Chapter 197: Escape
The hem of the bulky priestess uniform had been severed long ago. Elenora Runes rushed across the woodland, her silky thighs bare. Her speed was astounding. It was similar to how elves rushed through the forest. However, the knights chasing her were also quick.
Swoosh!
When Elenora heard the wind, she launched herself forward without looking back. There was a precipitous fall below. As she hurled her body into the air, she whirled, allowing Elenora to see what was flying behind her. It was a crossbow bolt with a strong line connected to a pole.
The bolt’s tip was sharp, but as it struck the skin, it broke into four prongs that repaired it. It was a hunting arrow meant to catch creatures.
‘I knew it, but. . .’
She bit her red, plump lips to prepare for the shock, and then a stinging pain blasted her spine. Elenora rolled around.
Elenora fell into a brook near the end of the slope. She lifted her head slowly, listening to the stream’s bubbling sound. Her entire body hurt. But she was unable to stop.
“There! She fell down. “
“Go down! We need to catch her again!”
Elenora, having regained her strength and wrapped it around her body, began running again. The chase continued. The woodland, which was not even lit by the full moon, emitted white sweat. It was foggy.
The fog was neither dense nor thin. Elenora didn’t lose her way as she sprinted into the fog, which hung like a veil. There was no map in her head; instead, she was given intuition that functioned as a compass. She shifted her body based on that intuition.
“It is fog! We can’t see properly!”
“Spread out! She couldn’t have gone far! You, you, and you, go that way and there! The rest of you, follow me!”
The pursuers’ voices resonated through the fog. The sound was so brilliantly reflected that it appeared to be right next to her.
Elenora refused to stop, even though her breath was running out. The infinite succession of trees and the foam of fog. She felt like she was running in place because all of the trees looked the same.
Suddenly, a knight in armor appeared in the fog. Elenora reached behind her shoulders. She felt a firm grip and swung it.
“She’s right━!”
The knight, who was hit in the face with a mace, collapsed, spilling blood. Before becoming a saintess, Elenora had attended knighthood training. She has also gone throughout the continent, visiting places without priests.
Of course, no one would leave a lovely woman like Elenora alone, so she had gathered enough strength to defend herself.
She kept running, leaving behind the fallen knight. However, the sound she produced while fighting with one pursuer led the other knights to predict her whereabouts. Soon, she was stopped by the knights who had encircled her.
There was silence for a moment, interrupted only by the sound of each other’s breathing. The knights, who had sprinted in their armor, stared at Elenora, their cheeks flushed with crimson and sweat falling like rain.
A knight strode up, with a shaggy beard and sagging cheeks. Unlike the other knights, he wore a red epaulet over his left shoulder.
“Huff, huff, please, turn back, Saintess, huff, huff.”
“Huff, turn back where? To the Church’s Dungeon? Or a brothel? Or my room, perhaps?”
“Of course, to the prayer chamber, Saintess. There are many believers awaiting your touch.”
Elenora snorted.
“They’re just old men who want to postpone death by any means possible. What are believers? Are their offerings that good?”
“You speak out of turn, Saintess.”
“It will become worse, so wipe your ears and listen carefully, Ibot. If this is what a saintess is, I would not be a candidate. Even worse is the abuse of priests who allow young boys and girls to enter their rooms every day and indulge in lust. Why should I even bother for those who are as disgusting as your hypocrisy?”
Ibot’s lips trembled in response to her stinging comments. Elenora was already aware of the Grand Church’s corruption, even if it had not been made public.
“It is not my fault that you have lost your holy powers. It is your fault for shouting for repentance until you lose your voice while failing to look in the mirror. If you don’t confront that reality first, the Lord will not give you his light in the future.”
“I can’t take this any longer, Saintess. We’ll hear the rest at the Grand Church.
Ibot raised a hand. Despite being named knights, none of them knew how to wield holy power. They had trained their physical power as knights and perfected their swordsmanship, but their hearts were devoid of compassion.
The knights’ eyes were filled with wicked longing as they approached with a gasp. The saintess standing in front of them was a woman with a stunning face that was difficult to conceal even with grime and sweat.
Her blonde hair appeared to have been spun from gold, and her pupils shone blue like sapphires. The priestess uniform, which had been shredded and torn on tree branches, was wet in water, exposing Elenora’s luscious figure.
Elenora’s eyes, which were staring at the knights approaching like wild hounds, seemed far away.
‘Big brother Hailyn.’
She had never missed anyone more than him, who had been the most loyal and kind to his younger sister. It had been nearly a year since she had seen his face fully, but he was still gone.
“Saintess, don’t resist. . . Ack!”
The knight, who had been advancing behind Elenora with a sword handle in one hand and attempting to seize her shoulder, shouted and fell out. Nobody knew when she swung her mace, which struck the knight’s breastplate.
The knight, whose breastplate was slightly dented, fluttered about the ground a few times before collapsing and passing out. It was caused by the shock that penetrated the armor.
The head of the mace, which was constructed of numerous iron plates interlocking with one another, began to gleam with a brilliant golden light.
Elenora, who now had a yellow light flashing through her blue eyes, spoke.
“Come on, you bastards.”
With her shout, the remaining knights all rushed in at the same time. However, it was inefficient for individuals who hadn’t even practiced good swordsmanship to rush in. This was because their attack trajectories collided.
With a loud bang, two knights, whose scabbards collided, spewed out angry remarks.
“Damn it, get out of the way!”
“You get out of the way!”
Bang, Bang!
Elenora rolled her body forward after hitting the two knights’ heads with her mace. The sword that had fallen late struck the poor floor. The knights had to fight while holding their weapons sheathed.
“It is the bishop’s order! We must not kill her!”
Ibot, whose face contorted like a devil, roared and swung his sword without drawing it, as did the others. It wasn’t as dangerous as a sword, but it was heavier than a blunt instrument and powerful enough to break rocks.
She had managed to take down one from the fog and one by surprise, but there were still six left. Their training as knights was unparalleled, and they had the vision to boost their stamina and strength with heavenly power.
However, they couldn’t easily bring Elenora to her knees.
“Light, come to this place, and behold!”
As the clear voice resounded, Elenora’s left palm emitted a vast amount of light. For a brief instant, the light blazed with the density of the sun, clearing the fog and darkness and turning the surroundings white.
“Close your eyes! You cannot open them!”
The knights hurled themselves to the ground, hands covering their faces, in response to Ibot’s desperate plea. A few of the knights couldn’t.
“Eeeeeek! Oh, my eyes!”
“I can’t see!! I can’t see!”
The two knights, who had lost their sight, stumbled around and collapsed on the ground. Elenora, who was still radiating a powerful light from her left hand, swung her mace to silence them.
Then Ibot intervened. He charged forward, holding the shield he had been carrying on his back. Elenora, who had been hit by the shield, fell back, and the flash of light faded.
The surroundings returned to darkness as the light that had previously lit one side of the forest vanished. Perhaps because they had previously been exposed to such brilliant light, the darkness in the forest appeared thicker than before.
Ibot, who had kept his eyes tightly shut, chanted the prescribed incantation as soon as he realized the light was gone. Then his gut grew hot, and an unbelievable force began to flow through his blood vessels.
“Kreeek!”
Ibot swung his scabbard, replacing his painful groan with a roar. Elenora, who had just moved out of her fallen posture to avoid the scabbard, hardened her expression.
“This feeling is for you! Did you keep demonic power in your body?
“Heh heh. I just realized how inefficient it was to consume power that could be accessed with permission. Demonic power does not ask for much. There is no faithfulness, compassion, or control of desire. Rather, it asks for more. I am someone who deserves it.”
Ibot murmured, drooling out of his mouth. It was more like talking to himself than answering Elenora’s questions.
Elenora realized she’d been biting her lips hard after tasting blood. She was well aware that the Grand Church was becoming increasingly corrupt and depraved. If even a simple knight commander had grown corrupt and housed dark magic in his body, it must have reached a point of no return.
As Ibot unleashed his dark magic first, the other knights did not hide their own strength. Five knights, including Ibot, approached her slowly, projecting an awful aura.
“The sun and starlight do not reach this location. It will be tough to summon that odd holy power anymore. Be captured obediently. Your life is worth less than a cheap prost*tute, the day you’ll be—keuk!”
As Ibot spoke with a cruel smile, a sword hilt suddenly protruded from his chest. No, a sword had flown in and pierced his chest.
Ibot clutched the handle of the sword that had pierced his chest with both hands, blood flowing from the corners of his mouth. Then he fell backward and collapsed. The sword that had penetrated his back slid across the floor, the hilt protruding forward.
“Ru-batar! Grant me the power to defeat these vile monsters!”
From the darkness of the forest, a man emerged, radiating a brilliant radiance. With brown hair and a lean body clad in broken armor, the man charged forward, wielding a rectangular shield in one hand.
A white letter flashed on the shield in a flash and struck the fallen knights.
The knights took a step back, striking the letters flying like arrows of light with their scabbards. Some tripped, fell, or toppled over, unable to control their own bodies.
Elenora understood; she didn’t know what it was, but now was her chance. As she chanted the prayer, the thin golden strings of letters on her skin became active and flowed like waves.
The undulating strings of letters quickly rose from her toes and fingertips, dyeing the mace Elenora was clutching. A massive hammer of light appeared over the mace, tracing the shape of light.
Elenora grabbed it and dashed towards the knights, who were flailing. When she struck the flying scabbard and breastplate, they dented as if hit by a pile driver and flew away, knocking down three trees.
Aside from its force, the hammer was light and weightless in her grasp. Elenora swung the hammer without bending her waist or knees because its trajectory and power would not change when it impacted the floor.
Soon, only the groans of the knights, who had transformed into blood clots, floated low like fog.
“Are you not going to kill them?”
“They’ll have a hard time surviving in this forest anyway, since their limbs have been torn apart.”
She turned her head after deactivating her holy power. Elenora frowned as she looked at the man with brown hair.
“Who are you? Your face appears familiar, but. . .
“Ah, I’m late with my greetings, Saintess.”
The man kneeled on one knee and bowed.
“My name is Jess Chamber. I was a squire to Sir Hailyn and a training knight by his side.”
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