Thomas faltered, looking back in bewilderment.
“Madam, how did you get here…! It’s dangerous!”
“That’s what I should be saying to you, Sir. What in the world is a man who died and came back to life doing here?”
Yelena was truly astonished. She had thought that he’d be recuperating in a quiet place, but it turned out he was on the fortress wielding a sword? On top of that, what was that rope around his waist?
The bitter words reached the tip of her tongue, but Yelena held them back for now. This was not the time to admonish the man.
With a crossbow on her shoulder, Yelena aimed at the wall that the demons were climbing in swarms.
It was an unusual-looking crossbow. The most unusual thing about it was that there was no bowstring to hook the bolts to nor was there a groove to load the bolts. Therefore, of course, there was no bolt in Yelena’s hand, which raised the question of whether the weapon she was carrying was a crossbow.
“Madam, what in the world—”
“Get down, Sir,” Yelena said and proceeded to infuse the crossbow with her divine powers.
Then, an arrow made of light appeared in the crossbow that initially had nothing. The arrow launched like a lightning bolt.
“…!”
The arrow beam brushed over Thomas’s head as he crouched down and exploded when it hit the castle fortress.
Kreeee!
Kieeek!
The demons plummeted down the castle wall at once. The jaws of everyone at the scene dropped at the same time.
‘One more time.’
Yelena shot the crossbow upwards this time. Then, an arrow beam shot out with a parabola trajectory and attacked the demons that were clung together outside the castle walls.
Boom!
The tower of demons collapsed with the explosion.
“Whew.”
Yelena staggered as she put the crossbow down.
“Madam!”
The knights ran up to her right away.
Yelena stared at the wall with satisfied eyes.
‘I was wondering if it might be.’
Yelena recalled a recent conversation she had with Marquis Linden in the corridor.
“Not too long ago, I succeeded in excavating my first artifact.”
“Congratulations. What kind of relic was it?”
“We’re still investigating. I’m not completely sure, but I think it might be a weapon…”’
Weapon.
A word that had never piqued Yelena’s interest now seized her attention.
A relic that was used in war.
But what if that war wasn’t one fought against other people? Perhaps the war had been against demons, and thus, the relic was a weapon for fighting against demons.
‘My hunch was right.’
And Yelena had speculated another thing correctly: she had unsealed one of the relics, the Holy Sword, with divine power. And if that was the case, then wouldn’t other relics also react to her divine power?
‘As expected.’
It was exactly as Yelena had thought.
‘And…’
Yelena’s body went weak.
‘This is also just as I expected.’
The voices that called her name urgently faded away.
***
Without fail, every time Yelena used a relic, she fainted. But this time, she wasn’t unconscious for long. It could take her at least three to four hours to regain consciousness, but no longer than half a day.
Yelena summarized what was going on.
First.
‘The invasion was moved forward.’
The demon invasion, which should have taken place 10 years from now according to the future she knew, had immediately hit the land. She couldn’t figure out the reason. All she had was the result.
Second.
‘Things are getting worse.’
No matter how much Yelena used relics to kill them, the number of demons did not decrease. No, it was a terrible supposition, but it seemed as if the demons were actually increasing in number.
Furthermore, as time passed, the demon type Yelena had first seen were starting to make their appearance. They were more difficult to deal with than the average demon.
Third.
‘No matter how hard I think about it, I have no way of contacting my husband.’
All means of communication were blocked. It seemed that without a miracle, it was impossible for Yelena to contact her husband.
Fourth.
‘…My divine power is running out.’
The amount of divine power that was being restored in Yelena’s body was decreasing day by day. Now, even after waking up from losing consciousness, Yelena was not as full of divine power as she was before. Half, no, even less than that.
Yelena bit her lip. Even without the issue of her decreasing divine power, the bad situation was getting worse.
At that moment, Yelena heard a commotion coming from outside.
“Red eyes!”
“The red eyes appeared!”
Hearing this, Yelena immediately took the relic and went out to the fortress.
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