I Will Not Fall For the Villain’s Flirtations - Chapter 58

When I thought of Wolven’s poison, the man who immediately came to mind was none other than him. A peculiar man whose true identity and intentions were entirely unclear.

Heh. An inappropriate, almost sigh-like chuckle escaped my lips.

How laughable.

In a dire moment where my life was on the line, the person I thought of wasn’t the Pope or the proud shield of Peidos Carmel, but merely a spy from the Magic Tower.

Roar!

I must have reached out instinctively. No, I definitely did. And I cast the most familiar type of barrier. At least, the scene that greeted me when I lifted my eyelids was a familiar blue-tinged barrier.

“…Huh?”

But upon closer inspection, something seemed odd. The scenery outside the barrier shimmered as if it were under a heat haze. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the barrier had two layers.

And the outer barrier was maintained by a magical item that had fallen to the ground. The ointment jar that had slipped out of my pocket when I collapsed.

What I thought was just an ordinary ointment turned out to be an artifact containing a small barrier spell.

“When did he give me something like this…?”

I looked down at the brightly glowing ointment jar and then lifted my head again. This wasn’t the time to be grateful to a man who wasn’t here right now.

Growl.

The monster, crouched with its head against the barrier, exhaled loudly. Licking its forehead several times with its long tongue, it then glared at us with even fiercer eyes.

Grrrr.

“Oh, you really are a combat priest! Well done! Now, finish it off!”

Meanwhile, Nizaz, who had barely escaped death, was spouting nonsense beside me. Apparently impressed by the barrier magic, his eyes sparkled with expectation.

I felt a strong urge to wipe that annoying expression off his face rather than maintaining the image of not being an easy target, especially since this might be my last chance.

“I lied.”

So, I confessed.

“What?”

“I’m actually a healing priest. I’ve never been in combat in my entire life.”

“Gasp!”

The gasp didn’t come from Nizaz but from his subordinate. His chubby face scrunched up into an exaggerated grimace.

“Still, can’t you try to do something…?”

Sighing, I glared at the monster. I needed to do something, anything, which aligned with my plan.

I hadn’t even gotten close to the relic yet. It would be too unfair to die in this musty place without even seeing it. Especially if my last moments were spent with these random Lucanians instead of my comrades.

“Attack… Attack…”

The only offensive magic I knew was some basic electric and binding spells. They were more like self-defense techniques, hardly enough to deal with a monster in an enclosed space.

“What should I do…”

Then, I suddenly remembered what happened in Luticia. Back when I was a novice who could do nothing but release holy power.

For monsters, just shooting holy power at them was an attack. Adding precise purification magic would make it even more powerful.

The problem was that I had to dispel the barrier to attack.

Swallowing hard, I stared at the monster. Unfamiliar with the barrier, it hesitated to approach, showing subtle wariness. It made sense; living deep in a cave, it wouldn’t have encountered barriers often.

After some thought, I spoke calmly.

“To attack, I need to dispel the barrier. If the magic doesn’t work or misses, we could die.”

“Then, can’t you just put the barrier back up…?”

“There’s no guarantee I can do it before it charges at us.”

In some ways, the speed of creating a barrier is more critical than its strength. No matter how strong a barrier is, if it’s not up before an attack lands, it’s useless. That’s why the Magic Tower focuses on increasing the speed of barrier creation.

If it weren’t for the ointment jar’s barrier earlier, I might have been a step too late. Relying on that luck again wasn’t an option, especially since the artifact might be a one-time use.

“Then, can’t we just maintain the barrier until it leaves? It’ll get tired and go away eventually!”

The pot-bellied subordinate clung to his last hope, almost in tears. But all I could give him was a sigh.

“If my holy power runs out, it’ll be worse. There’s no guarantee it’ll leave quickly.”

Maintaining a barrier without a magic circle requires a lot of strength. I had considered drawing a new barrier circle before the ointment jar’s barrier disappeared, but there wasn’t enough physical space, and frankly, I had never drawn a complete circle by myself, so I wasn’t confident.

Besides, it was hard to believe the monster would stay still like this. There was no guarantee the barrier would hold if the giant creature attacked again.

In the end, there was only one answer.

“Everyone, pray. I’m going to dispel the barrier soon.”

“What? Are you crazy? Dispel it?”

I shot a glare at Nizaz, who shouted in shock. He was no help at all, just loud.

“Do you want to die here? We have to try attacking while I still have holy power.”

“{Oh, Ras!}”

Suddenly, he turned towards the wall, prostrated himself, and started mumbling. It seemed like he was reciting a prayer in Lucanian.

Watching his subordinate kneel and follow suit, I turned my gaze back to the monster. Focusing on the magic was much more important than these ridiculous humans.

“Purification first, then electricity.”

Taking a deep breath, I calmly organized my thoughts. You can do it, Duna. Even though you’re a healing priest, you graduated summa cum laude in the ordination exam.

Grrrr.

As if sensing that I was about to attack, the monster suddenly took a step forward. Its posture, slightly hunched forward, suggested it was ready to pounce at any moment.

It would take a bit of time to dispel the barrier and cast the magic. In other words, I had to start before it charged.

Resolute, I immediately dispelled the barrier. I could hear a loud gasp from behind, but I ignored it completely and gathered holy power in my hands.

Thud thud thud!

Noticing the disappearance of the transparent barrier, the monster charged at me with heavy steps. I waited until it was right in front of me and then hit its body with a purification orb, maximized in size.

Crackle!

Electric sparks flew as the monster let out a pained groan. The combined attack of the two spells was more effective than I had anticipated. The purification of the dark energy seemed to amplify the impact of the electricity on the wounds.

Roar!

The problem came next. Though it had sustained some injuries, the monster was still very much alive and roared furiously. The black horns on its head seemed to rise even higher in its anger.

“I-it looks like it’s coming at us again!”

Nizaz, seemingly having given up on praying, shouted while trembling. Gritting my teeth, I hastily gathered more holy power in my hands. If this next attack didn’t deal a fatal blow, we were done for.

The issue was the monster’s speed, which was beyond my expectations. Before I could fully prepare my next spell, it leaped forward and was upon me.

“Ugh!”

Panicking, I unleashed the incomplete spell. It was a reflexive action driven purely by the desire to survive.

And then, something incredible happened.

It felt like a sudden flood of holy power surged through me, akin to how a blocked airway might clear with a strong stimulant. The holy power, which had been flowing like a trickle, suddenly became a torrent. And to confirm it wasn’t just my imagination, a blinding light filled the cave, illuminating everything.

Roar!

The monster, too, was thrown back with a scream, sent flying far away. The result was utterly astounding.

As I withdrew my holy power, the light gradually dimmed. The monster, which had crashed into several thick stone pillars and landed on the opposite side, showed no signs of getting up, whether dead or unconscious.

“What…?”

In a daze, I looked down at my palm. Did I really do that just now?

It wasn’t even a completed spell. It was almost pure holy power, without any electrical component.

“Oh, priest! You really are a combat priest!”

At that moment, Nizaz’s subordinate, who had been trembling just moments ago, spoke up. He seemed deeply moved, his face a mess of tears and snot, clearly visible even in the dim light.

“Cutie! I always believed in you, but you’ve far exceeded my expectations!”

Nizaz, too, had abandoned his praying posture and approached me with an expression of profound gratitude. Standing uncomfortably close, he sighed deeply and said,

“Hah, I have no choice. I must give you an opportunity.”

“An opportunity?”

What opportunity?

As an inexplicable sense of unease crept up my spine, he spoke in a greasy tone.

“I will allow you to become my fourth wife.”

…What?