Saint, You’re So Vulgar!

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#029: Huh?

The ground trembled from Saturn’s onslaught.

How long had it been since he had been sweeping away the heretics and aberrations charging at him with overwhelming defense?

The enemy’s forces were rapidly dwindling.

Yet, even so, the end was nowhere in sight.

There was a difference stemming from their numbers.

Moreover, what had gathered here were the heretics’ battle troops.

Facing a situation of hundreds to one was no trivial matter that could be resolved with just a few swipes of the hand.

It was during one such prolonged battle that Saturn felt a strange sense of discomfort.

It was not a rational fear but rather an instinctual unease born from experience.

“It’s slow.”

The processing was slow.

While he had prioritized dealing with the attackers, he was only just now realizing the broader situation.

“…A wheel battle?”

They were moving with meticulous planning.

They were focusing on minimizing their sacrificed troops while providing support fire from the rear.

Only then did Saturn feel a jolt of crisis.

It was not fear for his own body.

It was a fear regarding the purpose of their actions.

If it were truly the case that they were charging at him to overcome him, then they should be fully committing to the fight, regardless of casualties.

Those who were not ignorant of the durability and persistence of the white phosphorus understood that a strategy of “reducing troop consumption” through a wheel battle would be detrimental.

In other words,

“Delaying…!”

Their goal was to keep him occupied here.

Because there was something to gain from doing so.

Disappointment and rage washed over him.

Kwahahahah—!

As soon as Saturn realized this, he charged toward the command center.

He grabbed hold of a man’s head and,

Bam—!

Sent him flying into the wall.

The wall crumbled under Saturn’s attack.

Soon, the underground space was revealed.

“…!”

Saturn’s heart sank.

What remained in the innermost chamber was merely a trace of biological research, with nothing else present.

In other words, the empty space at the center of countless tubes indicated that something was meant to lie there.

Saturn recalled the purpose of this space.

“Artificial witch…!”

In that moment.

Thok—!

Saturn’s ankle was caught.

He lowered his head in shock.

Creeeak—

It was the corpse of the man he had just sent flying.

“Ah, ah! I’ve been found out.”

The living heretics let out a collective laugh.

Immediately afterwards, their heads exploded.

Boom!!!

Blood sprayed, beginning to fill the space.

The living aberrations twisted their bodies grotesquely and started to change.

Gills and teeth sprouted from them.

The human arms that made up the aberrations intertwined and morphed into tentacles, while their legs coiled together, forming beasts that walked on all fours.

They resembled a bizarre mix of amphibians and fish.

A trap.

All of this was a trap to keep him separated from the main forces.

[Aaaaah, I’ve been found out!!!]

Kwahahahah!

As they splashed through the puddles of blood, the aberrations charged at Saturn.

Saturn clenched his teeth and threw a punch.

Smack—!

“Move aside.”

The white phosphorus blazed even more brilliantly.

He had to go back.

The upper levels were in danger.

*

The moment Asher initiated action was after the ringing of a bell, when vibrations began to rise from the ground.

“Hurry up!”

Asher shouted towards the chattering missing persons, positioned at the frontline.

He was the one most familiar with the path.

Bershia fell to the rear.

She was concerned that those who noticed the escape amidst the chaos would rush in.

And it didn’t take long for the correctness of that arrangement to be proven.

Swoosh—!

“Graaaah!!!”

Asher gritted his teeth.

He was well aware of the sound coming from behind him.

Bershia was holding off the charging enemies.

“Too quick to notice. Did they predict us? No, that’s not it.”

It was their defense system.

Having lived in the complex tunnels, it was possible that enemies could invade at any point.

Thus, they must have made a system to respond quickly to any sudden changes.

Fortunately, that much was true.

Bershia was fully utilizing Asher’s physical form.

Silent and emotionless, wielding her longsword, her combat was akin to butchery.

Asher collected his thoughts.

“She’s doing well as per the lesson.”

Maybe she couldn’t use ‘Vision,’ but just considering typical combat prayers, they had the upper hand.

After all, while she couldn’t act just like Asher, Bershia was still someone capable of crafting prayers that were incredibly close to the answer.

Moreover, in this situation, the range of prayers she could use shone even brighter.

Unlike Asher, who was focused on strengthening his body, her prayers were mostly mid-to-long-range sniping prayers.

She was preventing the approaching enemies from reaching the missing persons by cutting them down with her divine-imbued sword, while those further away were taken out through bombardment.

The only problem was the stamina of the missing persons.

Many of them were hardly in a good state to run.

“Rubena!”

“I know! I know!!!”

Rubena’s face was smeared with tears and snot.

Whenever they heard the dying screams of enemies from behind, she was shrieking with panicked cries.

Yet, in the midst of it all, she carried out her responsibilities correctly.

Wham—!

With healing prayers, she bolstered the stamina of the missing persons.

The unfortunate aspect was that it wasn’t very effective.

Asher had one realization.

“Not every saint has abundant divine power.”

Unlike the miraculous Bershia, Rubena’s divine power was average.

While her prayer completion was better than that of an ordinary priest, it was only that much.

Aside from her being capable of receiving revelations, there was nothing special about her.

It was evident that she was growing increasingly fatigued.

He began to worry that she might collapse.

At that moment,

Creeeak—!

Another crisis struck.

“…Huh?”

Rubena, who suddenly halted, looked ahead in shock.

Asher furrowed his brow.

“An enemy.”

Until now, the enemies had only come from behind.

They hadn’t been obstructed in moving with the missing persons.

But now, here it was.

…Or so he thought, but it became clear.

“This one can’t even move.”

In a linear corridor, a thin aberration was writhing as it had its tentacles wedged into the walls.

It was a form that Asher recognized.

An evolved form that couldn’t escape a specific area but was powerful within that domain.

To move forward, they had to break through that.

Asher turned his head.

As he stopped, the missing persons halted as well, and Bershia also ceased her charge.

The two locked eyes.

Bershia, situated at the front, noticed the aberration behind Asher and stiffened her expression.

Asher purposefully smiled even brighter and mouthed.

“Everything’s okay.”

It seemed his intention was conveyed.

After biting her lip, Bershia turned back and charged towards the approaching enemies.

She must have meant to buy time until they could deal with the aberration.

Asher drew a breath.

Now there was only one left.

“Huuuh…!”

He approached the collapsed Rubena.

Her trembling body, the tears welling up, and her shaky gaze indicated her mental collapse.

But it was precisely for this reason that she was important.

Smack—!

Asher slapped both of Rubena’s cheeks.

“Kyaaah!”

“Rubena. Get a grip.”

Focus returned to her hazy eyes.

She looked up at Asher, her face as if she could burst into tears like a child at any moment.

She clutched his lapel.

“W-what do we do…?”

Asher tried to understand.

The girls who had been elevated to the position of saints were merely naive children who became noble at too young an age.

If the world weren’t in crisis, they would have been eternal children living in the embrace of the divine.

For Rubena, who had lived like a potted plant, this entire situation must have been terrifying.

That was understandable.

Of course, if they didn’t know, then they just needed to be informed.

“We need to do this.”

Asher stroked Rubena’s cheek.

He smiled brightly to look reliable.

“We are saints. We are the shepherds guiding these people, following our parent’s will.”

“Sniff…!”

“We can do it. Surely, they’ll protect us.”

Being fearful was not a flaw of humanity.

Rather, precisely because of that, one could become someone extraordinary.

Asher believed this.

Just as he believed in Bershia, the courage to overcome fear was the mark of someone who understood nobility.

“So stop that, and smile for me. You have a pretty face, so it suits you better to smile.”

Asher pulled up the corners of Rubena’s lips with his thumb.

He simultaneously curved his own mouth into a smile.

As if to say “try it out.”

Rubena murmured with a choked voice.

“In this situation…!”

“Exactly because of this situation, we need to be someone they can rely on.”

“……”

She briefly turned back, surveying the trembling missing persons.

He saw her lips pressing tightly together.

Gradually, her expression began to stabilize.

She was still trembling.

However, she wouldn’t flail around like before.

“Rubena, remember what I’m about to say and help me.”

Asher made his request clear to Rubena.

He then stood up and faced the aberration.

He withdrew a dagger from his possession.

Calmly, he walked forward, steadying his breath.

Closing his eyes, he focused his mind.

“It’s okay.”

Even with this short blade, it was enough.

No, in a situation like this, it was the most optimal choice.

Asher rummaged through a fading memory deep within him.

Asher did not forget.

One of the parents who raised him had already given him an answer.

“Huh? Isn’t a dagger weak?”

“Yeah! The blade’s short!”

“Have you ever seen such an ignorant little brat! Hey, watch closely!”

“That guy’s starting again.”

“Shut up! Listen closely, Asher! This is the freest weapon in the world! They’ll never be able to replicate its uniqueness!”

The face of the man with sparse facial hair popped into his mind.

Yes, that man was definitely the most free person Asher knew.

His tension melted away.

Asher’s lips curved into a line.

The instant he opened his eyes,

Slish—

The blade of the dagger glimmered menacingly.