Apostle of the Goddess of War

Chapter 51

Ch.51 Apostle of the Goddess of War

The blond boy was armed with confidence.  

“I’ll do it.”  

“…Really?”  

Garfenn, greatly surprised, even hiccupped.  

“Yes. Just for a moment.”  

Sion placed his hand on Roben’s body and closed his eyes. He sent his divine power flowing to examine Roben’s condition.  

Black divine power spread throughout Roben’s body.  

‘So this must be how priests and priestesses treat patients.’  

The principle was that overwhelming holiness, once infused into the body, would naturally purify evil energies.  

However, there was no need to waste divine power as a priest would. As long as the clear cause was found and removed, that would suffice.  

‘Focus.’  

Sion meticulously traced every inch of Roben’s spiritual pathways to locate the source. Sweat began to bead on his nose. At that moment, his extremely sharpened senses passed through a certain path inside Roben’s body.  

‘Found it.’  

He felt a sinister energy clumped together, clinging to Roben’s spiritual pathways.  

‘It’s the same kind of magical energy I felt from the  Apostle of Blood or demons.’  

He had discovered the culprit.  

An evil blood, formed through blood magic, was clinging to Roben. It was gradually coagulating, multiplying, negatively affecting the body, and ultimately transforming the entire constitution.  

Into a hideous monster that craved blood.  

‘How could someone create such a thing? It’s truly disgusting.’  

Sion recalled the Apostle of Blood’s pale face. It was a face imbued with an unpleasant, unsettling aura—one he never wanted to encounter again.  

At the same time, he firmly resolved that if they met again, he would kill the Apostle of Blood without fail. The level of evil influence they exerted was entirely different.  

‘I should have finished it decisively when I had the chance.’  

It was a battle that would leave lasting regret. Despite gaining much insight, his feelings didn’t improve.  

Sion opened his eyes. His blue eyes gazed upon Roben, who was suffering in agony.  

“I’ve confirmed it. It’s fixable.”  

Possible, impossible.  

Sion’s vocabulary only consisted of these two words.  

“What exactly have you confirmed, Sion?”  

Garfenn, completely baffled, wore a puzzled expression.  

He had never experienced such a conversation flow before.  

“It’s the Blood Cultist’s sorcery. It’s definitely embedded in this person’s body. It’s similar to a curse… but it can’t be healed with ordinary divine power. Only someone who can control blood can deal with it.”  

“So you’re saying we need someone who knows blood magic to fix this?”  

“Yes. Unless it’s a Priestess.”  

Even a high-ranking priest couldn’t handle this. To treat this, one needed to fundamentally understand the principles of blood magic. Otherwise, one would need a divine authority vastly superior to blood magic.  

Since a Priestess could have direct intervention from the Goddess, blood magic wouldn’t be an issue.  

“A Priestess…”  

Garfenn frowned in regret.  

There was no Priestess in their group, nor did they have the means to take the injured to one. The nearest Priestess was over a month away.  

By then, all the people they had rescued today would either be dead or transformed into blood-craving demons.  

…The only hope left was Sion alone.  

“I understand. What do you need me to do?”  

“I need to concentrate intensely, so please just guard and make sure I’m not disturbed.”  

“Alright. I understand what you mean.”  

Garfenn stood firm to protect Sion.  

Once he began guarding, no one could intrude upon Sion’s space.  

Caw— Caw!  

Crows sat side by side on tree branches or rocky cliff edges, waiting and eyeing the corpses. Their pitch-black eyes stared at Sion.  

‘There’s nothing here for you to eat.’  

Sion closed his eyes and began concentrating again. He was determined to succeed, if only to prevent innocent people from becoming crow food.  

Sion’s starlight divine power melted into the body of the light priest. Since he had already located the source, only extraction remained.  

‘Never thought I’d end up doing a doctor’s job while living as a knight.’  

Yet saving lives was a better experience than killing, and since this too affected his divine standing, his motivation surged.  

Just then, the star bestowed upon Sion by Achille began to sparkle brightly.  

‘Goddess, grant me strength and courage.’  

Sion prayed for Roben.  

“Ugh, urgh!”  

As Sion began his extraction, Roben groaned in pain.  

It was a precise procedure to remove the Blood Cultist’s sorcery parasitizing Roben’s spiritual pathways.  

This treatment could only be performed by someone capable of manipulating blood. It was almost miraculous. Garfenn held his breath, watching Sion intently.  

Sion began to sweat.  

The black divine power, Roben’s divine power, and the Blood Cultist’s magical energy clashed and surged chaotically.  

The three different energies began fighting for dominance over the territory.  

With two sources of interference, the difficulty increased significantly.  

‘It doesn’t matter. I can do this.’  

Sion firmly grasped the blood magic. It required extremely delicate skill. Sion’s head grew hot.  

He carefully, and then even more carefully, prevented the Blood Cultist’s blood from corrupting Roben’s sacred pathways. He continuously fine-tuned his divine power to extract the turbid blood.  

‘…’  

Sion’s fingertips trembled.  

The more he tried to peel away the blood magic, the more he felt a pain as if thorns were piercing deep into his own skin.  

It felt as if his very mind was being slowly gnawed away. At every point where the magical energies collided, his mind went blank, and a pain as if his brain was being scraped out overwhelmed him.  

‘I can feel the Apostle of Blood’s gaze. It feels like interference.’  

His breath caught in his throat. The pain of his mind burning black made his vision blur.  

‘It’s only natural for it to be this… painful.’  

His heart pounded wildly. The magical energy stirred violently inside his body as if making a final desperate struggle. Blood, cold as a snake, crawled up Roben’s spiritual pathways. Sion gritted his teeth.  

“Uuugh…!”  

His breathing grew ragged.  

Every time divine power opened a passage, it felt as if his skin was being torn apart. The three streams of energy entangled and bit into each other inside the body.  

At that moment, Sion’s vision blurred briefly.  

‘Stay focused!’  

Mental fatigue was extreme. Even as his concentration threatened to break, Sion clung tenaciously to his awareness.  

If his mind wavered even slightly, all the progress he had made would collapse instantly.  

‘Almost there…!’  

A final wave of pain struck his mind. His entire body trembled violently, and cold sweat poured down.  

“Haa…”  

He steadied his breath and regained his composure.  

The three raging energies gradually calmed down. The Blood Cultist’s tail-like magical energy was completely controlled by Sion’s divine power.  

‘Now, just pull this out…’  

This idea was also inspired by the Apostle of Blood. Sion had observed the moment when the Apostle of Blood expelled the stake Sion had driven into him by vomiting blood.  

“Kwahk!”  

Roben’s eyes snapped open, and he vomited a large amount of blood. He coughed up blood, expelling the evil magical energy, exactly as Sion had guided.  

“Huh… huh…”  

Amazement filled Roben’s eyes.  

His hazy vision, like fog, cleared up as if after a rain, revealing a bright sky.  

“You are…!”  

Roben looked up at the person gazing down at him. It was a familiar face. Even after a long time, this person remained someone he deeply respected and feared.  

“S-Sir Sion?”  

“You remember me, Sir Roben?”  

Sion’s smiling face was perfectly pure. He had saved a person with his own hands.  

It was the moment he realized that the Living Sword was more valuable than the Killing Sword.  

“How could I forget? Your eyes.”  

Roben, who once thought he was doing quite well in the Holy Sword Brigade, was the one who first felt an insurmountable wall. The humiliation of being defeated by a much younger junior was etched deep into his bones.  

After returning to the Holy Kingdom, he spent a long time trapped in despair and jealousy.  

Just when he had somewhat recovered and returned to duty, he fell victim to the Blood Cultist. He thought he was doomed to die helplessly—only to be saved by Sion of all people.  

‘Fate, or whatever it is.’  

He felt both resentment and joy. Roben carefully sorted through those mixed emotions.  

“You… Sir Sion. Phew… you saved me…”  

Roben choked up with emotion. He couldn’t speak properly.  

The joy of escaping from the depths of despair resonated deeply in his chest. Roben expressed infinite gratitude and respect to Sion.  

“Thank you…! Thank you! You are the savior of my life.”  

“I was just lucky.”  

“Thank you. Truly. I’m sorry I can’t remember anything.”  

Roben examined his body thoroughly. From his emaciated limbs to the surrounding situation, everything felt strange. His memories after being captured by the Blood Cultist were completely blank.  

“Covered in blood…”  

The old clothes Roben wore were stained and smeared with blood.  

“It was the Blood Cultist’s sorcery. Removing it was the only way to survive.”  

“You mean you removed the blood magic?”  

Roben struggled to rise with his weakened body. This was not a story to be heard lying down.  

“Yes.”  

“What…?”  

Roben tried to recall. His memories of Sion. A young, nearly juvenile knight of the War Cult.  

The Sion he remembered was a warrior walking the path of the sword.  

“You didn’t use a sword?”  

“No. I’m a knight. This was just a temporary measure.”  

Sion answered with a bright smile. His answer was so natural that there was no time to feel anything odd.  

“Uuugh…!”  

“Aaah! Kyaaak!”  

“Hah, urgh!”  

The surroundings became noisy. Cries of pain echoed from everywhere.  

Roben only realized then, upon seeing the others around him, that he had been in the same state.  

‘Did he restore me from that state…? Sir Sion?’  

Sion grabbed Roben’s shoulder.  

“I’m busy right now. We’ll catch up later. Rest for a while. I’ll bring you something to eat soon.”  

Saying this, Sion moved on to another person.  

Roben briefly furrowed his brow.  

Sion’s words didn’t register in his ears.  

Another inner turmoil had taken over his mind.  

‘Not only swordsmanship, but he can also use magic…?’  

It was shocking. Shocking enough to completely forget that he had just been brought back from the brink of death.  

***  

‘Amazing. Every day brings something new.’  

[So do I.]  

Achilles spoke as if Sion’s genius was something he was already accustomed to.  

[After seeing miracle after miracle, that talent now feels ordinary.]  

‘Hmm. I share that feeling. We must remain vigilant.’  

[That’s right. My Grand Champion. We must never take Sion’s achievements for granted.]  

Had it not been for Sion, the people rescued today would have simply crossed over to the afterlife.  

Garfenn and the Goddess would have each added another deep wound to their hearts and regretted it.  

In that sense, Sion’s contribution was immense. He had accomplished a great feat that would be remembered for a long time.  

[His willpower is also outstanding. I’ve never seen a child so tough.]  

‘…Even my younger self probably never struggled this hard.’  

[Probably not.]  

The Goddess and Garfenn were both astounded.  

Even now, Sion continued treating people, sacrificing his body. Despite mental and physical exhaustion and overload, he didn’t stop.  

People wouldn’t survive the night. There were too many whose lives depended on Sion immediately removing the Blood Cultist’s magic.  

Each time a life was saved, the Goddess granted double the divine power in return. Thanks to this, Sion endured even on the brink of collapse.  

This was the task immediately following his encounter with the Apostle of Blood. Sion’s sacrifice was enormous.  

Sion, gently tending to people, didn’t utter a single complaint.  

Because it was for the Goddess, because it was about saving people, and ultimately, for the sake of his younger siblings.  

Far away, dawn began to rise.  

Light illuminating the world rose from behind Sion.  

Garfenn gazed at the scene with solemn reverence.  

[Look, Garfenn. It’s a wondrous sight.]  

“It really is… It’s even sacred.”  

[I’m proud he is my child. I’m truly glad.]  

“That talent… that genius… I consider it a great fortune that it’s being used not for an evil path but for the right direction.”  

[Had he grown under the Evil God’s hand, we would have faced the strongest, most monstrous apostle. Just imagining it is terrifying.]  

Silhouetted against the rising sun, Sion’s figure bore the aura of a saint.  

Darkness receded, and the day broke.  

Not a single person died throughout the night. 

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