Taming the Evil Saintess

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It was a long defensive battle.

At the fortress entrance, we were blocking a horde of monsters pouring in like crazy, filling the narrow corridor.

Up front, Azar held his ground steadfastly, Emily’s incineration magic burned them away, and Archery Master Erwin’s spirit arrows pierced through the monsters, but it was still overwhelming for just the three of us.

Moreover, the Plague Lord’s minions all carried deadly poison.

“Golden Lion, you good?”

Azar, covered in the pouring blood of monsters, looked more like a beast than a human. He was poisoned with a dosage that would be lethal for any average human being.

Yet, even with his eyesight blurred from the poison, his axe and shield precisely targeted the monsters.

While secretly amazed at his skill, Erwin couldn’t deny the grim state of battle.

Her arrows had both power and precision, but she was weak against sheer numbers. Azar’s axe technique didn’t consider facing multiple foes either.

At least, the next Archmage’s magic was effectively burning the monsters, but like most casters, they had a problem with sustain.

“Hey, kid. How long can you hold out?”

“…If it’s a large-scale spell, maybe five times? No, if I push it, maybe seven? I don’t know. I’ve never squeezed out this much mana before. Huh.”

Though she spoke with apparent ease, Emily Barried’s face was already pale.

It indicated she had reached her limit.

“This is bad.”

I couldn’t help but grow annoyed at Wuzmund, who was lying on the sleeping bag at the forward base.

Why did he come along on this journey?

“Well, it’s partly because of that guy’s brother.”

Erwin sighed as she nocked an arrow to her bowstring. Just as she was about to pull the string back, she frowned.

The monsters’ behavior was odd. They suddenly scattered, and some of them were huddling together and spinning around. It was an obvious anomaly compared to before.

Monsters. Though they lacked intelligence, they retained sharp instincts.

So there must be some valid causal relationship to their visible behavior.

“…Ah.”

At the same time, Erwin realized the reason.

Beyond the fortress’s doorway, she saw an expansive sky.

And right in the middle, a black shape loomed.

A pair of flapping wings. Giant teeth. Eyes with vertically-slit pupils, glowing red.

The sight, fit for ancient cave murals, was unfolding right before Erwin’s eyes.

“Do dragons really grow that fast?”

“I don’t know…”

The Black Dragon, now twice as massive since she last saw it before leaving, was overlooking the monsters from above the fortress, and the monsters were panicking at the dragon’s appearance.

They weren’t recognizing the Dragon as a danger and panicking because of it.

This was a characteristic of the Dragon race.

Namely…

“Dragon Fear.”

Azar said.

He was already looking up at the floating Black Dragon, Blackie, with his shield lowered.

“It’s an unearthly hostility that only high-ranking dragons can unleash. It doesn’t affect us, but for low-tier monsters…”

[Keek!]

With a shriek that seemed like it would rip the air, the monsters scattered.

A few of them, sprinting in panic, tumbled down the mountainside outside the fortress, crashing against rocks and dying on impact.

Watching that unfold, Azar shrugged off the blood and poison clinging to his body.

“For them, it’ll be the first time feeling true fear.”

“Wow…”

Emily gasped, and the flying dragon nodded as if asking for praise.

Azar laughed heartily at that scene, while Erwin nocked an arrow onto her bowstring.

“Let’s deal with the stragglers first.”

It was obvious that the monsters fleeing would head south.

To prevent further damage, we had to wipe them all out.

*

Plague Lord Vermina.

Jokingly dubbed the Plague KIng, Vermina was rather popular among the enemies in the Demon King’s Army.

Her backstory as an Elf made her somewhat attractive, and her difficulty level wasn’t too high. As she was one of the first bosses encountered when playing conventionally, the items she dropped were quite excellent, prompting players to keep resetting to hunt her down.

Coined as “Plague Run.”

The Plague Lord’s fortress had a maze-like structure, requiring memorization of the layout to conduct a effective Plague Run.

And I was no exception, having played the game dozens of times myself.

“Hey, Elliot. How do you know all this?”

“Well… my body remembers.”

“Your body?”

“Just think of it as a Possessor’s perk.”

Though it was ten years since I possessed, I could clearly remember the quarter-view minimap on the game screen. And that memory became my legal map hack, guiding my way.

“Here’s the left path.”

As I recalled the memories, Ophelia, who had clung onto me like a cicada, tightened her grip on my shoulder.

“Hey, can you really fight Vermina alone?”

“Not alone. You’re with me.”

“No, I said earlier. I’m just a burden right now….”

“Well, if we run into Cecilia or Albrecht, we can team up, or we can just fight among ourselves.”

Of course, I didn’t think I could take down Plague Lord Vermina easily. She was a boss of the Demon King’s Army, so we would have to prepare for some serious losses.

But I was a hero now, albeit a half-baked one. I could still use Marks.

That was enough.

“Don’t worry. I won’t die.”

“Right. If you die, I’ll make sure to kill you myself.”

“I’m already dead, how are you going to kill me?”

“I told you before, I said I’d learn Dark Magic. You’ll become a zombie and die at my hands.”

That was a chilling ambition.

“And besides, there are Gears. If you die, I die too.”

“Yeah. Then I’ll just commit suicide.”

“Huh?”

As expected, sensing her displeasure, Ophelia snapped her mouth shut and bit down on my shoulder.

After a while of venting her frustration, Ophelia finally released her bite.

“So, what about that Cecilia girl?”

“By now, she’s probably wandering around the fortress. She’s directionally challenged.”

“She’s directionally challenged?”

“Big time.”

Given that she had the directionally challenged trait as a unique trait in the game, it was quite evident.

It would be difficult to hope for Cecilia’s help.

Instead, she would probably roam around the fortress, clearing out the remnants of the demons, and this wasn’t too bad either.

“Then what about Sword Saint?”

“I don’t know. But looking at this mess…”

“This guy, how much havoc has he caused?”

Ophelia muttered.

Just as she said, inside the fortress was a total wreck. Collapsed pillars and floors, and crumbled walls.

The bloody scars scattered throughout bore witness to Albrecht’s handiwork.

They showed just how fierce the battle with Aaron had been.

“Hey, you don’t think Albrecht died, do you?”

“He definitely didn’t die.”

The Sword Saint was not the kind of person to die here.

So I chose to ignore it and moved on.

As we approached deeper, the resistance of the stationed demons became fiercer. They lay in ambush in every passageway, targeting us.

No wonder they were seasoned and meticulous in their ambush compared to ordinary demons, given they were subordinates of a high-ranking officer in the Demon King’s Army…

“Hey, Elliot.”

“What?”

“I’m just realizing… you really kill demons well.”

Ophelia said with genuine admiration.

It was just when I had just dispatched a squabbling group of four demons.

I tilted my head as I wiped the filthy demon blood off my sword.

“Why do you say that all of a sudden?”

“Well… I mean, it feels different from when you usually fight.”

“Different?”

“…I suppose it feels scary.”

At those words, I turned to Ophelia, furrowing my brow in confusion. There was a silver-haired girl avoiding my gaze for some reason.

“What’s scary?”

“Um… when you face demons, it’s less like fighting, and more like hunting….”

“…What?”

“I suppose it feels like… hatred.”

Ophelia and I locked eyes.

Her green pupils contracted slightly.

“…Hmm.”

I certainly couldn’t deny that.

Having survived fiercely up north for so long, many people had died along the way, including comrades. Naturally, I bore a grudge against the demons. This was true for warriors like Laila as well.

Thus, we in the mercenary group researched to find the most effective ways to kill demons.

Right now, I might be the best at fighting demons on the continent.

“It’s alright, Ophelia.”

Seeing her trembling in fear, I tussled her bangs and gave her forehead a light tap.

“Trust me. The two of us can defeat Vermina somehow.”

“…I’m just a burden…”

Though she said that herself, Ophelia had already performed miracles by taking down Lieutenant Petinus all by herself.

“Ophelia, you need a bit more self-confidence.”

After all, who would call such a monster a burden?

“Let’s go.”

I turned my head.

“Just beyond here.”

The long corridor leading to the highest level.

That was where Plague Lord Vermina would be.