I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 82
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“Hmph. Anyway, I’ll see you at the final purification site.”
“Yes. Be careful—the forest paths won’t be the same as yesterday due to the gathered energy. If anything happens that you two can’t handle, the Saintess should call for me.”
“What do you take me for? Yeshion will be with me too. Don’t worry.”
Hearing Rosaline’s words, Yeshion’s eyes widened.
“No, wait… Hold on. I’m absolutely not going to be any help, you know?”
But neither Eldis nor Rosaline paid any attention to Yeshion’s protest. Instead, Eldis gave his shoulder a few pats and walked straight into the forest ahead.
“…What am I supposed to do, seriously.”
Yeshion muttered under his breath, staring toward the woods.
He’d heard that because of yesterday’s ritual that gathered corrupted energy, the forest would be in a much worse state starting today. The priests were said to be preparing in advance so they wouldn’t be overwhelmed by it.
But Yeshion didn’t have divine power, so there was no way he’d sense anything at all.
At least, that was how it was supposed to be.
Yet the moment he stepped into the forest, an eerie chill made him stop in his tracks and furrow his brow.
Yesterday, the woods had seemed normal. But today, it felt deeply ominous. Strange black mist floated in the air ahead.
“What the… what are these black things…?”
Yeshion mumbled, and Rosaline, who had been walking ahead, glanced back.
“Hm?”
“You said a ritual was performed yesterday… I really think something’s changed. There wasn’t anything like this yesterday. The black mist, I mean.”
If even someone without divine power could see it this clearly, Eldis and Rosaline, who did possess divine strength, must be seeing it even more vividly.
With a queasy feeling, Yeshion waved a hand as if to brush the mist away. But a larger wave of black energy swept past his side.
Startled, Yeshion flinched and shuddered, and Rosaline blinked in surprise.
“You… you’re talking like you can see the energy.”
“Energy? That black stuff?”
“What? You… you actually see that?”
Rosaline pointed toward the dark energy.
When Yeshion nodded, eyes tracing the swirling mass darting through the air, Rosaline’s face turned pale.
“You—you said you didn’t have divine power!”
Right, he had told him even that. They really must be close.
Yeshion, oddly calm, was just thinking that when Rosaline rushed over, grabbed his shoulders, and began shaking him.
“You really see it? You actually see it? Did you suddenly get divine power?!”
“…Me? No way.”
“Then how are you seeing that?”
What do you mean how? It was just… there.
Not knowing how to even respond, he scratched his head. Rosaline was already growing frantic.
“You can’t see that stuff without divine power!”
“You know better than anyone that I don’t have divine power.”
“I’m not joking, Yeshion. Normal people can’t see that energy.”
Rosaline’s serious tone made Yeshion shrug. Even if normal people couldn’t see it, he could. So what now?
‘Maybe it’s a perk of being a transmigrator or something…?’
Or could it be… that he had actually gained divine power?
Yeshion glanced sidelong at Rosaline. Even if she didn’t possess enough divine strength to become an official Saintess, she had been thoroughly trained as a priest.
She wouldn’t say something baseless.
‘Could it really be true…?’
Divine power?
Suspicious, Yeshion poked one of the floating black masses.
Immediately, the dark energy slipped away, as if alive, dodging his fingertip.
“See? The energy backed off.”
“So if it avoids you, that means you have divine power?”
“Usually, yes. That foul energy clings to humans or animals and causes all kinds of trouble… Ah! Once we’re back at the temple, how about taking lessons from Eldis? Learn how to use it, yeah?”
Rosaline looked even more delighted than Yeshion, chattering excitedly.
While she was still going on, Yeshion suddenly felt a gaze on him, watching from somewhere.
For a moment, he wondered if Edward had followed them this far. But when he turned his head, he spotted a massive concentration of black energy—not far off—far denser than anything he had seen until now.
“Saintess, wait. I think… we should take a different path.”
“A different one? Why? This is the quickest way—wait, do you see somethi—”
Before she could finish her sentence, the tightly coiled black mass launched itself forward.
Yeshion grabbed Rosaline’s arm and yanked—
Boom!
With a deafening noise, dirt exploded upward, and a shadowy figure lunged straight at Rosaline.
A burst of red blood scattered across Yeshion’s vision.
