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Translator/Editor: Natty

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◈ The Regressor and the Blind Saintess ◈

Chapter 25: The Chase - 2

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Rene felt dizzy as the situation changed without warning.

She clung to her hazy senses and tried to grasp what was happening, but it was not easy.

Of course it was not. She had been woken in the middle of sleep, placed on a horse, and taken off at a gallop. How could she know what had led to this?

All she had heard was that pursuers were after them. All Rene knew was that they were in danger.

The horse galloped on, jostling her up and down. Cold night air lashed her face, leaving her cheeks numb. As Rene squeezed her eyes shut and lowered her head, Vera's voice reached her ears.

"Saintess, hold on tight."

"Ah, yes."

His voice was lower than usual. It was a voice Rene had never heard from him before.

Anxiety began to build inside her. Still seated sideways on the horse, Rene wrapped her arms more tightly around Vera's waist and tried to calm herself.

"Is it, is it very bad?"

"You needn't worry. No matter what happens, I will protect you. For now, please hold on to me a little tighter so you do not fall from the horse."

He was trying to reassure her. Rene gave a small nod and drew in a deep breath.

It will be all right...

Had Norn not said so? That Vera was among the three strongest in the Holy Kingdom in terms of martial prowess alone. No matter how many enemies came, Vera would not lose.

Thump. Thump.

Rene's heart began to pound wildly.

She thought it must be a reaction born of tension and fear.

* * *

Vera urged the horse onward as his thoughts continued.

We only need to cross the border.

Troops would have been deployed there. He had warned Vargo before leaving, and after arriving in Lemeo, he had requested support once more through Norn. Unless the Holy Emperor had developed dementia, there should be soldiers waiting at the border.

At this pace, they could reach it within an hour.

The problem was...

...It had to be the Followers of the Night.

The people chasing them had to be them.

The children of Nertania, the Queen of the Black Season. Hermits within the shadows.

The things following them through this dark night had to be them.

A fight... cannot be avoided.

No matter how fast they ran, they could not outrun them while it was night.

Being caught was only a matter of time. What mattered now was protecting Rene as much as possible and breaking through whoever they encountered.

As Vera's thoughts continued for some time...

Slice.

After that cutting sound, the horse suddenly began to collapse.

"Neigh!"

"Aah!"

Vera tensed at once. His eyes widened as he saw a shadow rising from the ground sever the horse's legs.

Already...!

They had caught up.

As the horse began to pitch forward, Vera swiftly released the reins, gathered Rene into his arms, and leaped from the horse.

Thud!

Landing with Rene in his arms, Vera drew his sword and tensed his entire body. His eyes quickly swept the surroundings.

Rustle.

An eerie sound like wind stirred around them. Mixed within it were sounds unlike the wind.

...They are here.

The Followers of the Night.

"Saintess, put your arms around my neck. You must hold on tightly."

"Y-yes!"

Squeeze.

Feeling the pressure around his neck, Vera adjusted Rene in his arms. He gripped his sword tightly in his other hand and fixed his gaze ahead.

"Norn. Prepare yourself."

"Yes."

At Vera's words, Norn, who had remained silent until then, drew his sword.

That was when the change began.

Dark shadows rose among the brush and began to take human forms. One by one, they emerged, until there were several dozen of them. As Vera's tension deepened further...

"Will you give us the Saintess?"

A grave voice echoed throughout the area.

Rene's body stiffened further at the voice. Feeling her reaction in his arms, Vera lightly clenched his teeth and looked toward its source.

At the end of his gaze stood a middle-aged person with striking red eyes, wearing a large cloak that looked almost comical at a glance.

...A vampire.

One of Nertania's Royal Guard.

Those bastards came too.

Vera clicked his tongue as he looked at the vampire floating in the air and staring down at him. Then he frowned and spoke.

"What nonsense."

"I am proposing a negotiation. You hand over the Saintess and receive a guarantee of safety. We achieve the long-held wish of our kind. Is that not quite a good bargain?"

"That is exactly why it is nonsense. What gives a bat bastard like you the right to get above yourself? Didn't getting your skull cracked once knock some sense into you?"

The vampire flinched, their brow furrowing. Vera's provocation was a more humiliating memory to them than anything else.

Fifty years ago, they had waged war against Vargo alone, been nearly wiped out, and fled. Vera's words were pointing directly at that moment.

The vampire gave off a more vicious aura than before and continued.

"Every servant of the gods is equally lacking in manners."

"You are the one lacking in sense."

Vera raised his sword as he spoke.

I would like to fight, but...

Rene was in his arms, limiting his movements. And if even a vampire had appeared, there had to be at least several hundred enemies stationed around them.

The best option available was escape.

Having reached that conclusion, Vera conveyed his intention to Norn with a glance. He met the vampire's eyes again and murmured in a voice only Rene could hear.

"Saintess."

"Y-yes..."

"Hold on tight."

The moment he finished speaking, Vera swiftly turned and began to run toward the border.

Thump.

As Vera sprang forward...

"N... aaagh!"

Rene's scream trailed behind him.

* * *

Even running with all his strength, Vera could not be faster than the Followers of the Night, who moved through shadows.

As he ran, he had to keep swinging his sword at the enemies reaching out from all directions.

Shadows came at his back, ankles, and head as a matter of course. The Followers of the Night even fired shadows toward the Saintess they sought. Vera's nerves were stretched to their limit.

He bit down on his lip and assessed the situation.

There is still some distance to the border.

They could still break through, but if this continued, their path of retreat would be cut off. More than anything, they needed greater speed.

Vera's eyes turned toward Norn.

Norn is starting to reach his limit.

Norn was not like him. Norn had no Holy Mark, nor the physical abilities to make up for it.

As that thought continued, another shadow flew toward Vera's right thigh.

Vera thrust out his sword, changing the shadow's path and sending it flying away. Then he continued running and spoke.

"Saintess, are you all right?"

"Y-yes! I'm fine, so don't worry about me and keep running!"

"Then excuse me."

After those words, Rene felt Vera adjust his hold on her. She clung more tightly around his neck.

Her body was trembling. She tried to calm herself, wondering whether shaking like this would make Vera more worried, but it was impossible.

That was what danger felt like when she could see nothing.

All she could hear were things being cut apart, screams, and the wind covering it all.

All she could feel was the cold air wrapping around her entire body, and the occasional sensation of liquid splashing against her.

Because she could not see, because she could not confirm anything with her eyes, they took on forms far more frightening than reality and squeezed at Rene's heart.

Squeeze.

Rene clenched her fist. Biting down hard, she clung to Vera. A thought came to her mind.

Before, too...

Before they left the village, this must have been the kind of fight Vera had faced on that day when he smelled strongly of blood. The battles he had fought where she could not see were this terrifying.

A small regret rose within Rene.

If I had not stubbornly refused...

If she had not acted that way just because she did not want to go, this would not have happened.

As Rene felt suffocated by the thought...

Boom!

A deafening explosion shook the air.

Rene's body stiffened even more from the vibration.

"It is all right."

Vera's voice followed.

Vera soothed Rene, who was trembling stiffly in his arms, then looked toward the source of the explosion.

Before him was ground where all the trees had been swept away, where the earth had burst open and bare soil was exposed.

That was not the vampire's work.

The violently blasted ground had clearly been caused by an explosion.

...Magic.

A possibility came to mind.

Vera continued running, widening his field of vision as he examined the area.

He looked over the ground, between the distant trees, then raised his eyes to the sky.

A moment later, far off in the sky...

"Screeeech!"

A flock of wyverns was flying toward them.

Vera narrowed his eyes at the suddenly appearing wyverns and looked at their riders.

Dragonians.

Skin densely covered in scales, exposed over their nearly bare bodies.

The Dragonians had joined the pursuit. They must have sensed the disturbance here and come to investigate.

...This is bad.

In any other situation, he could have made them fight the Followers of the Night and escaped. But with the border so close, that was impossible.

They were not fools. They would know that if they fought one another here and the Saintess crossed the border, all their efforts would be wasted.

Vera clicked his tongue.

Should I fight?

As that thought came to him...

"W-what is happening?"

Rene spoke.

"It is all right. You have no need to worry about anything, Saintess."

"B-but..."

"Since it is dangerous, could you hold on tighter?"

Rene realized from Vera's dismissal of her words that the situation was very bad.

She knew he was saying such things to reassure her. This rigidly dutiful man was more than capable of doing that.

Squeeze.

Rene clenched her fist again.

This...

She could not accept being this helpless.

Someone was struggling so desperately for her sake, yet she was only trembling. She felt terribly pathetic.

It was her fault. This situation had become so dangerous because of her.

Negative emotions welled within her. As the frustration that had been filling her rose to her throat, Rene thought of what she could do.

She was blind. She was a useless halfwit who could not even walk alone. But there was surely something Rene could do.

My Authority...!

Rene had a Holy Mark. She had the Authority of the High God.

Without hesitation, Rene drew up her divine power.

"Saintess!"

Vera's voice pierced her ears. Rene ground her teeth and gave a short answer.

"Run."

Rene heard Vera sharply draw in a breath. She focused again on gathering her divine power.

She knew how to use this Authority.

To desperately desire something.

To wish and wish again, twisting phenomena and the future. To weave fate anew, fixing a future infinitely close to impossible as reality.

Rene thought of it.

What I desire most right now...

That Vera, Norn, and she herself would all escape safely.

That they would reach the border safely.

Hummm.

Divine power resonated. The divine power trapped within Rene's body stretched out in every direction.

"Stop her!"

"Aaargh!"

Cries and screams rang in her ears.

Rene let them pass by and focused once more on manifesting her Authority.

She did not know what would happen once it manifested.

But since all she could do now was wish, Rene continued to pray.

The divine power bursting from her body reached its limit. The more she sustained the Authority, the more her head felt as though it were burning.

The pain grew worse as the Authority continued to manifest.

Then, the High God who had bestowed this Authority upon her came to mind.

If You cannot even fix my eyes...!

Should You not at least grant me something like this?

Hummm.

Divine power, filled with an even denser aura, spread in every direction.

As Rene's prayer continued, the spreading divine power began to cover the ground, the brush, and the sky.

Rene did not know what the divine power she had unleashed was doing. She only focused on her wish and continued drawing out divine power.

Then, when she had drawn out divine power to her limit and none remained in her body...

Thud.

Rene's thoughts cut off.

Her mind sank into a dull haze. Strength drained from her entire body.

The pain in her head, which had felt as though it would burn her alive, vanished in an instant.

Before she lost consciousness, the last thing Rene felt was...

Rumble.

A vibration that shook the entire earth.

[Grrrraaaah!]

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