Forsaken Priest of the Hero's Party-Chapter 100: The Invading Threat

In her dream, she saw her family once more, as they had been in their human days.

“Big sister.”

Strangely, Lucia’s younger sister, whom she had always considered the cutest, came running toward her with a smile. Lucia smiled back at her. She didn’t know if this was a dream or the afterlife.

Normally not one to cry easily, tears now streamed down her face in torrents. threw her arms open, desperate to embrace the sister who had always listened to her most.

“Why didn’t you ask?”

Yet when she reached out, there was nothing to hold. All that remained was a voice, the voice of her sister, who was already gone. The voice continued to echo in her memories over and over again.

It’s just a matter of asking! Just ask! Just ask! Just ask! Just ask! Just ask! Just ask! Just ask! Just ask! Just ask! Just ask! Just ask!

Hah!

Startled, she gasped and bolted upright. Her body was still shaking. Her heart thumped loudly, and tears streamed down her face.

She used to be a fearless hunter who had only ever feared Grimudo. But even after atoning for calling him a demon, now she felt as helpless as a frightened rabbit, face buried in her knees.

“Lucia, snap out of it. Things have already gone to shit, even without you acting like this.”

She had awakened from one nightmare only to be plunged into another. This time, escape was nowhere in sight.

The living nightmare called life seemed to have reached its peak. The current situation—no need to say more—was pure despair.

Fuzz...

The wren,once Aridel, darted back and forth in a magic-powered cage. Sometimes, it pecked at the force field with its beak.

Despite every glance, no vestige of her human form remained. It may have made sense that when a body turns into an animal, so does the mind.

Parnell sighed as she watched the bird. Once a princess and later a mage within the hero’s party, now she was reduced to a woman who had bound the Saint and confined her within a cage.

Even she wondered what would happen next. One thing was sure: it probably wouldn’t get any better.

“Do you have any idea how surprised I was when you collapsed suddenly? Yurinel went hunting for a bit. Still, we must eat and rest, then head back to the Empire with this saint.”

The youngest mage of the tower patted Lucia, who was taller, to comfort her, but it was useless.

Lucia appeared as if her very soul had abandoned her, her face blank and unresponsive despite Parnell’s gentle touch.

It wasn’t just that the hope was nearby, it was right beside her. The reality struck after the light fled after she’d chased away her last bit of hope with her hands. It was utterly devastating.

“Is it that surprising that Kyle’s remaining power broke the curse of the Grimudo?”

Parnell, unaware of the situation, sounded confused. Since she wasn’t telepathic and didn’t know the Western family’s secret, she simply couldn’t understand why Lucia acted like this.

I am not wrong.

The woman bit her lip tightly.

This flaw must never be exposed to others. I can endure the family’s reputation being ruined, but if the demonic race learns how we came to be like this...

In public, the Western family was reputed to have been utterly crushed by Grimudo, rendered weak and forced into seclusion. Only high-ranking officials of the Triune Church were aware of the situation, remaining silent.

None of Lucia’s companions, not even those closest to her, suspected that her family had been transformed into animals. She desperately tried to hide this family secret, telling no one—not even Yurinel, Parnell, or Kyle.

Lucia hadn’t truly grasped who Kyle was despite their frequent adventures together. They spent almost every day closely together, yet she failed to understand him.

If only she had asked for his help earlier, would he have refused? He would have gladly lent a hand without hesitation.

Kyle would help the frailest of souls, giving everything without expectation.

Asking for help was as simple as saying, “Could you help break Grimudo’s curse?” But she didn’t say it for a simple reason.

She had never regarded him as an equal partner.

No one tells their weaknesses to someone they think is inferior. Lucia was no different. She’d only been invited to the party because she knew Yurinel.

Kyle had left just that kind of impression. Compared to the radiant priests of the Triune, resplendent with divine light and formidable weapons, his “miracles” appeared almost trivial. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Creating a spring, lighting candles, plucking feathers... It all felt like child’s play. What was this?

Maybe, deep down, she had looked down on him. She might have even been the first to suggest kicking him out.

She had never recognized the spring’s true power or the potential it harbored. She hadn’t even cared to know.

If she had just pushed the cursed family members into that spring, they would have turned human again.

Opportunities had presented itself so many times that she lost count, and yet she allowed them all to slip by unnoticed.

Now, looking back, she saw how foolish she had been. But past opportunities never return.

When she came to her senses, the candles had gone out, and the spring had dried up. Parnell slowly spoke.

“Do you remember where this is? It’s where that old woman lived—the one who gave us that muddy water. Remember when Kyle placed a candle here and dug a spring?”

How could she forget the old woman, who had apologized as she offered murky well water, saying it was all she had?

Only that ordinary priest drank it happily. And in return, he created a spring.

Because of that miracle, the old, stooped, and limping woman had lived out her days in relative health. When she passed away, the candle, which had no reason to stay lit, went out.

The spring too lost its enchantment, reverting to nothing more than muddy water muddled with dirt and sand. The time of miracles had ended, leaving only harsh reality. Now that it was too late, Lucia regretted not clinging to the miracle for as long as she could have.

“Where is Kyle... I need to find him...”

Lucia groaned as she struggled to her feet.

Her body was suffering from the corrosive effects of the black dragon force. Even after long months of recovery and painstaking attempts to purge that force, she couldn’t shake the nagging fear that she would never regain her former strength.

After the final battle at the North Pole, Kyle’s light had melted the stubborn Black Dragon Force in her and cleaned her out in one shot. She didn’t think much of it then, but now that she’d felt its power firsthand, it was beyond anything she could have imagined.

She had to admit it now. They had never stood a chance against the Demon King, Grimudo himself was no equal. It was only because of Kyle that they had even been able to face him.

And now, the very person capable of purging the Black Dragon Force and restoring her family to humanity had vanished. All she knew was that his last known location had been Larpentia. That wasn’t much help.

The continent was vast. How could she possibly find one person in all of it?

It was like searching for a grain of sand on a beach. Letting him go had been easy, finding him again was another matter. A cold knot of dread tightened in her chest at the thought she might arrive too late.

I was a fool.

Frustration welled within her until tears finally slipped free.

Why did I expect Kyle to understand my distress when I never treated him as anything more than a colleague? Of course, he wouldn’t have known.

Unless Kyle had mind-reading powers, there was no way he could have guessed the terrible truth of the Western family that Lucia kept hidden. If she never spoke of it, how could he possibly learn?

Who could she blame for not asking for help? Did she need to think about that?

“I told you, didn’t I?”

At that moment, the mud hut’s wall collapsed with a loud crash. As the structure tilted, Parnell seized Lucia’s arm and burst through the opposite wall to safety. Amid the chaos, she didn’t forget to take the cage.

Lucia looked shocked. Her mind was in chaos, and her magic was weak. That was why she had failed to notice something she should have sensed long ago.

“One day, you will all bow before me and beg, ‘Your Majesty, please spare our lives.’”

The hero, Yurinel, who had gone hunting, groaned and collapsed. Moments before, she’d been hurled into the hut’s wall like a ragdoll. Even though Harmael had tossed her by the nape of her neck, she couldn’t resist.

“Harmael...”

“It seems that day has come sooner than I expected. I never thought I’d see you again like this. But where is the saint? Did she run away and leave you behind?”

The Demon King, Harmael, who had stepped through the door opened by Grimudo, scanned the area for Aridel. If she could capture the saint, it would be a huge victory.

With the Saint as hostage, Harmael could coerce the Nemi Church into compliance, provided her demands were not utterly unreasonable.

Then, her gaze landed on the lark trapped inside the magic barrier. The moment she saw its blue eyes, disbelief flashed across her face.

“Really...?”

What had Grimudo done?

Had he truly transformed the Saint, renowned as the living avatar of the goddess, into this lark with a single curse?

She no longer felt fear toward that power. The sense of defeat, the certainty that opposing Grimudo was impossible, had already settled deep into her bones.

Even if she united the entire continent, she would never again dare confront the man at the North Pole. If any disagreements arose, she would always yield.

Thinking that way put her at ease. Living as a second-in-command forever wasn’t ideal, but how many people even got that chance?

“Haha... what is this? At this rate, even taking her hostage... doesn’t seem useful.”

If she wants to threaten the Nemi Church, she should at least take a human hostage. Besides, this bird has no chance of ever turning back into a person!

Harmael sighed. Of course, she wouldn’t dare get angry at Grimudo, the one responsible for all this. At last, she swallowed her fury and cast a cold glare upon the hero’s party.

“Well, whatever. If not a chicken, a quail will do. You all must have some value as hostages.”

She pressed a fan to her lips and laughed, yet her eyes stayed ice-cold.

Right now, she was deeply uneasy.