Chapter 204: I Beat a Saint and She Decided to Follow Me

It hurt immediately.

Bad idea.

"Do it quickly," Raven said at last.

Elise moved closer. Her hand stopped before touching him.

"May I?"

Raven looked at her.

The question was deliberate.

Consent.

After everything they had argued about.

"Yes."

The light that appeared was much dimmer than before. Elise didn’t use enough mana to overpower anything. She only stabilized the tissue surrounding the injury while Predatory Regeneration continued working from within.

Raven felt Radiant Metabolism react, but this time it wasn’t an alarm.

[Controlled Sacred Mana Exposure Detected.]

[Metabolic Interference: MINIMAL.]

Elise withdrew her hand after several seconds.

"That should stop the wound from opening again, assuming you don’t do something stupid."

Valeria looked at Raven.

"So about ten minutes."

"Generous."

"Realistic."

Elise almost smiled.

That was concerning.

They left through the northern route.

The final exit in Raven’s plan.

The one Valeria had called "a hole with too much confidence."

Roland went down first. Elise followed with less difficulty than her condition suggested, then Valeria descended after her.

Raven reached the edge and looked down.

Four meters.

Normally, not much.

Right now, it looked like a poor negotiation with gravity.

Valeria looked up at him.

"Don’t even think about it."

"I can get down."

"You can fall. That isn’t the same thing."

"There’s a side wall."

"And there’s a hole closing through your torso."

Elise raised one hand.

"I can support part of your weight."

Raven looked at her.

"No."

She sighed.

"You just let me use magic on your wound."

"That was a controlled bad decision."

"Your logic is fascinating."

"I’ve been told."

Roland eventually passed him a rope.

Raven climbed down without jumping.

Valeria had the decency not to comment.

Until his feet touched the ground.

"Look at that. You survived a rope."

Raven decided to ignore her.

They found shelter in a stretch of forest far enough away that the ruins were no longer visible.

Raven sat against a tree because Valeria practically forced him to. Roland checked the perimeter while Elise settled several meters across from them.

For a few minutes, nobody spoke.

Silence was better.

Raven was tired.

Not the normal exhaustion that followed a fight.

Something deeper.

Predatory Regeneration was consuming energy at an absurd rate, and Radiant Metabolism was still processing sacred residue trapped inside damaged tissue.

Valeria finished securing a bandage.

"You’re not fighting again today."

"I wasn’t planning to."

"Good."

"Unless it becomes necessary."

Valeria stared at him.

"There it is."

Elise spoke from across from them.

"I agree with her on that."

Raven rested his head against the tree.

"Perfect. Now there are two of you."

Roland returned just in time to hear him.

"Two what?"

"People telling me what to do."

"Three."

Raven looked at him.

Roland sat down.

"I’m not wasting everything we did today because you decide walking twenty kilometers counts as recovery."

That was surprisingly reasonable.

Raven decided not to argue.

Elise had been quiet for several minutes.

That usually meant she was thinking.

Eventually, she spoke.

"This doesn’t end here."

Raven opened one eye.

"I know."

"I don’t mean the fight."

"I know that too."

Elise rested her arms across her knees.

"When I report what happened, the situation will get worse. There are offices that already believed allowing you to remain free was too dangerous. Now they have a much stronger argument."

"I defeated a Saint."

"After integrating a Sacred Trait from a Penance Hound, resisting purification, breaking my Halo, and surviving a technique that should have killed you."

Roland grimaced.

"When you list it like that, it sounds worse."

"Because it is worse."

Valeria looked at Elise.

"What are you going to recommend?"

Elise took a moment before answering.

"That they continue treating him as a person capable of making his own decisions."

Raven watched her.

That wasn’t what he had expected.

Elise continued.

"I can’t keep arguing that Predation has destroyed your judgment after you just demonstrated otherwise in front of me."

"You could argue that I spared you because you’re useful."

"That’s what you said."

"Because it’s true."

"I’m not denying that."

Raven frowned.

"Then what are you saying?"

Elise held his gaze.

"That you also had the opportunity to behave exactly the way they fear you would, and you didn’t. Your reasons matter, Raven. But the choice matters too."

He remained silent.

Valeria noticed the slight shift in his expression.

No immediate rejection.

That was new.

Elise continued.

"And now there’s a problem."

"There are several."

"A new one."

Raven waited.

"I can’t leave you alone."

A brief silence followed.

Raven thought he had misheard.

"You can."

"I don’t think I should."

"That’s different."

"Not to me."

Raven straightened slightly despite the pain.

"Elise, we just spent several days preventing you from forcing me into a purification. Then we fought until we nearly killed each other. You can’t simply decide you’re going to follow us now."

"I’m not saying any of that disappeared."

"It sounds remarkably similar."

"I’m saying the Church is going to react worse after this, and I’m one of the few people with enough authority to argue against that reaction from inside."

Raven studied her.

That made more sense.

Which was exactly the problem.

Elise continued.

"If I return alone, I can submit a report. I can argue with certain offices. I can try to delay an order. But I can’t control which team finds you next or what instructions they’re given. If I remain nearby, at least I can intervene before someone decides ’purification’ means shooting you first and asking questions afterward."

Valeria watched her carefully.

"You also want to monitor him."

Elise didn’t deny it.

"Yes. I want to understand what Predation is doing and make sure what I saw today remains true."

Raven exhaled slowly.

"There’s the part you left out."

"I never said this was entirely altruistic."

"That helps a little."

Elise smiled.

"Then we agree."

"No."

The smile disappeared.

"Raven."

"I understand your logic. That doesn’t mean I accept the conclusion. I don’t need a Saint following me around, watching every Trait I use and waiting for the moment she decides I’m no longer sufficiently myself."

Elise held his gaze.

"And I can’t go back knowing someone else may kill you before I can determine that properly."

"That still sounds like you believe the final decision belongs to you."

Elise’s expression changed.

That landed.

"Perhaps we still need to discuss that part."

"A lot."

"Then we’ll have time."

Raven frowned.

"Don’t do that."

"Do what?"

"Talk as if this is already decided."

Elise seemed to consider that.

Then, with absolute calm, she said, "I can’t leave you."

Raven stared at her.

"Yes, you can. You explained it quite well yourself. You go back, submit your report, and use all that authority you apparently possess whenever you aren’t trying to put light through my torso."

Elise almost smiled.

"That isn’t exactly what happened."

"I have a fairly convincing wound."

"And I have a bullet wound in my shoulder."

"That one was intentional."

"That doesn’t help your argument."

Valeria started laughing.

Raven turned toward her.

"No."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You’re enjoying this."

"A little."

Roland looked at Elise.

"Do you actually intend to follow us even if he says no?"

Elise considered her answer.

"I’m not going to force him to take me with him. But he also can’t prevent me from traveling the same roads."

Raven looked at her.

"That is deliberately irritating."

"I learn quickly."

Valeria laughed again.

Raven rubbed his forehead.

He had won a fight he had no business winning.

Survived a Champion technique.

Forced the Church to reconsider what kind of threat he represented.

And apparently, his reward was a Saint convinced that staying near him was now a moral responsibility.

Valeria watched him for several seconds.

The idea had already settled into her mind.

Raven knew it before she spoke.

"You defeated a Champion and gained another woman chasing you."

Raven closed his eyes.

"Don’t start."

"I’m not starting anything."

"That voice means you are."

Roland smiled.

Elise frowned.

"Another?"

Valeria looked at Raven.

Raven opened his eyes immediately.

"No."

"But—"

"We are not talking about Nyxara."

Elise went still.

"Who is Nyxara?"

Raven regretted everything immediately.

Valeria smiled.

Roland looked toward the forest as though he had suddenly discovered something fascinating among the trees.

Raven breathed slowly.

It hurt.

Somehow, that made the situation worse.

"We move when I can walk without reopening the wound," he said.

Elise nodded.

"Good."

Raven looked at her.

"That did not include you."

She settled back against the tree.

"I know."

"Then why are you still here?"

Elise closed her eyes.

"Because you’re injured, I’m tired, and I’ve spent too many days chasing you. We can argue about it later."

Raven watched her.

For the first time, that answer sounded completely normal.

That was concerning.

Very concerning.

Valeria settled beside him.

"I think you lost this part."

Raven looked toward the forest.

"Not yet."

"There it is again."

"What?"

"Your problem with admitting small defeats."

Raven didn’t answer.

Elise was still there.

That was evidence enough.

He had defeated a Champion.

And somehow, he still had the feeling Elise Veyra had won something too.