Published: August 3, 2025
“Shrine Maiden Apprentice!”
Darmel’s face changed as he raised the Glowing Baton and stood between me and the count. With Darmel protecting my right side, I continued pouring mana into the head priest, who was twisting his face in triumphant arrogance.
“It’s useless.”
The head priest said that and let out a low laugh. Then, faint yellow started to appear in the black mana stone, accompanied by a small cracking sound. Thin cracks spread across the smooth sphere of the mana stone, one after another.
Ignoring the astonished head priest, I stared fixedly at the mana stone, continuing to pour in my mana. It quickly changed from black to a pale yellowish color.
“...W-what!?”
The black color vanished, replaced by pale yellow, making it look almost golden. The cracked mana stone flashed dazzlingly once, then began to crumble like sand.
The head priest’s eyes widened to their fullest, his lips trembling as he stared at the mana stone, now sand slipping through his fingers. Meanwhile, I kept channeling mana toward him.
“Myne, what are you... guah!”
The head priest looked at me with bloodshot eyes but was overwhelmed by my pressure. Clutching his chest, he vomited blood. Just as I prepared to press my mana further, I heard Darmel’s painful groan.
“Ugh!”
Turning around, I saw Darmel drop to his knees. His hand lost strength; the Glowing Baton slipped from his grasp and vanished into the air. Slowly, his body tilted and collapsed.
“Master Darmel!?”
I hurriedly ran to him and heard labored breathing, but he was unconscious. Calling “Master Darmel, Master Darmel…” only drew faint groans in response.
“With such weak mana, a knight is pitiful…”
The toad sneered at Darmel with a sly grin, snorting disdainfully.
Darmel was in danger. Looking around for help, I saw the three enemy men; two were out cold, and only one wobbly remained.
My father grabbed the back of the man’s head and slammed him onto the floor like a basketball dunk. Leaving the man unconscious and white-eyed on the ground, my father, protecting his powerless left arm, headed toward me.
“Myne!”
“Father…”
Fran, injured during the fight with the men, leaned against the door leading to the noble gate, breathing heavily.
The head priest, affected by my mana pressure, was crouching on the spot, coughing up blood. The gray shrine maiden attendant looked flustered near the head priest. Delia held the limp Dirk, motionless.
Only the count and I stood there relatively unscathed. Amid this chaos, suddenly, the door to the high priest’s room opened.
The high priest, who was said to be absent, came out and widened his eyes in shock at the corridor’s devastation.
“What on earth is going on!?”
Certainly, anyone would be shocked if, right outside their room, injured people who looked like corpses were sprawled about. But why hadn’t the high priest noticed all the commotion outside until now? That was the real mystery.
“I told Arnaud was absent. Why is he here!?”
“Even if you ask why…I told Arnaud to say he was absent. He really couldn’t meet anyone if they came to his room, so I didn’t lie.”
The head priest’s voice turned upside down, but the high priest calmly replied. Since he was inside that room but unreachable, he was undoubtedly holed up in the scolding room. That room, accessed via mana, was completely sealed off, and no noise from outside penetrated.
The high priest raised his eyebrows lightly and looked around. When our eyes met, he glanced at me sharply, and I quietly hid behind my father. He might have realized I had lost control of my mana. Holding my breath, fearing a painful interrogation while tied to a chair, the high priest pressed his temple and turned back to the head priest.
“Head priest, more than myself, I want an explanation for this situation. There seems to be an unfamiliar person inside the temple—who exactly is he?”
But the head priest refused to answer, merely glaring back. The count no longer held the Glowing Baton, but with a proud expression, he stared at the high priest, laughing in his belly.