Chapter 89 : Saintessess?

Saintessess?

"Saintess!"

Camilla blurted out instinctively.

Hearing the voice, Celia glanced at her, and seeing her clad in a priest's robe while addressing her as 'Saintess', she was sure that Camilla was from the Church of Light.

Celia did not respond.

Camilla felt this was only natural. After all, Celia was a Saintess, while she was just an ordinary cleric—there was no comparison between them.

But once she confirmed Celia was "one of their own,"

Camilla pulled the injured Marlow upright and said,

"Captain Marlow, we're saved! The Saintess must have come to purge the undead!"

Upon hearing this, Marlow looked at Celia, who was enveloped in golden light.

He didn't understand why she had suddenly appeared here, but since she was from the Church of Light, there was nothing to fear.

Camilla, not bothering with any further healing, helped Marlow toward Celia's position.

Seeing this, Serea did not stop them. She was also curious about the local situation, so she let them come over.

But as she saw Celia use Divine Grace, that voice panicked.

"Divine Grace? You're from the Judgement Cross Church!"

Celia still ignored the voice and continued casting Holy Light to repel the undead.

Unlike Camilla's half-baked holy magic, Celia could shine brilliantly as long as she had enough mental energy.

But upon hearing the word 'Church', Camilla's steps faltered, but she still brought Marlow to stand behind the others.

"Th—thank you."

"Stand still. I have some questions for you later."

Serea spoke while transmitting an order to the once-again hidden Little Black. Camilla and Marlow obediently stood where instructed.

Feeling snubbed by Celia's silence, the voice grew enraged and immediately issued an order.

"Hmph! Lapdogs of the Church—all of you, die!"

Now serious, the skeletons and Skeleton Warriors picked up their pace, surrounding Serea and the others from all directions.

Even with a powerful cleric, it should be impossible to hold off all the undead.

"I'll help!"

Seeing this, Marlow drew his backup dagger. Having received Camilla's emergency healing, he looked at the incoming skeletons.

Each of the dozen or so skeletons wore fine steel armor, carried steel shields and swords, and the soulfire in their eye sockets glowed coldly.

Powerful!

Staring at the Skeleton Warriors, Marlow began to regret his words and wondered if he could take them back.

"Afraid?"

Serea suddenly asked.

"N-no..."

"If you're scared, go back."

"Uh... Then I'll guard the rear, in case of a flanking attack."

With that, Marlow rather shamefully circled to the back, while Camilla, gritting her teeth, took her place beside Serea.

"I—I'll help too."

But Serea replied,

"No need. Just watch."

As her words fell, fourteen Skeleton Warriors clad in fine steel armor advanced as a unit, moving around the other skeletons.

Their uniform steps and attire exerted a powerful aura of pressure.

"Hm?"

Watching that squad of charging Skeleton Warriors, 'Bondoni', whose body was possessed by 'Adis', felt puzzled. He wondered when his crypt had acquired such a force.

Were they attracted here by him?

No matter. This was a good thing. With such elite undead warriors, he could be revived more quickly and rise again sooner.

And he could get rid of these annoying pests even faster!

"Kill them for me!"

The voice issued the order once more, commanding the Skeleton Warriors to charge Serea and her group.

Responding, the Skeleton Warriors accelerated their charge.

Seeing this, Celia hesitated for a moment, then canceled Divine Grace.

It was a waste of mental energy to keep it up...

"Saintess, why did you stop? Don't tell me—!"

Seeing Celia cease casting, Camilla thought Celia had run out of mental energy.

Since she had cast such a powerful Divine Grace, excessive consumption was to be expected.

But now, without the Saintess's strength, how could they possibly fend off the undead attack?

A major crisis!

Staring at the Skeleton Warriors leading the charge, Camilla's hands trembled. Her "Holy Light" was still unusable, and if these powerful Skeleton Warriors broke through...

Terrified, Camilla shut her eyes and prayed silently.

"Great God of Light—no, great gods, any of you! If you are willing to save me, Camilla will become your most faithful believer!"

Threatened with death, Camilla even abandoned her faith for the gods, and such wavering faith doomed her to never rise within the Church of Light.

But then a dramatic scene unfolded. A devotee of the God of Light (or the Goddess of Light), faced with disaster, did not receive aid from the illusory "gods."

Instead, it was the darkness—the very antithesis of light—that came to her defense.

As the Skeleton Warriors closed in, "Bondoni" showed a perverse grin.

He could already see a vision of the Skeleton Warriors rampaging among the living, and with the cleric's power depleted, their deaths were assured!

But what happened next froze the smile on his face.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Forming up, the Skeleton Warriors in steel armor raised their large shields and pivoted to face the other skeletons in the rear, forming an impenetrable shield wall.

"... What are you doing?!"

After a brief silence, as his own Skeleton Warriors raised a shield wall against him, "Bondoni" flew into a rage.

But this was not the end. A dark figure suddenly appeared at the front of the Skeleton Warriors. "Bondoni" recognized him instantly—it was the one who ambushed him. No, it was a skeleton!

"Protect our queen!"

Little Black roared, empowering the Skeleton Warriors with the "Fear Roar" battle shout effect.

A rogue, in a two-sided melee, ran to the center to bellow a battle shout instead of backstabbing the enemy's rear—what could one say about that...

Complaints aside, the disparity in strength between both sides was immense, and Serea couldn't be bothered with details.

What? You ask which sides? Isn't it obvious...

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Blades were drawn. The Skeleton Warriors would not bare swords before their queen, but before enemies, their steel could be shown!

At that moment, Camilla opened her eyes, still praying to the gods of justice.

But when she looked, she did not see a miracle from the God of Light, but instead saw—

The antithesis of light: servants of the dark god. The undead!

(To be continued.)

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Priestess of Darkness Camilla?