The holy light made Airmid look even more like a true saint.
At the same time, it drew everyone's gaze.
As the one at the center of it all, Airmid could only feel the sword in her hand unexpectedly drawing out her Magic and absorbing her magical power.
A single swing could save a hundred people?
Those words she had just dismissed as a joke... could it be true?
Airmid looked at the injured people gathering around, then at the shining blade in her hand.
She pursed her lips and, with some trepidation, swung it gently forward.
Shing!
The world was coated in a warm layer of gold!
And for the people bathed in that golden radiance, the wounds on their bodies began to heal rapidly.
Even the dark bloodstains fell away within seconds, looking as if the injuries had never existed.
"My... my wound?"
"It's healed!"
"It's really gone! The wound on my arm... and the one on my stomach, too! They've all disappeared!"
"The pain from before feels like a dream."
The Adventurers all grew excited, each one loudly expressing their shock and elation.
When that wasn't enough, they began telling everyone around them. The scene became chaotic with everyone talking at once.
Until someone, somewhere, shouted, "She's a Saint!"
Then, as if they had found a single outlet for their intense emotions, the people began to chant in unison.
"Lady Saint!"
"Lady Saint!"
"Long live Lady Saint!"
"Lady Saint, please marry me! Aaaah! Why are you guys hitting me! Stop that's my balls"
Airmid watched the miracle unfolding before her, completely stunned.
She lifted the sword in her hand. In the clear surface of the blade, she saw her own reflection staring back at her.
'It really could save people.'
And it really only took one swing to save a hundred people!
What an incredible sword this was.
Airmid looked at the Adventurers who were gazing at her with eyes full of longing and hope.
Her expression grew resolute.
She raised the sword in her hand and swung it in their direction!
Amidst waves of gasps, all the people standing in front of her were successfully healed and a bright smile appeared on Airmid's face.
The suffering of the people deeply saddened her, but seeing their smiles as they recovered brought her true joy from the bottom of her heart.
'I can save them! With this sword, everyone can be saved!'
For a time, the golden light in the central plaza practically became a vast ocean, enveloping thousands, even tens of thousands of people in its golden tide.
But standing behind Finn, Rayleigh frowned.
He said to Finn, "Something's not right."
Finn asked, "Hm? What's wrong?"
Rayleigh's face was grave. "Tenseiga is running wild."
"What?" Finn's expression changed.
But as he looked at Airmid, he said with confusion, "But Airmid doesn't look like there's anything wrong..."
"No!" Rayleigh interrupted. "I'm afraid Airmid's magic power is already depleted."
Ignoring Finn, he used Shunpo to appear right at Airmid's side and snatched the sword from her hand.
Seeing someone appear out of nowhere and take Tenseiga, the young woman suddenly grew anxious.
"Who are you! Please give it back to me!"
Rayleigh gripped Tenseiga, felt the swirling emotions within the blade, and thought to himself.
'Just as I thought.'
"I'm Rayleigh, the man who forged this sword."
After her initial surprise, Airmid's expression turned to one of pure admiration.
"You're Rayleigh-sama!"
Hearing her calling his name, Rayleigh didn't reply.
Instead, he pulled out two mind potions.
Without a word, he uncorked them, shoved the mouths of the bottles into the young woman's mouth, and urgently spoke, "Drink this, quickly!"
"Mmph!!! Mmmph!" Airmid struggled, but compared to the Level 3 Rayleigh, her physical resistance was completely futile.
"Cough!"
With tears in her eyes from nearly choking, Airmid asked, "What are you doing, Rayleigh-sama... huh?"
The young woman, who had been in the middle of speaking, let out a confused sound.
The world in her eyes began to twist and sway, looking as if she were drunk.
Not only that, she felt... a little hot?
At that moment, in Rayleigh's eyes, Airmid froze completely still.
Then, her eyes rapidly filled with blood, which began to stream down from the corners and from her nose!
All the strength in Airmid's body seemed to vanish as she dropped hard to her knees, then collapsed toward the ground.
Rayleigh caught her and he used his spiritual power to check her frail condition.
"Lady Saint!"
"Lady Saint has collapsed!"
"What did that guy do!"
"You bastard, unforgivable!"
The Adventurers had seen Rayleigh snatch the sword, force Airmid to drink something, and then watched her collapse.
From their limited perspective, they could only understand it as Airmid being violently attacked.
Fortunately, Finn appeared at that moment.
He loudly explained the real situation to the Adventurers, and after calming them down, he ran over.
"How did this happen?" Finn asked with some concern.
Rayleigh sighed. "Because Airmid tried too hard. At the same time, this has made me realize a major problem with forging a sword this way. Tenseiga, as it turns out, has such a massive flaw."
Finn asked, "A flaw? What do you mean?"
Rayleigh's face was serious. "Unlike a Zanpakuto, Tenseiga's consciousness isn't mature enough. It's like an animal that's friendly to humans—it doesn't understand loyalty, but is instead friendly to all humans. Tenseiga is just like that. It likes Airmid very much, so it responds without any restraint to the desires in her heart."
"I'm afraid this child was desperately thinking about saving everyone, and to answer that wish, Tenseiga probably gave two hundred percent of its effort. And that's where the problem lies. Tenseiga isn't Airmid's Zanpakuto. It has no interest in what actually happens to Airmid herself."
"It's like someone who loves butterflies or birds and cares for them meticulously, only to end up harming them. Tenseiga was only concerned with answering Airmid's wish, without any regard for whether she lived or died. If I had been any later in stopping it, Airmid would probably be..."
'How could this be?' Finn looked with a hint of true horror at the sword in Rayleigh's hand.
'This sword had nearly killed Airmid.'
'And without spilling a single drop of her blood on its blade at that..... how terrifying.'
It was born of good intentions, yet it could easily cause an untimely death.
It was just like a curse.
This... is truly a "demon sword."
Rayleigh began using Kaidō to treat Airmid. Although she was called a saint, the young woman was, to put it bluntly, only Level 1.
No matter how outstanding her magic attributes were, her total capacity couldn't have been very high.
Thankfully, he had fed her the mind potions in time, preventing her from over-exerting herself for too long.
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