Saintess Awakening

'Damn!'

Even as Owen responded to the call from the contact point, his mind was still preoccupied with Lucia.

He had done his part, but..

What thoughts had she had.

What conclusions had she reached.

Not being able to see and hear it with his own eyes left him feeling regretful in many ways.

However, the situation was serious, so he couldn't linger around and stay in the tent. Letting out a sigh, Owen mounted his black horse again.

According to the report received through the contact point, the location was said to be in the middle of the forest, making it impossible to reach by foot.

Owen swiftly rode his horse, aiming to arrive as quickly as possible, so it didn't take long to reach the middle.

Arriving at the reported area, Owen immediately drew his sword.

There was no time for hesitation.

The scene was already a mess. Half of the search team gathered there were injured, some seemed to be seriously wounded, lying weakly on the ground. There seemed to be no fatalities, but it was still a gruesome scene.

The rest of the members of the search team were only capable of handling a few at best. Hence, he had to deal with the massive monster in front of him right away.

Swoosh-

Owen leaped onto the monster's body and aimed for its chest. In an instant, he pierced the heart of the large monster with his jet-black sword.

Krrrk-

The monster, with its heart pierced, thrashed around, causing the ground to tremble. Having dealt with the large monster, Owen immediately turned to the search team and gave orders.

"Support the injured and move them. Also, relay the news that the hunting competition must be halted. Large monsters are coming from the front."

"Yes, understood."

The search team nodded in response to Owen's orders and began taking care of the wounded before heading back to the headquarter. Owen watched them leave for a moment before assessing the situation around him.

Suddenly, a large monster had emerged from the middle. Not only that, but the surrounding monsters seemed to be in disarray, rampaging without regaining their senses.

With a grim expression, Owen pulled out his sword.

Dealing with the approaching horde of monsters one by one with his sword was inefficient due to their numbers. That's why he had no choice but to resort to the method he had used earlier, using his aura to engulf the surroundings.

The black haze emanating from Owen's fingertips gradually filled the surroundings like a thick fog.

The air, now engulfed in darkness like an abyss, soon began to swallow up all life in the vicinity.

From the bodies of the large monster and the surrounding monsters to the towering trees, dense grass, and flowers. In an instant, everything withered away.

Watching the black smoke-like haze swiftly consume all life around him, Owen clenched his fists.

Then, as if it was a dream, the surging dark haze disappeared.

All that remained were the corpses of the monsters.

Somehow, Owen felt familiar with this sight.

Even though it was impossible.

It felt like something he had experienced before.

As if it were an event he had been through for a very long time.

"-Dreadful."

At the same time, a voice, unfamiliar yet familiar, echoed in his mind.

"-I don't want this ability."

"Father, please..."

The pleading voice was young and pitiful.

Following that, an illusion of a child's figure appeared.

The child looked to be about twelve at most.

His small hands and feet proved he had not yet reached adolescence.

The voice that hadn't hit puberty yet and the height that was far from adult-like were in harmony.

"You're being noisy!"

Even as the young child clung, the one who appeared as the child's father was firm. With a stern voice, the child's father scolded him.

"Do you want to get hit?"

It wasn't a phrase one would expect from a father. However, he spoke violent words without hesitation.

The child, trembling at his father's words, bowed his head.

"...No, I'm sorry."

Upon closer inspection, the child's body was already full of scars. Hidden skillfully under his clothes, the marks of beatings were visible wherever his sleeves were lifted. The body full of marks of punishment showed that the child had suffered abuse for a long time.

"Don't disappoint me anymore. Go to the forest for practice. You know you'll receive a harsher punishment from your mother if you tell her about this, right?"

"...Yes."

At the cruel words of his father, the child nodded. Then, weakly, he turned and left the room.

Leaving the room, the child left the mansion and rode a horse. With equestrian skills that were hard to believe for his age, the child rode for a long time until he reached the forest and stopped his horse.

Without hesitation, he walked into the forest.

Step by step.

Slowly making his way into the forest, the child soon emanated a dark aura from his fingertips.

The dark aura resembled the darkness Owen had just conjured, or rather, it perfectly matched it.

Just weaker and lighter.

The risen darkness slowly spread around.

Unlike Owen, the amount of darkness the child spread was not significant.

It was nowhere near what Owen had done.

But the destructiveness remained.

The plants in the area covered by darkness withered, and the animals living there lost their lives.

"...Horrible."

The child muttered once again.

In his dim vision, lay the bodies of the small animals he had killed.

The child's eyes were filled with indescribable sadness, self-blame, and self-loathing.

'Why am I shedding tears?'

Owen rubbed his teary eyes. As if he was that child, Owen felt all of the child's negative emotions were directed towards him.

[Your Grace.]

Lost in his thought for a while, Owen was finally able to return to 'reality' when he heard a voice calling him through the communication device.

"...Ah. Speak."

[The entrance is currently in chaos. If you're okay, could you come back immediately?]

"The entrance?"

When Owen heard the search party's demand to return to the entrance, he was confused.

[According to the search party's full report, they have found 'distortion' phenomena in three locations, but strangely, a large number of medium-sized monsters keep flocking to the entrance.]

Upon hearing that monsters were continuously increasing at the entrance, Owen fell silent.

It was natural for the structure of the forest to distort when distortions occurred. However, if they were densely concentrated in one place, there had to be a reason.

And the most fitting reason in the current situation was-

Bella.

It was Bella, who had awakened as a saint.

If she, who had just awakened and couldn't handle her divine power well, had passed through the entrance and arrived at headquarter, it was natural for many monsters to gather around her.

Distortions often occurred due to external influences, especially divine powers. If she had simply leaked divine power without attacking or defending. They could smell it and gathered around her trace.

[Thanks to Your Grace's message to stop the hunting competition, knights and mages have returned and are trying to defense the entrance of the headquarter. But there are much more monsters than we thought, so it seems like everyone should come back.]

At the mention of everyone needing to come back, Owen expressed his doubts once again.

"...Everyone?"

In response to the uncertain voice, the other person added:

[Yes. There are three places where distortions have occurred. One is where Your Grace is, and the other two places has been resolved by Lord Matthew and Count Caleb, respectively.]

In other words, it meant that Louis was the only transcendent being left at the entrance. In a rather serious situation, Owen immediately took the reins of his horse.

Lucia was in the mansion at the headquarter.

If the entrance collapses, everyone there will be in danger.

Including Lucia.

"I see. I will return to the entrance immediately."

Having come to that conclusion, Owen quickly finished his reply and hung up the call. He then mounted his horse and forced it to run at full speed towards the entrance.

Urging his horse on as if in a horse race, he quickly found the a small group of knights and mages facing the demons. And even from a distance, he could see the nobles watching anxiously.

Naturally, Lucia and Bella were among them.

Lucia was surrounded by noble ladies and gentlemen, while Bella stood alone.

Upon seeing where the nobles were gathered, Owen headed there instead of joining the group facing the monsters.

As Owen approached, the faces of the two lit up.

Bella was the first to speak, "Your Grace-."

"Lucia."

However, as she spoke, Owen interjected.

Thanks to him, Bella's voice was drowned out.

Instead, everyone's gaze turned to Owen.

Even Bella, who had spoken, looked at Owen with surprise.

"This place is dangerous. Make sure to stay inside."

As Owen spoke, he took Lucia's hand and lifted it up, a gesture that seemed unfamiliar to everyone.

But Lucia naturally took Owen's hand as if such actions were familiar to her, subtly leaning on him at the same time. Deliberately positioning themselves in a way that was visible to everyone was clearly intentional.

"I couldn't just sit still in the tent worrying about you."

Lucia's demeanor was like that of a cunning cat. She looked like the epitome of a typical villainess in a romance novel.

Owen's gaze was once again captivated by Lucia's demeanor.

Although he had been captivated by her from the start, it was a feeling of falling for her once again.

"...You don't need to worry. I won't get hurt."

While his words may have seemed arrogant at first glance, no one could deny it. Simply because it was the truth.

"So, please go inside. I'll take care of this place."

"Got it. Then should everyone go in? It seems like it will take some time to organize everything."

Upon Owen's words, Lucia quickly nodded and suggested, looking around at the people.

Even as she spoke, she still leaned on Owen.

Her actions, including making eye contact with everyone present, seemed to convey that she would imprint this scene on everyone's minds.

Naturally, everyone nodded in agreement with her suggestion.

In the original work, everyone turned their backs on Lucia after Bella's appearance. But now, among those present, no one knew Bella's true identity yet.

At most, Owen was the only one who knew her true identity, but at the moment, Owen had no intention of revealing Bella's identity.

Throughout his return, he had been preoccupied with worrying about Lucia, and now he was filled with the thought of quickly defeating the demons.

"Alright. Everyone, have a quiet teatime inside."

The nobles who had agreed to go inside began to move one by one.

"See you later, Owen."

Even Lucia bid Owen farewell and left, leaving only one person behind.

Bella.