Saintess? Not Anymore! I'd Rather be a Destroyer-Chapter 167 - 153: Awake

Unexpectedly, a man materialized behind Iris, his expression filled with panic.

"I can’t hear what they’re saying or see their faces, so frustrating!" Aurianna grumbles in frustration, pursing her lips. The man swiftly scooped up Aurianna and Leila into his arms, and, with Iris in behind, began a rapid retreat.

"Dammit, they caught up to us!" The man seethed as Aurianna discerned the approaching group of pursuers.

"That girl!" exclaimed a woman.

"And two more monsters have been born!" Another man expressed in disgust.

"Gilgamesh said we should leave them alone," a man interjected, facing the group.

"You know they are one of the reasons we started this rebellion, right?"

"I’m killing this soul-eating child; she’s too dangerous to live!" an angry man burst out.

"Do you want to get killed by Gilgamesh?!" Someone grabbed the man, their eyes trembling.

"If these monsters leave, who knows how strong they will be when they come back!"

Amidst the internal strife, the man with Iris and Iris herself continued their escape.

"I don’t have enough magic to protect us," the man muttered as they ran, while the pursuers brandished their sci-fi guns.

Sensing imminent danger, Iris turned around, yelling, "Stay away!" Black shadows erupted from the ground, mercilessly killing and consuming the pursuing group, their agonizing cries filling the air.

"Graymor, shouldn’t we be running? I can’t let my sisters see this," Iris implored as she glanced at Graymor with her dead eyes.

"Yes, let’s go..." Graymor nervously replied.

After a prolonged sprint, they reached a spacious room filled with strange pods.

"Pods?" Aurianna wondered as she observed the unfamiliar devices filled with mysterious markings on them.

"Why are we here?" Iris asked Graymor, perplexed.

"This is for your safety. You three must leave this world," Graymor stated, waving his hand, and Iris was swiftly enclosed in a pod that sealed shut.

"Graymor, let me out! Give my sisters back!" Iris frantically demanded, banging on her pod but no matter how much she hit it, it didn’t break.

"I’m sending you girls far away for your safety," Graymor explained, placing Aurianna and Leila in separate pods before pressing a button on it.

"Let me go with my sisters!" Iris insisted.

"I can’t," Graymor shook his head.

"Graymor, give them back! Give them back! Iris doesn’t want to be alone! Iris doesn’t want to be away from her sisters!" Iris cried, but he was suddenly shot in the back, causing him to cough blood.

Aurianna and Leila’s pods vanished, leaving only Iris. Graymor approached her pod, pressed a button, and with a final look, uttered, "I’m sorry, Iris, but you’re too mentally unstable. Maybe if you revert back to a child, your mindset would change. I hope you live good lives in the next world," before collapsing, and Iris disappeared.

_______

The cocoon containing Aurianna shattered into pieces and vanished, revealing a healthy and strong Aurianna.

"Was what I dreamt about really real?" Aurianna pondered with a frown.

"Princess!" a healer beside Aurianna gasped in shock.

"Hmm?" Aurianna looked at the lady in confusion.

"The princess has awakened!" The healer ran out of the room, announcing the news.

"Aurianna!" Eva called out as she appeared before Aurianna, her expression ecstatic.

"Eva!" Aurianna blurted out before reaching out to hug her tightly.

"What’s with the sudden hug?" Eva asked, not disliking it at all.

"I thought if I had hoped that my real mother was different and loving, maybe there was a chance to feel that motherly love," Aurianna confessed, her tone cold, as she looked up at Eva.

"I had hope, but it seems that hope was quite foolish. She was just a crazy lady who placed a seal on me and wants me dead! I don’t even know if she’s alive or dead," Aurianna cried as she gazed up at Eva.

"Aurianna, calm down and explain to me what you saw," Eva said worriedly, gently patting Aurianna’s head.

"I saw the memories of who my mother was," Aurianna revealed.

"What does she look like?" Eva inquired.

"I don’t know; I couldn’t see her clearly. But I guess to her, I was just a failed product," Aurianna replied with a frown.

"Don’t worry. Even if you have no one, I’ll always be here for you and Leila," Eva assured with a smile, pinching Aurianna’s cheeks.

"To think a mean old lady like you had some compassion," Aurianna stated bluntly.

"I always had compassion; you’re just so hard to deal with!" Eva retorted, seizing Aurianna’s cheeks with a mix of frustration and affection.

"Chi, chi, chi," Aurianna giggled, and a genuine smile appeared on Eva’s face.

’She seems happy again,’ Eva thought, observing Aurianna wipe away her tears.

"Hah, the war. I lost too much," Aurianna remarked, casting a gaze at her arms and legs, still bearing unhealed wounds. "I should have thought about it more thoroughly," she sighed, adopting a reflective tone.

"But oh well," Aurianna shrugged off her regrets.

"Want to learn about formations in wars?" Eva offered, conjuring a book into her hand. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Ugh," Aurianna scrunched her face at the sight of the book, which was as thick as someone’s head.

"You should be enthusiastic about learning!!" Eva chided, pointing at Aurianna, recognizing the young girl’s reluctance.

"Who even feels happy learning apart from you?" Aurianna retorted.

"Learning helps you to be smarter! So you must enjoy and embrace it!" Eva declared, prompting a resigned sigh from Aurianna.

"Hmm, my body aches so much. How long have I been asleep for?" Aurianna inquired, stretching her limbs.

"A year," Eva replied.

"What, a whole year??!!" Aurianna exclaimed in shock.

"Yes," Eva nodded.

"I wasted a whole year sleeping!!" Aurianna lamented, hands on her head.

"Seeing the state your body was in, it’s no surprise that you needed that much time to recover," Eva acknowledged, arms crossed.

"I see. Well, I guess I should greet my father," Aurianna said with a grin.

"Won’t you bathe?" Eva asked bluntly.

"Oh yes, but there’s no better place to bathe than my luxurious bathroom," Aurianna quipped, giving a thumbs up. In an instant, she transformed into a ray of light and appeared above the church, peering towards the castle.

"I wonder how this light-traveling skill of mine works," Aurianna mused, observing her hands transform into light before returning to their normal state.

"Just imagine yourself appearing there, and you’ll be immediately there. As long as light is present, you can use the skill," Eva explained, floating beside Aurianna.

"So it means I can fly now?" Aurianna asked Eva with sparkly eyes.

"You want to fly that bad?" Eva raised an eyebrow.

"You don’t understand my pain of being unable to fly! You, Leila, and Carol can fly, but I can’t fly. I wanna fly too!!" Aurianna whined, evoking a sigh from Eva.

"The better you get with this new ability, you would soon be able to fly," Eva assured, bringing a bright smile to Aurianna’s face.

"Yay, now let’s try. I’m going to move all the way to the castle without using teleport!" Aurianna declared to herself.

"Also, Eva, why didn’t this ability get announced as a skill?" Aurianna asked curiously.

"I believe it’s a passive skill for you, like knowing how to walk or run," Eva explained.

"Ohhh!!" Aurianna listened attentively.

"So what would you name it?" Eva asked.

"I can’t give it a name yet if I haven’t fully explored it to its limit," Aurianna replied.

"But I noticed something from this skill when I was fighting with Shiba," Aurianna continued.

"Once I turn into light and teleport, a person’s attack won’t have any effect on me. But if I use my normal teleport and someone attacks me, I can get injured," Aurianna deduced, her hand on her chin.

"Nice deduction!" Eva praised.

"Imagine myself appearing in the throne room," Aurianna envisioned, and immediately her body turned into light, dashing towards the palace, however, she landed on some random house and had a confused expression on her face.

"Why is the palace on my right, when it was before me?" She wondered.

"How could you get lost so easily?! The palace was before you!!" Eva yelled in frustration.

"I don’t know," Aurianna muttered, "Let me try again!" She told herself as she turned into light again but this time she appeared on the walls of Sandeph with a confused expression.

"Hmm I’m sure I was heading towards the palace," She grumbled as she rubbed her forehead and Eva looked at her in frustration

"It is just a straight line!! How can you get lost in a straight line??" Eva asked.

"Don’t judge me," Aurianna said as she eyed Eva.

"There has to be a skill that can fix her bad sense of direction, right system?" Eva asked.

[ Nope. ] The system replied and Eva’s expression turned stony.

"I’ll just try again till I get to the palace!" Aurianna motivated herself as she turned into light. After numerous tries and it being noon, Aurianna finally managed to bypass security and entered through a window of the palace.

She quickly reverted to her solid form and noticed hundreds of people in the throne room, seemingly engaged in a celebration. Music played in the background by instrumentalists, and the walls were adorned with an array of flowers, infusing the air with a fresh fragrance. All activity ceased as they beheld the sight of the girl in her pajamas?

"Hmm, did I intrude on something?" Aurianna questioned, surveying the scene.

"Aurianna, you’re awake," Queen Amber rushed forward to hug her, but Aurianna turned into light, skillfully avoiding her touch.

"Don’t touch me, Mother," Aurianna said coldly.

"I’m so glad you’re okay, but how did you do that?" Queen Amber asked, surprised by Aurianna’s new ability.

"A new skill, I guess," Aurianna replied, scratching her chin.

"She looks exactly the same even though a year has passed," Yesphine remarked with a touch of indifference as her gaze rested upon Aurianna.

"You were in a coma for a year, dear sister, but I’m glad you’re awake now," Venassa approached Aurianna, offering a warm smile as she reached for her hand.

"Oh, so what is the reason for this celebration?" Aurianna inquired, releasing her hand from Venassa’s grasp.

"It’s my birthday, of course!" Venassa chirped with enthusiasm.

"Well, happy birthday, Venassa!" Aurianna conveyed her wishes.

"Thank you, but sister, I don’t believe it’s appropriate for you to be in such attire at such a grand event," Venassa remarked, subtly alluding to Aurianna’s pajamas.

"Oh, my pajamas? Chi, chi, la, la, la, what’s wrong with them? They are quite cute," Aurianna giggled, brushing off the comment, but Venassa frowned disapprovingly.

"But, sister, it’s disgraceful," Venassa stated coldly.

"The only thing disgraceful is that ugly shade of yellow that makes you look like a blobfish," Aurianna retorted, her eyes assessing Venassa, who shot her a glare. Slight giggles emanated from the crowd, causing Venassa to blush with a mix of embarrassment and anger.

"You..." Venassa seethed.

"That’s enough, Aurianna," King Girsal intervened, approaching her.