirits. He had spent far too much mana summoning two spirit-dragons and flying them all the way to the sea.
Now, he was running only a single fire spirit to save as much mana as possible, but it was still overwhelming.
‘If only I could use the power of the Legion.’
If he summoned the Legion, dark spirits would be no match. But then, she might discover that he was in fact Yona.
From the conversations they had shared, Richard suspected she was from the Bahila Fiefdom. If she realized that he was the war hero and infamous Legion commander—Yona, the one who devastated her homeland, what would her reaction be?
He didn’t particularly want to know.
“Richard!”
In the meantime, Anna was cutting down the dark spirits with dazzling martial arts, surging ahead.
The beautiful dress she had prepared for today was in shreds, but she had grabbed and ripped it even further herself, tying the hem to free her legs for easier movement.
“Are you alright?”
“I am fine, Ayla.”
Richard said so as he swung his arm. The last remaining fire spirit spat out flames that were no longer all that hot, merely threatening the dark spirits.
‘I’m holding her back.’
Richard swallowed hard and raised his head.
“I’m worried about the children! Ayla, please go to them first!”
“What? Ha, but I can’t leave you behind!”
Even as she said that, Anna continued her fierce assault, striking down the endlessly surging dark spirits.
Watching them scatter like fountains under a single kick, Richard clicked his tongue and raised his voice louder.
“I can manage myself! It’s fine, just go to the children! With this many dark spirits, the children and the volunteers might already be in danger!”
Anna bit her lip tightly.
In the end, perhaps realizing Richard was right, she nodded reluctantly.
“I’ll be right back! You must be safe!”
“Yes! Don’t worry about me, take care of the children!”
With hair like a snow flurry flying behind her, Anna sprinted forward.
She used the heads of dark spirits like stepping stones, broke through the encirclement, and then shot forward like a streak of light.
Only after watching her grow more and more distant did Richard finally let out a long sigh.
‘Now I can show what I’m really capable of.’
—Woooooo!
With Anna gone, the dark spirits began to creep toward Richard.
Richard dismantled the mana-devouring fire spirit without hesitation and opened the subspace.
Wuuung!
As soon as the ominous black portal opened, thoughts stirred within the darkness.
[Hahahaha! In trouble, Yona! Use me!]
‘Kal.’
It was the Ancient Undead he had brought just in case, the Plague Beast named Kal, urging him to unleash it.
But Richard shook his head.
‘If you come out, the plague will put the children and everyone else in danger. Stay put.’
[Tch!]
Richard summoned multiple Legion-type skeletons. They were armed with halberds and armored in alloy plated with protective magic.
The dark spirits rushed in fearlessly.
Sshhraaaak—!
The Legion-type undead swung their halberds, slicing the spirits clean in half.
Richard dismantled one of the skeletons, equipped its bone armor, draped his robe over it, and pulled a skull helm shut to cover his face.
‘No bothersome priests around. If I can move the forces wide around to the flank, then support from the rear, there won’t be a problem.’
The soldiers of the Legion began pouring out of the subspace with feral cries.
Richard took the lead.
‘Let’s go!’
* * *
“Someone’s coming this way.”
Simon spoke.
Lete placed her hand on her hip, puzzled.
“Isn’t it Miss Anna and Richard?”
“No, it’s not the two of them.”
In the distance, perhaps a battle was raging, for the dark spirits were vanishing with deep slashes across their forms.
Then, suddenly, a burst of white light thrust in this direction.
‘A woman?’
It was someone in a robe.
The wind knocked back her hood, revealing short, sea-colored hair fluttering.
“Reeeenaaaa!”
She roared fiercely, charging straight in, tackling Lete to the ground.
Grabbing her by the collar, she shouted.
“I knew you were suspicious from the start! How could you do this……! And now you’re summoning evil monsters to attack me?”
“No! What nonsense are you suddenly spouting!”
As the two women grappled, Simon stared with a dumbfounded expression.
‘A–Aunt Israfil?’
He had heard from Lete that Israfil of the past was with Anna, but seeing her directly was deeply shocking.
The compassionate Saint of the Divine Sea, Israfil, had once been this hot-blooded? The image was completely different.
“Whatever reason you approached Sister Anna for, give it up! I’ve already sent a letter to headquarters, soldiers will be here soon!”
Israfil raised her voice even further.
“What did you do to Sister Anna? Tell me now!”
“What do you mean, what did I do!”
Lete extended her arm.
“She’s coming right over there!”
“What?”
Israfil turned her head with a startled look.
It was true.
Thud! Crack! Crunch!
Though still some distance away, Anna could clearly be seen breaking through the encirclement and sprinting toward them. Everywhere she went, dark spirits were shattered spectacularly by her fists and kicks.
Wham!
At that moment, Lete slammed her elbow into Israfil’s jaw. Israfil let out a grunt and toppled backward, and Lete slipped free.
“You’re the one who shouldn’t even be here!”
Israfil wiped her mouth and glared at her.
“What do you mean? I’m here to watch you! Skipping out of formation every weekend……!”
Lete paused, then exhaled a bitter, sardonic laugh.
“So you really were the cause.”
“W–What? Me……?”
“No wonder information leaked. Only five people knew we came here, including you.”
She spread out five fingers.
“All this, just to send a letter to headquarters and request troops over something so petty? Now everything will spread through headquarters, and those who already viewed Miss Anna poorly will hear about it too.”
That those people were part of the Executioners—that, Lete left unsaid.
Israfil stared blankly at Anna breaking through the dark spirits, then stammered.
“M–My action, was it wrong? Everything I did, it was all for Sister Anna! It’s because an outsider like you corrupted her with strange ideas……!”
“Please, stop spouting nonsense.”
Lete spoke coldly.
“This is war, we are at war right now. And you send a letter all the way to the frontline headquarters over something that was just a volunteer service? If that’s the case, then why didn’t you report your seniors who sneak out with men to play outside every other day?”
“……Ugh!”
“For Sister Anna? No, you just wanted to exclude me and monopolize her, so you tailed me looking for dirt and then reported it to headquarters! You didn’t care one bit how much trouble Sister Anna would be in! Everything you claim is for her is nothing but your self–satisfaction!”
“Stop it, Rena!”
Simon calmed the furious Lete. He could understand her feelings, but it wasn’t good for their words to affect anyone other than Richard and Anna.
Israfil’s pupils trembled like an earthquake.
“Rena!”
At that moment, a volunteer came running frantically.
“It’s terrible! Those monsters are on the other side too……!”
“What?”
They were surrounded.
Before they knew it, the entire area was crawling with dark spirits. The children at the orphanage clung to each other in terror.
The headmaster tried to reassure them that it would be fine, but her own expression was grim.
“I’ll go hold them back!”
Simon leapt forward at once. Countless dark spirits were charging in with jaws wide open.
‘I can’t keep fighting barehanded forever.’
Simon slowly began to stir Darkness at his fingertips.
‘If I don’t overdo it, if I just use a little power to break through the encirclement……!’
Then his eyes widened suddenly. Even before he used Darkness, he could already feel it elsewhere.
‘No way.’
His gaze shifted.
Beside the rushing dark spirits, from the shadows, a troop of soldiers surged forward raising clouds of dust.
—Kyaaaaahhh!
They were undead. Skeletons clad in elaborate armor, wielding massive halberds as they charged, cutting through the dark spirits in chunks.
They spread into formation, forming a defensive line, and even intercepted dark spirits approaching from other directions.
And yet, they never moved toward the orphanage. Their movements were precise, holding back only the enemies pressing in from outside.
‘The Legion!’
Simon realized their identity at once. Cold sweat trickled down his back.
‘Even in this urgency, to already use the power of the Legion! If Mother notices this……!’
Fwaaaaaaash!
This time, a dazzling radiance burst from the sky.
It was as if night had suddenly passed and noon had arrived. Simon and the others shielded their eyes with their arms and turned back.
“So it really was all the work of the vile Dark Alliance.”
Within that white brilliance, Anna descended like an angel, holiness fully unleashed.
“And to think, even the infamous Legion was involved. I will never forgive this.”
Sensing the Legion’s Darkness, she had opened her Holiness and was descending toward where they stood.
Simon bit his lip.
‘This is catastrophe.’
The situation was tangled beyond repair.
“……Ayla?”
A voice, shaken by shock, rang out.
Anna, about to unleash holy magic with outstretched arms, froze and turned her gaze.
Among the Legion’s undead stood a lone figure. A man in a skull helm, a tattered robe over his frame.
‘Ah.’
Anna, in that instant, felt a terrible premonition.
The robe concealed his build, the helm masked his face, but his shoes—those had not been changed. They were the same sea–soaked shoes.
And he had called her Ayla.
That alias had been made up only after coming here.
More than anything, it was his voice.
The voice she could never forget.
Anna’s lips parted as she murmured.
“Richard?”
Their eyes met.
The trembling hand of the Legion commander moved, pulling off the skull helm. From within appeared the face of a man, steeped in grief.
“Ayla…….”
She should have denied it.
If possible, she wanted to deny the truth endlessly.
But.
“You were the Saint of Miracles?”
The reality before her was despairingly undeniable.
Anna’s arms hung helplessly at her sides.
“You were Yona?”
The identity of the enemy commander she had wanted to kill above all else.
Despair and grief intertwined.
Sadness, anger, confusion, and betrayal mingled together.
The two of them were struck speechless, as if the sky itself had collapsed.
“Yona!”
“Miss Anna!”
Simon and Lete rushed in urgently.
“Run! Soldiers from both sides are coming!”
“At this rate, war will break out!”
Richard, belatedly regaining his senses, felt a chilling presence.
All around, teleportation magic circles were spreading open.
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