Episode 136

The room was filled with shock and chaos.

Ssssss…

Thin strands of tentacles fluttered in the air, dancing lightly.

It was a scene that sent shivers down the spine.

In that moment when everyone in the room was frozen, panic-stricken out of their minds—

“…Looks like a parasitic beast.”

Grandpa Gordon, who had been holding down the struggling marquis, was the first to regain his senses.

He pulled out a handkerchief, calmly wiped the blood splatters near his glasses and eyes, and spoke in a composed voice.

“First, contact the temple. Then find one of the knights who knows well about monsters—”

“D-Diana…”

It was then.

The Marquis of Tebron, whom everyone thought had fainted, suddenly grabbed Grandpa Gordon’s arm.

“Call Diana, the Saintess candidate.”

“What? Why her…”

“Only she can solve this problem…”

At that moment—

Swoooosh—!

The tentacle strands that had merely been writhing suddenly shot up all at once without warning.

In the blink of an eye, they stretched long and wrapped tightly around Grandpa Gordon’s neck, who was standing next to the marquis.

“Khak—!”

With the sudden attack of the beast, Grandpa Gordon clutched at his neck and gasped for breath.

“G-Grandpa!”

“Doctor!”

The tentacles constricted his throat, and in an instant, Grandpa Gordon’s face turned bright red.

My heart dropped.

The butler, his face pale as a sheet, shouted urgently.

“G-Get the knights! Now!”

“Yes, sir!”

“S-Should I try cutting it with a knife?!”

Jackson, Grandpa Gordon’s assistant, trembled, pale with fear, holding a medical knife.

Everyone stomped anxiously, not knowing what to do with the sudden, chaotic situation.

“Kugh, khh…”

Meanwhile, Grandpa Gordon’s face, strangled by the tentacles, turned deathly pale like a corpse.

At this rate, he would really suffocate to death.

“N-No choice! Jackson, do as you said, cut it with a knife—”

Just as the butler was hurriedly giving out an emergency order,

Near the middle of the bundle of tentacles twisted like a rope, a flash of dark violet briefly appeared.

It was exactly like the energy I had seen when Logan used black magic—something gathered together, pulsing like the heart of a beast.

The moment I saw it, a thought struck my mind like a bolt of lightning.

‘I can destroy it.’

In my past life, and even in this life.

I had never once destroyed a monster.

Honestly, it made sense. I had hardly ever left the capital, so I had no chance to even see monsters.

And my ability was healing.

No matter how strong my divine power was, to destroy a monster with healing powers… it didn’t make any sense.

But—

‘I’ve done it once before.’

That’s right.

In my previous life too, I had once wiped out all the beings who possessed that dark violet energy in an instant.

That time when Edwin died in my place.

“Urgh, khh…”

Grandpa Gordon’s eyes rolled back white as he looked like he was truly about to stop breathing.

There was no time left to weigh options.

I pushed through the gathered crowd and dashed straight into the room without hesitation.

“Lady Belze!”

“Milady! It’s dangerous! What are you—!”

The butler and the servants all gasped at my sudden intrusion.

But I sprinted directly to the bed where the Marquis lay.

Seeing the even clearer dark violet deep within the monster, my conviction only grew stronger.

‘I can destroy it.’

Healing power is, after all, rooted in divine power.

I might not believe in the goddess, but I do believe in the strength of divine power.

In my past life, Diana—

The heroine of the novel achieved glorious, resplendent feats with that very strength.

No one would know it better than I did, who grew up being compared to her at every turn, down to the marrow of my bones.

Without hesitation,

I pushed down my revulsion and grabbed the marquis’s left foot, riddled with holes by the sprouting tentacles, firmly with one hand.

“W-What…”

The exhausted Marquis of Tebron flinched and glanced back at me.

I ignored him and immediately gathered divine power in my palm.

Unlike in my previous life, the divine power that had once been barely enough for a five-year-old didn’t diminish as my body grew—it only became greater.

Now, it was a swelling, surging force, so vast that even I struggled to grasp its limits, easily gathering in my hand.

Fwaaaah—!

Brilliant light burst forth from my palm.

The moment I focused on the dark violet heart of the monster among the tentacles,

Bzzzt, crackle.

A small whisper echoed inside my head.

‘What was that?’

At first, it was like a broken radio, the sound unclear.

But the more I listened, the clearer it became.

Until finally, before I knew it, I was reciting the words out loud.

“…Foul, tainted power born from the darkness.”

“…”

“In the name of the Goddess, I command you—return to the earth and become nothing.”

Fwooooosh—!

The light bursting from my hand grew even stronger.

My mouth moved on its own, as if my body was no longer under my control.

“Purification!”

The moment I shouted the word,

Fwoooosh!

The light shooting from my hand flared up like fire.

The white flames, rising from the marquis’s injured foot, climbed along the tentacles and in an instant swallowed the monster whole.

“Kiiieeeeek!”

It took only a few seconds for the monsters to burn away into fine white ash, letting out bone-chilling screams.

At last, just as the searing white flames reached the tentacles wrapped around Grandpa Gordon’s neck—

Pah!

The light pouring from my hand abruptly stopped.

And then—

“Khak! Cough, cough!”

Freed from the tentacle’s stranglehold, Grandpa Gordon collapsed to the floor, coughing violently.

“Good heavens, Lady Belze…!”

“L-Lady Belze has defeated the monster!”

One by one, the onlookers burst into exclamations at the disappearance of the tentacles.

‘…I really destroyed it.’

I was just as shocked as they were.

I thought maybe I could do it…

But I hadn’t truly believed I would be able to defeat a monster.

Lost in a daze, I stared down at the hand from which the great light had burst forth.

‘…What was that voice?’

As I absentmindedly replayed the moment I had annihilated the monster—

Thunk, thud-thud.

Suddenly, the sound of something falling to the floor snapped me out of my daze.

Instinctively looking down, I saw several green caterpillars writhing frantically on the soft brown carpet.

‘Ugh… this is insane!’

I grimaced and shuddered in disgust.

At that moment—

“Kh-hup! Oh dear gods, I’m dying…!”

Just then, Grandpa Gordon, now able to breathe again, staggered to his feet with a face that looked ten years older.

“Hey, Gordon! Are you alright?”

“Professor!”

Maybe they hadn’t noticed the caterpillars yet, but the butler and Jackson rushed over in a heartbeat to support him.

“…Grandpa, are you okay?”

I, too, quickly approached the old man.

Of course, I made sure to carefully step around the caterpillars.

“Let me check your neck for a second.”

“My neck? Why?”

Grumbling with a rough voice, he still obediently lifted his head as I asked.

Without missing a beat, I reached out and pressed my hand to his neck.

Forcing myself to ignore the sticky, slimy sensation—probably left by the tentacles—I released my divine power once more.

Fwaaah—!

A burst of light flared briefly and then seeped into Grandpa Gordon’s neck.

The angry red swelling, as if he had been bound tightly by a thick rope, gradually began to heal before our eyes.

“…Y-You rascal! I told you not to use that sorcerous trickery on me!”

Finally realizing I had used my healing ability on him, Grandpa Gordon jumped back, barking distrustfully like a stubborn old skeptic.

Hearing his voice return to its usual raspy tone was such a relief that I answered him with ease.

“It’s not trickery, it’s divine power. And if you keep blaspheming like that, you’ll get punished, Grandpa.”

“Bah! Even so, what if rumors spread that I—the man hailed as the greatest physician of the age—had to rely on you to heal a mere wound, huh?!”

He grumbled with a fussy pout, but I knew well enough that it was just embarrassment and guilt talking.

Especially because of the worried tone that followed right after.

“Hmph, hmph! Anyway, are you dizzy anywhere? Every time you use that sorcerous healing, you always ended up lightheaded and weak.”

He clicked his tongue with a disapproving scowl.

At his words, I realized—rather belatedly—that I was surprisingly fine.

‘Now that I think about it, I used a lot of divine power, but I’m still fine.’

Using divine power normally consumed a lot of stamina and mental strength, so if I overdid it, I would often collapse from exhaustion.

But right now—

I felt completely fine.

“I better get to the lab and whip up some tonics. Jackson! Go back immediately and prepare Collection Number Nine!”

“I’m really fine.”

I shrugged.

Maybe because I had just saved his life, Grandpa Gordon, rare for him, had even mentioned his precious collection.

For the record, the “Collection Number Nine” he spoke of was a 200-year-old red reishi mushroom, renowned for restoring vitality.

It was a bit tempting… but I wasn’t the one who needed it right now.

“More importantly, please check on the marquis first.”

I tilted my head slightly, pointing behind me.

At that, everyone’s attention quickly shifted toward the bed, as if they had completely forgotten.

I turned as well and saw the old marquis, pale and trembling, glancing back and forth between the caterpillars writhing on the floor and his own foot.

‘Figuring out what the heck those caterpillars have to do with this is going to be a pain.’

Just as I was observing him closely—

A chilling voice suddenly rang out inside the marquis’s room.

“What on earth is going on here?”

 

TL/N: Sup peeps. Dropping 5 more chapters for you guys to enjoy!. ALSO EDWIN is 18 rn Belze is 15 and Josh iis 16. There was a time skip if you guys missed.
Oh and I update all my novels 2x a month. It is for my convenience and yours too, considering I give 5 chaps on each update day. After this week, I’ll take a week off and update on the after one. Hope you guys understand

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