Chapter 41: The Unveiling of Luosha’s Might

“Miss Luosha… what kind of existence is she, really?”

“Is she truly a support-type cleric…?”

“You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?”

The adventurers were all dumbfounded.

No one had anticipated Eve’s power would be so immense.

With such strength, did she even need their protection?

Just look at the arc of that blade…

She was single-handedly going wild!

At the center of everyone’s stunned gaze, Eve now wielded her Holy Light longsword, cleaving through slimes of every hue.

[Congratulations! You have defeated “Grass Slime (Lv.6)”. Experience increased.]

[Congratulations! You have defeated “Water Slime (Lv.5)”. Experience increased.]

[Congratulations! You have defeated…]

Though they were merely low-level slimes, offering limited experience, Eve’s ability to dispatch them with a single strike, coupled with their sheer numbers, meant her experience bar visibly surged upwards.

At this rate, she would likely level up in no time!

‘Experience, experience, experience!’

Gradually, Eve stopped individually striking each slime. Instead, she gripped the sword hilt with both hands, lowered her head, and began to spin, her undead body impervious to dizziness.

She plunged into the slime horde like a spinning top, relentlessly harvesting, an unstoppable force.

Her vision was already plastered with countless kill notifications.

Beneath her mask, Eve’s crimson eyes, redder than blood, grew even more intensely scarlet and eerie.

The hidden murderous nature of her undead race was fully unleashed in that moment!

Splat—

The last slime was cleaved in two by a single swing of her sword.

Eve surveyed her surroundings, and finding no remaining enemies, she loosened her grip, allowing the longsword to fall to the ground and its light to dissipate.

Her white mask was now covered in slime residue, and through the murky film, only a pair of eyes, glowing with a subtle, almost special-effect-like red light, could be discerned, exuding an overwhelming sense of oppression.

The adventurers, simply meeting her gaze, felt as if the being before them was no longer human, but rather the most terrifying demon in existence.

In stark contrast, the previously menacing slimes now seemed far less terrifying in their eyes—perhaps even a little… adorably foolish?

“Everyone, are you all alright?”

Eve’s voice broke through, pulling the adventurers from the terrifying, god-of-slaughter-like oppression that had enveloped them.

But… why did they feel this way?

The voice echoing across the plains was clearly that of one of their own kind!

She stood right there, not at some distant threshold.

From where did this profound sense of alienness truly originate?

Before they could comprehend it, Eve was already approaching them.

Beams of Holy Light emanated from her hands, healing the adventurers wounded in battle.

Only then did the adventurers’ doubts slowly begin to subside.

‘Indeed, monsters were the bane of Holy Light. How could one of them possibly wield the Holy Light only clerics could command?’

With their guard lowered, some adventurers even proactively struck up conversations with Eve. “Miss Luosha,” one began, “I never imagined you were such a formidable cleric! I had thought you were only skilled in healing.”

Eve smiled in response. “I never said I *only* knew healing and support, did I?”

“So, Miss Luosha, what *else* can you do?”

This question, however, stumped Eve.

Having mastered the various wondrous applications of Holy Light, she now knew a little bit of everything.

Though they were mostly low-cost, inferior versions, and she wasn’t truly proficient in any single one.

Still, at least she had a diverse skill set, right?

After a moment’s thought, Eve made a humble ‘finger-snap’ gesture, as if conjuring a universe between her digits. “Well now~ I just happen to know a *tiny* bit more than the average person, that’s all.”

“Oh—”

The adventurers collectively expressed their disbelief.

Never before had they witnessed a cleric possessing the power to make others appear more formidable, only to then single-handedly carve a path of destruction through the battlefield with mere Holy Light.

Regardless of their disbelief, Eve merely smiled, offering no further explanation.

“Truly incredible, Miss Luosha. You’ve certainly opened my eyes.”

Odell, having sheathed his spear and slung it across his back, stepped forward with a chuckle. “If I hadn’t known beforehand, I would have thought a powerful Paladin was just fighting here.”

Eve maintained her modest demeanor. “Captain Odell, you flatter me. I still can’t compare to those truly powerful Paladins.”

“Besides, Captain Odell, your strength is the greatest among us. I am merely a novice cleric and adventurer, only slightly proficient in Holy Light.”

Hearing this, Odell froze, then let out a bitter laugh.

As a captain, he had witnessed many grand spectacles. He had once encountered a formidable Fourth-tier Paladin, and despite only a single tier separating them, the chasm in their power was immense.

Yet, Odell had never given up hope. He believed that with enough effort, he could eventually catch up, or even surmount that chasm, reaching the Fourth-tier to behold a broader world!

He had held onto this belief until this very day.

However, after Miss Luosha—who had always worn a mask, maintained a gentle and kind demeanor daily, and was shrouded in mystery—revealed her true strength for the first time today…

Odell realized that the disparity between people could be even greater and more preposterous than he had ever imagined!

Luosha claimed she was a novice. What, then, did that make him?

As the captain of an adventurer group, he felt like a complete waste. A few slimes had left his Third-tier self helpless, and at the crucial moment, Miss Luosha, a lady, had to step in and save them.

It was one thing for her to intervene, but with such power—instantly annihilating every monster and slime in a single strike—Odell felt he would never, in this lifetime, be able to catch up.

He mused that not only he, but even that powerful Paladin he’d once met, couldn’t have casually dispatched this horde of slimes with the same ease as Miss Luosha.

And to think, he had once tried to recruit Miss Luosha, to coax her into joining his Wolf Fang Adventurer Group.

Reflecting on it now, he realized how utterly blind he had been back then…

How could a cleric like Miss Luosha, who traversed the world alone and wasn’t even affiliated with the Holy See, possibly be an ordinary person?

Perhaps her becoming an adventurer was merely a fleeting whim, a desire to try out the identity for fun.

Why would she ever deign to notice an adventurer group from their remote, small town?

Odell let out a sigh, finally casting aside the unrealistic fantasies he’d harbored for days. He turned to Eve. “Miss Luosha, I know your true strength is immense, but sometimes, isn’t excessive modesty also likely to bring you a lot of unnecessary trouble?”

“…Don’t you mind those who openly provoke you or speak ill of you?”

Odell had originally intended to ask if playing the ‘pig pretending to eat the tiger’ was truly enjoyable.

However, fearing a beating from the powerhouse if he spoke his mind, he quickly rephrased his question.

Eve tilted her head innocently. “Ah…? But, I truly am just a novice cleric who just left my hometown [beginner’s village]. Who would bother to seek trouble with me for no reason? Would they force me to pay protection fees?”

Odell thought to himself: ‘Here we go, here we go again. Luosha, the powerhouse, is playing dumb and acting like a pig again!’