C100
When the Divine Beast was cornered by Terence and Vinetta, my eyes caught it.
The scene where a stone the size of a human hand's palm fell from the shiny body of the beast.
As shown in the novel, when the Divine Beast was in danger, it tried to escape.
"Vinetta! You must catch it!"
Vinetta did what I told her and quickly pursued the meteorite while Terence cut the form of the beast in half.
"Understood!"
She finally managed to snatch it and ran towards me.
"Divine Beast!"
I reached out my hand and shouted as Liena did in the novel.
"Obediently be mine!"
My hand touched the rough surface of the meteorite.
The meteorite vibrated and radiated light. It was struggling desperately.
"Why, why... are you okay?"
The beast that fell helpless to the ground, more precisely the clone of the Divine Beast, emitted a sound.
Because it was a voice transmitted in my head, the Divine Beast was able to convey its words even with two halves.
"I should have eliminated these guys from the beginning."
This was said about Terence and Vinetta.
"There was no sensation that the attack was blocked by a shield or something. But why...?"
I responded to the clone's question without removing my hand from the meteorite, which is the main body of the Divine Beast.
This is something that will be mine in the future, so I can convey this level of kindness.
"What attacked you were not these two people but the magic stone that Terence imbued with magical power."
The beast's eyes widened.
"You had felt his magic once, and when you felt the same power, you confused the magic stone with it."
The Divine Beast realized our presence in the mine when Terence infused magical power into the magic stone.
In other words, it meant that the Divine Beast could sensibly feel the magical power of other living beings.
Thinking that maybe I could exploit the nature of the Divine Beast in reverse, I came up with a plan.
First, after Terence infused magic into the magic stone, we separated. Both paths had different entrances but led to this place.
Although I boldly appeared first and attracted the attention of the Divine Beast, the two acted in secret.
After placing the magic stone in a suitable place, they hid in a completely different place.
Since both had an artifact with a concealment effect that I gave them before we separated, they could deceive the Divine Beast even more thoroughly.
When I looked inside the backpack, one of the two artifacts that caught my attention was the jewel left by Elliot, and the other was a stealthy artifact.
"It wasn't a very expensive artifact, so the concealment effect might not have been perfect..."
The clone of the Divine Beast received my words.
"I was taken by surprise because I felt that man's magic. If I had paid a little more attention, I might have noticed it."
The shattered body of the animal turned into two small beams of light.
"You..."
The two halos merged into one slightly larger one.
"I thought you were a foolish person blinded by greed, but you're quite intelligent."
It was a sudden compliment.
"Moreover, you can face the attack of my entire body without any protection. Even if you had prepared a plan, it was something you couldn't even attempt if you were ordinary."
"Oh, that is..."
I was going to explain that, in the first place, it wasn't my intention to do that. But something completely unexpected happened.
"Ethel!"
Terence, who had not lowered his guard and was watching the halo of light with Vinetta, ran towards me.
"As expected, were you attacked without a magical barrier? Why did you do something like that?"
He seemed very angry.
"You promised me that you would always use the bracelet!"
"C-calm down."
"What should I calm down about? It could have been really dangerous if Elliot Rudd's artifact wasn't as good as you expected!"
He examined my body meticulously with serious eyes. It seemed he was checking if I had any injuries.
"I'm fine. I'm fine!"
I said that, but honestly, it hurt. This was because the jewel that Elliot handed over to me crumbled like dust.
"I was very lucky."
Perhaps, if the Divine Beast's attack had been stronger or the eccentric inventor who created the artifact had been less competent, my body might not have thrived.
That's why Terence and Vinetta handed me their bracelets.
Even if everything is destroyed, once there is a magical barrier, the Divine Beast's attacks against me will weaken.
After a while, Terence's mood decayed when he confirmed multiple times that I was not injured at all.
"...I'm sorry. I can't believe I was shouting loudly."
"No. I was really reckless."
"I know why you did that. You probably wanted to deal a bigger blow to the Divine Beast."
Since the artifact's effect was a reflection, the more risks I took, the more chances I had to win against my opponent.
At the moment I saw the countless beams of light created by the Divine Beast, I made a decision. I decided to prioritize our victory over my own safety.
"But please don't do this again."
His voice trembled painfully. For some reason, his facial expression didn't look very good.
"You should value yourself more."
"Terence..."
Vinetta also added.
"I agree."
I couldn't bear to say anything. When I removed the bracelet, I couldn't even think about the people who cared so much about me.
It only filled me with the desire to defeat the Divine Beast and the desire to be of help as well.
In a way, that was my selfishness.
"I'm sorry. I won't do that again."
When I spoke quietly, Terence responded reassuringly.
"...Promise."
"Yes, I promise."
As the atmosphere was about to become warm again, the divine beast, which had been silent until a moment ago, spoke.
"I don't understand. Blessed person, your courage in facing my attack with your naked body deserves praise, but why are you being reprimanded?"
"You've never seen humans up close, have you?"
"Could I have seen them? I've been here since I came down to Earth not long ago."
"Then come with me now and take a look."
"Is it worth the effort?"
"You'll change your mind when you see it."
I was sure. In the novel, the divine beast, following Liena, undergoes many changes as it experiences the human world.
"Human beings may seem insignificant to you now, but we also have our own lives and values to pursue."
"...I understand. I was defeated by you anyway, so I'm not in a position to complain."
"Oh! And earlier, you mentioned something about being greedy. Of course, I'm not the type who is very greedy, just normal, right?"
It was a criticism that I was eager to refute even in such an urgent situation.
"You're a noble messenger of God and don't have to work to earn a living; that's why you can say such things. Right?"
The divine beast responded after a while.
"I don't know."
Well, what can you do? In human terms, the divine beast was a newborn baby. There would surely be many things it didn't know.
"I'm not sure... I'm curious why you say that."
The halo of light twisted and changed shape.
"It's okay."
I dissuaded Terence and Vinetta, who were ready to respond because they thought the divine beast was attacking again.
The divine beast returned to the form of a beast.
The difference from before was that this time it was smaller, had shorter legs, and no horns on its head.
Vinetta tilted her head.
"A dog? A cat? Or a fox?"
As she said, it was a strange animal halfway between a dog, a cat, and a fox.
"Excuse me! I acquired this unpleasant appearance because I wasted all my power because of you."
The divine beast expressed its displeasure as it walked towards me. Unlike before, it was a normal sound.
I lowered my body and petted the head of the divine beast.
"Far from being unattractive, it's quite cute, isn't it?"
"...That language is also rude."
"Why can't I call something cute cute?"
I stood up and looked around the mine, holding the main body of the divine beast in one hand and the clone of the divine beast in the other.
"You like it here, don't you? Is that why you've stayed here these past few days?"
"That's also true, since my source is the minerals."
"Then the main body stays here. Because self-immolation is enough to go to the human world."
The divine beast frowned.
"That's strange. It definitely seems like you're doing it for me, but for some reason, I feel greed from you."
"It's an illusion."
It's not because I intend to leave it here to produce magic stones for me. Of course not!
Anyway, the goal of obtaining the divine beast was achieved. I looked at Terence beside me.
"You really worked hard. Let's go now!"
I thought he would smile at me gently as always. However.
"Terence?"
He leaned towards me. No, he fell to my side.
"Terence!"
I helped Terence, who was struggling, and placed my hand on his forehead. He seemed like a ball of fire.
"Your Highness!"
With Vinetta's help, who came running, she laid his body on the ground. He groaned as if suffering.
Finally, I realized.
The reason why his voice sounded distressed before or his expression didn't look good wasn't just because he was worried about me.
"It's because he used too much magical power!"
It was a side effect worse than a headache.
I found the canteen containing medicinal tea in his arms, opened his tightly closed mouth, and gave him tea to drink. But there was no improvement.
"I-It's okay. Because there's more medicinal tea..."
I quickly looked inside my backpack. The spare medicine cart that I brought was there.
"It's useless."
At that moment, the words of the divine beast stopped me.
"I can see it with my eyes. The power of God is violently trembling inside that human being."
The divine beast looked at Terence with indifference.
"He must have exerted too much power to the point of cutting me, a divine beast. It can't be controlled with water mixed with medicinal herbs."
"But Terence said he would be fine."
Indeed, when I first thought of the plan, this was the part that bothered me the most.
I wondered if the burden on Terence would be too great.
Terence spoke to me confidently. As long as he drank medicinal tea from time to time, there would be no problem. He said he knew his own bodily condition better than anyone else.
The divine beast simply dismissed my question.
"He's either stupid enough to make that error in judgment, or he probably lied to you."
"..."
If Terence lied, the reason was obvious. Just to reassure me.
"Leave him. If that person can't calm down even when he's with you, a blessed person, there's no hope for him. First of all, as a human, he can't handle the power of God..."
"Yes, the goddess's blessing!"
I grabbed the divine beast and shook it violently.
"The goddess said she also blessed me! So why isn't Terence getting better?"
In the novel, even if Mikhail suffered side effects, he would recover quickly as long as Liena was by his side.
"Well, that. Isn't it because your divine power is weak?"
"I received a blessing, but why is my divine power so weak?"
"You don't have much faith in God, do you?"
My arm that was shaking the divine beast stopped.
"It's impossible for someone who doesn't believe in God to have strong divine power."
The strength disappeared from my entire body. I didn't quite understand what all this was about.
"...Then what's happening to Terence now?"
"He will die."
What? Terence is dying?
With trembling hands, I tried to take his temperature again.
Then Terence opened his eyes. He took my hand and brought it to his face.
"Ethel."
Our eyes met.
"I'm fine, so Vinetta and you can go out first."
Terence said in a low voice.
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