Am I not seeing this right?
She thought.
Like a bird gloriously soaring then plummeting down.
Seeing Argal collapse, losing all traces of life in an instant.
"Ah, ugh, ah..."
Besia couldn't say anything.
Should she have thanked Argal as he neared death?
Should she have apologized?
Such worries held no meaning.
Since he was already dead.
"What a crazy bastard."
Tiagris, realizing the battle had essentially ended, descended to the ground.
The hood covering her entire face with the fluttering black robes slipped off.
A dark-haired beauty gazed at the two with a complex expression.
"If it wasn't for you..."
Besia tried to pour out the hopeless regret and hatred towards Tiagris.
Massive divine power was aimed at the Tower Master.
But Tiagris coldly denied Besia's words.
"Ha! So I should have let the culprit who destroyed the Dark Tower go as the Tower Master? Our clash was inevitable. Rather, isn't it because of you that he died?"
"What?"
"He seemed reliant on tools, but his talent for dark magic was considerable... To be honest, if he had tried to escape alone, even I couldn't have stopped him. But he had useless baggage with him, no?"
Each of Tiagris' words tore at Besia's heart.
They were undeniable facts.
If Argal had tried to escape alone, he could have become free with a single slash.
Just to save a girl whose face he had only seen for a day.
He had scraped away at the last dregs of his lifespan.
And overcame the worst-case scenario of facing the Black Tower Master.
He had met death.
There was no reason he had to do so.
Since there was no reason to save someone.
That fact was so painfully bitter.
More so than her, a clergyman.
He had been more devoted.
And more self-sacrificing.
"Ugh, ugh..."
"I want to kill you but can't touch you because of that damned demon... Let's just call today an unlucky day."
"Where are you going...!"
"Oh my, so you want to kill me? Your eyes are murderous... But what can I do? I have no intention of fighting."
If they clashed, the demon would intervene, so only Tiagris would take a loss.
As a dark wizard possessing extremely cold rationality, why would she take such a detrimental risk?
Tiagris simply wore a serene smile as she generated a storm of magic power.
The Dark Tower had been half-destroyed. It was a collapse only she could address.
She couldn't be detained here.
"Sweet little priest, see you later. I feel we'll cross paths again."
"Don't go!"
"Nagging."
As Tiagris left, Besia stared blankly at where the Tower Master had been with hollow eyes.
Now that the enemy she had fought, the one she could hate, had disappeared, only the cruel truth remained.
She felt his lifeless body temperature.
His body was completely limp.
His heart wasn't beating, and he wasn't breathing.
Seeing Argal, all circumstances indicating 'death', Besia couldn't endure the unspeakable agony.
That's why, perhaps.
She made a judgement she normally wouldn't have.
Pouring divine power into an already dead corpse.
It was something she shouldn't do, a meaningless act.
Moreover, pouring her divine power in this condition could kill her, yet Besia didn't cease healing.
Until he came back to life.
Until his heart beat again.
This too was ultimately meaningless.
No miracles came, only the predetermined outcome waited.
That she had done something foolish and would die a foolish death.
She thought she would be remembered that way when she died.
But then she noticed something strange.
The divine power that should have been depleted soon didn't stop.
It poured out endlessly as if from an infinite wellspring.
Besia kept spewing out divine power.
"Huh?"
At some point, tremendous divine power began gushing out.
Besia was baffled, as it was on the level no single priest could possibly pour out.
This much could be considered at least bishop-class...
No, it surpassed that.
Beyond divine power that could instantly awaken even a half-baked priest, the light was dazzling to the point Argal's form couldn't be seen.
The moment Besia realized she had awakened...
She knew the unbeating heart had started beating again.
"He's, he's alive!"
A miracle among miracles, a legendary-level miracle.
The miracle each saint and sage could only use once in their lifetime, according to history.
Resurrection - reviving the dead through the power of divinity.
The moment it became known someone revived another through divine power, the person would immediately become a saint or sage regardless of any procedures or processes.
While it would be hard to prove this in the empty space with just the two of them, Besia didn't care much.
Since she had revived Argal.
She had made the heart of the one who sacrificed himself for her beat again.
But Besia, unable to revel in joy, tightly embraced Argal's body and started dragging him away to get as far as possible from this place.
The only one Tiagris couldn't attack was Besia.
If she returned and found out Argal had come back to life, the same tragedy would undoubtedly repeat itself.
Joy was followed by suffering.
After the long imprisonment, her muscles had all atrophied away, and she had starved for a long time.
Dragging an unmoving body was absurd in itself.
Relying solely on her divine power, even greater agony tormented her.
She endured the ascetic trials even holy knights couldn't bear, without stopping.
"Bishop..."
It had been quite some time since she had called upon her God.
Only just now.
When she had briefly prayed to revive Argal.
She no longer hoped in God now.
"Bishop Rave, I miss you."
She just missed the bishop who had cared for her since she was young.
**
"Wouldn't it be best to withdraw?"
The holy knight carefully spoke.
The search for the missing clergy had persisted for a full month already.
They had used up all the food provisions, and the knights' morale had greatly plummeted.
No matter how he was a bishop, it would be too harsh to continue operating the order of knights like this.
"No progress whatsoever?"
"Yes, Bishop. Not even the slightest trace..."
"I see."
Outwardly, Bishop Rave seemed composed, but inside he was rotting away.
Because he couldn't find the child he had cherished like a daughter at all.
Besia.
"Just one more week..."
"..."
"Let's give it one more week. If there's still no progress by then, we'll withdraw."
"Understood, Bishop."
Feeling the desperation from the bishop, the holy knight nodded.
Even if it was difficult for the knights themselves, who wouldn't want to find her?
Not a single one of them had failed to do their utmost in tracking down every trace.
That's how desperate they all were about Besia's disappearance.
"Where could you have gone... child."
The bishop gazed at the forest with a disconsolate heart.
Besia had suddenly vanished while on patrol duty with the knights near the capital.
While the other clergy with her were fine, only that child had disappeared.
Many clergy speculated that Besia had grown bored of the church and left.
However, Bishop Rave was certain that couldn't be so.
"If that were the case, she would have at least complained to me."
While she had always been a troublemaker, to Bishop Rave who had raised her since she was young, she had been affectionate.
The idea that such a child had disappeared without a word to him, who was like a father to her, had to mean something had happened.
He was convinced of it.
While the bishop was lost in thought,
in the far distance, a tremendous storm of magic power erupted.
"Bishop! A ferocious storm of magic power has arisen over there!"
"I sensed it."
Yes, this may be the last chance.
The Pope encouraged himself and commanded the order of knights.
"By the will of God, let us smite evil."
"Yes, Bishop!"
One order of knights headed towards the direction the massive storm had erupted from.
Hoping to discover even a trace of Besia.
**
When it's excessively lethal, or I've exhausted all my life force through dark magic.
At such times I temporarily fall into a state similar to suspended animation.
Or in other words, I briefly 'die'.
Unable to breathe, with my heart unbeating.
In that death-verging state.
But I didn't die.
Yet still, I eventually woke up, my heart beating once more, breathing again.
No matter how my lifeless body was damaged, all the flesh would reattach and return to a pristine body.
Unable to die even wanting death, it was called a curse.
Conversely, since I returned from death not desiring it, it could be called a blessing.
*Thump-* *Thump-*
I feel my pulse.
The extinguished flame of life had begun burning once more.
The moment consciousness returned, I sensed the powerful pouring of divine power.
Could she be healing me?
Why would she do that.
What if she dies from depletion?
While my pulse was beating, my body hadn't been fully revived yet.
Meaning I still couldn't move.
Seeing my heart beating again, Besia seemed to think I had come back to life and started dragging my body away.
...What if she suddenly drops dead from overexertion?
I had no choice.
Although not fully revived, I moved my body as much as I could to stop Besia from working herself to death.
"...St...op."
"Ah!"
When I opened my mouth, she flinched in surprise and set my body down.
I sat up, moving my stiffened muscles.
Clearly not long after being resurrected, it was difficult even just to stand properly.
Looking at Besia who seemed to be in worse condition than before, I chided her.
"Went and brought me back to life only to die yourself..."
"Sniff, sob!"
As I was speaking, Besia suddenly hugged me and cried, leaving me unable to say anything, but
"You crazy bastard, why, *sob* did you try to shoulder everything alone and die?"
"..."
It was rather awkward to explain.
If I told her of my intentions and thoughts, I'd have to mention my immortality, which I couldn't reveal.
With it hard to organize my position, we stayed frozen like that until Besia calmed down.
It took about 3 minutes for her to let go of me.
Besia's cheeks were flushed red, aware of her behavior.
While it had become a bit awkward, that wasn't important.
What was important was that we had escaped the Dark Tower.
The Dark Tower I had been enslaved at for 5 years in the past.
I had managed to break out after just a day.
Somehow getting my unmoving body on its feet, I say,
"Let's go back."
"...Yeah!"
*Thud-*
Pretending to march boldly ahead, Besia was the first to collapse on the ground.
She seemed to have exhausted all her strength dragging me.
With a wry smile, I extended a hand to her.
I tried to pull her up and start walking no matter what, but my muscles were stiffened too.
We were at the point of supporting each other as we hobbled along.
Yet still, Besia didn't lose her smile.
"Home, let's go home!"
The reversed fate of the girl who had died painfully in the underground dungeon.