Time passes.
Though it's sticky, slow, and painful, time definitely moves on. With each passing second, my victory draws distinctly closer.
I'm steadily neutralizing the poison entering my body through "Blood Energy Absorption," and somehow enduring against that massive bug bastard who keeps pushing me back through regeneration and absorption.
After struggling like this for a while, about 20 minutes have passed.
I've already endured half the time.
"Kugh!"
Valkan growls in frustration.
Well, I'd be annoyed too if I kept almost breaking through but never quite managing it.
"You damned bastard! Just hurry up and die already! Die!!"
"...What, getting nervous? The Saintess is gathering holy power behind me, but you can't break through?"
I chuckled even as my body was falling apart.
I feel half-insane. Despite my body being in excruciating pain, laughter keeps leaking out.
It's because this is the first time I've seen him so flustered.
It seems he's truly running out of options now.
The approach of death moment by moment is now the same for him too.
"Damn you!"
Of course, he wasn't giving up without a fight.
Valkan points at me and opens a gourd at his waist. Though he'd used up most of his insects, it seems he hadn't depleted all the bugs inside the gourd yet.
Tens of thousands of locusts pour out through the opening of the gourd.
Those disgusting grasshoppers immediately attach to my body and start gnawing away at me.
That damn bastard, since poison doesn't work, he's trying to overwhelm me with numbers now.
An itchy, stinging sensation takes over my entire body. Thanks to my durability enhancement, my skin wasn't really being penetrated.
I looked at him with a smirk.
"Ha, did you think this would be enough to break me?"
No, this is actually good.
It's not a bad opportunity to try out a new skill.
My body is already covered in blood.
That means the range in which I can use magic has expanded considerably.
Blood contains magical power.
Which means I can use it for magic.
['Blood Power Conversion' is activated!]
[Combined with the 'Master of Poison' skill!]
[Your spilled blood gains acidic properties!]
Tssssss!
The locusts attached to my body begin to dissolve. Though it felt disgusting and shitty as they turned to liquid, it was still better than the stinging.
Blood Power Conversion.
A technique that fuses with my existing skills to use blood itself as a magic circle.
I can't use it alone, but it's an excellent skill that greatly increases magic efficiency and range.
Additionally, I decided to use another skill.
"If you receive something, you should return it."
After taking this much damage, my stacks should be full by now.
['Pain Memory' is activated!]
Boom─!
Once again, physical force comparable to his own erupts.
"Kuhurk!"
The Insect King screams.
I laughed like a madman.
*
Crash! Bang! Crack─!
A myth is unfolding before her eyes.
A myth of a single person stopping a monster that had destroyed an entire city in just one day.
Blocking a creature the size of a castle with just a sword was truly a heroic feat.
It was like watching a hero's battle straight out of history books.
If a child dreaming of becoming a hero or a knight who values honor were watching, they would be thrilled.
But the Saintess, the only spectator of this battle, felt only pain in her heart.
'Hero...'
The sight of the hero fighting desperately to protect her. Of course, it was impressive. It was magnificent.
Even considering all the curses he carried, the scene was certainly worthy of respect.
But it was too brutal.
'Is there really a need to suffer so much...?'
Blood bursts and bones break.
Flesh gets crushed, and occasionally he coughs up blood, suggesting internal injuries. This process repeated over and over again.
Despite all this, he never once fell to his knees.
The pain he must be feeling now would be beyond her imagination.
Yet his red eyes still burned with determination. He even used the dark magic he had learned before to pressure the creature.
The Saintess couldn't help but feel powerless watching this.
'What am I even...'
While he was fighting so desperately in front of her, she couldn't provide any support. It was pathetic enough to make her sigh.
All the more reason for her to strengthen her resolve. At times like this, there was only one thing she could do.
Simply pray.
Hope and hope again that her prayers would reach heaven.
'Merciful Mother in heaven.'
Holy power gradually grew in size. She prayed to God with more desperate will than ever before.
'Please bestow your mercy upon us...'
Boom─!
Once again, a massive impact sound echoes.
Luke used magic to crush the side of the hungry ghost.
Unlike him, the hungry ghost with inferior self-healing abilities was gradually accumulating wounds.
'And give us courage to take another step forward...'
"I sacrifice my left hand to strengthen the next spell."
Slash!
Luke's left hand is deleted. Blood poured from the gap. Luke didn't stop the bleeding but directed it straight at Valkan.
Valkan, who was on top of the hungry ghost's head, was instantly soaked in blood.
"It's a blood cannon, you son of a bitch..."
Luke used his next spell in that state.
['Blood Power Conversion' is activated!]
[Combined with 'Fireball'!]
[Your spilled blood gains fire properties!]
Whoosh!
The blood turns to oil and begins to burn.
The hot air created a heat haze around them. Through it, the screaming Insect King could be seen.
'Finally, grant us a measure of strength to vanquish evil.'
After a long time.
How much time had passed?
At last, dawn began to break.
Sunlight pushed away the dark night sky, illuminating beyond the horizon. Sunlight is the mercy bestowed by the Goddess.
The holy power Yulice had gathered surged and rose toward the sky.
There's a common misconception.
That a Saintess is a character who can only provide buffs or healing.
That's not true.
At least as far as Luke knew, there was no one more formidable as an enemy than a Saintess.
Whoosh...
In an instant, part of her holy power moved toward the Insect King, and a strange symbol appeared above him.
Brand of Sin.
A skill that marks the target as an enemy of the world, adding extra damage to all elemental attacks they receive.
While this was essentially the Saintess's highest-tier debuff skill,
today's main event wasn't this.
Rumble!
The dawn sky gradually opened up.
The clear rising sky was revealing what was 'above' the sky.
A part of the divine.
More precisely, 'Her' attack.
A skill that brings down a divine strike through desperate prayer.
Divine Punishment.
The touch of the Almighty She will burn all demons in the world.
Soon, a massive pile of light began to descend from the sky toward the hungry ghost and the Insect King.
Fwaaaah!!
And so the world was dyed white.
*
Eeeeeeee-
I think I hear a ringing sound.
The light that came down from the sky was both warm and a little hot.
Even though Yulice was a servant of the Goddess, such an enormous power inevitably had some effect.
"...Hero!"
As soon as her vision somewhat returned, Yulice immediately looked for Luke.
The hungry ghost and the Insect King?
She didn't worry about them. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was their charred corpses.
The hero was more important than that.
She herself was fine, being a servant of the divine. The party members were also far enough away to avoid damage.
But the hero was different.
He was at the closest proximity to the enemy. He must have been caught in it.
She had designated the target with the Brand of Sin, but the destructive power wasn't merciful enough to be selective.
Indeed, looking around, she found the hero unconscious with burns all over his body.
Seeing his chest rise and fall, he was still breathing. Though his breathing was a bit unstable, as if his lungs might have been burned.
"Hero!!"
As soon as she discovered him, she ran straight to him.
The smell of burning flesh stung her nose as she approached.
His recovery rate was slow.
The "Regeneration" skill was still active, but its efficiency seemed to have decreased from overuse.
Startled, she immediately began healing.
She removed the residual poison in his body with "Purification" and helped his body heal with holy power.
Perhaps because she had used too much holy power today, her head throbbed.
Even her vast ocean of holy power was starting to show its limits after such overexertion.
Every time she drew light from her body, she felt dizzy and her insides twisted. But she continued the treatment regardless.
This level of pain was nothing compared to what he had felt.
"Thank you for saving us..."
It was a difficult battle. Too difficult to express in simple words.
While her contribution wasn't small, if someone had to be named the MVP, it would undoubtedly be him.
He was the one who devised the plan, created the growth environment, and endured until the final blow, even sacrificing his lifespan.
If he hadn't been there, no one would be breathing here now. Once again, she had received a debt she could never repay.
"So please, wake up..."
The Saintess sat there continuing to heal him for a long time.
Of course, with time, his regeneration might take care of it anyway.
But that didn't matter. Right now, she just wanted to ease his pain even a little.
Was it effective? Gradually, his breathing began to stabilize. The smell of burnt flesh faded, and the soot on his skin disappeared.
At the very least, he had passed the crisis.
"Haah... thank goodness...!"
Relieved, she immediately embraced Luke.
It wasn't a calculated action but an instinctive one. When people are extremely happy, don't they want to hug something?
She still felt like bugs were crawling all over her when she approached him.
She ignored it. There were no bugs around anymore.
She still saw the Insect King's unpleasant skin and heard his voice when she touched him.
She ignored it. The Insect King had died gloriously.
She just... wanted to rest comfortably with him now.
Yulice felt Luke's faint warmth and passed out right there.
Above Luke's peacefully sleeping face, a system window had appeared.
[Congratulations!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Due to your amazing mental strength, the 'Indomitable' skill has been created!]
[Quest completed!]
[You have acquired 'Insect Arts'!]
.
.
.
[May fortune accompany your path ahead.]