I Reject the villain’s ending.

Chapter 24

The entrance was littered with the corpses of warlocks who had been killed by my arrows, and Iros asked in a panicked voice.

‘Did the priestess kill them all?’

‘Yep. My arrows are in them.’

I shrugged, replying nonchalantly.

‘I told Diane and Eldrakis to go down and protect the children first, so we should get going.’

‘Right.’

The dragonfly sliced through the air and flew towards the entrance to the underground.

When I parked Yongyong next to the narrow entrance and got out, he huffed and puffed and stuck his face in my direction, looking disappointed.

I patted Yongyong’s face and soothed him.

‘The entrance to the basement is narrow, so you can’t go in. Stay here and play.’

‘Hmph.’

Yongyong let out a short yelp and backed away, and Iros gently grabbed my hand and spoke with deadly seriousness.

‘So I’m not enough pet for you?’

‘Pink, you’re not a pet, you’re a human, get a grip.’

‘You’ve always called me “my dog”.’

I stroked Iros’s cheek, soothing him as he spoke.

He must have fallen victim to some strange psychic magic while fighting a warlock.

Warlocks usually use psychic magic.

‘Okay, my pinkie, why don’t you go downstairs for now? I’ll make you pretty later when we’re done.’

‘Promised.’

Iros nuzzled my hand and nipped at it as we walked to the entrance to the underground commons.

I guess she thinks she’s a dog after all this time. Biting a human hand like that.

This is bad, bad, bad.

‘Come with me!’

I stuck close to his side as we descended the staircase that led to the dank, torch-lit basement.

Iros kept his sword at the ready, ready to slash at any attacking foe, and I made an arrow and held it at the ready.

We came to the end of a long dark staircase and saw Dian and Eldrakis ahead of us, protecting several children with wide shields.

‘Diane! Eldrakis!’

‘Saint! Iros! Don’t come! It’s a trap!’

‘You must not come!’

‘What?’

I stopped in my tracks down the stairs at the shouts of Diane and Eldrakis, who shook their heads urgently and crossed their arms to form a scissors mark.

But Iros was already halfway down the stairs, and our futures were separated by a single step.

‘No!!!’

‘Dodge!’

Diane and Eldrakis screamed, and at the same time, a sharp Magi rose from where Iros had been.

Like a spear, the magi pierced Iros’s abdomen, exited his back, and stopped in front of my nose.

Red, warm blood splashed across his face.

‘What…….’

It was Iros’s blood.

The sound of flesh being pierced and red blood splattering my face, Magi was gone before I could process what was happening.

And then, as if on cue, Iros’s body collapsed in a heap.

‘…Iros?’

‘Run, run.’

Iros stammered, clutching his abdomen.

I stared ahead, my face contorted in pain.

Diane and Eldrakis were shouting in Moorish, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying over the ringing in my ears.

Then my pupils fluttered as a figure in black robes walked in front of me, a figure with a power, unlike any warlock I had ever faced before.

The man opened his mouth.

‘Well, it is an honor to meet the elusive saint. You look like a perfect candidate for sacrifice. Are you frightened?’

I muttered, snapping back to reality as the man spoke as if he were appraising his prey.

‘Who, who are you?’

‘I am your enemy.’

The pale-skinned man with an unpleasant aura stepped right up to my nose and laughed as he stomped down on Iros’s blood-stained back.

‘Ouch!’

‘Iros-!’

Iros groaned in pain, and at the sound, my confused mind became cold and simple.

He stared at the warlock with eyes that were a different shade of blue than before and spoke.

‘I see. I see it. You are my enemy, and how dare you put your paws on my dog.’

‘Hahaha. Are you angry?’

He sneered, and I glared at him, my eyes blazing with rage.

‘Get your paws off my pinkie. She’s mine to step on, you rotten little dong and I’m the only one who can step on her.’

‘Aha. Is that what you’re angry about? I’ve heard this particular saint is a bit of a weirdo.’

‘Get your paws off my puppy, you bastard.’

I was furious to the point of rage, and I filled my bow with sharp holy power and struck him squarely in the face.

With a loud crack, the warlock flew away and crumpled into a corner.

‘Crack!’

The perk of being a saint is that in addition to their immense divine power, their physical strength can exceed that of a human.

My strength is enough to lift an ogre beyond a grown man, which means that I can lift an ogre with ease.

Iros opened his eyes blurry and looked at me as the warlock’s skull exploded and he lay dead, his body in a ridiculous heap.

‘You killed him, did you?’

‘Yep. You made my puppy bleed, so I’ll make it up to you.’

‘Suck.’

‘Lie down, don’t move, and let me heal you.’

I pressed Iros firmly to the floor as he tried to sit up. My hands were shaking as I laid him down.

Whether it was the shock of seeing blood, the shock of killing a man, or the memories of my former life, the tremors were not easily calmed.

She couldn’t afford to tremble in front of his patient, so she took a breath and poured holy power into Iros’s wound.

‘Hmph!’

Iros groaned in pain. I wiped his sweaty forehead and finished the treatment as quickly as I could.

As I withdrew the holy power, Iros gasped, releasing the breath he had been holding.

I pulled him into my arms and whispered to him, half in frustration, half in apology.

‘You held it together, my pinkie. I’m proud of you.’

‘Ha, ha, there may be more enemies yet. Keep your wits about you.’

Iros, who had lost a large amount of blood in a short time, was held helplessly against me, his face a little pale.

He didn’t even seem to have the strength to push me away. I’d never seen him look so weak before.

How could the one who would kill me in the future be so weak and easily injured?

‘Don’t worry. I’m stronger than you. You know that, right?’

‘That’s… that’s… that’s a blow to my pride, I’m a swordsman.’

‘Rest up, you’ve lost a lot of blood-fighting those warlocks, you’re probably low on stamina.’

I whispered, looking up at the multitude of Ai, Diane, Eldrakis, and the great altar beside me.

‘Leave the back to me.’

‘I’ll rest a bit then, …don’t hurt yourself.’

‘I will. Thanks for your concern, my pretty pinkie. Get some rest.’

With my words of approval, Iros exhaled heatedly, closed his eyes, and passed out.

I slipped my hands into his legs and back, picked him up gently, and walked to Diane’s shield.

When I arrived, Diane briefly unsheathed her shield, let us in, and then re-sheathed it.

As we approached, Diane and Eldrakis asked anxiously.

‘Saint, what’s wrong with him? Is he dead?’

‘Only asleep. By the way, did you protect all the children in the basement?’

‘Yes. That ominous altar and magic circle hadn’t been activated yet. I took care of the warlock Jomuragi.’

‘Really?’

I said, my face expressionless as I looked at the children, who were frightened and anxiously averting their eyes.

‘Diane.’

‘Yeah.’

‘You need to develop a better eye for people.’

‘What?’

Before Diane could ask what that meant, I raised my blood-stained bow and shot a golden arrow.

Unlike any arrow I had ever shot before, this one split into thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of prongs as it hurtled toward the children.

‘Kaaak!’

‘Ouch!’

‘I’m scared! I hate it!’

‘Saintess-!!’

Diane quickly snatched the bow from me and shouted, but I still kept my gaze fixed on the children and said.

‘My arrows are made of divine power, so they are incompatible with the mana of a warlock.’

‘That doesn’t mean you can tell the children……!’

‘Ordinary humans don’t die from being hit by my arrows; rather, their wounds heal.’

‘……!’

‘I told you, you need to develop a better eye for people.’

At my words, Diane looked quickly toward the children.

The children looked down at their bodies, which had been pierced by a divine arrow, with blank faces as if they had screamed at any moment.

Seeing them unharmed and more animated than before, Diane breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest.

And then.

‘Ugh.’

‘Ew! There’s blood here!’

Fluff. Several children collapsed to the floor.

The unharmed children scrambled backward away from the bloodied ones, their faces horrified.

Diane looked back at me, her face full of resentment, and shouted.

‘Saint!’

‘Look at her. Is that a child?’

‘……!’

I snatched the bow away from Diane with a cold glare.

Black smoke emanated from the bodies of the fallen children, which soon turned into the figure of an adult in black robes.

‘A warlock?!’

‘Yes. How can there be so many warlocks out there, and so few in the most important underground cavity?’

‘So you knew about them all along?’

‘Only a fool would not know. You too, Diane, and Eldrakis.’

Eldrakis was speechless, having a warlock cloaked among the children was quite a shock.

After all, if the warlocks had decided to attack the children, they would have been the ones to suffer if they were trapped in a shield that blocked outside attacks but couldn’t get out.

Relieved, I was about to lead the children back to the castle when I heard the sound of clapping behind me.

Me, Diane, and Eldrakis whipped our heads around.

‘……!’

‘You!’

‘Ahahahaha. You’re amazing, I’m impressed.’

‘How……. I’m pretty sure I would have smashed his head in earlier.’

‘Richie, would you understand me if I said that? Well, there are no Richies in the world these days, so you might not know.’

I swallowed hard as I looked at the smiling warlock, who introduced himself as Richie, his broken head repaired and in good spirits.

‘Richie?’

‘Do you know him?’

‘Crazy. Why would Richie be here? You must be crazy.’

Seriously, why are you here…….