‘Huh, that’s right.’

Favors are always given as long as they do not harm thyself.

Helping others even at a disadvantage?

That’s an act of stupidity.

{Glyph of Heroes}

(Blooming)

– Unleash the full potential within a short period of time. At the end of ‘blooming’, the user will lose consciousness.

Cloud kept a watchful eye on the crying girl. When a boy sprinting by stopped upon spotting the girl.

The boy looked to be of the same age as the girl.

The boy moved his head back and forth, and then approached the girl with a determined expression on his face.

The boy said something to her. The girl shook her head and did not stop crying.

Cloud expected the boy to give up and run away alone.

But the boy did not run away.

The boy grabbed the girl’s hand and started running, pulling her along in tow.

That was stupid.

The girl did not resist, so they were running together, but he was significantly slower from when he was making a run on his own.

He would end up at more risk.

The boy knew as well.

Still, the boy did not let go of the girl’s hand.

Cloud saw a familiar figure in the boy.

A poor paladin, adamant not to listen to a single word from others.

“It’s really stupidity.”

Cloud smiled and drew his holy sword.

{Glyph of Heroes}

(Abloom)
– Can be used in the ‘blooming’ state. Unleash more than what your inherent potential allows. When ‘blooming’ ends, all stats are permanently reduced by 10%.

* * *

She was a devout believer.

Her only thought was to praise God and be grateful for what was given.

She kept her desires at bay and did not covet what was others.

She was a knight too.

Loyal only to God, vowed to protect the weak.

Although she possessed excellent skills, she was humble and knew forgiveness.

She was an extrovert as well.

And never made exceptions when it came to doctrine and chivalry.

The day an army of tens of thousands of demons besieged the holy land, Atria.

When everyone was talking about retreat, she stood alone in front of tens of thousands of demons.

Brandished the sword in both hands in a praying position.

Everyone who saw it criticized her.

She was stupid.

A single-minded fool who operated on ideals than brains.

And everyone saw it.

The divine light that fell on her sword.

A miracle created by the golden light.

The holy sword with golden light shining brightly.

The light lifted the darkness that had descended on the city and enveloped the people.

Those who escaped from darkness turned to the source of light one by one.

So was Ophelia.

She, who was drowning in muddy despair, raised her head and looked.

A dazzling golden light.

It was dazzling and divine.

Ophelia no longer felt afraid.

She no longer felt anxious.

Her inner self, at last, was at peace.

Because it did not doubt the light would save everyone.

And it did.

The tentacles that chased them all gathered towards the light.

Thousands of tentacles covered the source of light.

Darkness descended once again.

The moment when everyone lost hope and was about to despair once again.

– Kwagwagwang!

The light flashed and split the sky.

They closed their eyes shut. Moments later, when they slowly opened their eyes, there was neither the divine light nor the darkness to cover them.

Patches of clouds floated.

The sunlight that filtered through them illuminated a man.

“Ah…”

Drip!

A drop of water ran down Ophelia’s cheek.

She knelt down and orderly put her hands together in a prayer.

Seeing this, the citizens followed her and prayed together.

Other citizens, who saw the citizens praying, did the same, and the action continued to spread. Soon, most of the citizens were praying towards the man shining in the sunlight.

Pound.

A new divine power bloomed inside the empty Ophelia. Although it was so feeble that she could not even feel it herself, it was clearly divine power.

* * *

“Hey, Cloud are you alright?!”

“Does he seem alright to you? Come on, let’s get some potions and pour them!”

“Ah okay!”

Katarina and Leslie each took out a potion and lathered it across Cloud’s body.

They were full of smiles, until they reached the rooftop, seeing Cloud dripping blood from every orifice — eyes, nose, and mouth — putting them in a frenzy.

“Spraying on the body alone won’t heal the internal wounds. He must drink the potion. Cloud, please open your mouth.”

“…”

“Cloud? It must be hard, but can you please try?”

“…”

“Cloud..? Huh? Did he pass out standing?”

“What? But his eyes are open. How does someone pass out with eyes open?”

“How would I know? Lay him down. It will be easier to feed.”

The two women carefully laid Cloud down. Leslie lifted his torso and grabbed his nose. When he gasped to breathe, a potion was tipped in his mouth.

“Hey, take it slow!”

“What slow? The potion’s already trickling inside very slowly, just keep your mouth shut…”

– Puck!

Cloud vomited a mouthful of blood.

“Damn?! You, you crazy fool! I told you to put it in slowly!”

“Why is this my fault? It’s just backflow of blood! Now we have a bigger problem, in fact.”

“Why? What?”

“The potion won’t go in because of the backflow of blood.”

“Huh?”

“What ‘huh?’ Gosh… if the potion is not used, the internal wounds won’t mend up. This is bad.”

Katarina’s complexion turned white.

“Hey, isn’t that a bit problematic, then?”

“It’s not a little, but very problematic. If the potion doesn’t work, we’ll need a priest, but the only priest nearby is a woman with low divine power…”

Leslie bit her lips, showing a distressed expression on her face.

No suitable solution seemed in sight.

Just then, Katarina opened her eyes wide, as if she had realized something.

“Why don’t you incision his stomach and pour in the potion?”

“…”

Leslie stared intently at Katarina.

“You’ve come up with a good idea, not like you.”

Instantly, she conjured an ice dagger.

“Just watch.”