Chapter 78

– Evan! Wake up! Evan!

“Ugh…”

Evan opened his eyes at the voice calling him.

“What’s going on… ugh…”

As he tried to sit up, he flinched at the pain coursing through his body.

However, it wasn’t severe enough to prevent him from rising, so Evan let out a sigh and exerted himself to stand up. Fortunately, it seemed that there were no serious injuries, as he only felt a slight pain and had no issues moving.

– Are you okay…?

At the worried question from the Sacred Sword, Esther, Evan nodded.

What had happened?

The last memory that surfaced was of the ground he was standing on collapsing beneath him, causing him to fall into an endless, deep darkness, and feeling a warm energy enveloping him as he fell.

The sensation of warmth wrapping around his body…

Could it be that Aria had fallen with him…?

“Where’s Aria…?”

– Ah… well…

Esther hesitated at Evan’s question.

What had happened?

Evan looked around with a dazed expression.

But in this place, which was a deep pit that was so dark that no light could penetrate, he couldn’t see anything.

“Esther… can you provide some light?”

Evan asked Esther, thinking that if there were monsters lurking in the deep darkness, it wouldn’t matter whether there was light or not.

– Well… it’s better not to turn it on right now…

However, Esther kept trying to deflect the request, saying it would be better not to.

Evan’s anxiety grew stronger, and he shouted at Esther.

“Quickly!”

Eventually, unable to withstand Evan’s insistence, Esther said she didn’t know what to do anymore and converted her remaining magic power into divine power to cast a light.

And what came into view…

Evan looked down into the pit with a blank expression.

Perhaps due to the fall from a great height, a bloodied girl’s corpse, twisted at unnatural angles with clothes torn here and there, was lodged in the pit.

– This is why I said I didn’t want this…

“…”

Evan was at a loss for words.

– Still, thanks to the Saint’s power, it seems like some recovery has occurred, but it looks like there was no time to cast protections and buffs on myself after granting you all of them…

He couldn’t remember exactly where they had fallen from, but he was certain that they had fallen from a very high place.

Even though the time of the fall felt long, if she hadn’t had time to protect herself, how many shields and buffs had she cast?

It was only natural that falling from that height to this hard, rugged ground would yield such a result.

If Aria hadn’t cast any protections or buffs, she would probably be like…

“Ugh…”

Evan felt the urge to vomit rise within him.

Aria would come back to life anyway.

With the powers of the Saint, she essentially had an immortal ability… not only could she heal any injury in an instant, but she could even resurrect the dead.

Having such powers meant that she could have cast protections on herself to survive without dying, even after bringing her own dead self back to life.

But Aria hadn’t done that.

Though it would have been perfectly fine for her to prioritize herself and bless herself, she was the first to worry for him and cast blessings on him.

“…”

Evan quietly approached Aria.

He looked at his own body for a moment.

It was all thanks to Aria that he had fallen from such a height and come out largely unscathed.

‘This is all because of me.’

He couldn’t turn his back on this situation.

He approached Aria’s bloodied corpse.

The rising divine power began to heal Aria’s body, but it was still a slow process.

“Esther… how long have I been unconscious?”

“Not long. About 10 minutes.”

“Is that so.”

Perhaps because he wasn’t certain, Aria had said she cast all manners of blessings and the highest-tier protections on him.

Moreover, this place was a dark realm where sunlight barely reached, deep within the magical realm.

With the remaining divine power nearly depleted and healing taking time, they couldn’t stay here any longer.

After all, a loud noise had been made, and as Esther had said, they were currently in a situation where the light might attract the monsters’ curiosity.

If that happened, escaping would become impossible, so the only option was to find a way out before the monsters were drawn to them.

Evan made a decision and lifted Aria.

The thick blood smeared on his clothes and arms made him feel uneasy, and the ruined clothing combined with the limp body sent shivers down his spine, but Evan held firm.

He had to buy as much time for recovery as possible.

*

I made a mistake.

I never expected her to resurrect so quickly.

Given everything that had happened, it was unexpected, and I should have prepared for an early resurrection.

But I acted as if there would be a usual resurrection without any preparation despite experiencing all these unexpected events.

This was too careless of me.

‘Monsters don’t typically resurrect due to other beings interfering…’

It wasn’t some other Demon King Army resurrecting her, nor was it anyone else residing in the magical realm.

It was only once the seal was broken, when her power strengthened to the point that the seal could no longer hold, that the resurrection would take effect.

This had been the game’s setting.

I didn’t know the exact reason, but the recovery was accelerating, which meant she resurrected sooner than planned.

It was virtually impossible to explain that someone had intervened.

‘Now is not the time to be thinking about that…’

I could see nothing, and my body felt languid.

Having cast all kinds of blessings and protections on Evan had drained all my divine power.

To think it would deplete so quickly, but the blessings I cast on him were top-tier and extremely taxing, so I didn’t have a choice.

This place was a magical realm.

What would I do if a monster appeared after I only protected him while he fell and then came back to eat him?

Although I could die several times over already, Evan was likely still alive thanks to my protections.

I had cast a protection intended to last after I fell to prevent such a situation.

Along with that, I cast long-lasting blessings to prepare for the appearance of any monsters, so it was only natural for my divine power to deplete rapidly since I hadn’t yet awakened.

‘… I can’t see anything.’

I regained enough consciousness to question that, but as I was still focused on recovering, my divine power detection wasn’t functioning properly.

I couldn’t even feel any thoughts welling up, giving me the eerie feeling of being alone in this vast world.

Most importantly…

‘C-Cold…’

Given that the magical realm itself was a winter region where snowstorms raged all year round, falling into an endlessly deep abyss beneath it had left me freezing.

However…

‘Heat…?’

The cold should’ve been extreme enough to freeze me to death, but strangely, it was only within a bearable range.

And little by little, I began to feel a warm sensation.

This was fire.

‘What’s happening…’

I couldn’t tell without my divine power detection. I might be close to something that seemed like fire, but it wasn’t the time to worry about that.

Where had the fire gone?

‘Ah…’

Leaving me alone like this feels wrong…

No matter how much of a masochist or a trash saint I may be, endlessly dying alone in a place like this was pushing the limits.

Even I would find that terrifying.

Up to now, I had enjoyed pain as pleasure while defeating the Demon King with the premise of returning without worry.

To be honest, I was very scared.

“E-Eh… Ugh…”

Maybe that’s why I find myself reaching out and flailing toward a potential presence.

It looked a bit ridiculous.

Then, I felt someone grab my hand firmly.

Only then did I feel a sense of relief.

Once my divine power recovered, there would surely be a way out of here…

Even if there seemed to be no path from the outside, a route back to the surface definitely existed.

I didn’t know how it had collapsed, but I had to check once.

After all, there had been paths even after resurrection in the game, so I had to believe there was still a way.

‘For now, I should take a short break…’

Staying awake would slow down my recovery.

I tightened my grip on the hand I was holding and began to drift into sleep.

Could it be Evan’s hand?

It was thick… veined… and calloused too.

Was this the hand of a knight?

I slowly started to feel drowsy.

Just for a moment… I should sleep…