I Quit Being a Priest

When the heat of the duel was at its peak, the one who had the most extreme reaction was none other than Elly.

“C-Commander!? Did you just see that!?”

“…Yes.”

Illia not only blocked Edwin’s axe with her bare hand but even repelled it.

At that fact, Elly jumped up and down on the spot. She knew that Illia had decent skills since she had seen it with her own eyes before, but she didn’t expect it to be to this extent.

The person she had brought in was becoming a significant force for the Knight Order.

She would probably be recognized for this achievement and get a small raise in salary!

Elly drew a smile on her lips, seemingly in good spirits just thinking about it.

And Bellarf, who was next to her, sat quietly and took in the scene with his eyes.

Looking at the current situation, both sides are attacking, but neither has gained the upper hand. Probably because both their defense powers are too high to land a proper effective blow.

While Edwin excels in both attack and defense, Illia can’t produce uniquely superior firepower in terms of attack, but her defense is overwhelmingly high.

Enough to easily match Edwin’s defense.

And,

When Illia paid with her own blood to land an effective blow on Edwin, Elly even let out a cheer.

However.

“…Unfortunately, Illia will lose.”

“Huh? How can you tell?”

She shouldn’t have withdrawn her holy power there. She shouldn’t have released that bondage just because Edwin dropped his weapon.

Bellarf knows. What happens when Edwin draws his greatsword.

For a brief moment, when he knelt, Illia should have definitively seized the upper hand.

But instead of strengthening the bondage, she retrieved the holy power that was everywhere.

Certainly, the artistry of utilizing holy power to that extent was remarkable, but she underestimated the Star of the Empire too much.

“Watch. What happens when Edwin draws that sword.”

Edwin drew the greatsword from his back. A sword emitting a somewhat ominous aura with a dark red color was gripped in his hand.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve drawn this sword… Illia, I apologize for underestimating you until now. You were an excellent warrior…”

Saying that, he raised the mana inside his body to the extreme and wrapped it around him.

The mana, drawn up even at the cost of cutting into his own body, was red. His red mana was engraved onto the blade, making everything around vibrate.

Edwin’s body, having thrown away his shield and axe, is lighter compared to before. Therefore, he’s faster than before.

Edwin’s physical abilities, wrapped in mana, are superior to before. Therefore, he was faster than before.

Just with his rapid leap, the stone floor he stepped on burst open. Debris flew and dust scattered in all directions.

At his noticeably faster movements, Illia clicked her tongue and extended her hand. A transparent barrier spread in front of her hand protects her front.

However.

-Clang!!!!

The sound of Edwin’s greatsword colliding with Illia’s barrier echoed in all directions. While Illia had lightly pushed Edwin away with her barrier before, this time she couldn’t.

Cold sweat runs down her forehead. Her right hand, which blocked the greatsword, is tingling. Cracks appear on the barrier extended in front of her hand.

And,

It wasn’t the end with just one blow. Edwin, having swung his sword, immediately readjusted his grip and prepared for the next strike.

A heavy collision sound, clang, is heard. Edwin’s continuous attacks are fierce. Fierce enough to stamp down even the barrier Illia spread with physical force.

-Crack!

It was the sound of the barrier extended in front of Illia breaking. She readjusted her staff and changed her posture.

“…The subject is Bondage.”

This time, Illia, seemingly feeling a genuine sense of crisis, draws out vast amounts of holy power from within her body.

It wasn’t the thin bondage that had constrained Edwin before. It was the intensity with which she had momentarily bound even the movement of a shell dragon during her active days in the hero’s party.

“Creation.”

After painfully binding Edwin, Illia draws circuits and connects them.

The connected circuits draw various spell formulas to complete the spell. The spells she constructed simultaneously are not few.

Rather, they were abnormally many for something drawn by a single person.

Illia was the best priest on this continent. A once-in-a-generation genius who had awakened holy magic to a realm no one else had reached.

Though there was no one around to acknowledge it, it was a clear fact.

Hundreds of golden swords once again point towards Edwin. At that point, Illia put down her staff and gripped a dagger.

Edwin has abandoned defense in exchange for overwhelming attack power. If she pours the same attacks as before, he might not come out unscathed.

Of course, that was assuming the attack was successful.

-Pop. Pop pop.

“…This is insane.”

To break with pure strength a bondage that had momentarily stopped even a shell dragon’s movement.

This won’t do. There’s overwhelmingly insufficient time to bestow protection on the swords.

His sword will fly before she can even recite the prayer. Therefore, Illia threw away the dagger in her hand and gripped her staff again.

“Barrier.”

It’s a barrier spread more solidly than before. She had no intention of letting it be easily penetrated.

After withstanding Edwin’s sword strike, Illia ignited the spells she had raised into the air.

Golden swords pour down towards him all at once. There are no blind spots.

Though Illia judged that while these sword strikes, which hadn’t received blessings, couldn’t inflict fatal wounds, they could accumulate damage, her expectation was off.

-Whish, whish.

Edwin swung just two big sword strikes towards the incoming swords. Just the air pressure from the swung sword twisted the trajectory of the golden swords.

It was a strength that far surpassed imagination. Edwin, wrapped in dark red mana all over his body, was like an incarnation of destruction descended to the mortal world.

“That crazy bastard, really.”

The longer the battle lasted, the more clearly Illia’s limitations were revealed. While she was adept at binding and neutralizing the opponent, she was overwhelmingly lacking in means of attack.

Even the power of Creation, which could somewhat be utilized for attack, had such pathetically insufficient attack power that it was utterly useless.

-Thump, thump.

Edwin slowly moved his steps towards Illia. Just his footsteps bestowed an overwhelming sense of pressure on everyone present.

In his hand, he still holds the greatsword. The direction that sword points is still towards Illia.

Illia thought. That without a proper spell, it would be difficult to stand against him.

She thought that even at the cost of showing everything she had at this place, she had to win this fight.

Otherwise, the fact that she lost to a man who had tormented her so much would appear like a nightmare every night, preventing her from sleeping peacefully.

“…Scatter.”

Biting her lip, she decomposed her holy powers. The circuits that had drawn the spells reverted to their basic form of holy power and scattered into the air.

The holy powers, reverted and scattered, once again draw new circuits. The newly recombined spell targets Edwin.

Tens, no, close to hundreds of spell formulas rise into the air. The maximum quantity Illia can handle.

Advanced holy magic.

“Multiple Spell.”

The hundreds of spell formulas are all different.

Some are bondage spells to bind Edwin’s body, and some are creation spells to construct barriers.

The spell cast downward is ignition. Faint flames of holy power slowly burn the floor.

An excessively large number of spells to pour onto one person, but to stop such a monster, she had to pour in all the spells she had.

“Sacred Flame.”

While hundreds of basic holy spells catch Edwin’s ankles, the massive spell formula extended from Illia’s left hand is an advanced holy spell.

One of the few attack techniques among the many, many holy spells.

It was a signature technique that Illia had used the most during her active days.

-Whoosh.

The platinum-colored flames extending from her left hand flew and engulfed Edwin. Since so many spell formulas were poured in, those flames are not lukewarm.

Rather, hotter than ordinary flames, they blacken Edwin’s armor and burn his flesh.

This time, she won’t be careless. Thinking that, Illia raised the temperature of the holy flame.

This spell, originally used to purify evil, was reborn in Illia’s hands as a powerful attack technique that burns everything it touches.

“Grrgh…!”

Within the white flames, Edwin swung his sword. If it had been an ordinary flame, the air pressure from that sword would have dispelled the flames, but this time he couldn’t.

Finally, Edwin, who couldn’t dispel the flames and was slowly being cooked, threw a gambling move to end it.

Edwin readjusts his greatsword. Within the flames where his flesh is being cooked, he steps forward directly.

He pours all his mana into the greatsword. The dark red blazing mana flames neutralize, though slightly, the holy power burning Edwin’s body.

In such a situation, Edwin swung a single sword strike. The sword strike that flew through the air, cutting through the holy power that burns everything, ultimately aimed for Illia’s flesh.

To avoid or block that sword strike, she would have to extinguish the holy flames. In this situation, there are two actions she can take.

Either let Edwin burn while giving up some of her own flesh, or extinguish the holy flames.

“…”

Having made her decision, Illia brought her right hand to her left hand, which was emitting the holy flames.

Another spell formula is engraved in front of the spell formula shooting out flames.

Overlapping the same spell.

“…Divine Judgement.”

The holy flames shot from both hands resonate with each other, amplifying their firepower.

The flames, heated even more intensely, block Edwin’s movement more strongly.

-Slash.

The blow Edwin had swung belatedly cut Illia’s body. It was a wound inflicted after tearing through the thin protective barrier surrounding her.

That sword strike was a clear effective blow, but it wasn’t one that could reverse the situation.

At that point, the match was as good as decided. Illia was standing upright on the ground, and Edwin had stopped moving.

“That’s enough!”

It was Bellarf’s declaration. Though he was one who usually observed the situation unless one side first declared defeat, this time the victory and defeat were clear.

Honestly, Bellarf had thought Illia would be defeated. That’s why he briefly doubted his eyes at the situation unfolding before him.

Though she looks a bit strained, Illia is standing on the ground, and in front of her is Edwin, his entire body blackened and slumped.

Though he hadn’t expected a Star of the Empire to fall like this, Bellarf decided to sincerely congratulate Illia on the glory of being the victor.

With his declaration of Illia’s victory, the duel that had just taken place seemed to come to an end.