Defected Dark Healer’s Rise to Wealth
【Side: Anemone】
──Time rewinds to a few dozen seconds before the gorilla’s descent.
“Kiwii sure comes up with the most outlandish strategies, huh?”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
Anemone shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, and Kinseika responded in a voice full of exhaustion.
They were inside the grand sanctuary expanded by Mallow’s vessel, a white elf, floating above.
“But still, Kinseika , your spellwork is as impressive as ever.”
Standing atop a horizontal wall of light suspended in midair, Anemone and Kinseika watched the battle below, where Urklow and the others fought. They spent the time chatting leisurely, as if enjoying a casual tea break.
“Well, I did perfect it just to escape from Rose and slack off on village cleaning duty.”
“Is that so?”
“Invisibility Holy Art, undetectable by sight or sensory spells… Even Mallow can’t sense it, right?”
“Seems like it.”
Kinseika let out a big yawn as if it were none of his concern and continued to emit an orange glow from the sacred staff in his hand.
“Though, honestly, just covering both of us is the best I can do.”
“Kiwii said that’s enough. Besides, all we have to do is hide here until we get the signal.”
“Yeah, but… I was thinking of expanding it for one more person.”
“For Rose?”
“Yeah.”
Kinseika gave a small nod.
“When the time comes, I still want all three of us to hide together.”
“You’re really fond of us, huh, Kinseika ?”
“Of course. We’ve been together for 300 years now, after all.”
As they conversed, a shift occurred in the battle below.
Urklow launched an offensive. At the same time—
“──Hey, hey, hey! It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Sage of the East, Mallow?”
From below, they heard Kiwii calling out with an uncharacteristically exaggerated greeting.
“‘Hey’ three times. That’s the signal from the boss. Time to get to work.”
“Why such a weird signal?”
“No clue.”
Anemone, unconcerned, raised her sacred staff toward the designated position.
“This Holy Art was put together in just a few days, but… it better work properly— ‘Attraction Holy Art’!“
Suddenly, both Anemone’s staff and a shadow within the forest glowed the same white hue.
And then—
──Zoom!
Something shot out from the forest at an impossible speed, completely ignoring the laws of physics—
“──Ooh!”
A gorilla, covered in coarse, jet-black fur. No, not just any gorilla—a Magori species and Kiwii’s personal military doctor, Goliath.
Anemone smiled in relief.
“Good. I successfully caught his life force.”
“Ooh, it felt like something grabbed me from the inside. What a strange sensation.”
“That’s how it works. Now, off you go.”
“Ooh, leave it to me.”
The moment Goliath reached Anemone and Kinseika , physics took hold once again.
In other words—he began to free-fall.
And that was exactly the plan.
“Alright, let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah, before we get caught up in this.”
After all, according to Kiwii, a relentless, unavoidable combo attack was about to begin.
Creating a new floating floor out of a light barrier, Anemone and Kinseika quickly made their way out of the sanctuary.
“──Oooohhh!!!”
Over two meters tall, weighing more than 400 kilograms, the Magori species, Goliath, fell from the sky straight toward Mallow’s vessel—the Albino Elf.
“Oooohhh!!!”
Swinging his massive arms like a hammer, Goliath struck the back of the Albino Elf’s head with an earth-shattering BOOM, as if a cannon had fired.
For an ordinary person, such an impact would have been fatal. However—
“…Guh…!”
The Albino Elf remained conscious.
So, a single blow wasn’t enough. He must have learned from last time and deployed some sort of Holy Art against physical attacks.
That was fine.
If pure mass-based attacks wouldn’t work, then they would abandon Instant Kill Plan 1 and fully transition to Restriction Plan 2, utilizing my Dark Heal.
“You did well, Goliath.”
I subtly signaled for him to withdraw from the sanctuary.
Even though my Dark Heal neutralized most of the effects, it couldn’t completely counteract the sanctuary’s negative influence.
Only Urklow , who moved as if he were completely unaffected, was the anomaly.
“Grraaaah!!!”
The Albino Elf, still reeling from Goliath’s ambush, had no time to react as Urklow charged toward him. There was no Holy Art defense this time.
It’s often said that “even a trained soldier is defenseless for ten seconds after a surprise attack.”
Psychologically, this is due to the ‘startle response’—a reflex triggered by unexpected light, sound, or physical impact, causing temporary muscular rigidity and cognitive delay.
“Let’s see if your defenses can hold up against my fangs, huh?! Open that throat wide for me!!!”
And so, Urklow ’s razor-sharp fangs descended upon the Albino Elf’s throat—
But at the last moment—
“Ahhh! Don’t underestimate meee!!!”
The Albino Elf suddenly glowed white and vanished—no, he propelled himself into the sky.
Using a massive surge of Holy Power, he blasted himself upward, escaping his own sanctuary and soaring high into the air.
“Fuha… Fuahahaha!!!”
He cackled, his body like a white comet streaking through the sky.
“Fools! I was only on the ground to lure you out, Urklow !”
He came to an abrupt stop mid-air and expanded the Holy Art formation behind him into a complete circle, transforming it from a fan shape.
“Not even you can reach me up here! I’ll incinerate you all in one go!!!”
The Holy Art formation glowed brilliant red, radiating an ominous heat.
It resembled the ‘Flames of God’—a technique derived from the reaction that occurs when beings of evil alignment receive healing Holy Arts.
Even those of neutral or good alignment, like myself or Goliath, would be in serious danger if hit directly.
…But it won’t matter.
As long as we stop him before he fires.
I looked above the Albino Elf—
Higher still, in the sky—
“Now then, do your job. Bring him down to me—Shes.“
Above the Albino Elf, a silver light gleamed.
It was Shes’ armor, reflecting the moonlight. And the Holy Sword I had gifted her, polished to a mirror sheen.
“Seeeeiiiiii—!!!”
With white wings spread wide, Shes descended from the stratosphere at blinding speed—and slashed the Albino Elf’s back.
“—Guhhaaa!?!?”
The impact knocked the air from his lungs, dissolving his red Holy Art formation.
But Shes wasn’t done.
“Haaaaaa—!!!”
With precise control over her wings, she twisted mid-air and continued her relentless onslaught of slashes.
“Gu… gaahhh!!!”
The Albino Elf, caught in a storm of surprise attacks, had stopped thinking altogether.
And at that moment—
“Got you.”
I reached out—and gently touched both of his shoulders.
“──Dark Heal.”
A massive surge of cursed healing energy engulfed him.
“──GYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!?!?!?”
His horrific scream echoed through Westwood’s night sky.
