The first time Gidan saw those eyes had been the only time he defied an order from the Vicar he used to serve. If not for the Abbot's timely arrival, he would have been purged along with her.
After that, the Abbot employed Gidan to be her 'guardian.' He was reluctant at first because he felt he would never be able to defy her orders. Ultimately, he agreed after being assured by the Abbot.
It had been four years since then.
Gidan believed he did a good job, and that was not singing his own praises. What attributed to his excellent work was she was selfless and never made any unreasonable demands. Most importantly, she was as meek as a lamb.
Today would be the first time she ever made such a request. And Gidan found it hard to say no.
But when he was wavering, the messenger approached and said, "He... that guy said 'not to open the gates not matter.'"
Gidan scowled and looked at the messenger, "And who gave him the authority to give out orders?"
"Gidan," the Saint pleaded once more.
"I'm sorry," Gideon replied without looking at her. He was afraid he would waver again if he so much as turned and saw her eyes again.
The other Eidums looked at one another. To be honest, the Saint could overrule Commander Gidan's order. However, she never did.
As for the Saint Kyran had met, she said she was only an 'acting leader' because she was not the real one. This was one of the things the Abbot put in place to protect the real Saint.
The double would appear when outsiders requested an audience with the Saint. This was not hard to pull because only the Eidums knew who the real Saint was and what she looked like.
Unfortunately, the Sovereign also knew this, and a few high-ranking Nobles. Nevertheless, in fear that others would have designs on her healing ability, they went along with the Abbot's scheme.
"The gates will remain close until we are sure that the horde has retreated," Gidan continued. He said he 'retreated' because he did not believe Kyran could kill all of them.
Kyran might have defeated the magical beast, but surely not without a price. If Gidan had to guess, he was already spent after dealing with it, and now that the horde was swarming around him, it was impossible for him to escape.
Their meeting had been short, and they started off on the wrong page. Nevertheless, Gidan was grateful for Kyran's sacrifice.
That was right. To Gidan, Kyran was already good as dead.
The Saint trembled and appeared to have picked up what Gidan did not say.
However, before she could say anything, the voice of one of the Eidums maintaining the barrier sounded from Azikh's communication device.
"T-The horde— t-their number has decreased... t-there are only ten or so beasts left! This is... that guy is insane! B-But we don't think he will last any longer. He seemed to have suffered fatal injuries."
The Saint had already moved before the Eidum finished what he was saying. She ran again toward the gates, and with a wave of her hand, the huge steel gates shook and began to open.
"Lady Saint!"
Azikh, Gidan, and the double were shocked.
They were shocked for two reasons. One, they did not expect the Saint to be so brazen to ignore everyone else and go directly to the gates. Frankly, when she moved, they sometimes forgot she was blind because of how fluent her movements were. And for the second reason, they were shocked at her magic's power.
They had only seen her use her magic to heal. This was the first time they had witnessed her use it for something different.
The Saint rushed toward the opening gates, ignoring all the shouts behind her.
Meanwhile, Kyran, who had been busy killing off the beasts, heard a loud screeching sound as if something huge and solid was opening.
Knowing full well what created those sounds, he gritted his teeth and could not help but curse.
"I told them not to open the gates! Those guys are really—!"
Kyran stopped short as his senses picked up something— no, someone— familiar.
That momentary relapse caused one of the beasts to attack from behind and successfully deliver a blow.
BAM!
A shockwave followed as the beast's huge hand landed where Kyran stood.
Although the place where Kyran was fighting the remaining horde was still a distance away, the Saint and a few others who followed after her were shocked at what they saw.
Gidan, for one thing, believed that was the final blow that finally killed Kyran. With this in mind, he shouted a command at once.
"Protect the Saint! Fighters who knew defensive spells move at the front! Rangers, prepare to summon mid-tier fire spells. Aim at the beasts' legs and heads. Immobilize them so we can retreat!"
"C-Commander the Lady Saint is—!"
While everyone believed Kyran had been done with that attack, the Saint continued to move forward.
Azikh gritted his teeth and cast a haste spell on himself to catch up with her.
He was not the only one. A few of the fighters were already after her.
"Lady Saint! Please stop! The beasts might be far away, but your tremendous magic wave would attract them!"
"Please! Let us return inside the gates. Their numbers have greatly reduced. We can maintain the barrier and keep them at bay until the rest of our fighters have properly rested. Then we can take them down."
BOOM!
Suddenly a huge explosion erupted from up ahead, causing powerful shockwaves mixed with a thick cloud of dust to sweep at them.
All of the Eidums were forced back, and to their great horror, the shockwave also caused the huge steel gates to close.
BAM!
Azikh and Gidan paled in an instant. They had wanted to retreat as soon as they retrieved the Saint, but now that the gates were forced shut, they would have to wait until the others could open them again.
To be honest, the only one who had the ability to open the gates alone was Gidan.
Right, the Saint could also do this now.
Anyhow, if the others wanted to open them, they would need to join forces. That was how heavy those steel gates were.
"Clear the smoke, secure the Saint!" Azikh shouted.
"Those at the back, stay where you are and move into position. We will engage the remaining horde until the others open the gates!" Gidan also gave out an order.
However, before he could even complete his command, a gust of wind swept past them, and the cloud of smoke that impaired their vision cleared instantly.
"No! Lady Saint!"
The one who shouted was the Saint's double.
Everyone looked up front just in time to see what caused her to gasp in fear.
The Saint had already gained distance from them. It was as if the earlier cloud of smoke did not deter her movements.
Just as they thought of this, they all felt a little stupid.
The Saint was blind in the first place. How would a cloud of smoke stop her? Besides, she did not seem affected when the powerful shockwaves came at them.
"T-The horde! T-They are all..."
No one knew who said this, but since it had been pointed, they looked at the location where they had last seen the remaining horde and were shocked.
The ground was littered with beast carcasses. Even the air smell of metal and something pungent because of them.
But that was not the reason they were shocked.
Not even a minute had passed when they saw about ten to fifteen medium and large-sized beasts breaming with murderous intent up ahead.
Now, none of those beasts were in sight.
Moreover, only a lone figure stood there, covered in dark violet blood— Kyran.
His clothes were black in the first place. Thus, seeing how the dark violet blood clung to it could only attribute to how much blood had been spilled on it.
Most of the Eidums were both in awe and fear, seeing him standing amidst a mountain of beast carcasses. To them, he truly looked like an Imon-spawn that had just one-sidedly massacred the enemies.
"Lady Saint...?"
While most were looking at Kyran, the Saint's double fixed her eyes on the Saint. She saw how the latter's advance faltered before resuming with much-hurried steps.
"Nar...!"
All of the Eidums, including Azikh and Gidan, were shocked as they heard the Saint let out a muffled cry while she ran toward Kyran.
Azikh and Gidan, in particular, were reminded of Kyran's agreement with the Abbot.
Like cogwheels, their conversation and the Saint's strange behavior connected, and they finally understood what was happening.
On the other hand, Kyran also moved.
He had been out of sorts after sensing that familiar yet also unfamiliar aura of the little girl he once knew.
No.
She— Cyneah, was no longer a little girl.
As Kyran watched her draw near, he could not help but stare.
Finally, Cyneah stood before him and, with shaking hands, tried to reach out. But then she faltered, as if afraid the 'nothingness' she 'sees' before her was only an illusion.
But that could not be. The smell of blood was there. It was hard to mask.
The thought of blood immediately caused her to pale as she exclaimed, "Blood...! You're... bleeding....!"
"It's okay. They're... not mine."
Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.co(m) for the b𝘦st novel reading experience