Chapter 25 : Rachel

Drip. Drip.

Blood trickled down her chin while her hand tried to cover more from escaping. Of course, they couldn't hold most of them as some escaped through her fingers.

Meanwhile, she still couldn't stop coughing even after 10 seconds had passed. Instead, it felt like her coughing hazard might have worsened

Her chest hurts, her throat hurts, her stomach hurts.

Aria's eyes turned bloodshot as blood also began coming out of them.

She looked inhuman.

Under her feet, blood pooled.

Though unfortunately, her legs also lost their strength as her butt landed on the pooled blood, staining her pants.

Rachel stood still.

It was as if she was being held back by something.

She wanted to act, but she couldn't. At this moment, something… something was pressing down on her, as if warning her to not interrupt this event.

"But…!"

She can't do so.

It felt like she was breaking through shackles, one by one her fingers slowly regained control.

But they stopped at her arms. Her legs, everything else, were still frozen in place.

Her mana fluctuates, simultaneously reading her surroundings and scanning Aria's condition.

What she saw was…

'This… can't be…'

If she could open her eyes, they would be wide.

Extremely wide.

After all, the dark mana that had passively rested inside of Aria's body, as if it was a natural part of her…

She… was being consumed!

"Release…me!"

Rachel growled towards the being that is holding her.

She knows it's watching.

Since she knows, she's demanding release.

COUGH COUGH

It got worse. Almost half of Aria's mana flow had already been consumed.

It is not abnormal for any living being to die the moment their mana flow is destroyed.

Different from mana reserves, which is the amount of mana your body could hold, mana flow is the place where the mana actually circulates.

Now imagine this. If a human body constantly circulates oxygen across the human body through the blood vessels… What would happen to them once the blood vessel is ruptured?

Immediate death.

"Let… me… go…!" She struggled against the invisible force holding her down.

Aria held her mouth closed, kneeling in front of the Saintess.

If she were to relax herself even for a moment, she'd lose consciousness.

But she wanted to faint.

This kind of pain was unbearable.

She wanted to sleep just so the pain could go away.

A panel flickered right inside her pool of blood, the only place her eyes could see at this moment.

[Please do not lose consciousness as it may affect the end result.]

It was the devil.

"Please… I have dedicated half of my life towards serving you! Why won't you allow me to save her!?"

After saying so, she bit her own tongue hard enough for blood to flow. Thick metallic taste took over her senses.

"God! Why are you preventing me!?"

Her deep voice shouted towards the sky.

"Was once not enough!? Do you need to make me suffer again!? You… Fucker!"

Language she had abandoned returned back, the moment the one that had saved her betrayed her trust.

—

"Alright, everyone. This is the final battle. We only have one chance at this, we need to make sure it counts. Everyone got everything they need?"

"Yes, sir! I've got my water bottle, the trumpet, the air cooler…"

"Not those, you idiot. I meant your battle gears. Do you have them ready?"

"Oh. Yes, I do…"

The assassin responded in a sullen tone.

"Hah… How about everyone else? Rachel? You got everything you need."

Suddenly, she got singled out.

While most didn't even give a glance, some did put their attention towards her. But her attention was mostly on the person leading everyone in this battle.

They were also the person that had singled her out just now.

The Hero, [Deus Ex Machina].

Otherwise also known as…

Wait, what was her name again…?

—

She got stumped out of her own memories due to the sudden gap.

Something… she had forgotten something. But what could it be?

But she wouldn't have time to worry.

She needed to break free of these invisible shackles.

She tried gnawing at herself using her own abilities, but they are lackluster.

Doing these felt like fighting the Demon King all over again.

It was a very hopeless battle.

Had the Hero not sacrificed herself, and for most of the party members to lose their lives… She wouldn't be standing here.

She doesn't want that tragedy to repeat itself.

If anyone gets hurt in her sight, she will save them, regardless of race nor past actions.

Even at the cost of her own lives.

Was that it? Could that be the reason why she had been given the title [Sacrifice]?

Then why was it not her that had died? Why THEM!?

"Tell me, [Voice of the World]!"

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Suddenly, she was free.

Her body regained its senses.

Her immediate action was to fluctuate her mana, scanning the canine that had been having a hazardous coughing fit.

But…

She was too late.

The mana flow did not exist.

There was no pulse.

"..."

Rachel, The Blind Saint.

That was the title given to her by the masses after their expedition towards the Demon King's castle.

She never truly cared about the meaning since all these times.

At first she really thought those were given to her due to the curse by the Demon King.

But maybe they meant something else.

She is blind.

But maybe that was not the reason she got the title.

Could it be something else?

Yes. There is probably one other reason why she is called The Blind Saintess.

A blind person is helpless to those they deem important to them

At the most important moment, their disability shall prevent them from making decisions that actually matter.

"..."

Was it metaphorical?

As someone closest to God, she herself had to watch many of her close ones disappear right in front of her, not being able to do anything.

Has she truly grown up? Or was time still frozen?

It felt like she was still stuck there in the past.

Coincidentally, she's here again. At the insistence of her blue haired companion, she had allowed another soul to step foot into the place of tragedy.

Rachel turned around the blue haired girl's body, onto her back.

Her face was calm.

It was a little too peaceful for someone who had gone through what she just did.

A sudden conjecture appeared in her mind.

The ability to take away a [Title].

In that case, where did it go?

Where did the [Title] go?

"No…"

This is not reality.

There is no way this is real.

"The [Title] I was given… wasn't it to prevent situations like these?"

"Th-Then… Why was it given to me in the first place?"

"Is that it? You just wanted to watch me suffer!? Huh!?"

"Respond to me! Why are you so quiet now!?"

"..."

Her knees were already stained with blood.

"Please… Why must you take away the connection I've finally made…?"

"Am I… really fit to be the Saintess…?"

"So many people died in front of me, and I can't do anything about it…"

'Hey Rachel, I'm going out, k? Wat- I meant, ehem. Keep the house safe!'

'Hey… do you happen to have anything like, I don't know, a staff that stored a magic power or something? Huh? What do I need it for? Well… I want to kill some slimes…'

'What do I do in my free time? Killing slimes… Actually, you're right. What do I do in my free time?'

'What do you mean? These? Oh don't worry about that, I just want to make a bunch of perfumes… What do you mean that was obviously a lie?'

'In the place where tragedy lies abundant, the truth shall be heard. And for the one that had lost something of importance shall be repaid in the form of [!#*#^$&@!].'

"Ah… So that's what she meant."

"The final words were… [Sacrifice] after all."

For some reason, she had thought those final words were [Aria].

In the end, she couldn't do anything to help herself, nor anyone around her.

So she is, The Blind Saint.

At that moment. It started raining. But for some reason, only a single drop trickled down her face.

—

[...]

[The Life Force of an Otherworldly Being has been successfully offered.]

[A Maiden's Tear has been Collected.]

[Synthesizing the materials in order to create the Otherworldly Cure for the target: Rachel, The Blind Saint.]

[Thank you for your patronage. The System shall take care of everything else.]

[Connection has been created by the Administrator, Medina.]

Knock Knock

[Helloooooo~? Miss Aria, are you awake~?]

[Ah, I guess the first time really does take a toll on your mental health. Well… Sorry about that! I thought that if I had warned you beforehand you might've… chickened out. But now that I think again, that was probably a miscalculation on my part.]

[But don't worry! We didn't take that much out of you! At most, you'll be dying 10 years earlier!]

[...]

[Oh? Why are you still here?]

Bzzzttt—!

[Connection Terminated]