“Come into the shield yourself if you want to be safe. I can’t move.”
Delia leaned forward to protect Dirk from the flying sparks, desperately dodging the Crushing waves as she made her way over. Her footsteps were heavy as though she was being pushed toward the ground.
“Sister Myne, you are going to help Delia?” Fran asked reproachfully.
I shook my head. “I don’t have the leeway to help her. But if she wants to get inside the shield herself, she’s free to do so.”
“But...” Fran continued before trailing off, dissatisfied.
I lowered my eyes. I could understand his disapproval, and I did remember that he had told me to cut Delia off entirely, but I didn’t think it was right to leave them to face the mana out there and let them die together. Dirk in particular was already on the verge of death, having been forced into a contract and then forcibly drained of mana. He wasn’t at fault here.
Once I explained this to Fran he swallowed his reproach, but there was still a pained look on his face. All he did was whisper, “Please don’t let her exploit you.”
Delia inched her way into the shield, then collapsed in exhaustion. But not even that was enough for her to let go of Dirk. As she sat with him in her arms, she looked up at me, her crimson hair fluttering behind her. “Thank you ever so much, Sister Myne.”
“Delia, I will allow you inside the shield because I do not wish for either of you to die. But that does not mean I have forgotten what you did. Please be aware of that.”
“...Of course.”
The High Bishop’s attendants saw that and seemed to think that even if I wouldn’t forgive them, I would at least spare their lives. “Sister Myne, may we please enter as well?” they said, each trudging over and wanting to enter the shield too.
“If you can enter, then certainly.”
“We thank you.”
But of the three who tried to enter the wind shield, only one was successful. The other two were blown back by the wind.
“Kyaah?!”
“Noo!”
Delia and the shrine maiden inside the shield both blinked as they watched the other two get blown away.
“But why...?”
“Those with ill intent can’t pass the shield.”
It wasn’t my fault they had been blown away; the shield fundamentally wouldn’t allow passage to anyone who meant harm to those within it. Those two shrine maidens had intended to harm either me, for hitting the High Bishop with mana; Dad, for hitting their fellow shrine maiden Jenni; or Delia and Dirk, possibly for entering the shield first. I wasn’t enough of a saint to try to save people who meant me or those close to me harm, nor did I have the time to care.
“It’s a shame they couldn’t enter, but that’s all there is to it,” I murmured right as the High Priest spoke some words, his mana swelling immensely. Just as everything was about to explode, the door behind us creaked open.
“Kept ya waiting, huh Myne?” Sylvester said with a grin as he and Karstedt stepped out, just as mana shot out of the High Priest’s and Bindewald’s wands. “Wh-What the heck is going on?!” he yelped.
“Both of you, get inside the shield! And please shut the door!” I yelled as I watched two enormous beams of mana collide in front of my eyes.
The Source of Strife
Sylvester and Karstedt, exhibiting truly praiseworthy reaction times, shut the door and leapt behind the wind shield in the blink of an eye. I poured as much mana as I could into the shield to strengthen it; I had to protect everyone inside, no matter what.
The beams of mana that the High Priest and Bindewald had shot from their wands smashed together so hard that they began to surge around each other, excess energy whipping around. But there was an obvious difference in the size and power of their mana, and in no time at all the High Priest’s mana overwhelmed Bindewald, pushing his beam back until it hit him and sent him flying. He slammed hard against the wall before falling to the ground with a thud. He was covered in burns just like Dad was, and rolled on the ground letting out pained groans that made him sound even more like a toad.
“Urr... Grurrrr...”
The High Bishop had survived thanks to the bands of light wrapped around him, but he was completely frozen, his eyes wide open. It must have been terrifying to see the huge beams of mana colliding right in front of him. The gray shrine maidens and collapsed Devouring soldiers, however, were nowhere to be seen; they had no means of protecting themselves from the explosion of mana that had erased them from existence.
“Myne, this is how you destroy evidence. Be thorough if you’re going to do it. None of these people are supposed to be in here in the first place,” the High Priest said as he looked down at the toad with cold eyes and thrust out his wand without mercy. Bindewald squealed and crawled away as fast as he could, but the High Priest caught up in just a few steps. His lack of mercy was much appreciated when he was a friend, but I would never, ever want him as an enemy.
...The High Priest is kinda terrifying.
“Ferdinand, isn’t that enough?” said Sylvester. “And Myne, get rid of the shield. We don’t need it anymore.” He wasn’t wearing the blue robes of a priest but rather a fancier outfit that one might expect a noble to wear. He stepped forward, whipping his bright yellow cape behind him. I stopped pouring mana into the shield as instructed, letting it fade, and the High Priest made his wand disappear as well.
“Stand down, Ferdinand.” Sylvester jutted up his chin as he made the order. In response,
