20 - Chapter 17: Episode 17 [Division]
Surprisingly, the one who proposed that method was Cynthia.
The one called Divine Archer, who even served as the leader of the Elves.
An eccentric who abandoned everything to personally join the journey to fight against the Demon King.
"There's a way?"
Honestly, I don't really trust Cynthia.
The words of an Elf serving the World Tree are usually nonsense or just plain outlandish.
"Among the rituals performed at the World Tree, there's a method to enter each other's Consciousness World. If we use that to awaken him—"
As expected, sharing consciousness through that unstable World Tree is a truly insane idea.
If Yuria were in a stable state, perhaps, but to experiment with him while he's so unstable?
"That's... too dangerous. What if something goes wrong with Yuria?"
His Holiness the Pope said he would get better with time,
but seeing her unable to wait and trying to drag him to her country no matter what is disgusting.
"Then are you just going to sit there and pray for him to wake up?"
"Don't disregard the power of prayer. The Goddess—"
"The Goddess, the Goddess—has she even told us the solution to the curse afflicting Yuria?"
That Elf doesn't seem to know what blasphemy she's uttering.
The Goddess's oracle saved her life countless times,
yet her ingratitude is truly typical of an Elf.
Haa...
Talking with her is truly exhausting.
Nevertheless, even for such a foolish Elf, there are things I need to call her out on.
"Don't insult the Goddess. Have you forgotten how many times she saved your life?"
"Hah, then don't just stand there watching, offer a solution."
"You..."
That disrespectful tone.
Her words and actions insulting the Goddess.
I've thought about putting her in her place before,
but it seems I truly need to fix her attitude before it's too late.
As Yuria, who was the central pillar of the Hero's Party, collapsed like this,
the atmosphere turned so tense that a fight breaking out immediately wouldn't have been surprising.
Eventually, after observing the situation, the Pope finally stepped in to mediate.
"Haa... Now, now, calm down."
"But... Cynthia—"
She dared to disregard the Goddess.
This is why one should never get involved with Elves.
"Everyone seems to be too sensitive."
Huu...
Yes. I suppose we need to think rationally.
Yuria always prevented situations like this,
so we shouldn't be fighting among ourselves like this.
"Alright, then I will propose a compromise."
"What is it?"
"Wait here for one week. If the Hero awakens, all the better, but if not, then we depart for the World Tree."
"Usually, if he's going to recover, he'll do so within a week, so deciding then won't be too late."
"But—"
To go to the land of the Elves,
His Holiness the Pope must know what that means...
"Aria, you also know that's the best option, don't you?"
"Haa... I understand."
What could I do?
I have no desire whatsoever to go to the Elf village,
Yes.
Rather than having no method at all,
it's better to have even a method like this.
Of course, the Hero will surely awaken quickly, but
in the Elf village,
Haa, tsk.
I don't have many good memories.
They're lewd creatures, I can't even tell if they're Elves or Succubi.
During our last journey, we stayed beneath the World Tree to gather its Essence and strengthen ourselves, but
so many Elves couldn't resist flirting with Yuria.
Protecting Yuria from those bitches alone was a huge struggle.
Shameless outfits,
shameless actions.
Moreover, now that Yuria even possesses an Incubus body,
it's only a matter of time before young Elves with low self-control are enchanted.
"Haa"
It's a situation that makes me sigh just thinking about it, but
no other clear solution presents itself.
It seems the only way is to hope Yuria awakens within a week.
As I was rationalizing to myself like that,
Cynthia brought up a topic.
"Then I'm going to Ella. I need to go see what that bitch did to Yuria."
"Then I too..."
But at that moment, a thought flashed through my mind:
I cannot be separated from Yuria,
and if we're separated again...
It was horrifying just to imagine.
But I must kill that bitch Ella with my own hands,
what should I do?
As I was lost in thought,
an unexpected voice was heard.
"Don't worry, Aria, I'll be guarding him."
"I'll also watch over the Hero, so go ahead."
Lily, the Empire's best Knight.
If it's Lily, who always reliably protected the party members on the front lines, I can trust her.
No one could ever break through her sword and shield.
"I'll be here protecting Yuria, so go."
And His Holiness the Pope is also here, so surely she wouldn't act like a bitch in heat, right?
Yes, I can return quickly, and I must tie up loose ends properly.
"Then I'll leave it to you. His Holiness the Pope, and Lily."
And so, Cynthia and I arrived at Ella's cell in the underground dungeon.
Seeing her,
the anger I had suppressed surged again.
"Huu"
The memory of that situation,
her expression,
Yuria's despair—
I gritted my teeth.
Blood flowed from my gums,
and my fingernails had pierced my palms, drawing blood from how tightly I clenched them.
I felt like I would go mad right then.
I wanted to tear her head to shreds.
But Ella, seeing me like that, was scoffing as if amused.
I, having lost all reason,
grabbed the back of her head and slammed it into the ground.
SMASH!
The specially reinforced magic stones of the Imperial Prison shattered like ordinary rocks.
And Ella's face was driven into the shattered stones, spewing red blood.
"Keuheok keok"
My anger couldn't possibly be appeased by just this much.
I gripped her head, which was embedded in the floor, as if to tear up the ground itself,
and smashed her face into the floor, grinding it.
The sound of grinding bone and stone filled the air.
"Keop eubeubeubeubeup"
Ella, making pathetic sounds as her face was ground away.
After grinding her face into the floor, I eventually slammed Ella into the wall.
"BANG!"
"Eugeuk kehek"
"Huu, not yet, not yet."
"Hey, wait a minute."
Just as I was about to pull out her tongue to stop her from spouting nonsense,
Cynthia stopped me.
Why?
No matter how crazy this Elf is, she wouldn't forgive Ella for laying hands on Yuria, would she?
"Why are you stopping me?"
"No matter how angry you are at that bitch, you need to find out what she did before killing her."
"But, but! If you'd seen that scene, the pain—"
Could that Elf have maintained such composure if she'd been in my shoes?
Rage surged wildly within me, but even so,
Huu...
That's right.
She has a point.
I momentarily lost my head in anger.
Yes, thinking about it, Ella was a very calculating and meticulous person.
Just looking at the Magic Circle she prepared this time, I can't even imagine how much she poured into it.
If such a meticulous person went to all this trouble, she must have done something more.
Huu...
That's right, her words must be correct.
I momentarily lost my head in my desire for vengeance.
"You have a point, Cynthia."
"Alright, I don't know why you're listening to me for once, but if you understand, then step aside."
"What? Of course, I'll be doing the torture."
"What? Pfft, could the noble Saintess possibly torture someone?"
"Haa, Cynthia, you truly know nothing."
"Huh?"
"Don't you understand what it means that our Holy Order has developed human healing magic to this extent?"
"So you want praise? Ah, you're confident in healing, then?"
"To heal humans, one must understand the human body well, right?"
"So I'll leave the healing to you, then."
"Haa, try to think with that foolish head of yours. What does it mean to understand the human body well?"
"So—"
"It also means knowing best where and how to inflict pain."
Honestly, I never thought I would use such base methods, typically employed by Inquisitors, but
if Yuria is involved, I'm in no position to be picky about the means.
"Huu, let's stop arguing here. I'll show you directly."
I pull Ella up by her hair.
"Seeing her ruined face is satisfying."
Although Ella possessed power on a disaster level, beyond human comprehension,
it was no exaggeration to say she was the weakest in terms of durability in the Hero's Party.
Normally, she was protected by dozens of layers of unbreakable mana shields,
so saying she wasn't durable might be a contradiction, but
in a state where her mana is completely restrained as it is now, she is merely a human body, albeit a rather sturdy one.
As proof, her completely crushed nose was no longer recognizable,
and her lips were all torn, revealing broken, shattered teeth in between.
Even in such a shattered state, she chattered.
"Heh heh, foolish Aria and Cynthia."
"As expected, she seems to have something she's relying on."
"Aria, if you're going to show me, show me quickly, or I'll do it."
"Don't worry."
"No matter how much you torment my body, Yuria will eventually be mine, heh heh heh."
"Pfft, let me tell you an interesting story."
"While developing healing Magic Formulas for humans, research on nerves also flourished."
"Because injecting mana into the body and manipulating it caused a lot of repulsion and severe pain."
"To eliminate such repulsion and pain, we began to research all the neural circuits through which humans perceive sensation, and eventually, we perfected our understanding."
"You don't mean—"
"Ah! Of course, this method is strictly forbidden for use by anyone except Inquisitors."
"However, it's safe to say that only two individuals, free from the Church's rules, can actually use it."
"Don't worry, I'll finish this quickly."