Chapter 204

The battle ended because the paladin arrived and saw the smoke of gunpowder from afar as he passed by.

Paladins, priests, and ascetics—the three most common classes of high-ranking clergy—were all present.

Such a scene is truly rare, and it is enough to show the former prosperity of this city, because including the high priest, there are a total of four saints here.

This is an extremely high number, although it is also because the city is large enough.

The swordsmith took a deep breath to calm himself down and looked at the guy on the ground.

Anyone who gets hit by an airship for no reason would be furious and want to kill someone afterwards. No matter how strong her body is, she couldn't possibly ignore such a blow; this isn't something that can be ignored by turning a blind eye.

Her whole body ached. She moved her wrists, hoisted the spear onto her shoulder, and replaced the hammer in her other hand with a long sword.

Both weapons were incredibly heavy, yet she wielded them with effortless grace.

It's so light and delicate, it's hard to believe it's made of something so tough.

“At least let me cut off one of his arms and then burn the wound with fire,” she said softly, then leaned down slightly.

Before any objections could be raised, she instantly broke the sound barrier and swung her longsword at an imperceptible speed, aiming for the paladin's neck.

The paladin did not dodge, but instead took a step forward, bent down, and hugged her slender waist.

Then he slammed him hard onto the ground.

Instead of using the greatsword behind him to counter the blade, he opted for a direct confrontation, relying on a combination of direct attacks and melee combat. As a result, his neck guard shattered under the blow.

He was kicked away the moment he landed; physically, the paladin was inferior to the ascetic. She was only able to use her advantage when unsteady because she was a woman and lacked weight. Once she had the ground as a foothold, her knee strikes were absolute shredders.

His armor shattered instead of his ribs, but he was still lifted into the air.

Then time seemed to freeze for a moment, because she disappeared from where she was and suddenly reappeared behind him.

The whip kick struck his waist hard, and the force of the blow sent him crashing into the ground.

The golden chains wrapped around his neck the moment she released her strength, pulling him into the ground.

Before Carl could let go, the chain tightened again, pulling him over. He took a solid elbow strike from the side.

The blow shattered his skull and sent him flying dozens of meters away. But she didn't pursue; instead, she swung her weapon to parry the greatsword's strike. Then, in the instant the force was suppressed, she drew her longsword and severed the paladin's kneecap.

Losing his footing, he stumbled and fell, his head struck by the rising knee, sending him flying once more. The swordsmith, meanwhile, twisted his body at a sharp angle and hurled his spear, piercing the still-unsteady Karl to the ground once more.

The fluid and decisive nature of the fight immediately revealed the difference in skill. As fellow high-ranking priests, the swordsmith's centuries of experience hadn't been in vain. Her accumulated combat experience, combined with her current rage and the fighting style she had developed specifically for her, rendered the remaining two utterly helpless.

When Karl got up, he could only see her departing figure, her hand clutching someone's arm... Twelve's arm had been ripped off, and the wound was shoved against the red demon who was trying to fight back. It was already burnt.

He left as soon as he finished, ignoring his two colleagues who had just recovered.

The fact that she was able to achieve this result shows that she was quite restrained.

“I remember you weren’t this warlike before.” She threw the severed arm into the ruins and clapped her hands to wipe the blood off.

“I also remember you never being so meddlesome before.” The swordsmith didn’t want to waste a single minute on this hypocrite. She raised an eyebrow at the high priest who was leading a dragonman: “I heard that you sold the Demon King to this guy. Although I don’t understand what you’re thinking, I’m reminding you that this is against the rules. I will punish you after this matter is over. I suggest you think it over carefully.”

"Or a spear that pierced through the body?"

"This time I'll double the quantity, and you won't be able to move an inch."

"Haha, that sounds interesting."

"Of course it will be very interesting. If your mind isn't completely blank tomorrow, you'll feel a sense of awe for being alive even in pain." The knifesmith slowly walked over, grabbed his wrist, and forcefully crushed the bones in his entire arm, breaking it into three pieces.

The high priest's expression twitched slightly, but that was all.

"This is to help you remember, and also as a warning." She gave him a disapproving look, then left on her own.

The knife maker isn't part of the city's official staff; she's just here.

She is a saint of the Central Church, but now, for some reason, she doesn't want to leave and insists on staying in this completely destroyed city.

Perhaps it could be interpreted as this person having even the slightest attachment to this city? Hopefully so, though it's more likely she just wants to find a place to forge weapons. It doesn't matter where in the world she is; she can take it with her. And then she can just quietly make her own weapons.

What an embarrassing situation, my own home was vandalized.

That means we have to move.

She felt agitated as she thought about it.

It's early morning now, and everything has been terrible since last night.

It's still hot today, so hot that I feel uncomfortable all over.

If I could forge a longbow that could pierce the sun, then that thing would surely be able to enjoy itself before the bow is even released. Damn it, even the worms in the sewers are more annoying than it.

"Good morning."

She heard someone greeting her, looked up, and saw the guy named Denos.

Come to think of it, this guy who used to follow Ark is one of the few in this city who would reply when she greets him, instead of greeting him like the high priest did just now by crushing his arm.

"Are you two out for a stroll this morning? I remember you had work, are you off today?" She patiently looked at the two of them, who were dressed up a bit and looked like they were about to go out.

Denos would often take Nina out with him, and they would occasionally run into the swordsmith.

This place is only so big, so it's perfectly normal to bump into someone here occasionally.

In addition, because she has strained relationships with others, sometimes people ask the two of them to pass on a message to this guy.

Of course, there were also some orders for tools.

Despite their strained relationship, the swordsmith is indeed the best blacksmith. In a system where weaponry is less important than cultivation level, her ability to create weapons and armor that truly elevate an individual's strength is something to be proud of.

In her own opinion, this was nothing to brag about.

"I guess so. A caravan came today, and they gave us a short break. I was just about to go check on them. Um, you still look pretty energetic today." Denos's expression twitched slightly as he looked at her covered in blood.

I don't know how to describe him, so I'll just say this guy is quite energetic.

"You can just express your opinion directly, I won't get angry." The swordsmith scratched his head, looking helplessly at the bloodstains on his body.

He looked like a murderer, covered in red blood.

I can understand, given what just happened. Although I didn't kill one of them, to be honest, I'm getting a bit war-crazed.

Perhaps it's because of past experiences that I'm a little irritable.

Or rather, extremely irritable.

In short, when she saw Denos, she realized that she had somewhat detached herself from the concept of being human.

Even after realizing this, she was still able to adjust her mindset to make her judgment and mental state no different from that of an ordinary person. In short, with just a slight adjustment, she was not yet a murderer.

She realized that she had indeed been a little too irritable just now. After all, she had only lost supplies and experienced some pain. There was no need to go to such lengths.

As an ascetic and a saint, I feel it is necessary to maintain simple compassion towards normal demons and humans.

At least there's no need to push someone to their death over something like this.

She scratched her head, thinking that the guy seemed like a decent fellow. At least he wouldn't die here from injuries of this severity.

Take a deep breath to prevent your head from hurting from anger.

“If you don’t mind, you can come to our humble abode to tidy up a bit,” Nina said, looking at her. “Change your clothes, take a shower, and so on.”

"Hmm? Is that alright?" The swordsmith paused, hesitated for a moment, scratched his head, and fell into deep thought.

Then she looked up at the two guys and said, "I feel a little bad about taking it for free, so I'll repay you with equipment."

"Don't worry about it, we have been taken care of by you for a long time."

......

It's really a bit awkward to go home before even leaving the house.

But there was nothing we could do; we just happened to run into a guy covered in blood as soon as we went out.

"It seems like fate isn't planning on letting us have such a peaceful shopping experience," Nina remarked casually, lying on the bed with her head on Denos's lap.

Denos took notes and nodded.

My rest time for today has been set, so I don't plan to think about work today.

If you're not going to buy things, you should learn some spells or something.

After all, he relies on sorcery for his work, and if he doesn't learn sorcery well, he will probably die suddenly one day.

That would be truly terrible.

Nina planned to go shopping, and if that didn't work out, she would take a nap.

At least you should be together during your time off, and see each other in the morning and evening during the week. If you can't even be together during those times, then being a couple is really meaningless.

Next door, the knife maker was soaking himself in a wooden tub.

The entire tub of hot water was stained pink, and she remained silently immersed in this bloody water.

Taking a bath can definitely lift your spirits. She got out of the water, scooped up some clean water from the other side, splashed it over herself, and then lathered herself with soap.

Sometimes I feel like a monster, even though I can now lift a building with one hand. I still look like an ordinary girl, without even abs.

It's not that she's fat; on the contrary, she's a little too thin. But given these material conditions, gaining weight would be unreasonable.

She touched the skin under her neck, where the large area of ​​injury had completely healed.

Such severe injuries were completely healed in just a moment. Perhaps only a monster could describe such physical abilities.

I really don't want to be treated like a monster. If I am treated like a monster, I always feel like I am separated from others.

After calming down, she had to start thinking about what to do next.

My home is destroyed.

Obviously, we need to start thinking about where to stay next; at least tonight we'll definitely have to spend the night at church.

Those two guys got a pretty bad beating from me, I wonder if they'll provoke me when we meet again.

If they do it, I'll beat them up again.

She looked at the weapons piled up in the pool on the other side.

I still have about a dozen replacement weapons left, so I have a fairly sufficient reserve.

But since they've been taken care of, which weapon should they give as a thank you gift? They're sorcerers, they don't seem to use weapons.

She picked up a short knife from among them, gripped it tightly, and made a few movements.

There shouldn't be any problems, although this is much easier to make than a long weapon. But if they're going to use one, this is the one they'll use.

She pushed the wooden tub aside, replaced the water with fresh water, and soaked in it again, along with the dagger.

She looked at the dagger in the shadows, hesitating as she thought about the past.

She only began to consider forging weapons after becoming an ascetic; she was a sinner who transformed into an ascetic. Before that, she had committed heinous crimes.

He probably killed around sixty people, and as an ordinary human being, he even dealt with the mercenaries who came to his door.

In that situation, she suddenly felt bored one day, and then went to church to confess her sins. She then stayed in the church and became a member.

If I had to give a reason... it's probably because it's not interesting.

At first, killing was out of necessity, then it was for eating meat, and then it came to the pleasure derived from it.

In the end, all that was left was boredom. The corpses were piled high, more than they could eat. They even had rats.

She was honestly disgusted when she saw the rats crawling out of the pile of corpses.

Then he repented, transforming from a serial killer into a guilty conscience, and finally into an ascetic.

Furthermore, because of his ascetic lifestyle, he has always lacked the decisive moves that other high-ranking clergy possess.

Not knowing how to improve his strength, he embarked on the path of forging.

Looking at the short knife, she was filled with many thoughts.

Time flies so fast; before we even had time to get used to it, everything had changed.