Vol 3. Chapter 128: For Your Own Safety

Holy fire that shone in seven-colored glassy brilliance was the bane of all wicked things. The moment anything touched it, it would be purified until not even ash remained—like it had never existed in this world at all.

Of course, for good people, the Dawn Saintess’s holy fire was safe and sacred. Kind people—ordinary people—didn’t need to fear the [All-Gods Consecration Flame] that protected them. Only the most wicked and most evil things needed to fear the holy fire’s might.

The Dawn Goddess’s companion flame existed only to judge the sins of those who harmed the pure and good. It would never harm anyone innocent.

From childhood to adulthood, he had heard countless legends about the Saintess and the [All-Gods Consecration Flame]. In his subconscious, whether it was the Saintess or the holy fire, both had always meant something positive to him—because deep down, he acknowledged himself as human.

As a knight.

He never imagined that one day, the holy fire meant to punish sinners would burn him.

The moment the [All-Gods Consecration Flame] ignited and spread onto his body, Caron’s eyes widened on instinct. His feelings were tangled beyond description.

Shock. Astonishment. Disbelief.

And a few strands of something like shattered illusions.

But no matter how many emotions he had, the instant he touched the [All-Gods Consecration Flame], they all became fuel.

From Caron’s perspective, the blooming glassy fire swallowed everything in his sight in an instant. It all happened in a single blink—brief as a meteor streaking past.

He knew he was dying.

It was like an elephant’s instinctive premonition of death—able to catch, with perfect accuracy, the information that he was about to die.

‘Wow, Father! The Dawn Saintess is amazing! Someday, I’ll become a knight who protects the Saintess too!’

‘Times change, child. The Dawn Saintess has already become history.’

The broad-shouldered middle-aged man patted the boy’s head.

‘Then... have knights and justice become history too?’ the boy asked.

‘Of course not. Knights and justice never fall.’ The middle-aged man smiled.

‘Then, when I grow up, I’ll become a knight who protects justice!’ The boy spoke to his father with solemn seriousness.

Who was that child?

At the very last moment—when he was about to be completely purified by the [All-Gods Consecration Flame]—Caron remembered.

That had been him.

His former self.

His childhood self.

Ah.

So that was him?

Then... when did the current him become the enemy of the him he used to be?

He didn’t remember.

With only his head left, purified down to the last, Caron gave one final look at the breathtaking, holy pink-haired girl before him.

The identity she represented had once been the person he admired most.

In an era without a Dawn Saintess, he had wanted to be the hero who held up the sky.

But...

His thoughts changed the day he saw that blue-haired boy—his home raided by the Radiant Cross Knights, fallen into utter ruin.

The Dawn Saintess had already become the past.

The Facilis bloodline, too.

So reverence slowly turned into condescension—and finally became contempt.

Living at the core of Camella Kingdom’s noble society, Caron learned to label everyone he met.

Who he needed to flatter.

Who he needed to desperately try to climb toward.

Who he should choose to cooperate with.

Who he could ignore entirely.

The words he’d spoken as a child, the vows he’d made—people forgot them. They were tossed into a trash bin labeled “kids say anything.”

Caron looked at Vanessa’s expression.

After personally killing the enemy who had opposed him for so long—and even “stolen women” from him—she should feel great, right? A clean, exhilarating sense of revenge fulfilled.

But when Caron saw Vanessa’s face and her eyes, he froze in surprise.

There was no smile in her expression or gaze.

She only watched him calmly like this.

If there was any negative emotion at all, it wasn’t hatred.

It was disappointment.

And resolve.

So that’s how it was.

“Enemy” was only his one-sided obsession.

She had never treated him as some kind of sworn enemy.

Because he didn’t deserve to be her enemy.

In her eyes, he was just a neighbor who grew up alongside her—someone they had a terrible relationship with. If it weren’t for issues of principle like harming people and the Most-Evil Divine Armament, she had never wanted to do anything to him at all.

Even this hostile relationship...

He had imagined it.

At the end, the corner of Caron’s mouth lifted in a relieved smile.

Original intent...?

He’d already joined hands with the Most-Evil Divine Armament.

Who still remembered something like that?

In the end, he mouthed the words.

‘You’ll die too.’

Vanessa only took it as a vicious curse at the moment of his death.

The brilliant seven-colored glassy flame burst like fireworks, scattering into stardust across the ground.

Fennia and Amisha watched in silence.

The sinner had been executed.

And as he died, the sin on him was purified by the [All-Gods Consecration Flame].

He had paid the price for his actions.

But Vanessa’s work wasn’t finished.

She still had to purify the greatest culprit of all—this demon sword that had harmed countless people over a thousand years.

Because of her realm, with only two wings she couldn’t maintain the [All-Gods Consecration Flame] for long, and she could only release it at extremely close range. Used normally, she couldn’t hit anyone at all.

But with living blood vessels as a fuse, it was different.

She held the blood vessel and released the [All-Gods Consecration Flame], and the blaze could instantly burn straight onto the target.

‘S-Saintess?! Please stop!’

Seeing Caron melt under the holy fire—and the blaze about to spread to itself—Blood-Debt realized things were going bad and hurriedly begged for mercy.

Sure, it was humiliating for a thousand-year-old monster to beg a little girl who hadn’t even lived for decades.

But what was humiliation compared to survival?

If it could live, it didn’t matter if it lost all dignity.

But clearly, Vanessa had no intention of exchanging a single word with this devil.

She continued burning her own blood. From the look of it, even if her blood ran out, she would still purge Blood-Debt completely.

‘AAAAAAH! N-no!!’

The host was dead, and Blood-Debt had only just regained control—yet sparks of the [All-Gods Consecration Flame] were already blasting onto its body. Blood-Debt screamed in terror.

How could it be this unlucky?!

Damn it—Caron! If not for him, it wouldn’t have ended up like this!

It had seen the horror of the [All-Gods Consecration Flame] with its own eyes. That thing was so dangerous it could burn away even Demon Pillars—concepts themselves.

If even it touched it, it was finished.

‘AAAAAAH!’

Several sparks drifted onto Blood-Debt’s sword body. The instant it touched them, hole after hole—hideous gouges and gaps—burned open. The wounds charred completely, beyond repair, beyond regeneration.

Vanessa watched calmly, ignoring the devil’s screams.

After today, Blood-Debt would cease to exist.

This vicious, most wicked thing that had killed countless people would become history forever.

“Saintess! Watch out!”

But at this critical instant, Amisha’s panicked shout rang out behind her.

“?”

Vanessa hesitated, not understanding why Amisha suddenly told her to be careful.

There were no enemies left here, weren’t there?

In the moment of her hesitation, she felt something coil around her legs.

Then something stabbed into the exposed skin of her thigh—unprotected by [Armor Fortress].

Vanessa’s expression shifted. Her eyes narrowed as she looked down.

A green plant had burst from the ground and wrapped her ankles and knees. Purple thorns covered it—piercing into her skin.

What kind of plant was this?

Vanessa didn’t have time to think.

Her world suddenly spun—tilting and lurching.

Her knees went soft.

She collapsed to her knees, sitting back on the ground, and naturally she couldn’t maintain the [All-Gods Consecration Flame] anymore.

The Radiant-Cross Holy Shield fell to the ground.

And Blood-Debt—already mangled beyond recognition by a few sparks of the [All-Gods Consecration Flame]—also dropped to the ground, utterly still, with no response.

The plant binding Vanessa’s legs suddenly withered, turning dry yellow, then rotting away into defeat.

“Saintess!”

Fennia and Amisha didn’t understand what was happening. They rushed forward to support Vanessa—

A wave of force suddenly lifted right in front of them, throwing both girls to the ground.

Vanessa watched, drenched in sweat, her breathing turning ragged—so vivid it invited dangerous imagination.

That plant was poisoned.

Vanessa lifted her hand to cast healing on herself.

But the person in the shadows seemed to have predicted this.

Two more plants burst from behind Vanessa like ropes, yanking her arms back and tying her hands behind her.

“Wah! What’s going on?!”

The little angel’s voice cried out inside Vanessa’s mind.

Vanessa stayed silent, as if sensing something, and looked toward the distance.

“Everyone, don’t move. If you want to live—hehe. After all, I personally don’t want any of you to get hurt.”

Along with the sound of a staff tapping the ground came a familiar voice.

A middle-aged man in white priestly robes appeared there, kind-faced and gentle-looking.

“You...”

Vanessa’s vision had started to blur, but from his build, his silhouette, and the color of his voice, she identified him instantly.

“It’s... you??”

“Saintess—your loyal subordinate arrived too late to rescue you. Please forgive my sin.”

The kindly-looking middle-aged priest walked with his staff until he was not far from Vanessa, then went down on one knee and offered a devout salute. His words were so earnest it was like he truly revered Vanessa—utterly loyal.

Then he rose again.

A meaningful smile hung at the corner of his mouth as he looked down at the pink-haired girl kneeling on the ground, unable to straighten up.

“Or should I call you... Student Vinny?”

“You’re Priest Foreno?!”

Fennia forced herself upright. Taking magic head-on was still too much for a human body. If he’d intended to kill them, they’d already be dead.

“Priest Foreno, what are you doing?!”

Amisha pushed herself up with her staff, staring at him in disbelief. “You—can’t you see she’s the Saintess?!”

“I can. Of course I can.”

Foreno turned, watching Amisha and Fennia with a benevolent, gentle face. “Or rather, the Church’s upper ranks can all see it. This is genuine Facilis blood.”

“Then why?? You... you weren’t this kind of person.”

“Do you know what kind of person I am, Clergywoman Amisha?”

Foreno asked with a smiling, genial tone.

Amisha froze.

Out of habit, Priest Foreno always wore the same smile—eyes narrowed, never fully opening. And since she’d barely met him, she had never truly seen what his eyes looked like.

That was right.

This Priest Foreno was the very priest who had treated Vinny back during the Blood-Debt incident.

“Clergywoman Amisha, you rely too much on your eyes. That’s not good,” Foreno said gently. “You should know [Immaculate Eyes] isn’t omnipotent. People who understand concealment can easily use it to earn your trust.”

“What do you want?!”

Fennia gripped her sword and snarled.

“What do I want? Naturally, I’m here to welcome Saintess.”

Foreno’s gaze returned to Vanessa.

“This is what you call welcoming? Lord Foreno—what does it mean to cast magic on Saintess?!” Fennia demanded.

“That,” Foreno said in a tone as if it were obvious, “is naturally to prevent Saintess from doing something extreme... and hurting herself.”

“Lies! Foreno—if you come any closer to Saintess, I’ll make you pay!” Fennia warned.

“Sigh. You really haven’t realized your situation at all, have you?”

Foreno shook his head, looking helpless. “Me—I’m not here to be Saintess’s enemy. I’m here to help you.”

“Saintess, it hasn’t been easy, has it?” Foreno chuckled. “Living in hiding all the time.”

“Constantly exhausting yourself over when your identity will be discovered, when you’ll be assassinated—right? After all, the outside is very dangerous. Many factions bear malice toward you—some even carry killing intent.”

“I can’t bear to watch you continue like this. As long as you’re willing to make your identity public and return to the Church, I can guarantee that from now on, you’ll never need to worry about your personal safety again.”

“The Church. The Pope. The Radiant Cross Knights—they will escort and protect you.”

“And you can still inherit your great-grandmother’s position—ascend once more to the Dawn Saintess’s throne.”

Foreno’s words were heartfelt—so sincere it was as if everything he said was purely for Vanessa’s sake.

“So.”

Vanessa stayed silent for a moment. Only after she recovered a little strength did she speak, one word at a time.

“What’s the price?”

“Price? What price is there?” Foreno smiled. “You are the Dawn Saintess above ten thousand people. Attention and reverence—aren’t those what should belong to you in the first place?”

“The price—if it’s losing my freedom—then allow me to refuse.”

Vanessa didn’t entertain Foreno’s speech. “I don’t want any ties with you. I only want to draw a clear line.”