Chapter 270: Righteous Radiance


    The Righteous Radiance lifted her head.


    The church was dark, like the night sky, and in the center stood a statue that looked like her.


    The figure of a lion, shrouded in darkness.


    It felt as if the statue was foreshadowing her own future, and without realizing it, the Righteous Radiance gritted her teeth.


    But thoughts don’t always follow logic, and emotions don’t always obey reason—not even for a god.


    No matter how determined one is, anxiety is like poison. Just one drop could spread through the entire body.


    What if… she failed to resist the descent? If she ceased to be herself, what would be the difference from death?


    At this moment, the Righteous Radiance understood why humans believe in gods and why they pray.


    The uncertainty about the future, the fear of a reality too overwhelming for one’s own strength to handle, and the desperate hope that one cannot let go.


    It’s only natural to want to lean on someone.


    If she had been told to die fighting, she wouldn’t have felt this miserable.


    But the thought that one day she might lose control and destroy everything she had tried to protect with her own hands was slowly eating away at her mind.


    The Righteous Radiance’s ears and tail drooped as the light in her eyes faded.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    The back wall of the church exploded.


    “???”


    Startled, the Righteous Radiance jumped to her feet just as light began to fill the church.


    But in her current state, she didn’t notice the lion statue regaining its original color or the reconnection with its true self.


    No, she couldn’t, because a far more shocking scene was unfolding through the broken wall.


    The curtain was disintegrating like mud, and shards of holy power fell like snow.


    And in the middle of it all was a man, smiling weakly.


    “You were sote, I came to greet you.”


    “Hic!”


    The Righteous Radiance didn’t know what had happened.


    She didn’t know why Yandel was bleeding from his nose and mouth, or why, despite being a magician, he was leaking holy power from his body.


    She knew nothing.


    But one thing was certain.


    The possibility she had given up on long ago had be a reality right before her eyes.


    Yes, as if by miracle.


    The Righteous Radiance murmured as if entranced.


    “Groooowl…”


    A growl whose meaning only she knew.


    <hr>


    “Groooowl…”


    The Righteous Radiance, still staring nkly at me while hupping, let out a random animal sound.


    Was she that shocked?


    No, there was something more urgent to deal with right now.


    “Um…”


    “Grrng?! Wh-what is it?!”


    I spread my arms toward the Righteous Radiance, who responded with an oddly creaky voice.


    “…?”


    Confused, the Righteous Radiance hesitantly approached and hugged me tightly.


    A soft sensation enveloped me. It was the familiar divine aura of Helena. The twitching ears in front of me were unfamiliar, though.


    They were made of light, so I thought they were just an illusion, but they felt like real lion ears.


    The fur was soft, and there was even a faint animal scent…


    Ah, this is no time to be thinking about that.


    “Ahem. Righteous Radiance?”


    “Sniff?”


    “Why did you suddenly hug me…?”


    “Didn’t you ask for it?”


    “I was asking for healing.”


    “……”


    “……”


    In the awkward silence, the Righteous Radiance quickly released me and, avoiding my gaze, ced her hand on my chest.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Bright light emanated from her delicate hands, absorbing into my body, and the pain that felt like shards of ss inside me quickly subsided.


    “Phew, I feel much better now.”


    I tried to lighten the mood with a more rxed smile, but the Righteous Radiance’s face didn’t seem to ease.


    “…Your condition is far worse than it looks. It’s not visible, but there’s arge hole right in the middle of your body. Do you understand?”


    “Well, I did push myself a little too hard. But I’m okay for now, right?”


    “No. You forcefully tore off the blessing I gave you, didn’t you? This isn’t just a regr wound; if you’re not careful, it could cause serious problems. Don’t try to fight anymore.”


    “Really…?”


    “Really. The blessing is originally ced somewhere between the soul and body. Tearing it off roughly like that can damage both.”


    The Righteous Radiance exined that while my body had mostly been healed, parts of my soul were still ragged and torn.


    Did I mess up?


    I started feeling uneasy, but the Righteous Radiance gave a smallugh and patted my shoulder.


    “Don’t worry too much! Even though things are tough now, there’s a way to fix everything. Once this situation is over, I’ll heal you right away!”


    “Well… that’s a relief.”


    With a reassuring smile, the Righteous Radiance smirked as if to say, “Just trust me,” and infused divine power into the medallion around her neck.


    <em>Whirrr.</em>


    The medallion absorbed the divine power and began to tremble. Soon, it emitted a soft glow and projected the image of a woman into the air.


    Long white hair that reached the floor. Skin so translucent it seemed like light could pass through it. And clothes of an ancient style.


    Her closed eyelids opened, revealing emerald-colored eyes.


    Former Saintess ra bowed politely, her posture impable.


    “First of all, I want to sincerely thank you. I had resigned myself to my second death… but thanks to you, I no longer need to worry about that. At this point, you’re free to sneak a peek at my chest if you’d like?”


    “I can’t see anything.”


    “Well, a saintess would never wear clothing that shows cleavage, right?”


    ra raised her head with a yful giggle and puffed out her chest. While she was quite well-endowed, as she said, there was no exposure whatsoever.


    “…In any case, this isn’t the time to be joking around.”


    “Is it because others are fighting outside? Don’t worry. The Lord has already taken care of it.”


    “Right! I expanded the barrier a bit to protect the others fighting nearby!”


    Turning around, I saw Iona staring at the barrier with a bewildered expression, and the pdins praying with tears of gratitude.


    It seemed there was no need to worry about that side for now. However…


    “There are others in our group fighting over at the hill. They’ve prepared well, and Cardinal Gertrude and the other priests are holding the line. But we can’t just leave them alone.”


    “It’s fine. We’re not nning to just sit still either.”


    The Righteous Radiance gave a bitter smile as she headed toward the edge of the barrier and whispered to ra.


    “ra, I think I was wrong.”


    “What do you mean?”


    “Prioritizing protection and fighting defensively wasn’t the problem. But even after bringing everyone into the Great Church, I made the mistake of holding back to avoid casualties, waiting for reinforcements. It almost made things worse.”


    “Perhaps. But even if you had gone out to fight, the oue might not have changed much. It seems like the enemy came prepared for this.”


    “That could be true. But we wouldn’t have been caught off guard so easily. Even if the ones conducting the ritual were hard to find… in the end, the ritual of descent had to be activated surrounding Sris.”


    There might have been more deaths and struggles, but we wouldn’t have been overwhelmed so easily like now.


    “It’s been a long time since I’ve fought a proper battle. I must’ve gotten soft.”


    “Indeed. It’s not like the Righteous Radiance I know. May I ask why?”


    “It’s nothing major. I just got greedy. It’s inevitable that people get hurt or die in battle, but if I can save them, wouldn’t that be better? After what happened with you, ra, losing people because I assumed they could handle things on their own… once was enough.”


    “I’ve told you many times, I never held any resentment toward you, my Lord.”


    “Yeah, I know. But still, this was my selfish desire. I thought that since reinforcements woulde, and Helena, who could use my power endlessly, was here, we could get through this without losing anyone. I forgot how troublesome the followers of Evil Gods can be.”


    The Righteous Radiance chuckled, admitting that even she had growncent after 300 years.


    But suddenly, theughter stopped. Her face turned serious as she spoke coldly.


    “That’s why I’m going to do things my way from now on. Will you help me, ra?”


    “I, or rather, we, follow the will of the Lord. That faith remains unchanged, no matter the times. Please, do as you see fit.”


    “Thank you.”


    The Righteous Radiance smiled gently and took a deep breath as she red at the monsters pounding on the barrier.


    Her chest swelled, and what followed was a lion’s roar.


    <em>Krrraaaargh!!</em>


    A roar so powerful it seemed impossible for a human to produce it.


    Not just me, but even the monsters hesitated for a moment… though soon after, they started ring at us with even more intense bloodlust.


    <em>Thud! Thud! Thud!</em>


    The monsters pounded on the barrier noisily, but the Righteous Radiance remained calm as she spoke.


    “Stay back and watch. I’m going to go wild for a while.”


    It was the first time I realized that Helena could look fierce.