Chapter 40 – LV.Five Priest Seo Yun – [Five]

The centaurs wanted the southern lands of Corea. They considered it a waste to leave that land, so ideal for grazing sheep in summer, to be used by weak humans. Their lord thought the same.

Two years ago, the Great Khan ordered the conquest of Corea.

Following that command, a great general set out on an expedition but failed in the conquest. The general, leading warriors to Corea, was defeated and slain by a mighty Orc Warrior.

Rather than mourning the general’s death, the centaur warriors rejoiced. Because it was a death befitting an honorable battle, and because the general’s position was now vacant, creating a new seat of power for the warriors to claim.

If one distinguished themselves with merit now, they could become a general and receive the blessing of immortality. Warriors filled with ambition set out on another expedition and discovered a shining treasure: a girl who seemed like a goddess incarnate.

They would capture that girl and present her to their lord. Then, the Great Khan, filled with joy, would surely share the Goddess’s Grace.

Another Level up.

Trying to shake off the fullness in her head, Seo Yun thought. How many had she taken down so far?

It felt like she had already taken down several, but the number hadn’t changed. Even when she felled them, they kept swarming back.

There were still six centaurs around her.

Seo Yun swung her Burning Sword and severed a centaur’s staff. She then tried to press forward with an attack, but another centaur struck her neck with his pole.

This time, the staff carried force. Probably because he had already seen several comrades die.

Seo Yun staggered and fell. As her head hit the ground, the sound of hooves reached her ears. They seemed to be approaching, thinking she was down.

Seo Yun sprang up and simultaneously drove her sword into the belly of the approaching one. Though it was a monster with two torsos, perhaps with two lungs and two hearts, it couldn’t withstand its spine being severed and burning. That massive body collapsed sideways.

Five left now.

“You—!”

Another centaur charged.

He thrust his pole with the force of his charge, but Seo Yun cut even that pole. She counterattacked the now unarmed creature and finished him off too.

She fought and fought after that. Whenever she saw an opening in their bodies, she struggled to plunge her Burning Sword in. Thanks to the difference in weapons, and thanks to them underestimating her physical abilities, she somehow managed to take them down.

Of course, she got beaten up every single time. If those bastards had wielded proper weapons, no matter how many Health points she had, she would have been sliced to death long ago.

This time too, some bastard struck her back.

Seo Yun lay prone, motionless for a moment. She pretended to be knocked out without even twitching, but this time, no one approached.

Seo Yun waited for her body to recover, then got up.

Assuming her stance again, she looked at the centaurs’ expressions. They were weary. Well, no wonder their expressions were rotten, seeing a little girl show such incomprehensible resilience, getting up no matter how many times they hit her, without even showing signs of fatigue.

Their reaction didn’t seem good to Seo Yun. If prey doesn’t tire and isn’t easily felled, they’ll change their hunting method.

Sure enough, the centaurs exchanged signals and acted differently than before. Until now, they had moved in pairs, but now all four approached at once and began thrusting with their poles. Was their intention to share the achievement but secure the kill for sure?

They stabbed relentlessly all at once, as if herding the prey. Even if Seo Yun cut one or two poles, the rest inevitably pummeled her body.

With each hit, breathing became difficult, and she felt like collapsing.

As Seo Yun stepped back to create distance, her back hit a wall. With no more room to evade, the consecutively thrust poles stabbed her abdomen.

Blood and saliva spilled from Seo Yun’s mouth. Breathing was a struggle, but she somehow managed to keep holding her sword.

The sound of something cutting through the air pierced her ears.

An arrow flying from the darkness embedded itself at the feet of a centaur.

“What the······”

Cursing, the centaurs looked in the direction the arrow came from.

The arrow came from up there, from atop some building. It was hard to see what was there, obscured by darkness, but Seo Yun could guess.

‘Seong Juri.’

There were many buildings around. It seemed like supporting fire was coming from that high-rise or rooftop.

Another arrow flew from the darkness. This time, it embedded itself in some centaur’s armor.

More angry curses erupted. Even if it wasn’t a fatal wound, it was nothing to laugh off.

Meanwhile, Seo Yun was surprised by the crossbow’s power. The crossbows issued to the Happy Village warriors were poorly modified ones looted from goblins, so their power wasn’t great. But to pierce armor?

It probably wasn’t a Happy Village weapon. She suddenly remembered the crossbow the chimpanzee used. Han Siwoo also carried the same crossbow on his back. His backpack was taken, but it seemed some of the equipment he usually carried remained. Did he lend it to Seong Juri? Or did he come himself?

He had even gotten annoyed, telling her not to follow. But right now, that help was honestly welcome.

Seo Yun watched the centaurs wary of the darkness, waiting for an opening, then rushed in.

With four pairs of eyes watching, Seo Yun’s charge was easily blocked. Two centaurs simultaneously swung their poles, blocking her path. It was expected.

Seo Yun cut the pole swung at her while rolling on the ground. She stopped rolling between the legs of one centaur, lying down, and saw his belly.

“Shit!”

The startled creature stomped down. The hoof crushed three fingers on Seo Yun’s left hand, but the right hand holding the sword was fine.

Stabbing the sword upward, blood poured down, covering Seo Yun’s body. Before other contents spilled out too, Seo Yun rolled her body once more. She barely escaped from the collapsing centaur’s body.

There should be three enemies left now, but where were they? Their figures weren’t visible.

The blood just poured had even covered her eyes.

Wiping her eyes with difficulty, she saw a pole being swung right in front of her face. It hit her head. Staggering, Seo Yun raised her sword and chanted a Healing Spell on herself.

“Grace.”The centaurs seemed to recognize that healing light as well. Their already distorted expressions contorted even further.

Amidst this, arrows continued to fly from the darkness, so the centaurs apparently decided not to act leisurely anymore.

That is, they abandoned their plan to capture her without injury.

Three centaurs spread out. They all lowered their clubs and picked up the bows slung on their backs. While one fired arrows into the unseen darkness to suppress the invisible archers, the remaining two targeted Seo Yun.

Centaurs are also a race possessing monstrous strength. The Strength of those warriors is at least 8 points, and 9 or 10 points are also common. The draw weight of a bow shot with that power was inhuman.

With a thwip sound, Seo Yun gritted her teeth. Glancing down at her leg, she saw an arrow embedded in her ankle. The arrowhead had pierced through the flesh on the other side.

As the flesh contracted elastically, it also healed. The arrow shaft stuck there became firmly fixed in the flesh.

Seo Yun dropped to one knee. Another arrow flew in succession, this time piercing through her shoulder as well.

Separate from her transcendent Health Stat, she couldn’t move.

Only then did the centaurs seem to consider the hunt successful. The centaurs approached with heavily distorted faces. It seemed they intended to drag her away now.

In response, Seo Yun did not swing her sword. Instead, she pointed her left hand—its fingers crushed—toward her own body.

The centaurs probably thought she was going to cast a Healing Spell on herself this time too. But that wasn’t it.

“Baptism of Fire.”

The moment Seo Yun uttered the spell, what erupted from that palm pointed at herself was not just light.

A stream of fire erupted from her palm. Toward Seo Yun herself.

It was the Hearth Priest’s Second-Tier Spell, the Flamethrower spell. A spell that spews a large, thick flame a certain distance in front of the priest.

Already, her body was smeared with blood and oil. Soon, a massive flame engulfed that small body.

Priests gain a 1-point bonus to their Mental Stat after their Class Change. Seo Yun guessed the Goddess’s vision was probably something like that Ability Score enhancement event.

Amidst the flames and smoke, the Goddess of the Hearth spoke.

‘Do what you must.’

That’s what she would do.

After Seo Yun rushed out, Seong Juri hadn’t particularly intended to follow her. It wasn’t a situation for that in the first place.

When the Skeletons charged, Seong Juri had to worry about her own survival immediately.

Flustered while watching the Skeletons climbing over the barricade, Seong Juri saw another Player’s actions. Han Siwoo was breaking down the door of a villa with a handaxe that had been lying around nearby.

Seong Juri thought. Is he planning to go inside and take shelter?

Political Training strongly warned against doing that.

Even though soldiers could go in and engage in urban warfare, the military didn’t do that and instead blocked the entrances to prevent anyone from entering those buildings.

They said it’s because big trouble happens if you enter a building. The combination of modern buildings and modern weapons enrages Meteorite, a medieval enthusiast, and immediately Gutworms would burst from the ground and swallow the building a soldier entered whole.

However, the building Han Siwoo entered remained intact. Seeing that, it seemed Players could enter safely. In the end, Seong Juri also went inside the building and helped Han Siwoo block the door again.

Han Siwoo said, panting.

“The stairs, let’s go up.”

That was definitely safer. It didn’t seem like the Skeletons would bother searching inside the building, and even if this point were captured, the centaurs wouldn’t be able to climb the stairs due to their body structure anyway.

They continued going up floor by floor, and only after reaching the 4th floor could they catch their breath.

To check the situation outside, she peered out the window.

She saw Seo Yun surrounded by centaurs.

It was within range of a crossbow bolt. But if she shot, there was a risk of revealing their position, so she sought Han Siwoo’s agreement.

“I’m going to help her. You objecting?”

Han Siwoo had an uneasy expression but didn’t particularly object.

“Do as you will…”

After that, she provided supporting fire, albeit with clumsy skill. Han Siwoo also silently assisted beside her.

Then, seeing Seo Yun get hit by several arrows in her leg and shoulder, she tightly closed her eyes.

And when Seo Yun set herself on fire, Seong Juri’s eyes widened.

For a moment, she thought she’d rather commit suicide than be dragged away. But then it occurred to her that the girl had 11 Health Points.

If so, it seemed she wouldn’t die even if her body caught fire, but it still didn’t seem like a good choice. Watching Seo Yun, who had become more of a flaming figure than a girl, Seong Juri muttered inwardly.

‘Goodness.’

The situation was so unexpected that even in the urgent moment, it was absurd. So, worry only came afterward.

Seong Juri looked at Seo Yun with trembling eyes. Those already wide-open eyes opened even wider.

Seo Yun was standing up while burning.

First, that poncho burned. Then, the priestly gown worn underneath was revealed. It was a gown that increased the number of uses for the Hearth Priest’s First-Tier Spells, and perhaps because it was an item for a Priest of the Hearth, even it did not burn.

Along with it, it seemed the arrows embedded in her leg had also burned away.

Freed, Seo Yun charged at the centaur. Her entire body was a mass of flames.

The centaur seemed unsure how to deal with a flaming human. It lifted its equine body and thrashed its horse legs spasmodically. It wasn’t the action of a composed warrior but the struggle of a beast trying to prevent the enemy from approaching.

Seo Yun grabbed one of those legs. Seo Yun’s hand and arm were still burning. Just being grabbed by that hand caused the centaur excruciating pain.

As the centaur screamed, Seo Yun stabbed it with her sword.

The centaurs approaching to help their comrade halted.

Seo Yun turned around.

Seo Yun chanted a Healing Spell on herself. From what Seong Juri saw, it seemed to be an Intermediate Healing Spell.

As the healing light enveloped her body, the fire clinging to Seo Yun’s body was completely extinguished.

Seong Juri looked at Seo Yun after the burning. She knew that Health Stat, 11 points, was an area where the 10-point limit for living creatures was added to the Divinity Score.

Perhaps because of that, even the result of being burned was within the realm of Faith.Amidst the gown that remained perfectly intact, without even a trace of soot on the hair that had caught fire, the scabs that had formed all over her body fell away, revealing pale skin.

Though her shoes and socks were also scorched, she paid them no mind. Seo Yun gripped the sword as if she had just experienced nothing at all.