#201

“Are you hurt?”

Unlike his unreadable expression earlier, Kiyen’s face was pale. Though he was the one who had been about to be attacked, he held Cullen tightly with both hands. His white fingers, contrary to their delicate appearance, possessed great strength. His body, which had been staggering, steadied thanks to him.

“I’m fine.”

Even after hearing his reply, Kiyen didn’t let go. With a serious expression, he scrutinized Cullen from head to toe. His exposed forehead, eyebrows, eyes looking up at Kiyen, nose, and lips… Kiyen’s gaze swept over every part without missing anything. Though he wasn’t touching him, it felt like he was, making the inside of his ribs tingle.

“You swayed just now. You always say that out of habit, so it’s hard to believe.”

Kiyen’s tone, at first glance, was similar to how he used to speak when Cullen got hurt, but something was different. He could feel it. Including his undisguised concern and pointing out something Cullen himself hadn’t realized, Cullen hesitated.

Come to think of it, saying “I’m fine” was practically a habit for Cullen. The answer “I’m fine” was actually a vow that he had to be fine. Otherwise, there was no way to endure, so he always answered that way, no matter the situation. Even when he wasn’t.

Was that why he hadn’t realized he was hurt by Kiyen’s actions?

His condition, which he had gradually come to understand through others while apart from Kiyen, took shape as he listened to Kiyen’s words.

The silence during his brief contemplation seemed to make Kiyen’s expression even more serious. Seeing that, Cullen spoke urgently.

“…I’m really fine now. It was just for a moment.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the dizziness that had momentarily overwhelmed him gradually disappeared. It seemed dizziness occurred every time he used a power he didn’t know he possessed. As Lasano had said, experience was needed to use divine power skillfully, and this seemed to be why.

Although he understood his condition mentally, what had happened so suddenly was hard to believe. He had never imagined that he, of all people, would be able to use divine power. He had only just realized he could heal others, but that white barrier just now… it was like Magic.

As they exchanged a few words, people began to rush towards them. First were the companions of Duncan, the mercenary, who was nearby, followed by other mercenaries who seemed to have just finished their battle.

“Duncan!”

Two mercenaries ran towards him, calling out their comrade’s name, while other mercenaries who followed surrounded them and pointed their blood-stained weapons at Kiyen.

“You there, are you the Lord’s friend? Retreat quickly if we attack!”

Cullen couldn’t understand what they meant for a moment, but he soon realized that Kiyen’s appearance could cause misconceptions in others. According to Ulli, when rumors about Kiyen spread, they included explanations that he was neither Demonic Beast nor human. Furthermore, the Demonic Beast they had just faced happened to have wings.

Kiyen’s wings were of a completely different nature, but humans who had never seen a Dragon wouldn’t know that.

“I’m fine. This person is not a Demonic Beast.”

Cullen, his expression hardening, pulled Kiyen towards him. He felt Kiyen flinch, gripping his arm tightly. He felt strangely bothered by that reaction. He worried that Kiyen might be hurt by the current situation.

“Not a Demonic Beast? I saw it myself! He came down from up there carrying Duncan!”

The mercenary who had run to Duncan shouted, pressing on his pierced abdomen. It seemed they had no time to judge, given what they had just seen. They didn’t even know Duncan would have died long ago if Kiyen hadn’t brought him down.

“Kiyen-nim saved him. If it weren’t for him, he would have fallen from up there and smashed his head. Do not insult him carelessly, and lower your weapons immediately.”

Cullen said, turning to them in a chilling voice. His manner of threatening multiple mercenaries without even holding a weapon seemed to provoke resentment, and their expressions turned grim. Among them, only Kiyen looked at Cullen with surprised eyes.

“You bastard…! I saw it with my own eyes!”

The first to charge was another mercenary next to Duncan. Apparently driven mad by his comrade’s injury, he drew his sword and aimed it at Cullen, a member of the same expedition. The heavy two-handed sword lunged directly at Cullen.

Kiyen was faster than Cullen could react. The mercenary charging at Cullen was repelled violently, as if hitting an invisible wall, before he could even get close.

Startled by the sudden anomaly, the mercenaries instinctively took a stance to attack. It was the typical reaction of humans facing an unfamiliar fear.

Kiyen, his expression different from the serious one he had shown earlier, scanned the surroundings with chilling eyes. He felt something prickling his skin, and then a strangely familiar scene unfolded before his eyes. The weapons of the charging mercenaries were all separated from their hands, and their bodies floated into the air.

“…What, what is it!”

“Ugh, aah!”

The mercenaries, who had been surprisingly calm when facing the Demonic Beasts, screamed in terror at the intangible force suppressing their bodies. Kiyen, who had floated them into the air without changing his expression, spoke quietly.

“You seem eager to die.”

It was a chilling voice, filled with a sincerity uncharacteristic of Kiyen. Remembering the words he had spoken when Cullen tried to run away, Cullen flinched and tried to stop him, but Ulli arrived.

“What are you all doing!”

She shouted at the mercenaries first, and Junon and Lasano walked up behind her. Young Dragons were also visible behind them. Judging by the slight blue bloodstains on their clothes, they seemed to have been helping Ulli defeat the Demonic Beasts.

“Obviously, Cullen saved him, and you can’t even grasp the situation? Listen when people speak!”

Having overheard a few words on her way, Ulli said so and came between Cullen and the mercenaries. One of the mercenaries floating in the air pleaded with Ulli.

“Ulli-nim…! This person used sorcery!”

The words, spoken without daring to meet Kiyen’s eyes, made Ulli turn her gaze to him instead. She looked awkwardly between Cullen and Kiyen.

“Kiyen-nim, perhaps you could let them down now?”

At Ulli’s uncharacteristically polite tone, people began to glance at Kiyen. Kiyen remained silent to Ulli’s words. Cullen, seeing Kiyen glaring at the people with beast-like eyes, grabbed him.

“…You can let them go. Ulli is here, so she’ll understand the situation.”

“They were the ones who tried to attack you.”

“I can handle this many people without issue. They are also Ulli’s companions.”

Mentioning Ulli, Kiyen’s expression softened. He slowly turned his head, looked at Cullen, and furrowed his brow. His face, revealing pain unfiltered, was like when Cullen had hurt him with his words.

“Was that the reason.”

He said it softly, then erased his expression and released Cullen. It was only then that Cullen felt how close they had been. As Kiyen stepped back, his warmth receding, Cullen realized something was strange. But before he could stop him, Kiyen spread his wings.

Kiyen’s wings, which he saw properly for the first time, were almost healed as he had said, but faint scars were visible where there had been none before. The scorched marks on his elegant, gold-like wings were starkly imprinted on his vision. Troubled by that, he instinctively reached out to grab him, but Kiyen flew up before he could.

With each beat of his massive wings, the wind blew. After a gust of wind that felt somewhat desolate, Kiyen turned and flew in another direction. As he departed, the mercenaries floating in the air fell to the ground.

“Cullen, are you okay?”

As soon as Kiyen left, Ulli approached and asked him. Cullen opened his mouth, his gaze fixed on the spot where Kiyen had disappeared.

“…Yes, I’m fine.”

“What do you mean, fine! It’s obvious Kiyen-nim is on your mind. Go after him, he won’t have gone far. If he appeared like this, he must have been nearby.”

Despite Ulli’s words, Cullen hesitated. He was bothered by contradicting himself. He was the one who wanted to keep Kiyen at a distance, and he was the one who said they couldn’t be together.

But Cullen knew it too. His actions and his heart didn’t completely align. Cat had pointed it out, and Ulli had said the same.

He still thought there was no benefit to him being by Kiyen’s side. He didn’t think he could endure it if a moment like the one just now, where Kiyen was almost hurt, were to happen again. He truly, no longer, could bear to see someone he loved die again.

He couldn’t let Kiyen go like this. He was bothered by Kiyen’s reaction when he mentioned Ulli.

“And Kiyen-nim’s presence is definitely a help to our strength!”

Ulli said, patting his back, perhaps to lighten Cullen’s heart. Thanks to her, his hesitant steps began to move.

As he was about to follow the direction Kiyen had disappeared, Cullen paused and turned. There stood Duncan’s companions, looking at him with expressions of wariness and fear.

“I’ll take care of this first.”

All the mercenaries had minor injuries, but none were as severely wounded as Duncan. Cullen didn’t consider himself a High Priest, nor did he intend to seek out and heal everyone…

As Cullen approached, they watched him warily, but perhaps sensing Ulli’s presence, they didn’t dare to speak carelessly. Though none of them had done anything right, their presence here was meaningful. They were participants in the journey to kill Demonic Beasts, so it was best to save them as much as possible.

Cullen passed them by without a word and knelt beside Duncan. He had thought the condition would be serious since he hadn’t been treated immediately after the injury, but the wound was slightly less severe than he had seen from above. For a moment, the white light from earlier flashed in Cullen’s mind.

…Is it because of that?

He wasn’t sure. Setting aside the immediate uncertainties, Cullen reached out his hand towards Duncan’s abdomen. Duncan’s companion flinched at the gesture of touching the wound, but Ulli stopped him.

“Leave him be.”

Taking Ulli’s calm voice as a signal, Cullen touched the bleeding abdomen. He felt like he understood a little now. How to use the power.

Recalling Duncan before he was injured, he poured his wish into it. The moment his wish for his recovery, separate from personal feelings, was infused.

A light, weaker than before but distinct, emanated from his hand. At the same time, he felt it. The area his hand touched was gradually healing.

The wounds were disappearing at a speed that was clearly incomparable to when Kiyen was being healed. Astonishment was etched onto the faces of the mercenaries watching the change from the side.

Once Cullen felt certain that he was well enough, he removed his hands. As he stood up, even Ulli was looking at him with surprised eyes.

“Then I will return before departure.”

“Huh, huh? Ah, right. Go! We can’t leave yet anyway, since there are injured people.”

Ulli, who had been watching Cullen heal with a vacant stare, nodded belatedly. As soon as he heard her reply, Cullen turned his body in the direction Kiyen had disappeared. His calmly taken steps soon began to quicken.