Dolores instantly appeared in front of the masked man; he looked very pitiful as he had no strength left in his body. Seeing Dolores standing right in front of him didn't even make him flinch; it seemed like he had already accepted his fate. "Please let me live..." murmured the masked man as he begged for his life.
However, this didn't even faze Dolores, who was fuming in her rage. She looked straight in the eyes of the man; on top of her hand was an orb of light. With one flick of her wrist, the orb of light advanced towards the masked man.
"AHHHH AHHHH," the masked man started screaming on top of his lungs as the orb of light entered his body. The orb of light passed through his body multiple times; from the outside, there were no signs of damage to the man. So, many in the crowd watching started to wonder what exactly was going on.
Onlookers had a curious as well as fearful look on their faces as they witnessed all of this for the first time. They were mostly curious about the orb. "That is a form of light magic; that orb is made after compressing a large amount of spiritual power into a small size. When the magic touched his body, it did little to no damage physically. However, when it went inside his body, the vast amount of Spiritual power in that light orb started wreaking havoc internally."
"At first, his body tries to reject the foreign power by forcefully removing it from the body. However, the vast difference in the strength of both sealed his fate as soon as the orb went inside his body. There was nothing he could have done; right now, Saint is just trying to make the man suffer the most pain she can without killing him." Zoe said as she watched the scene unfold in front of her with relief. She survived the night, but she had already accepted her fate when she was stabbed in the back.
"But why not kill him?"
"Because we still need some answers from that man, the saint must be thinking of keeping him as a prisoner rather than a corpse. Thankfully, Saint didn't kill the man. What could a corpse bring to us? We need to know how that man controlled those beasts; this might bring a disaster upon our empire. We must send that man to the capital as soon as possible," one of the other sisters answered the question this time around.
"AHHhh just kill me ple...." The masked man muttered one last time, and blood started oozing through every pore of his body before he lost his consciousness. "He is a cripple now." Dolores declared as she started to chant, she was going to use a skill.
"With this mush, he will not die. Child, come here." Dolores said as she looked towards Maria, who was still kneeling.
"Sa.. Saint..." Maria muttered, just like a teenage girl who had seen their idol face to face for the first time, she shuddered, having difficulty even forming a sentence. Her eyes glowed with undying devotion towards Dolores.
"There is no need for you to call me with such a grand title; just Dolores will suffice. I do not have much time left; I will not be able to maintain this form for long, so listen to me carefully. Take this man to the capital, directly to the main church. When you are at the church, visit Raphina Vardane, if she is still alive, which I do not know. With the talent she possessed, when she was just a child, she should still be alive if she had not been killed."
"She was a very talented girl, whom I took as my disciple in my later years. Hopefully, she is still alive; if she is, she should know best what to do with this man. With her personality and abilities, she should be able to get all the information from this man. If she is not alive, then go to whoever you think is trustworthy in the church." Dolores instructed Maria.
"Po...Pope Raphina?" Maria muttered under her breath as her face turned pale with anxiety after hearing the name. She was totally focused when Dolores was giving her instructions; however, when the name Raphina came up, she lost all focus as if she had seen a ghost. Just the mere mention of that name gave Maria chills; her trauma suddenly resurfaced, which she had forgotten for many years.
"Oh? Raphina is a pope now? Such a surprise, I can't even begin to imagine how she ended up in that position. Has her personality changed for the better now? Well, that does not matter; what matters is that she is the best option for this circumstance. I wish I could have seen her one last time. When I decided to leave, I did not visit her. Hopefully, she has grown to be a very strong Valkyrie. When I chose to leave the world, I did not visit her. So, can you tell her that I love her?" Dolores said with a beaming smile on her face.
"Ah.. yes, I will," Maria muttered. 'I don't think she has changed much from the past she remembers. She is a headache even for the other popes. She is very unruly on top of that, if I go meet her, I don't even think I will be able to return alive.' Maria mused as drops of sweat ran down her forehead.
Maria knew who Pope Raphina was very well, as she used to train under her. Whenever Raphina had free time, she would visit the academy where Valkyries were trained, and she would teach the young Valkyries herself. For the outsiders, that would seem like an opportunity of a lifetime. The girls who were subjected to her training, however, had a very different opinion. Just like Maria, they wished they had never met her.
A lot of thoughts rang in Maria's mind, she did not dare to say them out loud to Dolores. She knew there was no other choice left in this matter; she would have to meet Raphina no matter what, as the fate of the empire rested on that.
"One more thing, if Raphina does not believe you, just tell her that the 'Saint old hag' sent the message for you. She will believe you. Though I doubt that would be necessary, I am sure some of the people in the world are already aware of the fact that I appeared once again. The world might be in chaos right now, but someone who disappeared from history returned once more. I can already see the headline for the major newspapers." Said Dolores with a bit of a chuckle. She knew that many strong individuals must have already sensed her power when she descended onto the world once more.
"I will keep that in mind, Do... Saint." Maria said as she assured Dolores that she had nothing to worry about. Although she was instructed to call her by her name, she couldn't bring herself to call the Saint by her name. Dolores saw that and smiled a little. She didn't say anything as she didn't want to burden the little girl in front of her.
"There is one more very important thing I need to tell you, before taking my leave." Said Dolores as she turned her gaze somewhere else.
what a turn of fate