The Priest Wants to Retire

EP.218 Life is a flower. Love is the nectar of that flower. (5)

For a moment, I thought I had misheard.

Like a cotton ball soaked through with water, my ears, drowning in fatigue, must have distorted the shape of words. I unconsciously made that assumption.

But that fleeting escape from reality shattered instantly under the violent heat that threatened to engulf my body and the precise sword strike from the hero.

Boom!

The flames that whipped past my skin threatened to scorch me, sending chills through my guts.

However, what shocked me the most was not the flames, but the source of them.

It was the face of a very familiar figure striding towards me from the inferno.

“Da, Dawna…?”

The wide-open view, devoid of any cover, revealed the assailant’s identity, shrouded until now in secrecy.

But the answer that strayed far from expectations did not resolve my suspicions; rather, it amplified them.

Why was she here? What on earth was she doing?

I wanted to scream those questions, but all that escaped my parched lips were ragged breaths, close to sobs.

“You…!”

Apis, equally flabbergasted, had completely forgotten my urgent command to stay silent until the treatment ended, rambling in shock.

“Stop it now! Dawna! I’m sorry!”

In this chaotic situation, the only one who seemed unaffected was the hero.

Not only that.

The hero seemed to have an inkling of why Dawna was acting this way.

I swallowed dryly.

To attack a comrade, a family member you’ve shared countless memories with, for a reason to kill…

I had been there watching their strong bond from the sidelines, and it was an unimaginable, no, something I didn’t even want to imagine.

“I’m so sorry for accidentally revealing the ending of that novel you were reading the other day! I didn’t realize it meant so much to you! I sincerely apologize! Please, forgive me!”

Retracting the statement.

It seemed the hero was equally at a loss for why Dawna was behaving this way.

“Hey! Hero! Look out! In front of you!”

“Huh?”

Through my prayer, Apis, who had regained some strength, urgently cried out.

Her index finger shot out, pointing at Dawna, and our gazes followed in collective horror.

“Arrow of golden light blessed by the sun. A spectrum of colors embracing mercy and grace. Unleash the curse hidden behind mercy upon the world. Let the formless fangs gnash at the enemy’s throat—.”

“Wait! Wait a second! Dawna!”

I called out desperately, but Dawna’s mechanical chant showed no signs of ceasing.

This was a big problem.

If my memory served correctly, that incantation was a spell of annihilation, indiscriminately wiping everything in the caster’s vicinity.

What Dawna was about to do was crystal clear.

It was her true intention.

Dawna was genuinely trying to kill the hero.

“Hey! What are you doing! Hero! Draw your sword!”

“B-but! Apis! Dawna is a comrade! She’s one of us!”

“Stop making excuses and draw it!”

Crash! Crash! Crash—!

Under Apis’ insistence, the hero reluctantly drew his sword, as terrifying projectiles assaulted him one after another.

In an instant, the clear sights were enveloped in a blinding flash, and my previously sharp consciousness was momentarily clouded.

Whoosh.

As the swirling dust began to settle, what first caught my eye was the devastation surrounding us.

The materials firmly covering the ground were a chaotic mess, a scene that could have been left by a devastating earthquake.

Hack! Hack! Y-you, Hero! Apis!

With each coughing fit saturated with blood, the throbbing pain in my throat intensified, causing my brow to furrow.

Yet even through this narrow view, I could see clearly the blue spectacle unfolding right before my eyes.

Crack!

The hero, thrusting his sword into the ground to support himself, was gazing up at Dawna, who stood above him decisively.

The juxtaposition of their figures contrasted with the memories I had of them made the reality feel unreal, bordering on the absurd.

“Hah… Hah…”

“…”

The hero, gasping for breath, was unusually showing signs of fatigue.

Now that I looked closely, his state was just as ragged as mine and Apis’.

His clothing had become rags, torn and burned.

With gaping holes, the cloak had turned into mere tattered fragments.

The armor draped over his shoulders was crumpled and utterly unrecognizable.

In contrast, Dawna’s appearance was pristine, both in her face and attire, without a single fault.

How many times had the hero gone through the unreasonable onslaught from before?

A sudden thought flashed in my mind.

“Dawna…”

“…”

The hero’s mournful call echoed in the air.

Yet Dawna remained unresponsive.

I had never seen her lustrous black eyes, reminiscent of dark pearls, emanate such a cold, soulless aura.

“Whip of dawn, clothed in moonlight’s grace.”

“—!”

The next incantation resonated even more severely, announcing to the world the immense power that spell held.

“D-Daw! Cough! Cough!”

I tried to shout with the locked throat, but the blood and pain climbing up my throat made it impossible.

Once again, the hero showed no intention of retaliating against Dawna.

It was no surprise.

As long as it was until Apis ordered it, the hero, who possessed a unique comradely bond with Dawna, would be incapable of properly launching a counterattack.

“Ugh…!”

Had he lost too much blood?

My brain felt faint and dizzy.

I couldn’t even begin to fathom why Dawna suddenly wanted to kill the hero.

The most plausible theory that came to mind was that she was being controlled by someone.

But given that Dawna had once immersed herself in black magic and possessed absolute resistance to various mental attacks, it seemed utterly ridiculous that she would fall easily into someone else’s trickery.

Moreover, someone completely seizing another’s mind took immense preparation and time, something Dawna had taught me.

Fwhoosh!

Then, from the outskirts of my vision, the majestic sound of an arrow pierced through my chaotic thoughts.

Boom!

An arrow aimed directly at Dawna’s feet interrupted her incantation, sparing the hero in that fleeting moment.

“A-Apis!”

“What are you doing! You idiot! Run!”

“Ugh! Yes, yes!”

With wide eyes showing clear shock, the hero responded precisely as Apis shouted at him.

I had worried a lot since her prayer had been interrupted, but seeing her aim at Dawna’s feet from the rubble showed that she had fortunately somewhat regained her original condition.

“Thank you! Apis! You saved me!”

Stab.

Apis shot a fierce glare at the hero who cheerfully expressed his gratitude, silently expressing her displeasure.

“Oh, you idiot. Sure, Dawna’s gone off the deep end, but why did you just stand there getting hit like a fool until it came to this? You could have knocked her out like during training!”

“What are you talking about, Apis! We use wooden swords during training! What if I pulled out a real sword and injured Dawna?!”

“If you keep the sword in the sheath, it doesn’t matter whether it’s wooden or steel! You blockhead!”

“Oh!”

How long had it been since that brain-numbing conversation started?

Suddenly, Apis took a deep breath and spoke to Dawna.

“Hey, what the hell is going on…?”

Dawna’s head creaked as she turned to face Apis.

It was the first organic reaction I had seen from her.

Yet all I felt from Dawna’s mechanical expression, devoid of emotion, was an eerie chill.

“What… Hey…”

At that moment, she spoke for the first time.

Though her voice was so faint it could hardly extinguish a candle, in our situation, that delicate sound resonated with the weight of an echo in a cave.

“Da… I will… touch you…”

“…Pardon?”

How long had the silence born from my stunned breath lasted?

Soon, the hero responded to Dawna’s words.

“That’s not allowed.”

Clutching tightly to the sword he hadn’t shown any signs of wielding just moments before.

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