Blinking her blurry eyes.
Zion quickly wrapped Arundel’s body. The carriage shook quite a bit, but there was no impact, perhaps thanks to Zion’s support.
The shadows outside the window were moving busily, as if something had happened.
The sound of swords clashing came. In addition, the noisy vibration of the ground was at an undeniable level.
“What…”
“Stay here for a while.”
Zion opened the carriage door and went outside due to the unusual situation outside.
Soon after, screams were heard. At the ominous sound, Arundel slightly lifted the carriage window and looked outside.
“…!!”
Some of the knights were rolling on the ground. It seemed like they were injured, lying down and bleeding. She briefly looked around, but there was no visible entity that could have attacked them.
‘Who..…?’
Then, unfamiliar people appeared. People in white robes were moving swiftly outside the window.
At first, she looked closely, thinking they were the perpetrators, but they also seemed to be victims. They were making a very flustered expression.
While contemplating whether to go out or not, Arundel’s eyes caught something black appearing through the ground.
“…That!”
It was a demon. And quite a few of them. Arundel knew those demons.
They were very annoying demons that moved like moles and hid their figures well.
They also had a habit of moving in groups, destroying crops or forests by moving through the ground like that.
Looking closely at the ground, the surface was rippling. Perhaps, as she knew from their habits, it seemed there were more than one or two demons.
Zion and Hills could handle it, but those demons were more annoying than strong. It would take time to deal with them because they were good at hiding.
Moreover, to prevent those without combat power like the coachman or Cain from getting hurt, the time would be delayed a little more.
Arundel looked again at the people in the white robes. Upon closer inspection, they didn’t seem like ordinary people.
The white group consisted of about three people, each holding a large spear in their hands.
‘Spear…?’
Arundel’s eyes widened for a moment when she discovered the familiar spear.
While Arundel was staring blankly at them, distracted by their sight, Cain was seen moving slowly backwards.
Cain’s face was pale. He looked very surprised by the unexpected situation.
And at that moment,
The demons popped up again through the ground. They appeared simultaneously, and the situation outside the carriage was messed up again.
‘Cain…!’
Arundel looked at Cain with an anxious heart.
Fortunately, the man in the white robe protected Cain. He swung the spear he was holding quite skillfully, as if it wasn’t just for decoration.
But that was only for a moment,
The spear that hit the demon’s hard back flew out of the man’s hand.
‘This is dangerous.’
Arundel hesitated for a moment.
Now, a lot of divine power has returned. If she goes out and fights, she can save Cain and end the battle sooner.
But she couldn’t ignore her current reality. There were many onlookers if she used divine power.
Zion and Cain and the Knights. And people in white robes whose identities are unknown.
It would be hard to accept the empress using divine power all of a sudden.
Above all, she didn’t want to create any more unexpected situations for Zion. She didn’t want to confuse him either.
Above all, she was worried about being suspected of her identity.
Arundel, who couldn’t make a decision, stared at Cain with anxious eyes. She was hoping that someone would quickly save Cain and the man in the white robe.
‘Please… someone…’
But Zion, Hills, and the knights seemed to be out of their minds because of the demons popping out from all sides.
In the meantime, the demon was getting closer to Cain.
The demon approached Cain and the man, shaking its head. It was drooling as if it was about to bite off any moment.
Cain’s eyes were filled with fear.
Bang-!
In the end, Arundel kicked the carriage and went out.
Ignoring people in danger because of personal circumstances is a betrayal of the belief as an angel.
There was no room for hesitation. It was important to hide her identity, but Cain and the man were in danger right now.
Arundel, who came out of the carriage, picked up the spear that was rolling on the ground.
‘Damn, it’s heavy.’
As expected, Empress Irina was still too weak to lift this heavy spear.
Arundel closed her eyes and muttered.
“Open.”
With the command, the condensed divine power seeped into Arundel’s body. As the divine power spread to her limbs, her body became lighter, and her physical strength increased.
Then Arundel finally lifted the spear that felt light and ran towards Cain.
At the sudden appearance of Arundel, Cain shouted out loud.
“Your Majesty the Empress! This place is dangerous…!”
Cain, who was trying to warn Arundel of the danger, had to shut his mouth.
Arundel, who approached with a spear, stabbed the demon in one breath.
How graceful and strong her action was, Cain couldn’t believe what he saw.
“Your…Your Majesty…?”
Arundel didn’t stop there, she let the divine power flow down the spear blade and struck the ground hard.
Riding on the blade stuck in the ground, the white light spread under the ground.
The demons couldn’t withstand the divine power seeping into the ground and all jumped up to the ground.
And then a strong force, whether it was Zion or Hills, was applied to the demons. And they disappeared in an instant.
“Haah, haah.”
When the surroundings became quiet, Arundel took a deep breath.
She felt a little dizzy from using a lot of divine power for the first time in a while, but she supported his body with the spear in her right hand.
Indeed, using divine power was a very convenient thing. Even with the weak body of Empress Irina, she could swing a huge spear like this.
After leaning on the spear for a while, she felt his energy returning.
Had some time passed?
Arundel had been bowing her head, but her forehead was tingling, and she was afraid to lift her head. But she couldn’t keep her head down forever.
She slowly lifted her face. As expected, all eyes were on Arundel.
Zion, Hills, Cain, and the people in white robes, all were looking at Arundel.
A moment of silence passed, and the first person to break it was Hills.
He came towards Arundel, clapping his hands.
“Wow. That was amazing.”
More than Hills’ playful words, Zion, who was looking at him with an unknowable expression from behind, was on her mind.
She tried to approach Zion to explain something, but two men in white robes came up and blocked her view.
“Unbelievable. You just used divine power, didn’t you?”
“I’ve never seen such clean spear skills. And from a woman, no less.”
The two men looked at Arundel, their eyes sparkling.
As Arundel, who was having a hard time explaining her situation on the spot, stood there flustered and speechless, a man with brown hair pushed the two men aside and appeared.
A calm voice scolded the two men.
“Step back. You’re making the lady uncomfortable.”
And then the man with brown hair approached Arundel.
The man with brown hair was a handsome man with a gentle impression. The man smiled gently and spoke to Arundel.
“I apologize for the rudeness. We are priests heading east.”
At the man’s introduction, Arundel got a good look at his clothes. Upon closer inspection, there was a linden leaf symbolizing Mannheim on his chest.
“Thank you for helping us. How should we repay this favor?”
“There’s no need to repay.”
Zion’s cold voice, which had come up before she knew it, was heard. Zion stood in front of Arundel, blocking the gaze of the man with brown hair.
“Just going on your way is helping.”
“Can we do that? ‘If you receive a favor, you must repay it.’ It’s part of our doctrine.”
The man with brown hair didn’t seem to back down easily.
Despite Zion’s intimidating momentum, the man seemed to be no ordinary person, as he countered with a smile.
Just as Arundel was wondering whether to intervene between the two, Cain approached.
“Your Majesty the Empress, thank you earlier. Are you hurt anywhere?”
At Cain’s words, the priests’ eyes widened. Especially, the man with brown hair seemed very surprised.
The smile disappeared from his face.
“Your Majesty……The Empress?”
Cain, who thought he had said something unnecessary, tried to make amends.
“You didn’t know. I thought you would know by looking at the emblem on the carriage. This person is Her Majesty the Empress of the Croyden Empire. And the person next to her is His Majesty the Emperor.”
At Cain’s introduction, the priests quickly bowed their heads. The man with brown hair also stared at Zion for a while, then slowly bowed his head.
“I greet Your Majesty the Emperor.”
Zion, who had been looking at the bowing priests, opened his mouth.
“Which temple are you priests from?”
“We are priests from the Elbis Temple.”
At the man with brown hair’s introduction, Arundel blinked his eyes.
“Elbis Temple…?”
Elbis…Elbis…
It was a very familiar word somewhere. Arundel took a moment to recall.
“Elbis, Arundel.”
Hmm…it was my surname.
She had forgotten her full name for a moment because no one had called her for a long time. In fact, it was almost like a non-existent surname. It was a surname given a very, very long time ago.
But…
Arundel’s eyes, which had been blinking slowly, suddenly bulged.
“Elbis Temple…?!”
Arundel suddenly held her head and staggered. Seeing her like this, Zion quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and held her.
With Zion worrying behind her, Arundel staggered and regained her balance.
Her eyes were trembling, but she had to ask for sure.
“…Elbis Temple?”
“Yes. It’s the Elbis Temple in the southern part of the Croyden Empire. You might not know because the scale of the temple is small. It’s a subsidiary temple that serves Archangel Arundel.”
…Right, there was such a thing.
Come to think of it, there was. Her own temple.
A very, very long time ago, there was only the main temple that served Mannheim, but as time passed, other subsidiary temples naturally emerged.
When it comes to subsidiary temples, they usually belonged to archangels who were said to have achieved feats.
She didn’t pay much attention to the existence of the temple, but she remembered when Michael was making a fuss about his temple being built one day.
And not long after, he heard that the Arundel Temple was built.
Cruelly, Arundel had not paid much attention to her own temple, only speaking with a dignified voice when the temple was noisy.
So she had completely forgotten about it. The existence of the ‘Elbis Temple’.
Arundel looked at the priests standing in front of her. Each of them held a silver-white spear in their hands.
‘That spear…it’s familiar.’
Arundel’s main weapon was a spear. The silver-white spear made from the frost of heaven was also a symbol of Arundel.
The towering spear mercilessly pierced the demons, so just seeing a silver-white spear made the demons tremble.
That’s why Arundel was able to wield the spear that had fallen to the ground earlier as if it were her own body.
The spear was a weapon as familiar to Arundel as her own body.
‘As if they’re not my priests.’
She felt rather sorry.
Knowing that there was a temple, she had never been interested in it and didn’t even know that they could wield such proficient spear skills.
She wanted to praise the priests who seemed to embody her image, but she couldn’t do that now.
Rather, she should not get involved with them anymore. She was now Empress Irina, not Archangel Arundel.
She didn’t want to reveal her identity and cause another confusion.
Arundel, who had been behind Zion, stepped forward and opened her mouth.
“As His Majesty the Emperor said, you don’t need to thank us. We just did what we had to do. So you can go on your way now.”
Arundel conveyed ‘just go on your way’ as kindly as possible.
At Arundel’s somewhat firm attitude, the brown-haired priest bowed his head and replied. There was regret on his face.
“Yes. If you say so, we will go first.”
As the priests were about to leave, the groans of the knights lying down were heard.
“Ugh.”
The injuries of the knights, who had been forgotten, seemed quite serious. All five, except Hills, had large and small wounds. One of them seemed to have been bitten in the thigh.
Arundel hurriedly approached them and examined the wounds.
‘I’ve already seen it.’
She didn’t hesitate to use divine power anymore.
She gathered divine power in her hand and injected it into the knight’s pierced shoulder. The knight, who had been groaning and sweating cold sweat, let out a fairly even breath.
“…Unbelievable. This is the first time I’ve seen such clear divine power.”
One of the priests watching the scene from the side was amazed. But Arundel knew.
“You need to go to the village for treatment.”
While divine power was proficient in recovery and healing, it was not omnipotent.
The knight’s bleeding and wounds had healed, but to check the exact condition of the bones or ligaments, they had to go to a nearby clinic.
But this place was in the middle of a forest and there was no one who knew the geography of the surroundings.
Just as Arundel was biting her lip in a difficult situation, the brown-haired priest stepped forward.
“I know a nearby village.”
