Morning had arrived, and we were all preparing to leave Uteska. The village, once teeming with Demons, was now eerily empty.
Radakel's knights had discovered the burial site where the Demons had interred the bodies of already dead Humans. They used this grim revelation to further instill fear and hatred in my classmates against the Heroes.
Radakel had trained his followers well, and these particular knights were even more enraged by the fact that a Demon had defeated and 'killed' Radakel, though it had actually been me in disguise.
I hadn't planned any of this. My only intention had been to disrupt whatever schemes Radakel had in place, and while I succeeded, it had the unintended consequence of significantly heightening animosity and suspicion towards the Demons. Worse still, Radakel was alive and would likely exploit this failure to further manipulate Amelia and the others.
As I stood up, I groaned, feeling pain throughout my body. It wasn't from the previous night with Courtney but something else entirely.
"Probably the after-effects of the Temporary Raise…" I muttered.
Khione had warned me there might be consequences, and now I was feeling the effects. Every step seemed to tear at my legs, but I had grown accustomed to pain. I had fought countless monsters in the forest and faced death on several occasions, which some might call arrogance, but I saw it as sheer stubbornness.
This resilience had led to tremendous progress. The hardest part had been overcoming my fear of death—not eliminating it entirely, but managing to push past it. For anyone seeking to become truly strong and make significant leaps in power, overcoming this fear was crucial. Otherwise, the instinct to flee in the face of a stronger opponent would be nearly impossible to ignore.
Coming from Earth, a relatively peaceful world where wars were rare—though perhaps I was exaggerating, given my country's alarming trend of school shootings—I had the fortune not to be directly affected by such violence.
But my father's presence and the way he raised me was unique enough to set me apart from the rest despite all the pain I went through. The fear of death was something else entirely, and I had somewhat overcome it thanks to fighting stronger monsters and having Khione as my guardian angel, saving me from the brink of death at the last moment.
"Maybe I've become a bit possessive of my beautiful snow-white goddess," I mused with a small smile.
When I first enslaved her, it was out of self-interest, desire, and as a way to pay her back for her cold treatment towards me. That was all. But spending so much time with anyone, with such closeness, can change things.
"I should get rid of these bandages..." I muttered. I was grateful for the care they had shown me, but my upper body looked like a mummy wrapped in all these bandages. I couldn't believe I had been with Courtney looking like that. She had been worried about my condition and whether I could move, but her loud moans quickly reassured her that I could indeed move very well.
However, it seemed that only the next day did the true consequences hit my body. The bandages were now more of a hindrance. Amelia would scold me if she found out I had removed them, but I could always just wear a shirt.
I pulled out a set of clothes from my ring and stepped out of the house. The morning breeze lightly blew through my white hair, soothing my inner wounds a bit.
As I walked, I spotted some knights patrolling and a few of my classmates. They seemed to be in better spirits compared to yesterday. The day before, they had been cowering behind Cecilia, barely able to fight the experienced Demons. The only ones truly fighting were those with high skills, but I had a peculiar interest in Gwen and Sienna. Those two were clearly not normal.
When I reached the entrance, I saw a giant circle being drawn on the ground, surrounded by a multitude of priests muttering incantations. Nearby, my classmates were huddled together, deep in discussion, and a bit further away, I noticed Liphiel conversing with Amelia.
Without hesitation, I walked toward them. I would never cower before those so-called Divine Knights. I hadn't with Radakel, and I certainly wouldn't with the newcomer Liphiel either.
Upon spotting me, Amelia's eyes widened in surprise. For a moment, I thought she might leap into my arms and kiss me deeply, regardless of what her students thought, but she quickly composed herself.
"Nathan, do you feel better? You shouldn't be moving right now... I already asked some knights to help carry you," Amelia said with concern.
As much as I appreciated her concern, I wanted to avoid that embarrassment. Aiden and Nancy already had enough material to mock me. Although I didn't care much about their opinions, I wasn't a masochist eager to provide them with more insults.
"It's okay, teacher, I'm already feeling better. Again, thank you, Lady Liphiel," I said, expressing my gratitude to Liphiel sincerely.
She had saved me, after all. Even though I doubted whether I would have died, I was sure the consequences could have been worse, given that I had used God-Rank Magic twice.
This begged the question: why did Liphiel save me? She could have left me in that state to rid herself of the thorn I was—a thorn, albeit a small one, in the minds of the Divine Knights. But she chose to save me.
Was it to gain the trust of the other Heroes? I didn't know, but I had no trust in any Divine Knights. Cecilia was the only one I trusted a bit, despite her affiliation with the Divine Knights. She was truly different from them. I was still searching for the reason why the Divine Knights took her in, but it might take time, and I didn't have much of that.
"Oh my, such a kind hero you are, Nathan, but I was only doing my job," Liphiel said with a smile.
That smile was too kind to be genuine.
"I heard what happened to Radakel. Is he alright?" I asked, feigning concern. I knew that bastard was alive, and I didn't care about him, but I had to play the part of the innocent hero for now.
"Radakel left in the morning, but yes, he is alright. You must have been truly worried," Liphiel replied almost sarcastically?
But something caught my ears.
Radakel left in the morning?
Why?
"You can't imagine how much," I said, plastering a smile.