Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Aio’s Will and Naya’s Awakening

Three days had passed since then. Leon had no idea whether his master had turned himself in, and Vanessa had vanished without a trace, just as she had three years prior.

***

Meanwhile, back at the home in Dawn City—

“I truly never imagined you would defeat Liuli’s previous master,” Liuli said, pouring Leon a cup of tea. “So, will you be Liuli’s new master from now on?”

“I told my master I would look after you, but not in the way you’re suggesting,” Leon replied.

“What happened next? How did you detoxify yourself?” Ael inquired.

“Liuli has heard of a method where the poison is sucked out by mouth,” Liuli offered.

“Ha—? What? Suck it out by mouth? Oh my god!” Ael exclaimed, her mind conjuring an utterly mortifying image of Naya extracting poison for Leon.

“No, that’s not it,” Leon hastily clarified. “The five people Naya rescued were carrying antidotes.”

Liuli listened in silence.

‘If it had been her—’

Leon glanced out the window; night had fallen, yet Naya still hadn’t returned. “Naya has been going to the monastery to pray every day since then, staying for the entire day,” he mused.

“Is she still blaming herself for that?” Ael asked. “There’s absolutely no need! The power Aio bestows was never meant to be limitless. Even I am restricted to summoning Aio’s Hand only three times a day.”

“I don’t know. No matter what I say, she refuses to forgive herself,” Leon sighed inwardly. He couldn’t help but wonder if Naya was being too stubborn, too hard on herself.

He didn’t blame her, yet Naya continued to blame herself, visiting the monastery daily to strengthen her connection with Aio.

“I don’t believe Aio would fail to respond to her,” Ael stated. “Naya is more devout than any other priest. Perhaps all of this is Aio’s will.”

“Aio’s will? What do you mean?” Leon asked, looking at her with confusion.

“For example, during the battle against the Jet Black Armor, Aio didn’t immediately answer my summons either,” Ael explained. “I believe Aio intentionally chose you to defeat the Jet Black Armor. From that moment, I was certain: you are the chosen one.”

Her gaze was fixed intently on Leon’s eyes, utterly absorbed.

“Hearing you say that, Aio certainly seems like a god with a lot of plans,” Leon remarked.

“Of course!” Ael replied triumphantly.

Ael, however, offered no explanation as to why Aio had also been slow to respond during the Mercury incident.

“I should go and fetch her,” Leon said, springing from his chair.

“I’ll come with you,” Ael offered.

***

Compared to the bustling streets of Dawn City, the monastery was situated in a relatively secluded area.

By nightfall, once the children of the monastery had retired to bed, the place would become utterly deserted.

The chapel was empty save for Naya.

Although a grander, more magnificent new cathedral had been built in the Royal District to serve as the headquarters of the Aio Order, Naya found more comfort here, in the place where she had grown up.

Suddenly, the chapel doors burst open!

Naya, deep in prayer, startled violently. A group of seven individuals entered, none of whom looked like they were there to pray.

The moment they spotted Naya, they all donned eerie bird-head masks.

“You… you’re from the Angelic Cult—?” Naya stammered, her eyes wide with terror.

The group silently closed the chapel doors, clearly not wishing to be disturbed once their ‘show’ began.

Outside, a heavy rain began to fall into the dark night. A flash of lightning illuminated a grotesque bird-like face, signaling the start of a nightmare—

They advanced on Naya with malicious intent.

“W-what do you want?”

“That black-clad swordsman and the female knight are too powerful, so we’ve come to seek revenge from you—”

“What…? Revenge?”

Naya retreated a step, and they advanced a step. This continued until she could retreat no further, her back colliding with Aio’s statue.

“Let us defile you right before your god!” the leading bird-masked figure sneered.

“No—don’t—! Stay back!”

“Nobody can save you at this hour! Hah—this is your first time, isn’t it, girl? Enjoy yourself!”

‘No—!’

‘Who will save me?’

‘Leon? Leon? Aio—’

She wept, tears streaming down her face…

Suddenly, the chapel window shattered inwards with a violent crash!

Wind howled through the opening, carrying with it a deluge of rainwater.

The bird-masked figures present flinched in terror.

A closer look, however, revealed it was merely the wind.

“Damn it! Just scaring ourselves!” the leader cursed, annoyed.

“You just said… you chose to target me… because I’m weak, didn’t you?” Naya spoke, her voice thick with tears.

It was a rhetorical question, of course…

In that moment, facing their malice, she despaired.

‘I’m inherently weak.’

‘Unable to help, unable to save anyone…’

‘Helpless and incompetent, unable to even protect my own virtue.’

Then, in the next instant.

The raindrops and the wind swirling around her transformed, coalescing into silvery-white vector arrows.

Before a single one could touch her, they twisted and shot outwards, extending towards the shattered window.

“What is that—?”

The very malice radiating from the men who had been closing in on her materialized into twisting silver vector arrows, their sharp points piercing through them.

“Ah—! It hurts—!”

One man raised a club to strike her head. But from the club itself, countless vector arrows erupted, turning back to impale him.

Naya stood still, her face grim, weeping silently. Around her, countless silver vector arrows surged and multiplied, then—exploded!

“Aaaah—! Aio has manifested???”

In the very next second, those attempting to flee and those frozen in place alike were riddled with countless vector arrows, turning them into sieves.

These constructs, it seemed, were beyond Naya’s control!?

Just then, Leon violently shoved open the chapel doors—!

“Naya??? What happened??”

This was—

Leon’s gaze first fell upon a sprawling landscape of silver arrows, resembling vicious thorns. The seven remnants of the Angelic Cult were impaled within this thorny growth, stuck in grotesque positions.

“Is this too—a miracle from Aio?” Ael, who had followed closely behind Leon, was equally stunned.

“Leon…” Naya whispered, her tear-filled eyes fixed on him. “I… I killed them…”

A surge of light erupted from Naya’s body!!!

Resentment of Light, Challenge Level—????