Ascendance of a Bookworm

As I raised my hand, trying to prevent even a drop of blood from falling, my desperate cries for help and the ring glowing occurred almost simultaneously. A streak of blue light shot up into the sky.

With a rustling of wings, something black fell from above. Boom, boom! Small impacts echoed at my feet. Looking down, I saw several black arrows stuck in the ground around me. The surrounding trombe seemed to lose their power and quieted down.

“High Priest!”

Recognizing the arrows, I looked up. A lion-like creature with large wings was diving straight toward me.

…With those arrows, I should be safe now.

But my brief relief at seeing the High Priest lasted only a few seconds. The trombe’s quietness was fleeting; the blood dripping from my hand soon reactivated them.

The trombe, which had stopped completely, began moving again, extending from my belly to my chest. New sprouts grew rapidly, wrapping tighter and tighter, squeezing my legs.

“High Priest, hurry…”

The white lion-like creature slid down, and the High Priest jumped off with surprisingly light movements for someone clad head to toe in metal armor. In his hand was a black arrow blessed by the god of darkness, meant to exterminate the trombe. Piercing the trombe repeatedly with the arrows, he made his way toward me.

“Myne, what on earth is happening here!?”

“Apprentice Shrine Maiden, sorry to keep you waiting!”

Darmel, who seemed finally blessed by the god of darkness, began struggling to rescue me, swinging a black knife wildly. But perhaps due to his weak mana, his efforts were completely ineffective compared to the High Priest’s black arrows. No matter how much he slashed, the trombe wouldn’t calm down.

“The blessing isn’t working at all!?”

“It’s not that it’s ineffective! The trombe just revives immediately! Why!?”

After the High Priest pierced the trombe with his arrow, it stayed quiet for a few seconds, but then it regained strength and resumed activity. Though its growth slowed, the trombe did not decay at all. The High Priest clicked his tongue in frustration as he continued stabbing it with arrows.

“High Priest, the blood—my blood—is… activating the trombe.”

“Your blood!? That’s terrible!”

Upon hearing that my blood was the cause of the trombe’s activation, the High Priest’s voice rose sharply. Just imagining his face inside his helmet, narrowing his eyes and furrowing his brows, was vivid.

“Why did you pull her away from the scene and assign guards!? What’s the point of guards!? Incompetent fools!”

He spat the words as he scolded the two knights left guarding me. Darmel fought with his black knife, while Shikikoza was struggling to gain the god of darkness’s blessing.

Ignoring their superior’s orders, threatening the ward with a blade and causing injury—that clearly was a failure as guards.

From what the High Priest said while restraining the trombe with his arrows, my mana was apparently quite substantial. He muttered that even half of the knights, armed with blessed weapons, might be ineffective against me.

“No matter how much we keep them at bay, unless we seal the wound, it’s pointless. Myne, where’s the wound!?”

“Here.”

I stretched out my left hand as far as possible. The High Priest looked at the wound, clicked his tongue lightly, and muttered “Entwaffnung.” The black bow transformed into a softly glowing tactician’s baton.

Immediately after, the High Priest whispered “Laut” and waved the baton, sending a red light shooting up toward the sky. Perhaps it was a signal, because other knights soon appeared, flying in one after another.

“It will be painful, but you must not cry. Tears and blood both contain mana, so it makes no difference.”

The High Priest warned me and slowly traced the wound with the glowing baton. As the hazy light from the baton touched the wound, my entire body shuddered.

“Ah!”

A weird discomfort and pain swept over me, as if something alien was forcibly entering my body. Goosebumps rose all over me. Natural tears welled up. I looked up and exhaled slowly, trying not to shed any tears.