Chapter 2: The Arousing Priestess’s Mission
“SEETHE, my holy powers. Stir, my life force. The torrent of my magic knows no bounds as it rushes toward the heavens.”
The monsters claimed dominion over Kushli, a town on the outskirts of Balbis’s earldom. We had charged into battle straight away, and as usual, I applied my supernatural powers on myself to buff the knights with my magic.
“With my power, I offer these strong, noble warriors divine protection and grant them a shield against all enemies.”
“My holy powers, protect those strong, noble warriors as well!”
“Madam Monica, over here too!”’
“Over here, over there, everywhere! My holy powers, protect them all with your whole might!”
Only those I used my supernatural abilities on went into heat. Including me, of course. Thankfully, the magic stones sewn into my saintly attire made it so my lust didn’t show on my face. I couldn’t be more grateful for the outfit’s flawless protection because it made my job so much easier!
The boulder demon burst forth from the ground and attacked. These monsters came into existence through other monsters taking over simple rocks. No matter how much one burned or attacked the rock itself and turned it into sand, if the monster at its core wasn’t destroyed, it would revive again and again. An extremely troublesome enemy.
“While the magical squadron casts their incantations, keep attacking it so it doesn’t flee into the earth!”
At Darius’s order, the other knights charged in with determined shouts. Rocks whooshed out from the ground repeatedly as the boulder demon tried to trip them. Perhaps groundwater was leaking because every time the monster used this attack, mud splashed up everywhere.
“Be careful! Don’t get sucked in by the soil!”
As the rocks caught the knights flat-footed, more came from another direction, breaking off and raining down on them. I repelled the incoming projectiles with a defensive wall and executed flight magic on the knights.
“You who love the earth. Until my prayer is answered, leave gravity behind and take flight in the sky as birds of prey!”
If one could fly, then one need not fear rocks!
“All right, you lot, show Kophe’s monsters the might of the Empire!” Richard leapt atop a boulder and slashed at the falling rocks while rousing his knights’ fighting spirits. “Defeating the rock demon means getting our hands on the many magic stones making up its body! So do your damndest to protect the magical unit!”
“Yes, sir!”
All the knights responded in unison. Their morale was high.
Attacking the boulder itself was completely meaningless. Which was why all the mages gathered in a safe spot to chant as a group to cast the spell. Some detected the location of the core, others constructed magic to restrict the movement of the rocks, and a few surrounded the space to prevent the boulder demon from escaping.
As they devoted themselves single-mindedly to calling forth their magical power, I continued casting defensive magic on them.
“Lady saint! Behind you!”
“Huh—”
I turned around to see a rock zooming at me. I automatically raised my arms to protect myself when suddenly my legs flew out from under me. Richard swung me up in one arm as he used the other to cut through the rock with his sword.
“Miss Monica, you need to look after yourself properly, too,” he said.
“Th-Thank you.”
He swung his sword while carrying me like I was nothing more than a lightweight package. When I wrapped my arms around his neck to lighten his load, the musk from his sweat-drenched skin wafted up. I suddenly felt lightheaded.
“Urk…”
Drool started pooling in my mouth because of his rich scent assaulting my nose. The sensation spurred me to escape, so I looked at the rock demon to see if I could do just that. I found many thick, straight rods jutting up from the ground. Splish, splish. They made obscene watery noises as they thrust out then sank into the muddy soil. Glop…they exploded upward… Succc…they sank down… Glop… Succc…
I covered my face, overwhelmed by the sight.
“Ughhh… Such splendid specimens shooting forth…” I moaned.
“It’s a good thing I had the foresight to have the silencing magic cast. So don’t worry, Miss Monica, no one else here can hear you.”
“O-Okay…”
I practically melted from the inside out at the sound of Richard’s low, mellow voice. The shivers racing across my body gave me pause. Something wasn’t right. I was in heat, right…? But I didn’t remember my body being so responsive so quickly.
“Miss Monica, are you all right? Are you feeling unwell?” he asked.
“Ah… Y-Yes… I’m sorry. I’m fine.”
“Coordinates for monster core identified, containment and binding magic construction completed! Everyone, evacuate!” Darius raised his voice. He’d joined up with the squadron of mages.
The soil where the boulder demon was buried began to glow in warning. From within the circle of Richard’s arms, I activated my magic on the ones I granted the ability to fly.
“God of wind, grant these strong, noble warriors raptors’ wings!”
It took only a few seconds. Then, all the knights floated up in the air. In the next instant, magical vines suddenly erupted in the soil and tightened around the boulder demon.
“Madam Monica!”
“Done!”
Still held in Richard’s arms, I formed a pose using both hands as if to shoot an arrow into the air. In the middle of the immobilized monster, half-buried in muddy water, I found a bright red dot. I constructed an arrow made of light imbued with magic and released it.
“Purify!”
Whoosh!
The ground shook when the arrow pierced through the red dot. Just like that, the boulder demon met its downfall.
“Huzzaaaaaah!”
The knights sent up a cheer. I slumped against Richard’s chest in exhaustion.
“Haaa…”
The vines created by magic were nothing more than a magical illusion. They faded away into light along with the boulder demon. The flight magic I cast on everyone hit its limit and they all drifted slowly to the ground, like feathers falling down gently.
“Well done, Miss Monica.” Richard smiled, still holding me. My heart skipped a beat.
“Th-Thank you. I… I must be heavy, yes? You can put me down now.”
“I know you’re not feeling well, so don’t push yourself. I’ll carry you.”
He sheathed his sword then adjusted his hold on me with both arms this time. His grin didn’t waver. His dazzling beauty almost created a halo effect around him.
“Heeee-”
“Miss Monica?”
“Ah…”
Odd sounds tumbled out of me. Not good. The shivers continued to rock my body. If I lost focus now, I had a bad feeling I’d cling wantonly to Richard with no concern for what the others might think.
“P-Put me down. I’m feeling strange…even though I didn’t use as much of my powers as I normally do…”
“That’s true. Instead of your usual magnificent prowess where you blow the enemy to smithereens, you used an arrow to conserve your energy. Hm…can you think of anything that brought on this excessive response then?”
“Urk… Nh… No, nothing…”
His low, thoughtful murmur made me shudder. It felt like his voice wound itself deep into my eardrums. If this kept up, it wouldn’t be long before I started screaming things like, “M-More! Whisper more things to me! Make a mess of my ears!” I squeezed my thighs together tightly and feigned a calm I didn’t feel at all.
“I-I’m fine! Really! I-I-I-I think this strangeness is temporary. I-It will pass soon enough, so please, please, put me down,” I begged.
“I won’t.” Richard, who usually indulged me, refused to listen to me at times like these. “You’re on the verge of collapse, aren’t you? I’ll run fast to get you to base, so hold on tightly to me.”
“Huh— Oh! Wai— Eeeeeep!!!”
Richard started loping and I clung to him like a vine. I was keenly, painfully aware of the knights’ stares as we passed by.
“His Highness and Miss Monica have returned!”
“Thank you very much to you both!”
“Huzzah!”
We made it back to the base constructed of tents and wagons. I was dying of embarrassment. I felt like my head would combust at any moment now. What made it all worse was the cheers and clapping from the citizens of Kophe as we arrived. They even tossed confetti at us.
“Your Imperial Highness! Madam Monica! Thank you very much!”
“The knights were impressive too! Absolutely amazing!”
“Your Highness! Please look at me!”
“Madam Monica! Esteemed arousing priestess! Please grace me with your gaze!”
The people’s ardor was tremendous. How dependable and heroic Richard must seem to them after saving their lives, especially when compared to the holy knights and priests, their last ray of hope, who proved themselves utterly useless against the monsters terrorizing their home.
I looked up at him from within the cocoon of his arms. He waved and smiled at the exuberant crowd even as he continued holding me. No matter how I looked at him, he was the true saint for he had risked his life for a just cause.
“My, my, Richard, aren’t you popular?” I teased.
“I promise I won’t let it go to my head.”
He replied with a wink, and I could only nod stupidly, my mind overcome by desire.