章 248: 662
[Chapter 171]
[Jinhong Ji-ik (5)]
Time was needed to fully digest the power of the elixir.
But there was no time for that.
─It's very noisy outside.
The army is coming this way.
The continuous sound from outside the door.
The presence of the army that made one's senses alert even without deploying a detection net.
Even though she tried to let the power of the elixir seep in, there were so many things that bothered her nerves that she couldn't.
The treatment is over anyway.
I don't need to rest or anything.
Eunha finally got up.
In one corner of the hospital room hung a new uniform brought by Jin Seona.
Eunha changed her clothes.
"The shoulders seem... wider."
The size of the uniform was the same as before.
Somehow it felt tight on her body.
Must be the effect of the elixir.
I think I've grown a little taller.
Eunha checked her condition.
Judging by the slight tightness of the clothes, her body hadn't grown much.
However, it seemed to have evolved into a body more suitable for wielding a sword.
...The mana circulation has also become faster.
The speed at which mana flows out of my body is faster than I knew.
The most surprising change was in the mana circuit.
Perhaps because the impurities in the circuit had been removed.
The process of releasing mana outside the body was smoother and cleaner than before.
When she placed her hand on the sword in that state, blue mana quickly enveloped the blade.
It's only a fraction of a second faster, but not bad.
The physical abilities have increased.
Eunha was satisfied.
Then she pouted.
"The amount of mana inside my body hasn't changed..."
Although she could gather purer mana than before as a result of the improved mana circuit.
The internal mana that could be stored in her heart hadn't changed much.
It was as if her body had been rebuilt, but her heart remained unchanged.
Is this the limit of my talent?
Eunha gave a bitter smile.
In fact, she didn't expect that drinking the elixir would change the amount of internal mana, which had been a chronic problem for her.
She had only hoped that her body would become stronger.
In that sense, she wasn't sure if more changes had occurred than she had thought.
Soon, Eunha picked up the egg that had something black on it.
"You come too."
She roughly wiped the egg on the part of the blanket that wasn't stained black.
The egg turned pure white.
Eunha opened the door.
She stopped in front of the door and muttered.
"─Yekyung..."
Yekyung, that bastard has appeared in the sky.
No wonder the aura of the approaching army felt ominous.
Eunha immediately moved her feet.
"...Why are there so many people?"
At the main entrance of Myeongdong Cathedral.
Eunha was dumbfounded when she saw the people gathered in the open space.
Even though Yekyung had appeared in the sky.
Even though the army was closing in.
People were actually kneeling on the ground, trembling.
They were clinging to Iriya.
""""─Please save us!!!""""
""""Please help us!!""""
""""Please heal us!!""""
In the face of the calamity called death.
People shouted like madmen.
Crunch
Yes, that could happen.
It wasn't that she didn't understand.
They might do that because they're afraid.
But Eunha couldn't sympathize with their feelings at all.
That question wouldn't leave her mind.
What are you doing not fighting?
Why are you just waiting to be saved?
Why don't they fight?
Why don't they try to resist?
A question she had constantly asked in her previous life.
Perhaps resentment towards them.
And─.
─Why are they only clinging to her?
A deeply rooted frustration.
The memory of Ha Baek-ryeon wouldn't leave her.
The child who had to ascend to a throne that didn't suit her at all, pushed by people at such a young age.
"..."
Eunha gritted her teeth.
How is Iriya, now grabbed by people here and there, any different from Ha Baek-ryeon?
Eunha overlapped the two people.
Right then─.
─Gift <Miracle>
Her eyes seemed to lose their light.
A huge flash of light soared high into the sky centered on her.
Eunha immediately rushed forward.
☆
"─I told you not to overdo it."
She was angry.
Not just at Iriya, who had activated the gift of <Miracle> after being pushed by people, but also at Ha Baek-ryeon, who had to bow her head and quietly follow what people said.
No, that's not it.
Eunha denied it.
The real reason she was angry was because of herself, who could do nothing but watch Ha Baek-ryeon back then.
She hated herself for being so powerless.
"Why are you trying to shoulder everything?"
Those words were not for Iriya, but for Ha Baek-ryeon in her memories.
The words she wanted to tell her.
But the words she never managed to say.
Eunha, who jumped into the flash of light caused by <Miracle> without hesitation, conveyed those words to Iriya as if speaking to Baek-ryeon, whom she couldn't speak to.
"Y-you..."
"What, were you planning to ask to save all the people here because they begged like that?"
"..."
Eunha sneered.
Iriya was silent.
Nevertheless, Eunha snorted and gently tilted her head towards her.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Whether it's for your self-satisfaction or not, I can't stand watching you take on everything and being swayed by what other people say anymore."
Yekyung and the monsters had retreated because of the pillar of light that had just appeared.
The same was true for the people who had been grabbing and shaking Iriya's body.
Eunha, who had stepped forward in a protective stance for her, mocked the people surrounding her.
She didn't want to do what they wanted, asking for things without even fighting.
Above all─.
"─If you had activated that power, I probably would have been affected by your magic too. Too bad, but I don't want to owe you a debt again."
"What do you mean..."
"I don't want to be treated the same as the people who pushed you. There's nothing as uncomfortable as kindness without reason."
Eunha didn't want to owe a debt.
Moreover, she didn't want to owe a debt that couldn't be repaid with Iriya's death.
She also didn't want to be considered on the same level as the people she despised.
That's why Eunha stepped forward.
Winter Blooming Coldly
The monsters move again.
Seeing them closing the distance, Eunha immediately used the magic of Winter Blooming Coldly.
Rustle
Petals scatter.
Red petals fill the area.
The approaching monsters retreated in fear.
They knew that the petals weakened their power.
On the contrary, the people who entered the storm of petals began to find stability.
"─Fight."
""""...."""
Fight, she said.
Eunha told them.
They looked at Eunha, who had covered the world with petals.
Eunha spoke again.
No, she ordered.
"Go out and fight. If you have time to beg others to save you, just grab something and go out to fight in that time. Don't you have hands, don't you have feet? You all must have learned how to release mana."
""""...."""
"Try to hold out somehow until the Players come to support. Don't just pray to a god that doesn't even exist. Like fools, like idiots."
If you still can't accept that god is dead.
Then I will dig up the coffin where the dead god lies, and kill that god myself.
Eunha spoke in such a tone.
Right then─.
"─B-but how can we defeat those monsters?"
Iriya, who had been sitting dazed until now, asked.
It wasn't an accusing tone.
It was a tone that sincerely wanted to know the answer.
"─Why are you worrying about that?"
"What?"
"Are you going to defeat it? If not, don't even bother about that thing."
At this, Eunha smirked.
Her question was not even worth answering.
Because─.
"─I'll deal with that one. So you guys fight the small fry monsters while waiting for reinforcements."
""""...."""
"When did I tell you to fight that thing?"
The storm of petals gradually clears.
When the petals completely disappear, they will resume their invasion.
Eunha turned her gaze to those waiting for that moment.
While doing so, she infused mana into the egg she was holding with one hand.
"Now you wake up too. How long are you going to pretend to be asleep? I'm sorry I made you suffer, but please stop being angry now."
The egg gets hotter and hotter.
Soon after─.
─Crack
The egg wriggles.
As cracks form on the surface of the egg.
Whoosh
Flames burst from inside.
Eunha wasn't flustered by the flames that violently enveloped her.
Soon the egg broke open.
Then the flames that wanted to come out poured out violently.
And the one that came out of the egg quickly landed on Eunha's head and─.
"─Pipi pipi papa papa pupu pupu!"
"Ah, gather some egg fragments for this guy. It'll eat them when we come back later."
"Pipi pipi papa papa pupu pupu!!"
The fire chicken, now surrounded by even hotter embers than before, spread its wings wide.
Eunha felt the connection with the fire chicken and raised the corners of her mouth.
Phantasmal Transformation
Phoenix Wings
Hot flames envelop her body.
The wings of flame that sprouted from her back soon split into three.
Eunha moved her three pairs of wings and flew up into the sky.
☆
Breaking through the white world. The man who suddenly forcibly pulled her back to reality when she was about to fall into the embrace of the Mana God.
Iriya was extremely displeased at first.
She thought she had finally fulfilled her mission and could find peace in the embrace of the Mana God, escaping from this hellish world.
The past few days of treating and preaching to people without even sleeping had been extremely exhausting for her.
So she tried to be liberated from this miserable life, but the man interfered.
But the man─.
"─I told you not to overdo it."
"..."
Before she could get angry.
The man burst out in anger first.
"Why are you trying to shoulder everything?"
And hearing those words, tears welled up suddenly.
It was something she had been questioning all along, but no one had agreed with.
Words she hadn't even heard from the Mana God.
Rather, the Mana God had forced her to do something akin to martyrdom.
I don't want to... I don't want to die.
Pushed by people's pressure.
Although she tried to sacrifice herself to fulfill her duty as an apostle of the Mana God.
In fact, Iriya personally harbored a desire to live.
She didn't want to be pushed around, nor did she want to fulfill her duties.
But because no one stopped her, she had to martyr herself unwillingly.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Whether it's for your self-satisfaction or not, I can't stand watching you take on everything and being swayed by what other people say anymore."
But the man spoke with a tone full of conviction.
He stopped her.
And scolded her harshly.
Even the Mana God, or anyone in the Mana Church, had not scolded her.
The atheist man who didn't believe in the existence of god scolded her.
But she didn't dislike being scolded by the man.
Strangely, being scolded by him made her feel as if she was becoming subordinate to him.
It was oddly stabilizing.
But then he said.
"─Fight."
Go out and fight, he said.
He told her and the people in a tone that suggested it was obviously what they should do.
To her and the people who had only sought help from the Mana God, the man's words were very unfamiliar.
But the man's words were clear.
The Mana God spoke in incomprehensible words and didn't give clear answers.
The words of the Mana God that she occasionally heard required several interpretations to somehow, subjectively interpret.
In contrast, the man's words─.
'─Fight.'
They were simple, clear, and easy to understand.
Unlike the Mana God, the man gave them an answer that could realistically solve the situation.
Even she was moved.
Nevertheless, she knew the reality.
"─B-but how can we defeat those monsters?"
That monster, Yekyung.
She knew that monster was the root of all this and incredibly dangerous.
She had ears to hear.
She had eyes to see.
In the face of a calamity they couldn't do anything about, what could they change by fighting?
She spoke to him, representing those around her.
Then he smirked.
"─I'll deal with that one. So you guys fight the small fry monsters while waiting for reinforcements."
The man spoke confidently.
Then he turned around.
Impossible.
How does he plan to deal with it?
The difference in their levels was beyond comparison.
The man with his two feet firmly planted on the ground was no match for Yekyung looking down from the sky.
Moreover, hadn't the man suffered near-fatal injuries because of that monster?
So how does he plan to deal with it?
Iriya couldn't believe it.
But as if mocking her thoughts─.
─Phantasmal Transformation
Phoenix Wings
The man flew up into the sky without looking back.
""""...."""
The man flapping wings of flame.
The wings split into three.
The flames that had only looked orange gradually turned red.
Eventually, a fierce heat was felt.
The monsters that tried to rush at the man couldn't withstand the heat and their wings melted, causing them to fall to the ground.
Eventually, the man who rose to Yekyung's eye level─.
─Blast Cross
As if to end people's anxiety.
He launched a sword attack at the army gathered around Yekyung.
A crimson sword strike.
The flames that spread in a cross shape exploded, annihilating the monsters.
The monsters they had feared disappeared so easily.
It was like a dream.
Blast Cross
But as if it wasn't a dream.
The man swung his sword again.
A huge flame that bloomed in the night sky swallowed the monsters.
The crimson flames that burned as if mocking their anxiety and that of the people swept away the monsters.
Right then─.
"─It's <Quick-witted>..."
"What?"
"It's <Quick-witted>! It's Noh Eunha <Quick-witted> who killed the Legion Commander!!"
"It's Pandora Clanlord! I'm sure! I've seen him before! He caused flames in the sky like this back then too!"
Starting with someone's murmur.
People who had half given up on life recognized the wings of flame and shouted the man's name.
It was a strange sight for Iriya.
People who had been in despair just moments ago quickly changed their attitude and became so excited about the appearance of <Quick-witted> Noh Eunha.
Then, people whispered in confusion.
"But I heard Pandora Clanlord died yesterday..."
"I saw it...! Pandora Clanlord was definitely killed by Yekyung's attack yesterday!"
"But that person is Pandora Clanlord, right? He's alive and well?"
"No, that's impossible. We saw that thing attack him deliberately yesterday.... There's no way he could be alive."
"Then who is that person?"
"It is <Quick-witted>!"
"But <Quick-witted> died, didn't he? How is he alive?"
"Could it be, he's resurrected?"
""""...!!""""
People were in confusion.
Iriya blankly looked up at the night sky while listening to what they were saying.
Whoosh
The wings of flame grew even larger.
They were huge and red wings that seemed to cover the night sky.
The flames were burning the monsters.
"Ah..."
She felt an indescribable emotion.
A calamity that seemed impossible to deal with.
It seemed that salvation could never be hoped for without borrowing the power of god, but the man was driving away the calamity like that.
Then how could that man be called anything but a god?
Look at those wings.
Three pairs, six wings....
It's similar to the number of wings of the Mana God.
Iriya recalled the contents written in the Mana Church's doctrine.
It is said that the Mana God has three pairs of wings.
That's why the emblem symbolizing the Mana Church was three pairs of wings.
Although the man's wings were crimson rather than white, such trivial things were no longer important to her.
Iriya cried out in excitement.
"─He has overcome death and been resurrected. Just as Jesus Christ overcame death and was resurrected as God, he too has been resurrected as a god!"
""""...!!""""
"Yes, that person is the true Mana God! The Mana God has descended to this world to save us pitiful beings!"
That person is my god.
Iriya realized who she should truly follow and serve in her ambiguous life of faith.
It's that person.
The one who shows her a clear path, and gives the teaching to fight together without forcing sacrifice.
Having reached that thought, Iriya soon shouted towards the people.
"We must fight too!!"
""""...!!""""
"The Mana God told us to fight together! He said to fight together and purify the world by returning the evil monsters to mana!!"
""""...!!""""
"Now the Mana God's blessing will be with you! Let's fight to the end and protect the land where we were born and raised!"
Iriya spoke with enthusiasm.
The shaken people nodded with determined faces.
They too had realized something while watching the Mana God confront Yekyung to save them.
"Let's fight! The Mana God is with us!"
"Don't fear death! We are under the protection of the Mana God!"
Fire was lit in people's hearts.
Though crude.
People who had learned how to handle mana began to manifest their internal mana and fight against the monsters.
Iriya was at the forefront.
She exerted her power to the fullest to cast protection magic on people.
"─This is a holy war! We will defeat the monsters with our own strength and restore peace to this land together with the Mana God!!"
Starting from Myeongdong Cathedral like that.
The spark of resistance burned fiercely.
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