13. [HP: 0/112]

A white stork floated through the clear blue sky, far above the clouds. Its eyes were constantly scanning the forest down below. 

Then it dove. Its long wings were pressed against its body, and it looked like a dart trying to strike the earth. Just as it was about to hit the trees, it spread its wings wide and gently landed on the top of the tree.

In the forest below, a man was walking with the help of a walking stick. He looked at the stork at the top of the tree and said, "Bevin, come down and look at this."

It was like the stork could understand what the old man was saying. It landed on the ground. Just the moment its feet touched the ground, it turned into a woman with long silver hair. 

"Those bastard…"

"Language, Bevin, language."

"How can you be so calm even after seeing this?" Bevin was about to walk closer but frowned at the deep stench of rotting flesh. "Wasn't Owen your brother-in-arms for a long time? Even after seeing his body like this… That beast even scraped his heart out of his body."

"It wasn't just Owen. It had scavenged through the bodies of every paladin." Said Emer, the old man with a walking cane. "The body of the young saint…"

"They must have taken it with them. They will surely be using it in some kind of ritual or summoning… Those sick things didn't even respect the dead."

"We should show respect to those who have sacrificed themselves for the noble cause of protecting the scion of light." Emer walked closer to the heap of dead bodies and slammed the walking cane on the ground. 

As soon as he did, a bright pillar of light shot out of the ground into the sky. The light was intense enough to disperse the cloud right above it.

It wasn't just the cloud. Even the dead bodies started to float in the air, as the body itself had begun to glow. 

It didn't take long before the bodies disintegrated into particles of light. Owen's body, the old crusader, took a little while to disintegrate. Soon, nothing was left behind.

After the light beam stopped glowing, Emer pulled out a handkerchief and whipped off the beads of sweat that appeared on her forehead.

"It looks like they have fought hard." Bevin walked abound the crater that had formed due to their intense fighting, "and this…"

"The curse of fallen light," Emer added while walking towards the giant magic circle etched on the ground. "As soon as the cursed one would show signs of recovery, the primordial light would trigger the curse, turning all its energy into light and exploding out of the body."

"But there is nobody."

"Why do you think we can't become saints no matter how much we try? The best we could achieve is to become cardinals."

"Isn't it because we can't control primordial light?"

"We can control light mana, even the primordial light, only when mixed with another element. For me, it is the earth. But we can't use or contain the pure light mana inside our bodies. If we do, the primordial mana body will erode our body away even with our alignment towards our virtue."

"But the saint can, right?"

"The young saint could use light mana but hadn't learned how to wield the primordial light. If he had, he wouldn't have needed a crusader to save him."

Bevin thought momentarily before asking, "But what does it have to do with the body?"

"The primordial light is corrosive enough to disintegrate the priest's body. Do you think the creature who had denied the faith of light would be able to survive?"

"Then what are we doing here? If there won't be anybody left, what are we looking for?"

"We have to make sure that it has died. We have to ensure there is no other magic circle like this."

"I think I have seen one." Bevin looked around before pointing to the east. It's in that direction, about a mile or two away.

"To think it has survived… When did the priest of the Olmo say he had noticed the pillar of light?"

"Just before daybreak today." Bevin noticed Emer was in deep thought. "What is it? Something wrong?"

"If the saint was killed the day before tomorrow, then that thing must be cursed as soon it murdered the young saint. It didn't just survive the curse; it also looked for food for two days and hunted… What type of abomination could survive the curse?"

"We need to find it soon." Bevin didn't wait for an explanation. She had only one intention in mind. If that murderous creature was alive, she wanted to kill it with her own hand.

She jumped in the air, transforming into a stork, and flew away. On the other hand, Emer started to walk through the forest, with the lights of pillars coming through the gaps in the trees.

The moment he walked into a pillar of light, he vanished and walked out another pillar, about 100 meters away from the first. Then he walked into another one, traveling another 100 meters before coming out of a pillar of light.

It was like he was teleporting from one island of light to another. Even if Bevin was flying, Emer still kept up with her somehow.

On the other hand, Bevin was too enraged to worry about Emer falling behind. She soon found the area where the cursed circle was etched on the ground.

She also noticed that the settlement was pretty close to the mark. The blood had darkened the ground, and the mingled body parts had yet to show signs of decaying.

"That thing must have done it." While coming down, she also noticed that the crows, jackals, and even vultures had gathered to feast on the dead bodies.

There was even a furless beast she had never seen, trying to sneak inside the settlement to join the already overcrowded feast.

*Bam*

She landed on the ground, right behind the creature. It turned its head to look at her. She kicked it in the stomach, breaking a few of its ribs and sending it flying before giving it the chance to show its teeth. 

The already tumultuous feasting scene was further disrupted when the flying beast shot through the settlement and slammed into one of the huts.

Noticing the other beast soon started to feast again, without caring about her presence, which irked her even more. She was about to raise her hand to cast a spell when…

"What are you doing?" Emer walked out of a patch of light not far away from her.

"There is nothing to see here. That thing must have come here and slaughtered everyone in the settlement. After eating it full, it was about to leave when the curse was triggered in that direction." Bevin pointed in the direction of the curse circle.

Emer had already seen the cursed circle on his way here. He peeked into the settlement, noticing all the animals fighting and feasting over the dead bodies.

"There is no way that thing would be here. The wild animals wouldn't be here if a demonic creature were still here," she reasoned, and Emer listened intently. "They would dare to come close to this place if it were here, much less steal its food."

Emer wasn't too convinced by her reasoning, but he agreed that it must have already escaped this place. He surely would have felt it if a beast of darkness had been here.

This time, Emer didn't stop her as she raised her hand. An enormous magic circle formed right above the settlement. 

The crows and vultures started to fly away while the jackals and smaller animals became frantic. 

But it was already too late. An enormous fireball slammed down on the settlement, igniting everything on fire. The fire was not red or yellow. It was not even blue. Instead, it was white. 

"What are you doing?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"Stop it." 

Emer turned to find that quite a few halflings had run out of the forest, brandishing their weapons. 

"What do you do about them?"

"This dirty mixed blood…" Emer knocked on the ground with his cane.

The halflings still took a few steps before they understood something was wrong with their bodies. Before they could understand what it was, the ground and sky exchanged positions and…

"The only good thing is that thing took care of this dirty mixed blood for us."

"I didn't even notice that was a settlement of those things." Bevin looked at the raging fire, mumbling, "The huts were so small."

"What should we do now?" 

"It looks like we missed it again." As they walked past the bodies sliced in half and blood dying the ground black, Emer continued, "You should check around the area a little more. If it survives, it won't be able to go away much further."

"What are the chances that the curse has killed it?" Bevin looked at him as she paused before the curse mana circle.

"That might be a chance. But we can't take a chance. How about you check the area? I will go to Olmo and send out a search party."

"I don't think the church there has enough manpower."

"Then we can ask the city lord."

"Will he agree?" Bevin was skeptical of the approach as the city of Olmo is not a part of the Church of Shinok. 

"When the light shines on them, they will be willing." Emer smiled at her and walked into a patch of light. The next moment, he vanished.

"There is no way it survives the curse, would it?" Bevin took another look at the settlement that was ravaged in flames. It was an indescribable feeling she was feeling from the direction of the settlement. 

"There is no way any creature of dark mana would be able to survive my holy fire." Bevin was one of the executioners of the church, someone who had been dealing with the creature of darkness all of her life. So, she did not doubt it.

"Could it be that thing had fled in that direction?" When she thought about it carefully, it made sense. "Mana expulsion had occurred when it was leaving in that direction. So, it might have gone in the opposite direction to confuse us."

Bevin didn't hesitate, turned into the white storks, and took the sky. 

The higher she went, the more she felt the already keen resonance had vanished. "Could it be that it is trying to hide its presence?" Bevin wasn't sure about it but knew only someone with a high aura could do it.

"We must find it before it recovers its strength…" And she flew in the direction from which she felt the attraction, not knowing that the very creature she was looking for was the beast she kicked into one of the huts when she first appeared.

[HP: 3.6/112

SP: 13/66.4

MP: 32/156.05]

They also did not anticipate that the mana expulsion process would drain it of any remaining light mana, which is why they could not detect any. As Hilda was dying, Bevin couldn't notice that fading sense of resonance with it. 

The broken ribs and limbs were one thing. Hilda had yet to overcome the curse's effect when the holy fire showered on her.

Due to the cumulative effect of the curse along with the holy fire, her [Light Healing (II)] became [Light Healing (III)]. Yet, it was still not enough for her to recover. 

Just like the cumulative effect of the curse and holy fire improved her skill, it also increased the speed of the decaying impact on her body. Her body was still decaying, just a bit slower.

When the Bevin flew away, the two bars vanished. The HP bar, however, continued to flash in crimson.

[HP: 2.7/112]

'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.' Hilda knew she really must be dying now. 

It was a few days ago, and she would have chosen death. After all, there was nothing to lose for her. At most, she would have lost one reincarnation. 

So what? She would easily have a life of luxury for the rest of her reincarnations.

'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.' It was even harder for her to breathe, yet she cursed in her mind. 'I am going to fucking kill them all.'

[HP: 1.8/112]

She wasn't sure who the person was who had kicked her. And the number of endless [?????] in the status means she was many times stronger than her. One thing she knew was that it was someone who used light.

[HP: 1.1/112]

Just when she thought all hopes were lost, another set of prompts appeared before her eyes.

[Does the host want to invest free points in the [Constitution]?]