Johanna, holding the child in her arms, shed a tear.
The sight of the abused people and the helpless girl was enough to bring out the trauma she had buried deep in her memory.
It was a pain only she, who had shared the same experience, could understand.
‘I expected this reaction.’
Having realized that, Dantalion swallowed a bitter feeling.
He didn’t withhold this truth from Johanna to torment her.
Such unnecessary actions were the work of trash with sadistic impulses.
‘But this is something she needs.’
If he were satisfied with just wiping out the city’s criminals, there would have been no need for this.
With her power, she could easily exterminate creatures that sucked the blood of the city.
But would the ones she would face in the future be this weak?
There was no way they would be. If they were that weak, the sins in the world wouldn’t have flooded.
‘If Johanna doesn’t get stronger, she will eventually die.’
He could help her through the contract, but he couldn’t always protect her.
If he were willing to allow that, Michael wouldn’t have mentioned the Rapture instead of talking about magical girls, would he?
If it were him, with the sins flooding the world and the apocalypse approaching, he would have used angels and demons to turn the world back to its origin.
Johanna’s very existence could be seen as Michael’s final warning to the world.
Because of this, even though he knew it was cruel, Dantalion gave Johanna the trial.
For someone like her, who was neither a knight born with Aura nor a mage able to wield mana, this was the only path.
‘Divine power, or rather, holy power, is strengthened by faith.’
The power of priests and holy knights, in essence, couldn’t be called pure divine power.
For them, God was merely a medium of belief; their power was a miracle that arose from their own faith in something.
That’s why most priests and holy knights couldn’t reach higher levels.
They believed in God’s words but couldn’t reflect on why they believed.
And Johanna was the same.
She believed because she was saved, because the hand was extended to her in her most desperate moment, and because it was natural to punish the wicked and help the good.
Unfortunately, that was just the trigger, and her belief wasn’t etched directly into her heart.
Holy power was manifested by a strong belief in one’s faith, which served as the catalyst for unleashing that power.
‘If your belief is true, you’ll be able to carve your faith into your soul from this point on.’
Dantalion believed in Johanna’s potential and in her character.
She, with the foundation of her past despair, would be able to carve her faith into her soul.
And then…
“Ah…”
A flower blossomed in her soul, fully blooming.
The reason Marlon had his subordinates neglect to guard the secret passage was simple.
They had their limbs severed, so even if they wanted to run away, they couldn’t.
Even if they opened the door and tried to escape, it would be pointless.
‘As long as you can’t move your limbs, you’re worse than stray dogs. See that?
The ones who tried to escape? They’re being bitten and torn apart by a couple of dogs.’
In the end, all they could do was watch the ones who tried to escape become dog food.
Thus, they obediently awaited their death from Marlon.
Every time those with money and power came to release their twisted desires, they secretly hoped they’d just be killed instead.
But people are truly strange and pathetic beings.
“Beautiful…”
A single flower, resembling the sun that lights the darkness, filled their hearts.
Despair, sorrow, regret, hatred…
In the flow of forgotten time, the darkness that had consumed their hearts slowly melted away.
They staggered, their severed limbs twitching, and headed toward Johanna.
If they were going to die, they wanted to die next to this beautiful flower.
At that moment, the brightly blooming flower scattered its petals.
They looked up at the petals, flowing like the Milky Way, recalling a night sky they couldn’t even remember.
And when the petals gently landed on their skin…
“Warm…”
Tears flowed as they recalled a warmth they had forgotten for so long.
The petals brushing their skin seemed to tell them that they had done no wrong, and they couldn’t stop their tears.
The girl who had made this flower bloom was crying for them, and something welled up in their hollow, empty hearts.
The one who had no tongue wailed silently, and the blind man bowed to the girl who couldn’t see.
No longer did they fear the approaching death.
They were just thankful, over and over, for the girl who cried for them.
And they gave thanks to the world that had sent her down to them…
“Ahhhhh……!”
The scattered petals wrapped around their wounds, delivering warmth deep into their bodies.
The petals that landed on their wounds hid the scars, and the warmth that soaked into their bodies gave new life to their severed muscles and rotting organs.
The blind man regained a clear vision of the world, and the one without a tongue realized he could speak.
They realized they could move their limbs again and awkwardly stood up.
Having not moved in so long, they stumbled and fell to the ground.
But in their hearts, filled with joy, there was no space for pain.
Before long, they gathered around Johanna.
They bowed, without being told, and expressed their gratitude and joy to her.
If they had to die for this girl, they would be happier than anything else in the world.
[Do you truly feel that way?]
At that moment, a voice echoed in their heads.
The voice seemed to carry a dignity that made their hearts calm just by hearing it.
Surprised by the voice, they became alert, as if to protect Johanna.
“This voice…?”
“Who are you? Who is speaking to us?”
[My name is Dantalion, the one whom the girl who performed a miracle for you serves.]
That meant the being who had helped them to be saved.
Recalling their rudeness, they hastily knelt and lowered their heads.
How could they arrogantly raise their heads before the being who had bestowed upon them an unpayable grace?
“Are you saying that this is the one who sent us?”
[I did not send that girl. All of Johanna’s choices were hers alone, and the miracle happened because she wanted it.]
Dantalion spoke honestly, without deception.
It was Johanna who chose to track the traces, and it was Johanna who caused the miracle through the changes in her heart.
However, those who didn’t know much about divine power thought differently.
‘If this being serves a higher power, then it must surely be a god!’
‘Is he saying that what he did isn’t something he did himself but something done by the being he serves? How humble…’
They had never heard of a god so kind.
With reverence, they deeply engraved the name Dantalion in their hearts.
After seeing their reaction, Dantalion spoke again.
[From the moment you met, Johanna will face repeated hardships. Your existence has deeply engraved a strong belief in her heart.]
“The grace that the Saint has shown us is higher than the heavens! How could we ever repay it?
If you command us, we will give our humble lives in return.”
At a man’s solemn oath, the others nodded in agreement.
If that flower, filled with warmth, could light up the world, they would not fear fading away as fertilizer.
[Saint… I won’t stop you from dying for Johanna. But I believe there is something more useful than giving your life.
What good is it for those weaker than her to give their lives? Johanna wouldn’t want that. More importantly, it would be much more useful to help Johanna.]
However, those who had come to believe in Dantalion and Johanna misunderstood the meaning.
‘So he doesn’t want even us, so insignificant, to die?’
‘How merciful this being is…’
They interpreted his words as meaning they should value their lives, and they shed tears of gratitude.
Not understanding their reaction, Dantalion tilted his head in confusion.
Did they really want to die that much?
[In the end, all existence ends in death. What happiness could you find by wasting a short life?
Please, I hope you will help Johanna, who will walk a difficult path.]
Moved by Dantalion’s words, they shed tears and swore an oath.
“Our lives belong to the Saint, nothing less!”
“Even if we vanish into dust, we will repay her!”
The one they served, without a hint of shame, had commanded them.
They proudly responded, feeling a growing sense of loyalty and faith…
‘Wait, how did he know that Johanna’s life was tied to theirs?’
Dantalion was caught off guard by this.
Their lives were indeed tied to Johanna’s.
It wasn’t easy to completely restore someone else’s body, especially with Johanna’s current level of power.
Yet she succeeded because she shared fragments of power with them.
This meant that if she withdrew her power, their lives would also end.
Dantalion had planned to warn them of this, but if they already knew, there was no need to inform them.
Thud.
“Saint, Saint!”
At that moment, the flower that seemed to shine forever disappeared into Johanna’s body.
Exhausted, Johanna released the child and collapsed helplessly. The people, startled, rushed to check on her and the child.
The child, who had fallen from her arms, was peacefully sleeping.
His face was incredibly calm, as if everything he had experienced was just a dream.
“Looks like the child is fine.”
“What about the Saint? What she did was no ordinary miracle…”
[It’s just ordinary exhaustion, so don’t worry too much.]
With Dantalion’s calming words, he snapped his fingers and marked a path in their eyes.
[Follow that path, and you’ll return to the surface.]
“Back to the surface…!”
The word “surface,” so simple yet powerful, shook their hearts.
Carefully lifting Johanna, they followed the path marked in red, walking with determination.
It was the moment when their clock, which seemed to have stopped forever, began ticking again.
Exhausted, Johanna awoke a day and a half later.
Overcoming the pleasant sense of fatigue, she slowly rose from the bed.
The gradually returning sensations brought a lightness to her legs.
“Hmm… Saint.”
The girl she had met in the underground now slept with her head on Johanna’s lap.
As the little hand tugged at the blanket, Johanna smiled softly and gently stroked the girl’s head.
The gentle touch, like a spring breeze, made a smile bloom on the child’s face.
‘On the day I first met Dantalion, he said I was a special being.’
She was someone who had grasped a special opportunity in the midst of countless fates that could have ended in tragedy.
Until now, she hadn’t fully understood what that meant.
No one she had met had suffered as much despair as she had, so she had simply believed in Dantalion and judged sinners and performed good deeds.
But when she saw this child, she truly understood the meaning of Dantalion’s words.
‘The world is full of unknown tragedies.’
Gods, humans—no one cares about the lives that perish beyond the darkness.
One of those insignificant lives, hers, was saved by Dantalion, and through his words, she could save these people.
Of course, this didn’t mean all tragedies had ended, and the world would still be filled with unknown tragedies.
“People who are powerless… who will be forgotten and vanish.”
At the very least, she couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
Having narrowly escaped a fate of dying in obscurity, she couldn’t ignore those who still faced that same fate.
Even if she couldn’t save everyone…
‘It would be foolish to give up without trying my best.’
If she lacked strength, she would gather more. If she lacked power, she would seize it.
If she lacked faith, she would whip herself into believing again and again.
And if that still wasn’t enough, she would leave the duty to someone greater than her in the future, ensuring it continued.
“Saint, I think I heard a voice…”
The people waiting outside opened the door and entered.
Johanna, who had now bloomed a flower as bright as the sun behind her, looked at them.
If strength and power were lacking, she would start from the foundation of her own body and soul and build it up step by step.
“I need your help.”
Johanna engraved an unbreakable oath into her soul.
She would use all means and methods to enforce her faith.
Even if it vanished, fleeting like a flower, she would not give up.