Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 79

Episode 79

Crunch! Crack!

The sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking echoed. I stared blankly at the horrific scene unfolding before my eyes.

The newly appeared Behemoth attacked Iril, who was closest. The moment a roar echoed with a violent gust of wind, I was sure she would die. At that moment, others besides me must have thought the same.

But when I came to my senses, the person lying in a pool of blood before my eyes wasn’t her, but Herol. He had shielded Iril, taking the brunt of the monster’s attack.

“……”

“……”

It was as if time had stopped; no movement registered. All the actions around me seemed to be in slow motion. Everyone else was frozen, their faces pale with shock.

“H-Herol?”

I regained my senses only after hearing Iril’s terrified voice. She was covered in his blood, protected by Herol underneath. Her stiff face was completely smeared with blood. Even then, the Behemoth continued its assault on Herol. Each time its massive fangs sank deep into his abdomen, gouts of blood poured from Herol’s mouth.

At that moment, someone quickly ran and jumped onto the Behemoth’s body. It was Trowel. As soon as he climbed onto the monster’s back, he plunged the dagger he was holding into its neck. The Behemoth, feeling the pain, twisted its body violently, and Herol’s body, finally released, collapsed next to Iril.

“Ev-everyone, help Matthew! Quickly!”

Only then, as if snapping out of it, Huesen shouted urgently. At his words, the group, recovering from their shock, all grabbed their weapons and rushed at the Behemoth. Meanwhile, Iril got up and frantically shook Herol’s shoulders.

“Herol! Wake up, Herol!”

Was he conscious? After a moment, Herol’s tightly closed eyes opened with difficulty. He recognized Iril, who was looking at him, and smiled faintly.

“Cough, cough! Are you… okay, Witch?”

“What! This isn’t the time to worry about me, you idiot! Why, why did you…!”

“S-see? I told you… I can do it when I try, right?”

At those words, Iril stopped breathing for a moment. She had a dumbfounded expression, as if she couldn’t believe he would joke even at a moment like this. Amused by this, Herol chuckled, even with his face distorted in pain. But the next moment, he vomited blood again.

“Herol!”

“Ah, it’s okay. It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought.”

He murmured calmly to the horrified Iril. Of course, no one would take those words at face value in this situation. Herol’s condition was very serious, and it was clear to everyone that he was rapidly losing his life force. He seemed to know this fact himself. His face, panting softly, was already resigned to his fate. Seeing this, Iril shouted, tears streaming down her face.

“Wake up! I’m going to give you first aid right now…!”

Iril moved busily to stop the bleeding. But there was no way to properly treat a wound that had almost completely pierced his upper body. As time passed, Iril wore a desperate expression. The hand tying the bandage was already trembling pitifully. Meanwhile, Herol blinked faintly and muttered.

“Now… what are you going to do, Witch? It’s going to be boring without me. It won’t be easy to find someone who silently puts up with your nagging like me, cough!”

“Don’t talk, Herol! The more you move, the more blood you lose!”

“Tch, I wanted to see the Witch get married before I died, even if I had to die….”

“I told you not to talk! And what nonsense are you spouting! Who said anything about dying!”

“I wanted to tease… the groom….”

“Okay! Okay, so don’t talk anymore! Shut your mouth, please!”

The scolding turned almost into a plea. But Herol didn’t stop talking. It was as if he was trying to spit out all the thoughts in his head, like someone facing their last moments.

“That guy is secretly ill-tempered, you know. Did you marry him based on looks? You’re definitely going to regret it. If you fight, it’s as good as a death sentence. I really wanted to tell you that… and also….”

“Don’t talk! I said don’t talk, you idiot! Do you really want to die?”

“I wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine… for stealing what I had my eye on….”

“……!”

Huh! Did Herol perhaps like Iril?

He kept chuckling and laughing, not even noticing Iril’s shocked expression. At that moment, Iril’s confused gaze met Herol’s. He slowly raised his blood-soaked hand and gently stroked her cheek.

“I should have… done this sooner….”

“What….”

“If I had wanted to… I could have touched you… like this….”

“H-Herol… you….”

“I liked you, Iril.”

Herol smiled contentedly as Iril’s eyes widened. At that moment, his outstretched arm drooped like a sick chick. He had lost consciousness. As his closed eyes showed no sign of opening again, Iril swallowed her tears and shouted.

“You idiot! Don’t die! You can’t die! Wake up!”

Then, boom! A huge sound that shook the earth was heard. Turning around, I saw the Behemoth collapsing, spewing blood. Trowel had taken it down in an instant.

It was a victory, but no one was smiling. The group rushed to Herol, postponing the cleanup. Huesen’s face hardened seriously as he hurriedly checked his pulse.

“Mighty! Holy water, quickly!”

At Huesen’s words, Mighty quickly took out a bottle from his chest. But there was no way that the amount left in the small bottle would be enough. Before he could drop a few drops, the bottle was already empty. In comparison, the speed at which the wound was healing was noticeably slow.

“Damn it, I should have saved more if I had known this would happen…!”

Mighty cursed, continuing to tap the already empty bottle. But there was no way that holy water would come out by doing that. As if judging that it was impossible to have any more hope, a heavy atmosphere began to settle over the group. Iril was already completely distraught.

“You idiot Herol! Don’t die! I won’t let you if you die! Can you hear me? Can you hear me, Herol!”

“Iril, calm down! What are you going to do if you get agitated?”

“Let’s move Herol first! We need to take him to a priest right away!”

“No! Did you see Herol’s wound? He’ll die while we’re moving him! It’s better to bring the priest here.”

“That’s ridiculous! We don’t have time to wait for that! Do you think Herol can hold on until then?”

As the situation became urgent, the group seemed to have completely lost their composure. Not only Sherry and Mighty, but even Huesen, who was usually calm, looked very agitated.

In the increasingly tense atmosphere, I carefully examined Herol. He was still breathing, but only barely. Judging by his condition, he didn’t seem like he could last much longer. In fact, just looking at the amount of blood he had lost so far, it was a miracle that he hadn’t died from excessive bleeding.

The conflict didn’t last long. I sighed and then plopped down in front of Herol. At that, the group, who had been arguing, looked at me with puzzled expressions.

“El?”

“I’ll try to heal him.”

“What? How can you?”

“I told you I was an aspiring priest. Actually, I can use a little divine power.”

“I-is that true?”

I awkwardly nodded to the people who were making surprised expressions. I glanced at Trowel, but he was just smiling as if he didn’t care.

“Is it possible to use divine power without being a priest?”

“That’s right. Usually, you can’t use it until you receive the insignia [a symbol of religious authority], right?”

“Ah, um, well, that’s….”

“What does it matter right now? We should try anything if it can save Herol! Come on, El. What are you doing? Start quickly, quickly!”

The person who silenced the group was Iril. At her urging, I smiled awkwardly and placed my hand on Herol’s body. Honestly, even at this moment, I was worried about the fallout. It was obvious that this would cause a huge stir. But I couldn’t just stand by and watch a colleague who had been through thick and thin with me die before my eyes. If I let this moment pass, it would definitely remain in my heart forever.

I soon focused my mind and unleashed my healing abilities. At that moment, along with a faint mist, I felt the power that had escaped from me envelop Herol’s entire body. It was a mysterious sight, as if he was surrounded by a faint glow.

With each place the mist passed, the wounds healed at a rapid pace. Crack, the broken bones were reassembled, and new flesh quickly began to fill the space. At that, the onlookers gasped loudly.

When the healing was over, Herol had returned to his normal self. If it weren’t for the clothes torn to shreds by the claws and the bloodstains on his body, it would have been hard to believe that he had suffered such serious injuries that his life was in danger just a moment ago.

After confirming that he was completely healed, I slowly caught my breath and took my hand off his body. The surroundings were eerily quiet. When I raised my head, I found the group frozen in silence. They all had shocked faces, as if they had seen a ghost.

“Um, well… it’s all over now.”

“Huh? Ah, ah, yes.”

At my words, the group nodded hastily and approached. Then, they checked Herol’s sleeping figure and all wore bewildered expressions.

“Amazing. He’s really completely healed.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it even though I saw it with my own eyes. Is this really possible?”

“Even priests can’t heal this completely. And to have such tremendous divine power even though you’re not an official priest… El… what exactly are you?”

I had already caused an accident, and now it was time to deal with the aftermath. I smiled awkwardly at the pouring gazes.

“I-I think I was just lucky this time. It doesn’t usually heal this well. Ahaha….”

“It’s not usually like this?”

“Yes, so I didn’t really expect much either. But I’m really glad the result was good. Well, how should I put it? I guess God listened to my prayers.”

I didn’t know it was so difficult to lie so casually. I deliberately acted relieved, hoping that my true feelings wouldn’t be revealed. Fortunately, it seemed plausible enough that they didn’t suspect me.

“Well, that could be the case. God sometimes performs miracles in unexpected ways.”

“That’s right. So, wouldn’t that be why even an imperfect priest like me could use divine power? Ahaha….”

“But even so, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re amazing, El. Herol wouldn’t have been healed if it weren’t for you.”

“R-really?”

“Of course. This miracle happened because you prayed for Herol, right? Ah, you’re so lovely! Thank you, El! Thanks to you, Herol is alive! Thank you so much!”

“Whoa!”

At that moment, Iril grabbed me and started kissing my cheeks indiscriminately. I couldn’t hide my embarrassment at the unprecedented experience. But I couldn’t just push her away, because Iril’s eyes were already filled with tears.