Chapter 10

The power of the ogre was overwhelming.

The massive strength emanating from its bulky body was deadly even with the slightest contact.

For a moment, Curt glanced at Dannes, who had been sent flying after being struck by the ogre’s wooden club, but soon he had to flee as the ogre turned to attack him.

While the ogre’s attention was on Curt, Melina moved to where Dannes had fallen and checked on his condition.

“…!!”

It was a mess.

If it weren’t for the fact that Dannes was a warrior clad in heavy armor, he would have been dead already—his body was so badly damaged that it wouldn’t have been strange if he died right then and there.

“Cough… cough…”

“D-Dannes…! Are you okay?!”

If left like this, he would die.

Melina determined this and pulled out a low-grade potion she had used on the nun earlier from her pouch.

Due to its exorbitant price, she couldn’t carry many.

Even using an entire bottle would barely prolong his life any longer; with just half a bottle, it was merely a temporary extension.

“Dannes, you… don’t normally make these kinds of mistakes! What happened?!”

“Ugh… I’m sorry… I lost my focus for a moment…”

What could have possibly distracted him?

Melina was exasperated.

“More importantly… is that kid okay?”

“What? You mean the nun?”

“Yeah…”

“…”

Has he truly lost his mind?

When he should be focused on his own injuries, he was worried about the kid who had already taken a potion and caught her breath.

Melina’s expression twisted in frustration.

“Focus on your own wounds, you fool! If you keep this up, you’ll really die!”

He was barely hanging on thanks to the potion, and unless he used at least a mid-tier potion, he was as good as dead.

Right now, Dannes was slowly dying.

Moreover, the ogre was still raging, and with her tiny arrows, piercing its thick skin to inflict significant damage would be impossible.

She had temporarily blinded one of its eyes with a shot, but with that creature’s recovery ability, it would be back to normal in no time.

If the party had been in full strength, they might have managed to subdue the ogre without any casualties, but…

Myrna had already used an extensive bombardment spell and was exhausted, and now Dannes was seriously injured, leaving them with no options.

The only viable option was to flee.

“Cough… Leave me behind and escape, even if it’s just you guys… take the nun with you….”

“W-What are you saying…?!”

Melina shouted at Dannes, who was coughing up blood.

She knew.

She knew well enough that there was no choice but to run.

But that didn’t mean she could abandon him.

They had been together for years.

“Hurry… there’s no time. Curt won’t last long either.”

“…”

Wiping away her tears, Melina turned to look at Curt.

He was shouting, channeling his magic to grab the ogre’s attention.

Curt wouldn’t hold out much longer.

“Make sure you stay alive. I will definitely come to save you. If you die, I’ll chase after you and kill you myself.”

“Huh… that’s a bit scary….”

There was no time to waste.

What was the best she could do in this situation? After a moment’s thought, Melina concluded that her only option was to shoot an arrow at the other eye to blind it completely.

With Curt drawing its attention and only exhibiting one-dimensional movements, predicting its actions was overly easy.

Aiming didn’t take long.

Swoosh!

– Grrrooooaarr!

Once again, the arrow found its mark perfectly in the ogre’s remaining eye.

Bam! Bam!

With both eyes attacked, the ogre started rampaging, covering its face with its hands.

“Now…!”

Now that it was blind and causing chaos, it was the perfect timing to escape.

As Melina thought that, she glanced momentarily at Dannes, then prepared to head toward Curt.

Then it happened.

“《… Lightning Spear》!!”

From a distance, a near-screaming voice rang out.

Melina instinctively turned her head toward the sound.

Crackle!

With blood spilling from her mouth and showing signs of magical exhaustion, Myrna stood there, determinedly completing the magic spear of lightning.

Next to her lay the empty potion bottles she had consumed.

“You guys… I’m going to make you pay dearly for this…!!”

Simultaneously, the lightning spear shot towards the ogre’s head, which was blinded.

At that moment,

KABOOM!

With an earth-shattering explosion, thick smoke spread out.

The thrashing body of the ogre completely stiffened in place, and as the thick smoke cleared, what remained was the sight of the ogre’s head completely blown off, its neck empty.

Thud!

The massive body, now headless, fell backward, causing a tremor.

“Haa… haa…”

For something that had brought about overwhelming despair just moments ago, the end was rather anticlimactic.

But…

“I-I survived…”

Melina thought to herself, letting out a sigh of relief.

The ogre had been defeated.

Thanks to the advanced lightning element magic forcefully triggered by using up the precious magic potion.

However, using such a potion to forcibly supply her magic caused Myrna’s insides to be wrecked, and she would need a period of recovery.

Fortunately, Curt and Melina sustained no serious injuries.

But…

“Dannes…”

From the crumpled heavy armor, Dannes’s remaining eye was slowly losing its light.

It was already too late.

There was no going back.

There were no remaining potions, and even if there were, without at least a mid-tier potion, saving the dying Dannes was impossible, let alone keeping him alive until he could be transported to the church.

They were practically out of options.

“I’m sorry, Dannes… if I had only done a better job of drawing the ogre’s attention, this wouldn’t have happened…!”

“It’s my fault for being careless. You don’t need to apologize, Curt.”

“But…!”

“More importantly…”

Dannes’s flickering eye was searching for something earnestly.

His eye glimmered through the blood, looking beyond his party member, somewhere out there.

“Shouldn’t we check on that nun too?”

“…!”

That’s right.

Melina realized this and opened her eyes wide as if just remembering, then moved toward the direction where the nun had been.

Dannes’s injuries were too severe, and she hadn’t been able to focus on the nun.

Even though the nun had taken an arrow for her, she had been too busy looking after her comrades.

No, perhaps she was more than just a comrade.

Melina fought back tears as she searched for the nun.

It was at that moment.

“… No need to go look.”

“You are…”

When had she arrived?

With her white nun’s habit stained a deep red, and an arrow embedded in her abdomen that had been broken to perform first aid, she was panting, and though her complexion was pale, she was still alive.

“[Brother Dannes…]”

Even with her eyes closed, the girl sensed it.

That something lying crushed beneath the debris was a man named Dannes.

“Fortunately, you’re still alive…”

“[Don’t speak. You’ll only worsen your wounds.]”

“Hah… I’m basically dead anyway. I might as well say everything I want to… cough…”

“[…]”

The pale-faced girl silently approached and sat down beside him.

Though it was a small injury compared to Dannes, she had sustained a serious wound from the arrow.

It was a wound too great for the still-young girl to endure.

Her blood-soaked hands trembled.

“Don’t do anything unnecessary… You can’t heal me… Just… hurry them along…”

Despite Dannes’s warning, Aria showed no signs of stopping.

Holy energy began to gather in her hands.

Had she not listened to him, Dannes forced a smile.

He knew it was futile.

No matter how talented the girl was, as an apprentice nun, her healing would only be at the level of a low-grade potion.

He had no chance of survival.

That’s what he thought.

“… What is this?”

It was strange.

The gathering holy energy felt odd.

For an apprentice nun, producing a visible amount of healing light was remarkable.

That meant she had strong holy energy visible to the naked eye.

Yet the holy energy emanating from the girl’s hands was something else entirely.

It felt as if…

As if she were drawing upon…

“Stop, are you insane?!”

It felt as if she were gathering her very life force.

She was pouring everything she had into this.

Though he wasn’t well-versed in the holy powers used by priests or nuns, he could clearly tell.

That the holy energy the apprentice nun was gathering was abnormal.

Sure enough, the girl’s complexion began to grow paler.

With trembling hands, she pooled all of her holy energy into her hands.

“[Dannes… Brother…]”

“Cough…”

As the childish voice of the nun echoed, she spat out blood.

Dannes instinctively understood.

If this continued, the nun before his eyes would die.

He tried to move his frozen hands to stop her but already found it impossible to move his crushed body.

“Stop… stop it… I can’t be saved…!!”

“[I promised, didn’t I…?]”

The nun paid no heed to Dannes’s near-screaming shout.

As if it were a point of pride to be hard of hearing.

She was only expressing her own wishes.

The girl raised her head and smiled.

“[I’ll fix your eyes…]”

“Stop it!!”

Now, it was close to a wail.

It was maddening.

Even with his cries to stop, this cursed hard-of-hearing nun kept trying to sacrifice herself for him.

Warm, yet enveloped in an energy so comforting, it was akin to that of a mother, began to wrap around him.

Dannes felt it once more.

He realized he had been saved.

That he had been granted life by this light.

And…

“[I’m sorry.]”

The girl, Aria, left behind a complex final word that seemed directed at no one in particular, while gathering even more holy energy.

Finally, a light so vast that it could blind anyone enveloped the clearing.