I Quit Being a Priest

Shell Dragon.
A magical beast whose entire body is covered in hard armor that neither swords nor magic can penetrate.
Its overwhelming size, exceeding 20 meters when fully grown, and the tremendous physical power derived from that weight, far surpassed human imagination.
A party consisting of three members faced such a monster near the village of Luventus.
Centered around a black-haired young man standing at the front holding a sword, there was a mage and a spirit user.
If someone saw this scene, they might try to stop them, asking if they were crazy. The Shell Dragon wasn’t a creature that mere humans could face.
But they were a bit different.
After all, they were the Hero’s Party, the hope of humanity.
Hero Karnel didn’t lose his conviction even in front of the dragon of enormous size looking down on him.
The strong belief that someday he would defeat the Demon Lord who had descended upon the mortal world and save the world.
Therefore, he couldn’t loosen his grip on his sword. A person called a hero shouldn’t be stopped by a mere Shell Dragon.
-KIEEEEEEEK!!!
The Shell Dragon’s roar, which seemed to tear eardrums, echoed. The wind pressure created just from that pushed Yuria and Iris, who were behind Karnel.
The Shell Dragon is strong. That fact remained unchanged, without any room for doubt.
However,
Those gathered here were confident in their victory. After all, they had defeated such an enemy before.
Moreover, this one was a bit smaller in size than the individual they had fought previously.
Although they had one fewer person than before, since the role of a priest in this party wasn’t that significant, they were half-certain of the victory that would be theirs this time as well.
Surely that should have been the case.
“Krak!?”
“Karnel!”
The Shell Dragon’s front paw was heavier than before. The Shell Dragon’s breath was hotter than usual.
That armor-like skin was harder than before, making it difficult for the sword blade to penetrate. Even pouring high-level magic that required long incantations couldn’t even scratch that hard skin.
“What are you doing, Yuria! Karnel’s recovery is too slow!”
The spirit user with long red hair fluttering summoned healing spirits, offering her mana in return.
The small healing spirits that Yuria brought out already approached four in number. Her mana was insufficient to bring out more spirits.
However, despite having four healing spirits gathered, new wounds were forming faster than Karnel’s body could recover.
Due to Karnel’s position of being solely responsible for the front line, he had to withstand all of the Shell Dragon’s attacks.
-KAAAAK!!
The Shell Dragon roared and raised its head upward. This meant it was about to release its breath.
“Move aside, Karnel!”
Naturally, even a hero like Karnel couldn’t block a breath with just a sword.
The only one who could block that breath here was at best Iris.
Iris is a valedictorian from the prestigious Battle Magic Department. The epithet of genius always followed her, and therefore, she too had pride in her magic.
The circuit of spells that Iris weaves is fast. Fast while overlapping multiple layers to form a barrier made of mana.
However.
-WHOOOOOSH.
When a massive breath was emitted from the Shell Dragon’s mouth, Iris could instinctively know.
That this wasn’t enough.
Surely, previously she had blocked the breath with fewer barriers than this. But strangely, now, she was certain that the continuing breath was difficult to block with her power.
“AAAAHHH!!”
Iris, who had advanced to the front of Karnel to spread her barrier, slightly regretted that decision.
Iris’s arm, which was trying to block with the barrier, turned black and suffered severe burns.
She wanted to disintegrate the barrier right away, but if she did so, everyone present might turn into a handful of ashes.
Yuria was doing her best to heal Iris’s burns from behind, but it wasn’t enough.
Yuria’s healing was inadequate to heal Iris, whose arm was turning to ashes.
“Iris! I’ll divert its attention. Focus on attacking!”
When the Shell Dragon’s breath, which had been hellish time for Iris, ended, Karnel said so.
However, even if he said that, with a blackened arm, she couldn’t release mana or engrave a spell circuit.
She could only blankly stare at her burnt arm.
Still,
Yuria eventually made a deal with an intermediate healing spirit, sacrificing half of her mana.
To the extent that Iris’s burnt arm was healing, slowly but certainly.

“Haa…! HAAAH…!!”
Iris let out a painful groan and raised her staff.
The pain of flesh cooking was insanely painful, but in a battlefield like this, a moment’s misjudgment could lead to annihilation.
“Karnel… Go…!”
It was Yuria’s shout. When the spirit she had summoned partially healed Iris and Karnel’s wounds, Karnel stepped on the ground.
The leap of one who is a hero is not light. The speed of Karnel, who sprang forward with that one step, is that of a being beyond human.
-TANG!!
The hero’s sword, imbued with light, scratches the Shell Dragon’s skin. It didn’t completely pierce through, but at least his attack was effective.
Even swinging his sword with all his might, it didn’t cut through. That skin didn’t penetrate.
At that point, Karnel, no, everyone present couldn’t help but feel the absence of someone who had left.
Without a buff surrounded by holy power, it’s difficult to penetrate the Shell Dragon’s skin. Without a buff that amplifies the power of magic, it’s hard to inflict significant damage on the Shell Dragon’s body.
And
The Shell Dragon’s movements were unusually fast. It certainly wasn’t like this when Illis was around.
The Shell Dragon’s breath was not originally that strong either.
Lastly,
The incoming healing was overwhelmingly insufficient. Wounds that would have healed immediately with just Illis’s touch now became a hindrance.
“Haah!”
Despite the wounds engraved on his body due to insufficient healing holding him back, Karnel endured the excruciating pain enveloping his entire body and struck the Shell Dragon with his sword.
Although he could only make small scratches, he didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping his sword.
A hero is a being who overcomes trials. He was still carrying his unwavering belief in his sword.
And when Iris’s prepared high-powered magic and Yuria’s weak restraint further weakened the Shell Dragon, Karnel’s sword finally pierced the dragon’s heart.
The dark red blood of the dragon bursts forth. The liquid, once the dragon’s life force, poured onto the ground from the dragon’s heart where the sword had been thrust.
A great impact occurred as the Shell Dragon’s body fell. And so the dragon died.
However.
No one here was savoring the joy of victory.
Yuria’s skin was tinged with purple due to mana exhaustion, and Iris’s arms were blackened.
And what about Karnel? His wounds were worse than anyone else present. To the extent that one might wonder how he managed to swing a sword with such a body.
The Shell Dragon is strong. It was a fact that no one could deny that it was never an enemy that could easily be defeated from the beginning.
However, if asked whether it was originally an opponent that should have given them this much trouble, the answer would also be no.
Originally, they could have ended it without injuries. If just that one person who was now absent had been here, they could have won without consuming so much physical strength and mana.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The absence of one person who had left the party. No one here didn’t know that this was the reason why things had turned out this way.
Just that they didn’t explicitly mention it.
“Um…”
The first to speak in the place where only silence had settled was Yuria.
She added, carefully observing Iris and Karnel’s expressions.
“This… happened because Illis is gone, right…?”
But there was no reply. Karnel didn’t have the energy to speak, and Iris didn’t want to admit the fact.
After all, it was Iris herself who was the first to ostracize Illis.
Of course, Yuria had also agreed with her, but the starting point of the incident was indeed Iris.
“…So what?”
Iris swept Yuria with a thorny tone and sharp eyes. It was a statement with the hidden meaning of whether there was a need to bring that up now.
“No, I’m sorry…”
Yuria bowed her head. Normally, she wouldn’t often bend her pride, but Yuria couldn’t speak up when facing the Shell Dragon.
Honestly, both last time and this time, Yuria had the lowest contribution when slaying the Shell Dragon.
Yes, back then Yuria had questioned Illis accusingly, but in the end, even on that day, Yuria was surpassed by Illis in terms of merit.
The problem was that she realized this belatedly.
Yuria was immersed in a sense of helplessness that she hadn’t been able to do anything, and Iris bit her lip, reflecting on her actions.
And Karnel, watching all of this from the middle, still maintained his silence.
He didn’t particularly want to get involved in this conflict. Although he was the leader of this party, in reality, it was Illis who had commanded the situation.
And so, a fair night descended upon the three who couldn’t speak for different reasons.
Normally, they would have celebrated the joy of victory somewhat boisterously, but now, everyone present wasn’t in the mood.
It was the quietest night since they had formed a party of four.