The Great Sword is not the Main Body!

The temple was surrounded by magnificent stained glass windows. Inside, an elderly man in holy robes and a woman with a hooded robe were having a conversation.

“This is the report,” the old man said. “Alstein.”

“Hm... I see. It’s fine that you made the believer use the ‘Furious Horn of the Wild Beast,’ but there are many shortcomings. It can’t be helped, I suppose. Which sister went to investigate?”

“Ashamed, huh? Damn it. I went. What, is that a problem?” The woman with the hooded robe grabbed the old man by his collar.

“Ah, no. It’s just that... I was hoping you’d find the beast's weakness. It's unfortunate that you didn’t,” he chuckled.

“I’ve told you a hundred times already! That damn woman noticed me! What was I supposed to do?” she growled. “But speaking of it… are you insane? I was at least 300 meters away and she noticed me.”

She let go of his collar and clicked her tongue.

“Anyway, she’s no ordinary person. Isn’t she the one you prophesied would not exist? And she’s walking around holding hands with your precious priestess, so no curse magic works on them. They don’t seem to want to let go of each other either. Damn it.”

“That’s true. In that case, it can’t be helped. I’ll send Sister Sharan to take care of it.”

“Sharan? What can that weakling wind-user do? If that beast was about to fall after killing thousands of monsters, Sharan would probably die in an instant.”

The old man quietly laughed.

“Even Sharan’s weak winds are enough to capture that beast.”

“Well, whatever. You’ll do what you want anyway. I have to go now. I’ve got so much work to do because of you… Haah... What kind of mess are the Elders making this time?”

“Hahaha. I can’t do anything about the Magic Tower. Good luck, Sister 'Firma.’”

"‘Sister’ my ass. Damn you."

With an angry sneer, the woman raised her middle finger and left, leaving only a faint trace of magical power behind.

"At least we figured out the beast's existence early."

The man left alone in the temple smiled wide, almost as if his mouth was about to tear open, and offered a prayer toward the sky.

"Everything is for Erden."

The chaos in Loholan had been calmed by a single girl sleeping in my arms.

Even in her battered state, and with her equipment in tatters, she jumped right into the sea of monsters.

Her arms twisted, her legs broke, blood pouring from every part of her body.

She didn't care. She kept slaying the monsters.

We, too, fought through the monsters to save Noah, continuously slaying the beasts that kept pouring in.

But we couldn’t reach her.

Despite killing one after another, new monsters appeared to block our path.

Finally, when Noah’s breath became faint, and when no monsters were left standing in our way,

The sun rose, and there she was.

Noah stood, blood streaming from her body, staggering but still standing, wielding a sword whose shape was almost gone.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

I tried to rush toward her and hold her, but Noah was still swinging her arms.

She didn’t seem to notice I was near, or that all the monsters had been slain.

She kept swinging her arms… endlessly.

Carefully avoiding her arms, I embraced Noah.

Only then did she seem to relax, gently smiling.

Then, wiping my tears, she gave me that reassuring smile she used to give me.

The same voice that once said she would protect me forever, telling me not to die and not to break.

She said, "Let’s eat… let’s eat."

The same words she said before heading south.

Even now, in this chaos, she said those words to reassure me.

She was no longer frightened or twisted.

And that made my heart tear all the more.

I poured divine energy into Noah, knowing it would change nothing.

Even though I knew she wouldn’t heal right away, I still wanted her to sleep peacefully, to suffer less.

“The condition... is severe,” said a voice not in its usual lighthearted tone, but heavy, somber.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Lucci approached with an angry look.

The murmurs of the villagers could be heard.

Still...

The voice full of ingratitude echoed.

"If only you had done this from the start..." The voice was full of complaints.

The voice saying that the adventurers had caused them harm.

My teeth clenched. My hands trembled.

I wanted to snap their necks right then and there.

But... these were the people Noah had protected this far.

I couldn’t do that.

"...I admit my mistakes, but this treatment... it's just not right."

"If you cause trouble here... both the kid and the rest of the situation will get complicated, right?"

"Shut up, Heinzel."

Lucci and Heinzel, both equally frustrated, glared at the crowd.

"Haah... Priestess, here. Take this."

Then Lucci pulled out a glass bottle containing purple liquid from his bag.

“Elixir.”

I was speechless, unable to close my mouth after hearing what it was.

“Elixir...?”

An elixir. A strange liquid said to be able to bring even the dead back to life. A divine substance capable of healing any wound and promoting growth.

Since becoming a priestess, I had never seen one in person, only heard rumors about it.

And now, it was right there in Lucci’s hands.

But…

"No... Noah's condition is serious, but with my divine power, I should be able to..."

"No. While external injuries might be manageable, the internal ones would be nearly impossible to heal."

Lucci interrupted me, kneeling down.

"This situation is similar to last time. I’m going to have to explain again. Did you see when she wielded that greatsword?"

"I did..."

"Notice how light her movements were? The greatsword didn’t stop, and it wasn’t obstructed by the monster’s bones or muscles. Do you know what that means?"

I shook my head.

"She identified the monster’s weaknesses and struck only where she could kill most easily."

Lucci pulled the arm of a fallen orc from the ground.

"Look at this."

Then he raised his sword and chopped off the orc’s arm.

"Can you feel that resistance? Hm, let’s..."

He stared at the arm for a while before raising his sword and cutting again.

"See? It’s easy to cut through here. This is what Noah did. She pinpointed and cut exactly the right places using her Giga Sense. It’s similar to last time, but she used it more intensely."

"So... the aftereffects...?"

"It’s dangerous. She could’ve burned out her brain or caused a fatal injury, but what happened was internal organs melted, excessive bleeding, and even the brain started to liquefy. Can you heal something like that?"

Lucci handed me the elixir.

I lowered my head silently and received it.

"Thank you... I will make sure to repay you for this... with the name of the Priestess... No. With Rubia’s name, I will find a way to repay you."

"Forget it. I’m not giving this to receive anything in return. I’m just giving it because it’s useless to me."

After saying that, Lucci stood up and began checking his gear.

I carefully opened the bottle and slowly poured the elixir into Noah's mouth.

Immediately, Noah’s body grew warm, and the color returned to her face.

"The effects... are incredible."

Her pulse returned to normal, and her wounds started to heal at an incredible speed.

Faster than any healing I could do.

"If I hadn’t gotten this from that old man, we’d be in real trouble... Hahaha... let’s head inside. Not sure if there’s anywhere to go, but..."

"We should at least find a safe place for the kid to rest. Hmm, seems like this is the best option."

Heinzel scratched his head and raised his fist.

"Ah, no. I’ll find us a place to stay. After all, we’ve got a priestess here. It should work out."

He carefully lifted Noah and stood up.

"What’s this... Tch. We won’t be eating now. Anyway, about that barrier... Did the Priestess do it?"

Lucci muttered, glancing around and then turning to me.

"Yeah. Just in case the monsters get through and villagers start dying, I set up a barrier to prevent the scent of blood from waking Carpeng."

"No way. Did that kid think of that? Not your average adventurer."

"Yeah... I’m not sure if she didn’t trust the adventurers or if she didn’t trust us. But either way... it’s a relief."

Heinzel and Lucci clicked their tongues as they looked at Noah.

I just...

There was nothing I could do except hold her tighter.

I thought of her glaring at the fleeing adventurers, yet still saving them.

She said it was her reason for existence, that she couldn’t live without doing this.

I remembered her twisted face.

What kind of past did she have?

The more I learned about Noah’s hidden side, the more my heart ached.

"Let’s head out. The blacksmith’s place is where Noah went earlier. He should welcome us warmly... I think."

"Do you know a good blacksmith?"

"Yeah. A blessed one. Though, his blessing is focused on speed."

I continued explaining, thinking of Hephaestus.

"He talks a lot, but his nature is clear, so I don’t think he’ll avoid us."

"Then let’s go there. Where is it?"

"I’ll guide you. I think we should leave Noah’s gear with him. As for the greatsword... I’ll need to order a new one."

As we headed toward the blacksmith, Lucci suddenly stopped, his expression confused.

"Priestess... is the barrier up correctly?"

"Yeah. Once it’s set, it stays until I remove it. Is something wrong?"

"I just felt something odd in the wind. If it’s fine, then I guess it’s fine. Let’s go, I’m getting hungry."

"Hm, maybe. I don’t have a single hair left, so I can’t feel a thing."

"Heh- Ah, excuse me."

I couldn’t help but laugh at Heinzel’s nonsense.

Before, I had thought Heinzel was just a strange person, but after seeing how he handled the monsters...

I realized he was just someone trying to lighten the mood with jokes.

Lucci and Heinzel, for sure, were good people.

So was Noah, resting in my arms.

It was clear I needed to express my gratitude.

Though it wasn’t to Cartia, I promised to escort us through the Karahan mountains.

Just as I was about to speak my thanks with a light smile on my lips,

"Priestess! Unleash your divine power!"

Lucci’s shout echoed.

"Protect the kid first!"

Heinzel’s monstrous roar followed.

Right after.

An ominous wind began to blow through Loholan.

A terrible beast's roar echoed.

A deadly killing intent wrapped around us.

"What the hell is this..."

And from Lucci’s mouth came words that shouldn’t have been spoken.

With a voice full of an endless grudge.

A voice soaked in terror.

It rang out.

"Carpeng has awakened."