Chapter 9 – The Trap Set by the Saintess (Part 3)

Blindingly bright light caused Ellerdin to squeeze her eyes shut.

“Fernan, are you okay?”

After a moment, Ellerdin opened her eyes and turned around, shouting.

“Gasp.”

Seeing Fernan’s appearance, Ellerdin swallowed hard.

Fernan growled, glaring at Yurishien.

“You wretched thing.”

His voice sounded like an animal’s growl. Scales and fur began sprouting on his cheeks, and his teeth were protruding sharply.

The pupils in his red eyes contracted vertically. One of his arms had already transformed into a demon’s form. His claws were three times the size of a typical monster’s.

Losing his reason, Fernan glared at Yurishien with a fierce face. He tried to suppress the transformation, but it wasn’t easy due to the magic circles surrounding the room.

“Fernan, Fernan.”

Ellerdin, flustered, grabbed his fur-covered arm. However, as if he couldn’t hear her voice, he kept his gaze fixed solely on Yurishien, drooling from his open mouth.

“I’ll kill you.”

Fernan growled with a voice filled with rage.

Ellerdin quickly turned her head to look at Yurishien. Instead of preparing to flee or fight, Yurishien sat leisurely on a chair, smiling as if she wanted him to exert more strength. Suddenly, something she read in a book flashed through her mind.

[In the presence of angels, a demon must never use its power. Their goal is to extract and extinguish the demon’s power.]

‘He must not use demonic power here.’

Yurishien wanted Fernan to use demonic power so she could subjugate him. The magic circle needed to be destroyed somehow. However, she knew nothing about holy power.

“A beast that lost its parents will now lose its wife beside it.”

Yurishien taunted him, giggling. Under normal circumstances, he could ignore such words, but with his instincts heightened, rational judgment was impossible.

Seeing him about to use demonic power as she wished, Ellerdin exclaimed in shock.

“Fernan!”

Ellerdin covered his eyes with her hand as he bared his teeth, ready to leap forward. Simultaneously, Yurishien launched a holy-powered attack at Fernan and Ellerdin.

Watching the sharp, golden attack fly toward them, Ellerdin stood in front of Fernan.

Bright golden light spread before her eyes, and Ellerdin tightly closed her eyes. Before colliding with the holy power, Fernan’s arm wrapped around Ellerdin. The black demon leaped into the sky in an instant.

The confined space created by magic shattered, and the holy power that had bound him dispersed. Large wings sprouted from Fernan’s back. Holding Ellerdin in his arms, he flew fiercely toward the North.

“Huff.”

The strong wind that struck her body couldn’t be compared to when she had flown in his arms before. Ellerdin held onto Fernan’s fur and held her breath.

Watching them escape from afar, Yurishien bit her lip.

***

By the time they flew over the forest famous for its monsters, Fernan’s body swayed and began to plummet.

His massive body fell onto the dense trees. Thick branches couldn’t withstand his weight and broke.

After falling from the trees, Fernan’s body landed with a thud on the ground.

Ellerdin hurriedly escaped from his embrace. Thanks to Fernan’s tight hold with his arms and wings, she was able to move without a scratch.

Hastily examining him, she saw his skin torn by holy power, oozing black blood. Broken branches were embedded in his black wings and demonic arm.

Unable to return to his human form, he staggered and tried to get up.

“You shouldn’t get up.”

Ellerdin quickly grabbed his fur, but he continued to glare in the direction where Yurishien had been, still agitated.

As if intending to fly in that direction, his wing, pierced by branches, couldn’t move easily. His massive body repeatedly rose and fell.

‘I need to heal him quickly.’

The distance from here to the castle was too far, and the forest was full of monsters, making it impossible to expect help. Above all, she couldn’t let anyone see him in this state.

If only there was a way to contact Mollek or Celine.

She hurriedly used a nearby stone to cut her hand and sprinkled blood over the wound, but while it seemed to heal slightly, it reopened.

The Saintess’s unique holy power was preventing healing. A way to amplify her power much more than now was needed.

Suddenly, a method flashed through her mind.

“Water…”

The mermaid’s power was said to be strongest in water. She quickly looked around. Though the forest was covered in damp moss, she instinctively knew the direction where water was.

‘But can Fernan follow well?’

Ellerdin grabbed Fernan’s panting face.

“Fernan, try to come to your senses.”

However, his gaze remained fixed in one direction. Conversing with him, unable to make rational judgments, was impossible. Only one method remained.

“Please.”

Ellerdin tugged at Fernan’s fur. But his massive body, four times her size, was too much for her strength alone to move.

After several attempts, she finally let go of his fur and grabbed a vine hanging from a tree. She tore the vine into a round loop and placed it around Fernan’s neck. It was like putting a collar on a dog.

Worried whether this was the right thing to do, the priority was healing.

Fortunately, as she pulled the rope, Fernan slowly began to move. Ellerdin strained as she started dragging Fernan. Small footprints and large beast tracks were left on the damp moss.

After dragging him for a while, a lake came into view in the distance.

‘Thank goodness.’

Ellerdin sighed in relief. As she released the leash, Fernan’s body fell with a thud.

Ellerdin, panting, climbed onto Fernan’s body. To heal, she needed to remove the branches embedded in him quickly. She took a short breath for what was about to happen.

“Whew…”

Ellerdin grabbed a branch that pierced through his wing and was lodged in the wing joint. Before he could react, she swiftly pulled out the branch.

“Ugh.”

Unfamiliar with the action, her hand was pricked with dense thorns. Fortunately, the branches could be removed with Ellerdin’s strength.

Each time she removed a branch, Fernan’s body jolted significantly. However, perhaps aware that Ellerdin was on top of him, he only flinched occasionally and didn’t thrash about.

After removing all the embedded branches, her arms trembled. Fernan was already limp, breathing shallowly.

Ellerdin, exhausted, held onto him and took a step into the lake.

As the cold water touched his wounds, Fernan’s body began to thrash.

“Hold on!”

Ellerdin held onto the leash to prevent him from escaping. She slowly calmed Fernan, gradually moving into the water.

Fortunately, due to Fernan’s weight, his body quickly sank deep into the lake. Ellerdin, who had swiftly transformed into a mermaid, swam towards Fernan, who was sinking below.

Due to buoyancy, Ellerdin could lift his body to the surface with little effort.

Ellerdin, soaking Fernan’s body in water, struggled to push him out of the water. However, only his upper body emerged from the lake because his fur absorbed the water.

‘This should be enough.’

Ellerdin panted as she emerged from the water. Her arms barely moved after continuously pushing and pulling the weight she couldn’t handle. Ellerdin knelt in front of his limp form.

“Open up.”

Ellerdin began to pry open Fernan’s tightly shut mouth. As his mouth opened, sharp hidden teeth were revealed. She used all her strength to push against the teeth, and the mouth opened slightly.

Ellerdin didn’t miss the gap and thrust her arm deep into his mouth. Her tender flesh tore against the sharp teeth, causing blood to flow.

His large tongue began to lick the blood flowing from her arm. The healing power contained in the blood flowed into his body. The warm energy pushed away the holy power and began to heal the open wounds.

As the internal wounds healed, the external wounds quickly closed. Correspondingly, his demonic form slowly began to return to human form.

‘Ah… I’m losing consciousness…’

Perhaps due to using too much power to push away the holy power, her consciousness began to fade.

Ellerdin’s body lost strength and collapsed. Just as she was about to sink into the water, a thick hand grabbed her body. Fernan, who had returned to human form, looked at Ellerdin with sunken eyes.

His mind was hazy, as if he had gone berserk. It was like a fog, preventing him from clearly recalling what had just happened.

‘But…’

He could tell that he had been a burden to Ellerdin.

Ellerdin’s arm was covered in marks from being scratched by sharp teeth, and thorns were embedded in her hands.

‘She acts so selflessly for me…’

Why doesn’t she take care of herself? 

Fernan bit his lip hard.

Holding Ellerdin in his arms, he headed towards the duchy.