The middle-aged head maid looked at her attentively, ready to listen to her words. The head maid had disliked Evelyn, who had taken over the Duke and Duchess’s bedroom. 

No, it was closer to loathing. She was just a fallen priestess. Even when the maids spread salacious rumors, she had let them be. 

After all, her loyalty was to His Excellency Norton, not to some wandering woman who wasn’t even his official mistress.

However, she too felt a strange sense of trust from the polite request made to the butler. She was also a woman His Excellency had brought in. 

Whether she was a mistress or just a passing woman, she had healed him, and suddenly the head maid thought that the Border Count’s choice couldn’t be wrong.

There might be a reason to trust this woman. His Excellency must have had discerning eyes. 

Though this trust formed hastily from just a few words from Evelyn wasn’t deep, the head maid decided to help her prove herself in this moment, instead of posting guards to protect her in the bedroom out of fear.

“Please boil as much water as possible. It must be thoroughly boiled, and don’t mix it with other water to cool it down. All water must be completely boiled, and please gather clean cloths and all emergency medicines remaining in the castle.”

“I will comply.”

The head maid bowed slightly and immediately turned away. Under her command, servants who now had tasks quickly scattered in various directions.

Not long after, the front door opened, and the volunteer priest group entered in a rush, escorted by knights. Having seen the monsters and gasped in horror, their faces were deathly pale, but they tried even harder to maintain their composure because of it.

“Priestess Evelyn.”

Greeting the approaching priests, Evelyn took Uriel’s hand. They shared each other’s warmth and divine power. Sharing divine power among themselves had no special effect, but it was a language expressing mutual stability and trust. It was like an embrace.

“Priestess, we should help a bit.”

“Yes, we must do something.”

“What about Gabriel?”

Seeing five low-ranking priests and three attendants enter, excluding herself, she looked for Gabriel, who led the volunteer group. Though he was disgusting, he was indeed the most skilled at manipulating divine power among them.

“Don’t even mention him. He refused to step a foot outside the building, so we had no choice but to come by ourselves. While the knights were escorting us, small monsters kept diving down to attack, and if we had argued any longer there, we would have become more of a burden.”

Another priest reported the situation with displeasure. Evelyn regretted not having Gabriel’s divine power, but she couldn’t ask the knights for another favor.

The remaining priests were already sending small amounts of divine power to the servants. This was because their anxiety levels were so high that they couldn’t properly perform their duties.

Beyond the thick walls, the sounds of ‘kuwoong! kuwoong!’ that shook the earth continued endlessly, and the sharp roars that threatened to tear their eardrums were painfully difficult to endure.

Boiling water was being poured into a large cauldron. The six low-ranking priests stood in a circle around the cauldron, holding hands to connect with each other.

Though inferior to Gabriel’s divine power, Evelyn had the most experience and efficiency among them. The low-ranking priests, who usually followed her instructions, naturally waited for her direction.

“Let’s channel it.”

At her quiet words, all the priests closed their eyes and concentrated on the power floating within their bodies. They gathered it in their lower abdomen, amplified it, and began to channel it through their hands, causing white divine power to shine from their joined hands.

“Wow…”

The servants watching them let out small gasps. Despite the commotion outside, they focused on the healing priests, witnessing a rare sight.

Soon, silence descended upon the place. Through the heavy air, Evelyn’s low prayer resonated.

“Protect this land. I offer all my strength to the deity, take my flesh and bl＊＊d, and breathe life into it. Take my mind and heart, and bestow blessings upon this land.”

At the end of Evelyn’s quiet prayer, the divine power concentrated in the priests’ hands illuminated the inside of the cauldron.

The surrounding air instantly lightened, a warm spring-like breeze blew, and the priests’ hair fluttered.

As they finished their prayer, opened their eyes, and released their hands, noise once again filled the previously silent space.

Only then did the servants busily resume their tasks.

Whenever boiled water accumulated, the volunteer group moved from place to place, infusing divine power into each cauldron. 

Though not as potent as holy water made by an archpriest, it contained strong healing power that would be sufficient for those injured in battle against monsters.

Evelyn began to distribute tasks. The butler communicated with the knights, continuously evacuating the wounded into the castle, and the volunteer group healed them with divine power.

Severe external injuries that divine power alone couldn’t handle were temporarily treated by the servants. Having encountered many patients, the volunteer group had extensive experience working with physicians and taught the servants how to apply bandages, set splints, and more.

Knights who completed healing would bravely jump up and rush back out. More wounded flowed in continuously than expected. 

There were too many injuries from beaks pecking at flesh, with demonic energy flowing into the wounds. They couldn’t fight with such injuries, as parts affected by demonic energy gradually became immobilized. 

Upon hearing that the volunteer group had set up a healing station, knights came to the lobby on their own, received quick healing, and returned to battle.

Though the sun had long risen, the sky remained gloomy, covered with black swarms of monsters. Where had all these creatures poured out from? 

There seemed to be no end to them, no matter how many were killed.

The sight of monsters flying in swarms from the mountains beyond the magic stone boundary to the castle looked like long black lines.

Countless slaughtered monsters piled up on the ground, and the number of severely wounded increased.

If the knights were in such a state, how much damage had the territory’s residents suffered?

Everyone hoped the damage wasn’t extensive. Every seriously wounded person murmured this.

At these words, Evelyn repeatedly prayed with reverence.

Breathe life into them. Bestow blessings upon them.

“Kyaak!! What should we do!!”

At the sharp scream, everyone rushed to the window.

A knight’s head was caught in the claws of a large monster, rising into the sky. Evelyn too was terrified by the horrific sight.

The struggling knight was trying to cut off the ankle of the monster that had grabbed him, swinging his sword. However, bright red bl＊＊d flowing down his face was clearly visible even from a distance.

Young servants burst into tears at the cruel scene.

With a strange sound, the knight’s head burst, and he plummeted from the sky.

Screams of despair echoed among the knights. Despite being hit by arrows shot from various directions, the monster shook its ankle to drop the embedded sword and flew higher.

But that was just the beginning. A knight with a beak piercing his heart died instantly, while others were snatched by their shoulders or heads and lifted into the sky.

Though the number of monsters piled on the ground was overwhelmingly large, casualties among the knights increased as they fought the flying creatures.

A horn sounded from afar.

A young knight lying on a bed receiving treatment burst into tears, shouting, “The holy knights!! The holy knights have returned!”

Though they weren’t visible yet, the signal had been confirmed and sent from the spire, so the knights inside and outside the castle walls just needed to hold on a little longer.

Evelyn poured healing divine power over a deep wound on a knight’s thigh, covering the eyes of the knight who was gritting his teeth, making him fall asleep.

“Your Excellency!!”

Someone screamed again. Evelyn, after confirming the knight was asleep and wrapping a bandage around the wound where flesh had begun to heal, rushed to the window.

A large monster was flapping its wings, tightly gripping two people in its claws. On the ground, several knights had attached chains to the monster, hindering its movement.

Every time the wings flapped, strong gusts of wind made it difficult even to stand.

Some knights were pulling the chains with all their might to prevent the creature from escaping, while others were cutting at the monster’s ankles, covered in bl＊＊d.

The sound of wings cutting through the air was as loud as thunder.

The same scene unfolded on the castle wall beyond. The Border Count, with claws embedded in one shoulder, was swinging his massive sword to attack the abdomen and ankle of the monster that had seized him, while those around him continuously shot arrows embedded with magic stones.

Yet despite being hit, the monster didn’t budge and tightened its grip on Norton even more.

Evelyn’s body trembled. While healing knights, she had never imagined the Border Count would suffer such severe injuries. 

To Evelyn, the Border Count was like a mountain. She thought no one could inflict deep wounds on him or bring him to the brink of death.

He was still swinging his sword at the monster with fierce determination, but all Evelyn could see was his bl＊＊d flowing abundantly outside his armor.