Now, why would I need to protect the Saint already— Neraxis's thoughts halted when, all of a sudden, he spotted a person off in the distance, calmly perched on another rooftop.
It looked like a man, and he was holding a bow, which was neatly aimed right at the Saint.
Seriously... Neraxis sighed and, by using {Sword Dash}, appeared behind the archer and cleaved him in half.
He did not gain any stigmata progress, which meant this person was much weaker than he had initially expected.
However, there seemed to be more than one, as he spotted a few moving figures within the massive horde, some wielding daggers.
Coincidentally, all of them were heading toward the Saint.
Therefore, Neraxis did what any normal person would do.
Strongly kicking off the roof, he flew over the horde of people and landed on top of the statue that the Saint was praying to.
That seemed to startle most people, as all of them were pointing their fingers at him, screaming all sorts of insults.
—Get back! I'll shoot him!
—He's come to claim the Saintess's heart...
The last voice was something that made Neraxis roll his eyes as he jumped down and landed in front of the Saint.
Everyone seemed too afraid to approach, likely thinking that he'd kill the Saint if they got near.
Still, it worked in his favor.
Neraxis crouched down and patted her on the back.
"Excuse me, you shouldn't interrupt me while I'm—" she said while turning around, but halted upon seeing the unfamiliar face.
As she glanced at the city folk and noticed their worried expressions, that was when panic set in.
"Hi." Neraxis waved with a chuckle before grabbing the Saint by the waist and throwing her onto his shoulder. "Sorry about this."
With those words, he jumped back onto the statue, and by kicking off, he landed on a nearby roof, the dazed Saint still firmly lying on his shoulder.
She thrashed and kicked, but he didn't let go.
"Y-You swine! Let me go this instant, or the church will kill you!"
"You're pretty vocal for a shy-looking Saint," Neraxis said, and as he did, an arrow suddenly flew from the side, aiming directly for the Saint's face.
But before it could reach her, he stretched out his sword, neatly tapping the tip of his sword against the steel arrowhead, stopping it in place.
"See? They're already aiming for your head," the Saint remarked matter-of-factly.
However, Neraxis merely flicked her on the forehead. "They were aiming for you. The city must not really like you, Saint."
"Huh? Why would they aim at me?" She tilted her head. "I'm the one who purifies their water and blesses their food, so why...?"
"Interests differ, Saint." Neraxis shrugged, intercepting yet another arrow. "Some people are greedy, even despite the kindness you've shown them."
He could tell she was still around 16 or 17—his age. Nonetheless, it was still incredibly young for someone like that to be a Saint, let alone take on the burden of an entire city.
And for that same city to betray her left a bad taste in his mouth.
But alas, this trial did not only consist of protecting her—he had to protect the ungrateful bastards below too.
Since soon, the entire city would be overrun by monsters.
"Say, what's your name, Saint? I'll be protecting you for a while, so it's better to know a tad bit about each other, don't you think?"
"Jeanne... or Jane. It's a bit easier to pronounce. What about you, kidnapper? What's your name?"
"Neraxis," he replied and dashed through the roofs until eventually, he arrived at a bell tower—one of the highest points in the entire city.
Setting her down near the bell, Neraxis proceeded to glance down, seeing the outline of the entire city.
And in the far distance, near the horizon, was a black swarm, which seemed like it would approach in less than an hour.
"W-What's that?" Jane asked, terrified.
"Monsters. A lot of them." He glanced back at her. "They'll reach the city soon and will likely destroy a good chunk of it."
"But... the people?" she naively asked.
"Some will die, most will live. I'll make sure of that," Neraxis assured.
After all, if he let them die, then he'd fail the trial.
However, it seemed like Jane took his words at a different value, as her eyes lit up. "You would do that?"
"I need to." He shrugged. "Still, you're going to stay cooped up for a while. I don't want you being killed by them."
As the last of his words fell, Neraxis took out a few rations from his dimensional rings.
Despite him staying a year on the 5th floor, he still had some left over.
It truly never hurt to be prepared
Nonetheless, Neraxis gave some cookies as well as MREs to Jane, and despite her confusion, he needed to scout.
"Stay here. I'll be back in less than an hour."
He leaped off the bell tower before she could finish and sprinted across the rooftops, heading toward a spot that had caught his interest earlier.
Eventually, he arrived, and what greeted his sight was a bunch of hay bales stacked on top of each other, and in the very middle was a wooden stake.
It didn't take him long to realize this was meant for burning someone, so he approached the nearby guards to confirm his suspicions
"Excuse me," Neraxis said, breaking apart their conversation.
Yet as he did, their eyes widened, and they raised their spears before stabbing them directly at him.
However, he merely grabbed the tips of the spears and used {Aura of the Abyss}, making the weapons deteriorate.
"I-It's the devil! The devil is helping the witch!" one of the guards shouted in panic, and Neraxis took this chance to find out more.
He sent a punch toward the second guard, which pierced straight through the heart, leaving behind a giant hole.
"Lavre—!" the talkative guard shouted as his friend dropped lifelessly onto the floor.
[1x (E- Ranked Human) Slain! Reward: Stigmata 11.37% → 11.37%]
However, Neraxis was not having it, merely lifting the remaining guard by the collar.
"Why has this stake been built?" he asked.
"I-It's to burn the witch!" the guard replied, squirming in Neraxis's grip.
"Elaborate. Who is this witch?" Neraxis ordered menacingly.
"The Saint! She's a witch who poisons our waters!" the guard shouted, hatred clear in his tone. "The prophets told us that if we were to burn the witch, everything would go back to normal!"
"What utter bullshit," Neraxis said, heaving an annoyed sigh. "So the person who not only healed your injuries, purified your waters, and also blessed your food is now considered a witch? How did you come to that conclusion?"
The guard furrowed his brows before reluctantly replying, "Lately... everyone who's been blessed by her disappeared once they left the city... She cursed them... She cursed us all..."
So the monsters killed them. Makes sense. Neraxis deduced.
"She's innocent, and there is a horde of monsters heading toward the city," he warned and let go of the guard. "You have about 30 minutes to prepare before you are overrun."
"Why would I listen to a devil?!" the guard shot back, sending a hateful glare toward him.
"Pfft..." Neraxis held back a laugh and leaned in closer. "What choice do you have?"
Before the guard could reply, Neraxis jumped up onto a nearby roof and headed toward the wall in the distance.
It was about time he evaluated the situation outside the city.