The Priest of Complete Dispel ~ Every Time I Save a Cursed Beautiful Girl with My Status Abnormal Cure Skill, For Some Reason Her Dependence on Me Maxes Out ~ - Chapter 18: Perfect Clear Reversal

Chapter 18: Perfect Clear Reversal

“—Damn… I screwed up. Normally, a job like this would’ve been a piece of cake…”

A groaning voice echoed in the depths of a dark cave.

It was a wide cavern surrounded by rocky walls. In one corner, an iron prison was set up.

Inside the prison, a swordsman—a young man with brown hair—was bound by chains. Dull, glowing handcuffs were clamped on his wrists, his armor was torn in places, stained with wounds and blood. His breathing was heavy, barely holding onto consciousness.

“Gu-gya, gya…”

A grating cry came from outside the prison. Standing guard were grotesque creatures with green skin—goblins. They held crude spears and swords, their armor patched together with scraps of iron, lined up like an army.

In the back, a particularly large figure appeared.

It was dozens of times bigger than the other goblins, with an ugly face baring sharp fangs. But its body had a feature the others lacked—a swelling breasts, like that of a woman.

—The Goblin Queen.

That was the name of this being, the queen who ruled this horde.

“To think, a goblin horde led by a queen, not a king…”

The young man muttered bitterly, looking up at the dim ceiling.

His mind wasn’t on his own safety but on his companions.

“I hope… they’re okay…”

His weak words melted into the cold cave air and vanished.

◇◇◇

Several hours had passed since Iris and I left the village. The sun was tilting, nearing evening.

Before us stretched a vast grassland. Looking back, the forest of my hometown was no longer visible.

According to Iris, we’d pass through several villages on our way to the adventure city Hares. Adventure city—the name alone made my heart race. Ever since I learned Marie was a former adventurer, I couldn’t help but be drawn to that world.

I wanted to reach Hares quickly. But Iris said it’d take at least a week, maybe longer if we camped or stopped at villages. That was, of course, if nothing went wrong.

“No sign of monsters so far… Just in case, I want to check Iris’s strength.”

“Yes, of course!”

“What’s your level, Iris?”

Two years ago, I learned about this world’s system—levels. They could only be checked through rituals or Appraisal, but they were widely used as a measure of combat strength.

“My level is… nineteen.”

“…Not eighteen?”

“I’m eighteen years old, but my level is nineteen.”

“Huh, so you’re older than me.”

—Lower than I expected.

As a saint candidate, I imagined a much higher number. But the reality was far below my guess.

Still, she’d traveled the country alone. She must have strength beyond her level. I knew nothing about the outside world, so I shouldn’t judge lightly. As I reconsidered, it happened.

“—!!”

“Kyaa!?”

A deafening roar suddenly echoed from the sky. Iris, startled, fumbled the reins, and the horse reared, stopping.

“S-Sorry… What was that sound…—A wyvern!?”

Looking up, I saw over ten shadows swooping down. With wide wings, sharp claws, and fangs, they were deep green, scaly dragonkin—a wyvern horde.

“Wyverns, ranked B or higher…! So close to Magou Forest, such powerful monsters—huh?”

Iris paled, explaining quickly. But the next moment, something strange happened.

The approaching wyverns, as if losing control, glided diagonally one after another, passing our carriage and crashing into the ground.

“Kyaaa!?”

The earth shook with booming crashes. Dust rose, and small craters formed in the grassland. Iris’s eyes widened, unable to hide her confusion.

“What just happened… Shu-sama?”

Ignoring her question, I stepped off the carriage.

“We got enough food from the village, but more doesn’t hurt. Let’s collect some wyvern meat.”

“Ehhhh!?”

Ignoring Iris’s shock, I drew my longsword. The wyverns, still alive after crashing, had their necks cleanly severed one by one. For everyday use, this sword, which I’d used longer, felt more familiar than the Holy Sword.

“…”

“What’s wrong? You’re staring.”

“N-No… I just can’t understand why the wyverns fell and are now so easily defeated…”

Iris couldn’t hide her confusion.

I sighed and faced her.

“Sorry, but can you swear not to tell anyone about this?”

“Of course!”

“Then… it’s this.”

I held up the ring on my right middle finger. Its aquamarine gem, like the Healing Spring, glinted.

“What’s that…?”

“A ring Keryneia gave me long ago. It reverses the effects of magic or skills. I just reversed Perfect Clear.”

“From the holy beast…! And Perfect Clear… reversed? A skill that heals all status ailments, reversed would mean—!”

Iris’s eyes widened. She caught on quickly.

“I used Back Pain on the wyverns.”

“Huh…?”

“Back Pain.”

“I-I get it!?”

A confused laugh escaped me as she flustered.

“Basically, their backs gave out, and they couldn’t fly.”

“B-But… do wyverns even have backs!?”

“They do, since it worked.”

“I guess so…”

Iris’s voice turned flat, almost robotic.

The status ailments I could use through the reversed Perfect Clear were limited to those I’d healed or experienced. But since I was immune to status ailments, it was probably just a record of what was blocked.

The one I’d used most was Back Pain. About a year after coming to this world, I healed a villager who hurt his back over-pulling mandrakes in the fields.

Since using the reversal ring, Back Pain had become my go-to move.

Black Cockatrice and other flying monsters were especially vulnerable to Back Pain.

“Wyverns are no problem. The only ones it didn’t work on were boneless enemies.”

“Boneless enemies…?”

“Scaryparalyze Slime. A water-dwelling monster, like a giant jellyfish that paralyzes. Swords don’t work, but when I used Burn Fever, which Amelia had once suffered, it crumbled from the inside.”

“Oh… wow…”

Iris gave a half-hearted reply, clearly overwhelmed. Oh well.

By the way, the range of Perfect Clear Reversal seemed to match my Air Slash’s reach.

And through the ring, the effect was instant. Maybe because of Keryneia’s blessing, it worked far faster than my own skills. I could even use it on multiple targets at once if I wanted.

As I carved up the wyvern meat, Iris spoke hesitantly.

“Um… aren’t you collecting the magic stones?”

“Oh, those stones in their hearts? The village said they were useless, so I gave them all to the chief.”

“No, please collect them! In the city, magic stones, claws, and hides can be sold for money!”

“What…! That old man never told me!!”

The image of that smug, grinning elder flashed in my mind.

Why does he always keep important things quiet…!

In the end, we collected several fist-sized green magic stones and decided to camp in the middle of the grassland that night.