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 59: Glimmer of the Saintess

Adventurer City Hares, in front of the west gate.

Large monsters kept appearing one after another.

Just taking down one stole time and strength, and the front line was getting pushed back.

They had no spare attention for the low-rank monsters.

The adventurers and temple knights were forced to retreat bit by bit.

If even one slipped through, the risk of the west gate breaking would skyrocket.

They were barely holding for now—but behind them, thousands more of the horde still writhed.

A-rank adventurers didn’t come along that easily.

It had been over twenty years since former A-rank Berg had been on the front lines.

Since then, the number of people in this city who had reached A could be counted on one hand.

And right now, this city had no active A-rank equivalents at all.

The situation was clearly against them in both skill and numbers.

“Captain~. Isn’t this really game over~?”

Riche called out to Seira, who fought beside her while flipping her light purple hair and swinging her knight sword.

“…Before they crush us, we have no choice but to prioritize and take down the strong monsters. We need to whittle down their numbers…!”

Even as Seira said that, she clung to one hope in her chest.

(…Shu. If you can use that power again—)

But at the same time, she couldn’t believe <Perfect Clear Reversal> came without a cost.

He had silenced nearly a thousand enemies at once. Seira worried about Shu, who had vanished from the scene.

“—Injured, fall back! Leave the healing to us!”

Iris’s voice rang out from the rear.

Several priests stood ready, focused only on healing and support.

“It’s okay… Lord Shu will definitely come back. So we—we have to hold out.”

The instant Iris said it like a prayer.

“—The Minotaur slipped through—!!!”

A massive body over five meters tall.

It dragged a huge battle axe as it charged straight for the west gate.

B-rank or higher.

Even in this city, it was an opponent that Glen’s “Silver Blade” group could barely stop if they all ganged up.

The gate would break.

Everyone understood that in the moment.

“Bu moooooh!?”

The Minotaur’s legs buckled, and it crashed to the ground.

Its left leg turned purple, foaming and rotting away as it melted off.

“Lady Medina…!”

Her form was nowhere to be seen.

But she was definitely there.

“You were supposed to ambush Dorotheia with Lord Shu… but you stayed here for us, didn’t you?”

Iris took a short breath and stepped toward the front line.

One hit from the “Fire Poison Knife” was all it took. Level differences didn’t matter.

As long as Medina took out the monsters that broke through, this place was still just barely a safe zone.

“…I can’t fall behind either.”

She gripped her holy staff again and raised her voice.

“Everyone—fall back once!!”

The adventurers and temple knights around her pulled back the front line.

And the instant the last one dashed past Iris—

(Now, the only advanced light magic I can activate alone—)

The raised holy staff gave off a phosphorescent glow.

“—<Sanctuarium>”

A translucent holy barrier spread out in a large circle in front of the west gate.

Low-rank monsters vanished into the light the moment they touched it and scattered like mist, while high-rank ones slammed against the wall, sending dull impact sounds echoing.

But cracks were already running through part of the barrier.

Normally, a barrier would vanish in a flash if even one point broke.

But this <Sanctuarium> could be maintained as a barrier again by pouring magic into the broken spots, as long as it kept activating.

“—Use this time for healing and regrouping! Intercept from the broken spots as needed!!”

Iris’s strong voice shook the battlefield.

“Iris…”

“Lady Iris…!”

Adventurers and temple knights alike—

They saw a glimmer of the saintess in her back.

◇◇◇

“What’s wrong? Not attacking? Oh, no—that’s not it. You just can’t hit me!”

Dorotheia moved like a shadow, swinging her claws from every angle while mixing in taunts.

But I deflected every one.

“You’re the one who seems off. That won’t even scratch me.”

“Hah… big talk! Then—<Reinforce> <Armor> <Relayer>!”

Black magic overflowed from Dorotheia’s arms and wrapped around my whole body.

“Now—this should break you—!!”

Her black claws flashed, and my long sword flew out of my hand.

For a split second, my weapon vanished from my grip.

“Got you—!!”

The second strike closed in to gouge my chest.

“—<Holy Craft>”

Faster than the swinging blade, pale blue light condensed in my hand—and a “Holy Craft Sword” took shape.

The next instant.

“Gugiiiiiiih!?”

Light streaked, and Dorotheia’s left arm flew through the air with a spray of fresh blood.

“You bastard—!!! Why… why isn’t the dark magic working…!! And—that sword—”

“This? Yeah, even demons fall for it.”

The gap born the instant my long sword got knocked away.

Just like with Glen. No—Dorotheia had let her guard down even deeper.

The “Holy Craft Sword” felt light like a living thing, and sharp. The feedback when it cut was totally different from the long sword.

“You—!!!”

Her face twisted with a mix of rage and pain.

But at that moment—something odd happened in my peripheral vision behind her.

Bulldog, who had been fighting Alaster, swelled up.

His flesh tore, bones creaked, he blasted off everything he wore, and transformed into a monster-like giant body.

Alaster, who should have had the upper hand, dropped to one knee from a single blow.

“Watch out!!”

No hesitation.

And now—I could reach.

“—<Perfect Clear Reversal>”

Bulldog collapsed to the spot like his strength had drained.

“—Don’t die yet, for Seira’s sake. Pig old man.”

My alertness slipped. Just for a moment.

“Gu… uh…………”

Along with a breath of relief, a sharp impact hit my back.

Even missing a part, Dorotheia’s still-intact right black claw had stabbed in without mercy.

“What’re you doing, ignoring me? Now you’ve really pissed me off…”

Yeah. I had let my guard down.

But—at the same time, I had trusted.

The performance of this custom robe the village chief had made with alchemy.

“Wha, wha………… why…………”

I turned slowly.

Dorotheia stood frozen in the pose of her claw thrust, eyes wide in shock.

She couldn’t understand why I was unharmed.

“I don’t know the materials well myself. But… it’s apparently similar to that dilatancy phenomenon.”

“Huh? Dila… what? You bastard, what…!”

Solid against strong impacts.

Fluid-like against weak ones—a weird fluid.

It was a fluid that had even been a topic in modern Japan.

This robe had properties close to that built in.

Against strong blows alone, this fabric showed insane hardness.

So—Dorotheia’s claws, too powerful, couldn’t pierce the robe.

“Let’s end this. I wanna get back quick too.”

“Ku… ugh…!”

Even clutching her bleeding left arm, Dorotheia hadn’t lost her will to fight.

“You’re making one mistake.”

Dorotheia smirked defiantly.

“I haven’t gotten serious yet.”

“So what?”

“Heh… heh heh heh… ha ha ha ha ha!!”

The face that should have twisted in pain instead filled with pleasure.

“Status ailments and curses work better the bigger the level difference.”

“…Is that so?”

It was new info to me. But why say it now.

“My level is fifty-nine—!! Power earned from sipping the life force of countless humans and killing nonstop—!!”

“…………”

“I don’t know why dark magic doesn’t work on you… but how about a curse?”

A smile full of certainty.

Her right hand aimed at me again.

“No one in this land can match me—!!”

Her red tongue licked her lips.

“Crave me, drown in agony, and die—<Lewd Curse>”

Warped magic released from Dorotheia’s hand.

The pitch-black magic that lured consciousness to the abyss wrapped my body, and then————burst apart.

◇◇◇

‘Lord Shu… is a special person. Lord Glen was concerned about his level before too, right?’

‘Yeah, with that kind of skill. I figure at least around forty…’

‘Lord Shu doesn’t seem to be hiding it, so I’ll tell you. Lord Shu’s level is————————————eighty-three.’

◇◇◇

“…………………………..Did you do something?”

“It doesn’t… make sense…! Why! Curses are supposed to always work! Ah, right… it just takes time to kick in… there were guys like that too! In the end, everyone drowned in my curse!!”

Dorotheia piled on words desperately.

But the blood dripping from her left arm wouldn’t stop.

She couldn’t hide her panic.

“Sure, your level’s probably high. But—it’s lower than mine.”

“You bastard…! Don’t spout stupid lies—!!”

“I don’t know how long you’ve lived. But—the world’s pretty big, you know.”

Truth is, I don’t know the world either.

But remembering that monster-like old man and old lady made it clear how narrow the world was for this fool who thought she was at the top.

“—Well, the reason your curse didn’t work on me isn’t the level difference, though.”

“Gu… nu, nu nu nu…!”

The reason it didn’t work was the goddess’s blessing.

And this time, I learned that if the level difference is big, status ailments and curse attacks might fail too.