A saintess? She's just a bad woman.

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Saint Karina urged Philomena, who hadn't moved for a while.

"do not want!"

"what?"

"I mean I don't want to sleep alone, and I don't want to go back to get other blankets. Let's sleep together!"

Don't blame Saint Karina for overthinking; if it were a normal period, instead of the burnt-out Sage period, she would never let a lamb that comes to her door go.

"So... I want to sleep with the Holy Maiden..."

Philomena was a little hesitant. Although she really wanted to say, "What are you shy about?", Saint Karina wanted to say something more: "It's very crowded!"

The accommodations here are not spacious, and the rooms are even less so. The wooden beds that are lowered from the wall are designed to be single beds, so if two people sleep together, one of them will inevitably become the other's pillow!

"Okay, come on up."

"Great!"

Philomena excitedly took off her shoes and clothes and climbed up.

The priestess's skin is really good; it's soft, smooth, and very elastic.

Like those two lumps of dough, the texture they feel when they stick to you is even better than jelly, and they also have a fragrant aroma.

"Counting sheep while I sleep... Will it disturb you?"

When Saint Karina was mentally exhausted but physically energetic, she occasionally had the habit of counting sheep in her sleep, and sometimes she would unconsciously count aloud.

"If it's noisy, just do a little."

Philomena snuggled closer to Santa Karina, seemingly worried that the bed was too small and she might accidentally fall off while asleep.

"Aren't your words and actions contradictory?"

"Anyway, it's the same whether I sleep or not, I can sleep after you fall asleep."

Philomena smiled slightly, but Saint Karina, who was sleeping on her side with her back to Philomena and didn't want to crowd her, couldn't see it.

Hearing the gradually relaxing breathing behind her and smelling the unique feminine fragrance emanating from Philomena, Saint Karina drifted back into sleep.

This time, I had sweet dreams.

151. The Awakening of the Dead

I woke up again, awakened by my biological clock.

"Hoo-hoo... Um-m."

Close at hand was Philomena's sleeping face.

"Get up, Philomena."

Saint Karina woke the other person up, as they both had things to do later.

"Good morning, Your Holiness. It's rare that you woke me up today!"

Philomena's words carried a hint of teasing, perhaps because she had spent the night sleeping with someone she liked.

She may not know that the Holy Sword's effect is mental pollution; Philomena will only believe that her affection for Saint Karina is genuine and that she is extremely loyal.

"Because I slept very well last night, and I feel very safe with you by my side, Philomena."

"Your Majesty, you're so glib."

Despite saying that, Philomena seemed to appreciate Saint Karina's words.

After the two washed up and rejoined the Order of the Church, composed of paladins and priests, they learned of the news reported by their subordinates. Within night, a restless atmosphere permeated the air, suggesting the presence of various external forces.

What was once just a narrow slit has now become a long, narrow passage tens of kilometers wide. After the clouds and fog cleared, visibility returned to normal from around ten meters, although grayish-white particles resembling smog could still be seen floating in the air.

Saint Karina organized her team, chose a direction, and prepared to break through.

At first, things were fine in the town; the forest elves organized people to protect their town. But apart from the main residential areas, some settlements further away during peacetime weren't so lucky.

"Oh!"

The ground trembled as a violent impact was felt.

As the St. Karina Pedestrians stepped into the land lost by the forest elves, the "dead" who had been sleeping in the soil were fully awakened and crawled out of the earth.

"Has it started...?"

"what?"

Just as Saint Karina was muttering to herself, and after Philomena pressed her for answers, sounds began to drift from afar.

"Go to a place where you can defend first."

"Yes, Lady Saint!"

Following Saint Karina's instructions, the group felt as if they had found a pillar of support and began to actively organize their existing manpower for defense.

Here you'll find paladins skilled in direct combat, and priests adept at support and healing. In short, relying on the steep mountain slopes and walls several meters high, a protective zone is formed, strong enough to defend against external enemies.

"These guys who crawled out of the graveyard are really tough!"

To conserve her stamina, Saint Karina only uses basic attacks for damage.

She positioned herself as a vanguard general, standing at the very edge of the wall, killing as many dead as possible who tried to climb up, thus relieving the pressure on the paladins.

The skeletons of these dead resembled those of humans, but it was clear that only a very small number of them were actually humans. The majority were either demi-human or beastmen or the corpses of native forest elves from the Black Forest that had been awakened.

This fog is incredibly strange; it can manipulate corpses long buried in the earth, turning them into undead creatures. Although it's probably the lowest level, this is only the outer edge of the mountains, and it's already so troublesome. We must conserve our strength for a breakout.

Now, besides Saint Karina, there are many paladins here constantly using their longswords to knock down the dead who try to climb up.

Fortunately, they are not powerful, and no one has been captured so far.

However, this cannot continue; a protracted war is not in the best interest of the St. Karina pedestrians. The number of the dead is increasing rapidly, coming from all directions, from nearby, from further away, and from all sides. A breakout is imperative.

"Your Holiness, how about we have a competition?"

Among the priests, a young lady with rather unusual attire greeted them.

"Happy to accompany you."

Saint Karina nodded and readily agreed.

Saint Karina remembered her; her name seemed to be Lucoxi, and she was quite special among the priests.

She possessed a unique charm that made Saint Karina, even though she couldn't remember the names of all her subordinates (which Philomena remembered), still make a point of asking her name.

"So, Miss Lucia, how would you like to compete?"

"Of course, it's about who can break through faster and who can kill more of those guys during the breakout process, Your Majesty!"

Lucy happily twirled around and said in a sweet voice.

Not only that, she also twirled the short guns she held on either side of her and asked, "Holy Maiden, do I look good?"

"Well, it looks good!"

It must be said that this sixteen-year-old girl was the most conspicuous among the solemn and meticulous priests.

First, there's her height. Lucixi is at most 1.4 meters tall, making her look petite like a little girl. Second, the girl has short black hair, bangs, a single ahoge (a single strand of hair sticking up) on her head, red eyes, and a youthful appearance.

This outfit looks rather strange, but it suits Lucia surprisingly well. It's a white, front-opening blouse without sleeves, presumably for ease of movement. The sleeves are red and need to be worn separately.

Then, paired with the strange top was a red mini-skirt, over which was a thin layer of brown armor with a large blue bow in the middle.

The black belt accentuated the girl's slender waist and even made her chest appear slightly fuller.

Is she really just a priestess serving God? Her attire isn't even the ordinary white robes of a priest.

Looking further down, the girl's legs were covered by brown boots, and her thighs were wrapped in bandages to make it easier to hide weapons.

At this moment, the girl was fiddling with the purple ribbon around her neck, smiling brightly, her clear eyes like a pool of clear spring water.

She was pleased to hear Santa Karina's praise.

When both sides turned their attention back to Philomena, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. She believed in Saint Karina's strength, but she was still worried about the unknown future.

Countless pioneers have died on their journey to explore the Path in the Clouds, pursuing their dreams; it is no benevolent place.

"Don't be nervous, Philomena."

However, a warm hand touched her head; it was Saint Karina's lovely little hand.

"I'm fine, Philomena. Lucia and I will lead the way from now on. When you're maintaining order, be careful not to get bumped. If there's anything you can't handle, just rely on the vice-captain."

Saint Karina is a saint of noble status, the captain is of course Philomena, and the vice-captain is someone chosen by Saint Karina, who is a paladin.

Two people led the way; one was the highest-ranking saintess, and the other was a priest who was supposed to provide logistical support and assistance. It was quite a delicate situation.

"I understand, Your Holiness. I entrust the task of clearing the way to you. And please be sure to take care of your own safety..."

Philomena couldn't say such selfish things in front of others, like putting her own life first.

"Well then, we'll head out now. Remember to stay close to us..."

After Saint Karina successfully showed off in front of the girls, Lucixi beat her to it with a running start and a somersault.

With her exceptional physical abilities, she leaped over the high wall and into the heart of the dead.

"I don't need your sweet talk, Your Majesty! Hehehe~"

Lucy stuck out her tongue and made a face at Saint Karina.

"Then let's have a contest to see who kills more dead people."

After Luca finished speaking, she shouted:

"Purify!"

Then, instead of the purification spells commonly used by priests, the kind that flashes white light, he grabbed a male corpse by the hair, flicked the blade off a short spear, and slashed it forcefully at the head.

"I'm angry... I'm angry..."

Lucoxi casually tossed her severed head aside, watching as the other screaming dead began to flee.

152. Fortunately

“Miss Lucia… what an interesting priestess…”

Although Lucia alone could draw away most of the dead, this was a match between two people.

The title of saintess was forcibly imposed on her by Esther; she did not want it and did not feel that she was noble.

Since they were all companions heading to the Path in the Clouds, Saint Karina wanted to lend a hand.

"Um……"

She looked around. Although no one had been dragged down by the dead and the death toll was zero, the paladin standing in front as a "shield" had scratches on his arm.

The priests did not use healing spells directly in the battle, but instead used other offensive magic as auxiliary attacks and buffs to the paladins.

For example, phrases like "fire of the soul," "indestructible," "heroic," and "unyielding"...

It does have an effect, but stopping the bleeding is something that needs to be done afterward.

The dead have a natural attraction to the vibrant life force of the living, so they probably wouldn't be picky about the blood of the living, no matter what kind of blood it is.

"In that case, they probably won't be picky about the blood of clergy."

Using magic, she gathered the blood droplets from the wounded into a blood sphere, and saw countless bloodthirsty, hungry eyes.

Immediately following suit, Saint Karina jumped down and used her holy sword to directly sever the head of a dead man.

Of course, she didn't forget to finish off the enemy before running away, and also took down the one next to her.

"Oh ho... I'm angry, I'm angry..."

Seeing the dead roar and chase after her as if provoked, Saint Karina was extremely excited.

"Come on... chase and fight to your heart's content! Let us dance in pleasure and slaughter to our hearts' content!"

Her body was moved by her emotions.

However, this is not surprising. The more she kills, the more excited she becomes. Saint Karina doesn't take this level of emotional excitement to heart.

She hadn't been on an adventure in a long time, and this feeling made her feel like she was back in the time of Ernest VII, experiencing that exhilarating and carefree adventure.

Seeing that the road had been opened, Philomena and the others who had been left behind also began to move.