Chapter 34
The heat radiating from her small body seemed too much to bear, her breathing coming in heavy gasps.
Thud.
Somehow, it felt like her heart had plummeted to the floor.
‘I thought it was connected to demons because I sensed a strange energy, but maybe not?’
Demons wouldn’t be affected by Demonic Qi.
Likewise, contractors bound to demons wouldn’t be harmed by it either. So what on earth was this child?
“Why in the world doesn’t holy power work on a child of Yudia?!”
“That’s… Didn’t His Highness the Crown Prince show similar symptoms? Perhaps it’s something like that…”
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
Ludbrid Yudia barked fiercely.
The priest who had offered the opinion flinched, shrinking his neck and bowing his head.
“Holy power did work on the Crown Prince!”
“But…”
The moment the priest stubbornly uttered “but,” Ludbrid Yudia’s face twisted in an instant.
At the same time, a savage aura exploded outward.
Realizing his mistake at the clear fury on Ludbrid’s face, the priest paled and clamped his mouth shut.
“We used holy power on the Crown Prince, but it only slowed the corruption’s progress and eased his symptoms without fully healing him. It wasn’t completely ineffective like this. You idiot! You’ve been dispatched to the imperial family multiple times, and you don’t know that?! Do you want to start over from scratch?!”
“I-I’m sorry!”
The priest bowed deeply at the waist.
Kiriel swept his irritated gaze around the room before speaking.
“You lot aren’t helping, so get out…”
The annoyance seeping into his voice silenced the room instantly.
“Y-Young Master Kiriel! Have you arrived?”
“I said get out. Are you deaf?”
Kiriel Yudia’s characteristically flat tone lacked its usual languid drawl.
The flustered priests exchanged glances before looking to Ludbrid.
Kiriel snorted.
“Levon, these guys think I’m a joke. Have I been too meek lately?”
“You have been meek. How many years has it been since you holed up in your room like a hermit? Your titles like hero, conqueror, God’s Blood Lion—your reputation’s probably rotted away by now.”
A low growl rumbled—
Blue light began to shimmer around Kiriel, coiling around his body like a massive serpent. Amid the rippling form, sharp beastly fangs glinted.
“When you were in a bad mood, you slaughtered people indiscriminately. Everyone should just quietly get out of the way. Once that guy’s temper flares, he bites everyone to death. He’s wearing a meek face now, but if it weren’t for the family Phoenix seal, I’d have mistaken him for the enemy.”
At Levon’s blunt words, the priests gulped audibly.
They flinched, shoulders trembling, then awkwardly backed away and bowed.
“I-We’re sorry. We’ll withdraw immediately.”
Kiriel watched the pale, terrified priests scurrying off, then raised his hand and smacked Levon on the back of the head with a thwack.
Levon’s face crumpled.
“Ow.”
Levon grimaced with an expressionless face, rubbing the back of his head with his palm.
“That hurts. Why’d you hit me?”
“I hit you so it’d hurt. Keep your mouth in check.”
“Why? It’s not wrong. Back when I went to the battlefield with you for real, I nearly pissed myself thinking you were the enemy more than once or twice.”
“I know. You actually did a few times.”
“Oh. Was that how it was?”
Levon responded flatly to Kiriel’s words.
“Birds of a feather, squawking away.”
Ludbrid, watching them, muttered in disbelief.
Soon, only Levon, Pel—Ludbrid’s adjutant and butler—Kiriel, Ludbrid, and Bunny remained in the room.
Kiriel spoke with a hardened expression.
“What happened? She was fine just this morning—why’s she like this now?”
“I don’t know.”
Ludbrid’s short reply made Kiriel’s face stiffen.
It was then, as Kiriel opened his mouth again with a grim look—
“The child begged to go to the Imperial Palace, and I couldn’t refuse, so I brought her. I told her to wait in the reception room, but… somehow, she ended up where the Crown Prince was.”
As Ludbrid explained, Kiriel, who had been moving his lips, clenched his fist and strode toward the child. He sat on the edge of the bed and placed his hand on her forehead.
A pure white light mingled with blue began to spread from Kiriel’s fingertips, slowly seeping into Bunny’s forehead.
With his eyes closed, he scanned the inside of her body using holy power and spoke again.
“Go on.”
Kiriel slowly opened his eyes and shot Ludbrid a sharp glance.
“Continue.”
Ludbrid scowled deeply, twitching his eyebrows, then clicked his tongue and spoke.
“From the witnesses’ accounts… it seems she wandered around various parts of the Imperial Palace. And somehow ended up in the Crown Prince’s bedroom.”
Kiriel’s brow furrowed at Ludbrid’s words.
‘She’s really causing trouble in the most unexpected ways.’
He nodded, thinking that.
“I don’t know the details after that. According to the Crown Prince’s account, the child entered his room, placed her hand on his forehead, and his body stopped hurting.”
“His body… stopped hurting?”
“Yes. And when we checked, the Demonic Qi that had been raging inside the Crown Prince’s body had completely vanished.”
Kiriel, who had been pushing holy power into various parts of the child’s body, clamped his mouth shut at Ludbrid’s words.
“Purification absorption type?”
“That’s our working theory for now. Normally, in such cases, they could purify it themselves if given another dose of holy power. Abilities that absorb and purify Demonic Qi into holy power are rare, but they exist.”
“……”
“But this child isn’t responding to holy power itself right now. Not to mine, and… probably not to yours either.”
“……”
No sooner had Ludbrid finished speaking than the blue glow from Kiriel’s hand began to fade.
He was right.
All the holy power Kiriel pushed in wasn’t seeping into or taking hold in the child at all—it was bouncing right back to him.
Holy power typically worked by being absorbed into a person’s body. But Bunny wasn’t absorbing it.
There were two possibilities in this case.
Either Bunny’s holy power was overwhelmingly superior to theirs, making theirs useless.
Or her body couldn’t accept holy power at all.
For example, like a demon, or a human with a special constitution hypersensitive to it—or completely unresponsive.
But Bunny possessed holy power and had summoned a divine beast. The latter could be ruled out.
That left the former.
“…Looks like this child’s more than we bargained for.”
At Ludbrid’s quiet mutter, the corners of Kiriel’s mouth tightened slightly.
He narrowed his eyes in displeasure.
Holy power generally branched into several types.
Holy power for combat.
Types that boosted attack or defense for combat support.
Healing holy power, purification holy power, and various others.
Purification holy power also had subtypes.
The ability to pour out one’s holy power to purify an object.
Or absorbing harmful elements into one’s body, purifying them internally, and converting them into one’s own holy power.
The latter was rare, but if it depended only on the user’s own ability, it could grow indefinitely stronger.
Holy power was originally generated within the body, so its usage had limits.
But absorbing tainted energy, purifying it, and turning it into one’s holy power allowed infinite growth—an enormous advantage.
‘And…’
It was then, as the stiff-faced Kiriel clenched his fist tightly.
“Pek!”
Right at that moment.
The red chick perched on Kiriel’s shoulder let out a small cry, then solemnly spread wings no bigger than an adult’s pinky nail on both sides.
