Yuriel narrowly avoided Arthur’s sword strike.
At the same time, he had a gut feeling.
I’m going to die.
The skill gap was so immense that it couldn’t be compared. No matter how confident he was, the man in front of him was unbeatable. It was certain.
“You’re really good at avoiding it.”
Arthur, with a slightly annoyed expression, adjusted his sword.
“I came out secretly, so I need to get back in quickly. So, can you please die easily?”
Arthur was not using magic power. To be precise, he was not using any magic, let alone demonic energy. This is because Yuriel is a priest.
No matter how much demonic energy he removed when he came to the human world, and even if he converted his magic to suit humans, this guy is comparable to a high-ranking priest. He could have been caught. Even if he kills this guy, there might be a trace left behind.
Therefore, Arthur was only pressing Yuriel with a sword. It was enough against a human.
At that moment, a chilling light flickered in Arthur’s brown eyes.
“Wa, wait a moment!”
Yuriel, sitting down, shouted with both hands spread wide.
“W-why are you trying to kill me?”
Arthur cocked his head.
Humans are so amazing.
Why do they ask for reasons for dying?
Are you proud that you have not created a single reason in your life to die? Or is he delusional that he will live in peace forever and then die of old age? Either way is truly arrogant.
“I just want to do it.”
So, he brightly chuckled and replied,
“is there any reason reason to die? Just dying.”
Yuriel’s face drained of color.
This is wrong. The man in front of him had no intention of conversing.
Though cowardly, Yuriel, who had completely abandoned the idea of begging for his life, cleared his throat again.
“Just a moment!”
“You’re really persistent.”
“I can’t die now!”
“Then are you want to die tomorrow? You’re talking nonsense.”
Yuriel shouted towards the sullen Arthur.
“N-no! I-I just lost my child, and if I die here, my, my child will die too. P-please, can’t I find my child first?”
He must find Dehan.
The child who followed him here and got lost in the blizzard. If he doesn’t find the child and dies, he will never be able to go to the side of the gods.
Yuriel clasped his hands tightly together and bowed his head as if praying.
“Please save the child…”
The tip of Arthur’s sword tilted slightly downward.
“How old is the child?”
“F-five years old.”
“Sigh…”
Arthur let out a long sigh.
In the first place, he came to kill this priest because he dared to attack Shekina. That’s how much Arthur cared for Shekina. At the same time, he loved children. He was weak towards children.
After sheathing his sword, Arthur approached Yuriel and sat down.
“Is it possible to lose a five-year-old child? In this blizzard? How did you happen to lose him?”
“Th-there su-suddenly, a m-monster appeared here…”
“A human claiming to be a priest loses a child because of a single monster? It might be better to just die.”
“I-I just want to find the child!”
Yuriel hastily spoke, hoping to change Arthur’s mind.
“I-I’ve searched the entire flat area here… but, it’s not there. So, maybe, it fell below into that canyon…”
He pointed towards the canyon. Arthur furrowed his brow.
“If it fell there, it probably died.”
“N-no, he didn’t die!”
Yuriel extended his hands nervously.
“The child is under the p-protection of the g-gods…”
Huh?
Arthur snorted.
“Priests think that God’s protection is all-powerful. That’s definitely not the case.”
“… Wh-what did you say? The w-wind is t-too strong, I didn’t hear.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Chuckling, Arthur grabbed Yuriel’s collar, lifted him, and approached the canyon.
A canyon so deep the bottom couldn’t be seen.
If it were an ordinary child, falling here would mean certain death. But, if the child truly had divine protection, as Yuriel claimed, it might be injured but not dead.
The only issue was the bitterly cold weather.
Arthur glanced down at Yuriel.
Unable to use magic, and without it, there was no way to descend this deep canyon. As Arthur pondered with furrowed brows, he eventually tapped Yuriel’s shoulder.
“Then, how about you try falling over there? Whether it’s divine protection or nonsense, you won’t die anyway.”
“I-I don’t have that much protection… I m-might die…”
“You’re truly useless.”
This guy claims to be a high-ranking priest. It seems the temples are lacking in talent.
“Stay here for now. I’ll call the guards.”
Arthur didn’t want to save him, and he didn’t want his outing to be exposed, but he had no choice, not when it involved rescuing a five-year-old child.
Just as Arthur was about to step away,
“Huh?”
Yuriel saw something slowly rising from below the canyon.
“Uh, excuse me. W-what’s that?”
At his words, Arthur also looked down.
Immediately, they could see.
“Huh?”
“What?”
Shekina, carrying a much larger boy, was floating up.
***
Originally, Shekina had planned to return around the time Yuriel came looking for Dehan. Thinking she had the artifact for Nisha and a teleport scroll, she believed she could leave using teleportation. However, a problem arose.
No matter how long she waited, Yuriel didn’t show up.
– Aren’t your fever are too high?
Dehan’s condition was deteriorating.
To make matters worse, she only had two scrolls – one for teleportation gate and one for fly magic.
Using the teleport gate would take her to the pre-set Demon Lord’s palace, but taking a warrior like Dehan there was impossible. Most of the demons there roamed freely, releasing magic recklessly.
The only option left was to use the fly magic to ascend the canyon and request rescue.
‘Why is this kid stuck here, making me suffer like this?’
Holding Dehan in a princess carry, Shekina floated up, resigning herself to the situation.
‘I’ll make him pay back a hundredfold later. Seriously, really, truly.’
After struggling up the canyon,
“… Arthur?”
An unexpected person. Arthur was there, with Yuriel by his side.
“Dehan! My goodness!”
Yuriel reached out to Dehan, who was being held by Shekina. Can’t you see I’m sweating from the hard work of carrying this kid up? Shouldn’t you support me first? This priest with no conscience…!
“Shekina, this way.”
It was Arthur who embraced Shekina, who had curses on the tip of her tongue. After handing over Dehan to Yuriel, Shekina hugged Arthur’s neck.
To onlookers, it might seem like a rather affectionate relationship.
However, Shekina’s whispered words in Arthur’s ear were far from affectionate.
“Are you here to hand over Yuriel, or did you come all the way here for that guy?”
“If I say no, will you believe me?”
“Hahaha.”
“Hehehe.”
“Are you kidding me!”
Smack! Shekina struck Arthur’s chest hard.
While his expression when facing Yuriel was a cold, emotionless face, Arthur in front of Shekina was almost like a different person.
He chuckled and patted Sekina’s back.
“Ouch, that hurts. But I did it all for you, Shekina.”
“You, aren’t you knowing treat priest like that will make them as enemies…!”
“More importantly, it’s about Shekina’s revenge.”
“I’m not die, and I didn’t get hurt, so there’s no need for revenge!”
Listening to their conversation, Yuriel roughly grasped the situation. Given Shekina had encountered Arthur before, it shouldn’t be difficult for her to speculate on the situation.
But there was something more important.
“I, um…”
Yuriel spoke with an earnest voice.
“As much as I’m really curious about what happened, right now Dehan is in too much pain. Can we please go back to the territory? I beg you…”
In response to his resquest, Shekina embraced Arthur’s neck again and spoke.
“Arthur, how did you come here?”
“Magic.”
“Won’t using magic give away our location when we return?”
“Yes. It would reveal us immediately.”
“Then, how do we return?”
“Hmm…”
Arthur tilted his head to the side, wearing a mischievous smile, and casually said,
“Shall we believe in the miracle of the gods?”
“What?”
“If he truly has divine protection, something miraculous should happen to save the child, no matter what.”
Arthur’s half-closed eyes shifted towards the weakened Dehan.
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