Someone's Savior
"..."
Eve trembled uncontrollably, unable to speak.
It was because she was both shocked and terrified.
But Ervia interpreted it differently.
"Still don't want to talk? At this point, I can't tell if you've got great patience or if you're just stupid. Either way, I'll at least give you credit for persistence."
She brushed herself off and stood up.
"Well, whatever. I don't really care. I don't know who knows what, but—"
A cruel smile spread across her face.
"We'll find out soon enough."
"...!"
Ervia gestured toward the attendant priests.
"Cut her into pieces—throw the limbs near the orcs, and take the torso to the sanctuary. You know how it goes. We'll make sure we can have a nice, long talk later."
"As you command."
"I'll be heading out to begin it right now. Be careful, just in case something unexpected happens."
"Yes, High Priestess."
What Ervia meant by it was obvious.
…Ultra Wave.
The catastrophe they had desperately tried to prevent—was about to begin.
A wave of regret crashed over Eve.
'Should I… tell them everything now?'
Should she at least beg them to spare the girls?
But the High Priestess was already humming a tune.
"Hm, if we tear through the forest enough, it'll probably come crawling out on its own. If things don't go as predicted, they'll definitely panic."
Ervia nodded to herself, satisfied with her reasoning.
"And if there's something they're desperate to protect… even more reason. Don't you think?"
Then she vanished into the forest.
"…She's insane."
Eve trembled.
What a monstrously cruel woman.
There had never been room for negotiation from the start.
She looked at the priests of Kishiris approaching her and despaired.
'Where did it all go wrong?'
The scenario had gone off track because of a sort of butterfly effect.
Just as Ervia had guessed…
It was true that Eve had killed Vareshan, the former High Priestess.
Knowing full well how the scenario would unfold, she couldn't just let the orchestrator of the Ultra Wave go unchecked.
Conveniently, she herself was the Dawn Assassin,
and Vareshan had been wandering the streets of Aurax alone.
…Slipping a noose around her neck in a back alley?
That had been all too easy.
Thus, Eve eliminated High Priestess Vareshan.
'I thought if I just got rid of Vareshan, this whole incident wouldn't happen.'
But she had been wrong.
The Grand Cathedral of Kishiris replaced Vareshan with someone far more cunning and meticulous—
that woman, Ervia Watts.
Eve bit her lip.
'If I hadn't interfered, would things have turned out differently?'
Would it at least not have gone exactly as Giroshan intended?
"…Damn it. What a stupid thing to think about now."
Even if she died here, she refused to go quietly.
'At least one of them—I'm dragging to hell with me.'
Eve readjusted her grip on her sword.
To fight, she would have to pull out the blade lodged in her side.
"Argh!"
Her vision went white as blood poured out.
The priestesses approaching with their swords clicked their tongues.
"Why'd you pull that out?"
"You might die before we even cut your limbs off."
…Crazy bitches.
"Fuck it! Better than being dragged away as a torso!"
Downing a stamina potion in one gulp, Eve began a desperate struggle, blood gushing with every move.
Her wild, reckless fighting looked almost demonic.
But it was still two against one—
and worse, she had already been defeated once.
The deep wound in her abdomen couldn't be healed by a single potion.
"Ah…"
In the end, Eve collapsed to the floor.
"Wow, she's got some spirit, huh?"
"She almost got me a few times."
The priestesses of Kishiris giggled as they approached to sever her limbs.
But the fallen Eve could no longer move.
"Huff… huff…"
Her vision began to blur.
'I have to save the children.'
At the very least, she had to let someone know what had happened.
Rrrrrumble…
The ground beneath her cheek began to tremble slightly—
perhaps the Ultra Wave had begun.
It was over.
With barely visible eyes, Eve blinked weakly and thought,
'…Giroshan.'
At the final moment, her thoughts were selfish yet honest.
I don't want to die.
I want to live a little longer.
'Please, save me.'
But at the same time, another thought surfaced—
Don't come here!
Go to the cabin and save the children.
Please… don't let this death be in vain.
They were two completely opposite thoughts,
yet both were equally true.
The raw desire to live and her dying resolve burned together inside her.
But even those feelings began to fade.
"Giroshan…"
Eve's consciousness dimmed like a dying candle flame.
All will and thought slowly drifted into the darkness.
And yet, strangely—
"Gi… Giro… shan…"
Just as she clearly pictured that one name—
Something happened.
…Crack!
An arrow suddenly pierced through one of the priestesses' heads.
Sergeant Yeom from boot camp once told me—
The key to marksmanship is breath control.
"Fuuuu…"
I took a deep breath and pulled my bowstring taut.
The trajectory of the arrow lined up perfectly over Walarakas's eyeball.
'Two skills active right now.'
Before entering the orc-infested zone,
I'd selected a couple of choice archery skills from my tree.
[Support Skill: Super Focus]
[Attack Skill: Beginner Rapidfire]
My constantly shaking aim instantly stabilized—
the effect of Super Focus.
And simultaneously—
Zzzzzzzzt…
A mana-driven acceleration effect surged through my right arm, still pulling the bowstring.
'This is Rapidfire.'
Even though it was tagged Beginner, it was more than enough for now.
I released the string.
Fwish!
The arrow shot off cleanly—
it didn't even have far to travel.
Crack!
The arrow pierced straight through the first target's eyeball,
shattering its skull completely.
Instant kill, of course.
"...?"
The second priestess cast a startled glance at her comrade who'd fallen backward.
"Who are you?!"
She quickly assessed the situation and grabbed her sword.
"Fuuuu."
I had already nocked the next arrow and drawn.
The bow in my hands was the Quickshot, a weapon whose firing speed was top-tier to begin with. With two skills layered on top of that, I moved like a perfectly trained archer.
Swish.
A lightning-fast reload.
I released the string lightly.
Crack!
"Aaah!"
But the arrow only pierced and embedded itself in the priestess's shoulder.
The ambush had been only half a success.
I clicked my tongue.
"I aimed for the neck."
Of all times, Quickshot's drawback—lower accuracy—had to show up now.
…Was I distracted by that guy lying over there?
But I had to stay cold-headed.
'The more excited you get, the more dangerous it becomes.'
Anyhow, since the arrow had graze-missed, my position was now completely exposed.
"I'll kill you!"
The priestess, experienced, ran at me in a zigzag.
No matter.
I'd been a gladiator first and foremost.
My specialty wasn't the bow but fighting with sword and shield.
'And besides, I've got a solid shield.'
I'd sent Kals to the cabin, but the Balancer of Flame was now in my hands.
"I'll take good care of it, Kals."
I swapped equipment in an instant and charged forward.
With everything I had—
including what that fallen bastard deserved!
[Attack Skill: Blade Dance's Request]
Bam!
"Arrgh!"
The priestess collided with me head-on and went down in a spray of blood.
Of course, the impact hit me just as hard.
I was wearing a shield and still, after only one collision—
"Ugh!"
I felt bile and blood rise in my throat.
…Is it because levels matter that a frontal clash knocks you back like this?
I'll level up fast out of spite.
At the same time, calculations ran through my head.
'The Kishiris order's attendant priestesses are roughly mid-20s level.'
So then?
"Thirty seconds, exactly."
If I were honest, I'd love to spend three or four hours beating them until they were pulped.
'But not now.'
At least that wasn't the job for these attendant priestesses.
That was meant for the orc shaman cave somewhere out there.
Come on, move.
Before that guy bleeds out!
'…I can't stop worrying about him!'
[Attack Skill: Sea Sword Form I]
[Attack Skill: Strike Blade Form II]
Tssssss!
My blade began to vibrate as if it would shatter.
I surged forward.
Steel clashed against steel.
Bang!
"Guh!"
My first thrust made the priestess's sword recoil wildly; she had to hurriedly step back.
"W-what are you?!"
She probably thought I was an archer.
She looked pretty shaken by the unexpected swordsmanship.
I fell silent and increased my speed, charging in.
'Calmly.'
But faster!
What I'd used first—Blade Dance's Request—had actually been the setup.
I'd intentionally lowered my defense to increase the damage I would take.
It was all for using this skill.
[Attack Skill: Crime of Rage]
This was a skill left behind on a D-rank prisoner-gladiator card.
Crime of Rage converts accumulated damage I've taken into attack power.
I'd already taken enough damage to be coughing up blood.
[Active skills increase attack power by 247%.]
Tssssss!
That effect applied straight into my Haewoo Sword Technique.
The speed of my slashes, even I was surprised by them—an incredible flurry of blade strikes.
Still unstable, but the Sword Spirit's effects were greatly amplified.
So a Kishiris priestess with one damaged shoulder could not stand up to me now.
"Aagh!"
The priestess, nursing cuts, shoved the arrow lodged in her shoulder and snapped it out.
She braced, gathering herself for a counterstrike.
But that was exactly what I wanted.
'I've got her pattern now.'
One last clash and it's over.
"..."
Then I'd know whether the guy lying there was dead or alive.
"Come on then, old woman—bring it on!"
As if my taunt were a signal, the priestess launched at me like a beast.
[An additional effect linked to 'Haewoo Sword Technique'—'Blossom Grafting'—activates!]
New hit points bloomed over the rain of blades.
'Stay composed.'
I moved my sword smoothly, taking those hit points one by one.
Swish.
My blade miraculously parried the Kishiris priestess's heavy sword.
Like we were dancing.
My body made a full rotation, and the iron blade's edge subtly misdirected, bringing its tip up.
Thick!
My foot had already stepped well within her range.
So only one thing remained.
'Stab.'
Whoosh.
The blade, sharpened by Sword Spirit, pierced right through a human body.
"...!"
The priestess convulsed and fell limp without even managing a scream.
There was strangely no chill, no sense of horror.
No guilt either.
'Is it because I used Crime of Rage?'
But it had been the same when I hit the first priestess with an arrow.
There was no sticky disgust at getting blood on my hands…
'If anything, I feel like stomping on the corpse some more.'
Damn it.
The impatience I'd been holding down hit me hard and late.
"Eve!"
That prickling sensation struck me roughly, as if slapping myself for coming so late.
"Hey! Get a grip!"
She couldn't possibly be dead—right?