The fever radiating from such a small body felt far beyond what she could bear, and her breathing had become alarmingly ragged.
*Thump.*
For some reason, my heart plummeted to the floor.
*I sensed an unusual energy and thought it was related to a demon, but was I wrong?*
Demons cannot be damaged by demonic energy. A contractor bound to one is similarly immune. If that’s true, then what exactly is this child?
“How is it possible that purification power doesn’t work on Judia’s child!”
“That is… wasn’t the Crown Prince’s condition similar? Perhaps it is something akin to that……”
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
Ludbreed Yudia roared. The priest who had offered the suggestion flinched, shrinking back and bowing his head.
“The divine power *was* effective on the Crown Prince!”
“But……”
The moment the priest stubbornly uttered that ‘but,’ Ludbreed Yudia’s face twisted. A savage aura erupted from him, and seeing that raw, vivid rage, the priest turned deathly pale, hurriedly clamping his mouth shut.
“Divine power was used on the Crown Prince. While it didn’t heal him, it slowed the erosion and eased his agony—it didn’t mean it had no effect at all. You idiot! You’ve been dispatched to the Imperial Palace time and again, and you don’t even know that? Do you want to restart your training from the very beginning?”
“I-I am sorry!”
The priest bowed deeply. Kyriel scanned the room with an expression of pure annoyance.
“You’re useless. Get out.”
The irritation seeping into his voice silenced the room instantly.
“K-Kyriel-gongja! You’ve arrived?”
“I told you to get out. Are you deaf?”
There was none of the usual languor in Kyriel Yudia’s voice. The bewildered priests glanced at one another, then toward Ludbreed.
Kyriel let out a mocking laugh.
“Levon, these bastards seem to find me amusing. Have I been too gentle lately?”
“You certainly have. How many years has it been since you secluded yourself? Your reputation as a hero, a warlord, and the blood-red messenger of the gods has rotted away from disuse.”
*Grrrr—*
A blue light swirled around Kyriel, a massive, serpentine light-form coiling once around his body. Amidst the flickering shapes, something resembling a beast’s jagged teeth gnashed.
“You used to kill indiscriminately when you were in a foul mood. Everyone would be better off just staying out of your way. Once that man gets angry, he bites everyone to death. He may have a gentle face now, but if it weren’t for the phoenix seal of the family, I would have mistaken him for an enemy.”
At Levon’s flat, emotionless delivery, the priests gulped. Shaking, they retreated in a clumsy scramble.
“I-I apologize. We will leave at once.”
Watching the terrified priests scramble away, Kyriel struck the back of Levon’s head with a dull thud. Levon’s face crumpled.
“Ah.”
He winced, rubbing the back of his head with his palm.
“That hurts. Why did you hit me?”
“Because I wanted it to hurt. Keep your mouth shut.”
“Why? It wasn’t particularly wrong. I’ve mistaken you for an enemy and nearly sliced you myself more than once on the battlefield, Young Master.”
“I know. You actually did slice me a few times.”
“Oh my. Did I?”
Levon replied with calm detachment.
“A pair of lunatics finding each other—truly pathetic.”
Ludbreed, who had been watching, spoke as if he were at a total loss. Soon, the only ones left in the room were Levon, Pel—Ludbreed’s adjutant and butler—Kyriel, Ludbreed, and Bunny.
Kyriel spoke up, his face stiff.
“What happened to make a child who was perfectly fine this morning end up like this?”
“I don’t know.”
Ludbreed replied shortly. Kyriel’s expression hardened, and just as he was about to press him further, Ludbreed continued.
“The child begged to go to the Imperial Palace. I couldn’t refuse, so I took her. I told her to stay in the drawing room, but… somehow, she ended up where the Crown Prince was.”
Kyriel’s jaw tightened as he strode toward the child. He sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on Bunny’s forehead.
A pure white light, laced with blue, spread from his fingertips and began to permeate her skin. He closed his eyes, using his divine power to scan the inside of her body, then opened them again.
“Go on.”
Kyriel stared at Ludbreed.
“Continue.”
Ludbreed clicked his tongue and spoke again.
“According to witness testimony, she wandered all over the Imperial Palace. Eventually, she entered the Crown Prince’s bedroom.”
Kyriel’s brow furrowed. *She really does cause trouble in ways no one could ever anticipate.*
“I don’t know the exact circumstances after that,” Ludbreed continued. “But according to the Crown Prince, the child entered the room, placed her hand on his forehead, and said his body wouldn’t hurt anymore.”
“His body… didn’t hurt?”
“Yes. And upon examination, the demonic energy that had been seething inside him had completely vanished.”
At that, Kyriel, who had been pushing divine power into the child’s body, clamped his mouth shut.
“Do you think it’s a type of purification absorption?”
“That is my assumption. But usually, if you provide external divine power, the body should accept it. A power that absorbs and purifies demonic energy is rare, but it exists.”
“……”
“But this child isn’t reacting to divine power at all. Not to mine, and… presumably, not to yours.”
“……”
As Ludbreed spoke, the blue light glowing from Kyriel’s hand faded. It was true. Every bit of power he pushed into her failed to settle, returning to him like water off stone.
Normally, divine power is absorbed by the human body. Bunny, however, was rejecting it.
There were only two possibilities. Either her own power was of such a significantly higher caliber that theirs was useless, or her body was incapable of accepting divine power at all—perhaps because she was a demon, or possessed a unique, hypersensitive constitution.
But Bunny possessed divine power and had summoned a divine beast. That ruled out the latter.
That left the former.
“…It seems she is a child who will become something greater than we thought.”
At Ludbreed’s low voice, Kyriel’s jaw tightened. He scowled as if the thought were deeply displeasing.
Divine power was divided into many branches: combat, support, healing, and purification. Within purification, there were those who poured power into objects, and those who absorbed impurities to convert them into their own internal, usable strength.
The latter was rare, but it allowed for infinite growth. If one could feed on foul energy and refine it, the ceiling for their power vanished.
*And also…*
Just as Kyriel stood rigid, clenching his fist, a sound broke the tension.
“Peep!”
The red long-tailed tit on Kyriel’s shoulder let out a sharp cry, and with a determined expression, spread its wings—no larger than an adult’s pinky nail—wide on both sides.