The Grill-Wielding Saintess of the Dead

Chapter 15: Returnee Isiah 3

-1 minute before Yeonseo’s arrival-

“Hah… ugh…”

“Are you alright?”

As Yeonhwa staggered, her tension easing, Shia caught her.

“…My body’s fine, but I guess the tension wore me out.”

“Yeah, be careful.”

“Haha… I said I’d help, but here I am collapsing right away.”

“It happens. It’s not embarrassing or anything…”

Then, Shia suddenly stopped talking.

“Unnie?”

Before Yeonhwa could express her confusion at Shia halting while holding her, Shia spotted someone suddenly appearing at close range.

Boom!

A woman with a mixture of blue and white hair, a face strikingly similar to Yeonhwa’s, but with a completely different aura.

Let’s summarize the situation.

Despite using the Miracle of Purification, Shia’s hands and arms were stained red with blood from devouring the Black Minotaur’s corpse.

Yeonhwa, having lost her strength, was leaning against Shia’s body.

From Yeonseo’s perspective, Yeonhwa’s grandmother saw the scene like this:

According to Director Lee, the only hunter who entered the dungeon was Yeonhwa.

Due to the dungeon overbreak, the dungeon’s rank had escalated from A to S, making it a place where anything could happen.

And here was some crazy woman with grotesque tentacles sprouting from her back, covered in blood, holding her granddaughter.

-Look, nobody else was supposed to be here except Yeonhwa.

-Look at those twisted, grotesque tentacles.

-The disgusting tentacles are munching on something.

-The woman’s hands are covered in blood.

The moment she witnessed this scene, Yeonseo’s mind snapped.

There was no time for rational thought.

“Get your filthy hands off her this instant.”

Boom!

“Huh? Grandma?!”

“……?”

While Shia marveled briefly at Yeonseo’s impeccable skincare, a chilling cracking sound resonated, and a formless shockwave slammed into her.

Then, Yeonseo overlapped the spatial coordinates and instantly teleported in front of Shia.

“I said, let go of her right now!”

[Mass Duplication]

Space is like a piece of paper influenced by physical phenomena.

If you crumple that paper with immense force and then release it, it’s natural for massive weight to spread out.

The duplicated mass caused by Yeonseo’s kick increased in intensity as it impacted Shia.

What was originally a mere 10kg blow became amplified by hundreds of times.

Bang!!

“No, stop! Grandma!! Wait…!”

“This place is dangerous! Get out of here, Yeonhwa!”

After sending Shia flying, Yeonseo adjusted the coordinates again and teleported in the direction Shia was flung.

Yeonhwa, shocked, tried to stop them, but once Yeonseo had snapped, communicating with her was nearly impossible, and the two had already disappeared far into the distance.

“Ah, seriously…!”

With no other choice, Yeonhwa got up and started running toward the direction Shia and Yeonseo had gone.

She had to stop them before something irreversible happened.

○○○○○

While Shia was being thrown, she heard Yeonhwa’s voice calling out and realized that the woman attacking her was Yeonhwa’s grandmother.

Seeing her granddaughter with a woman sporting grotesque tentacles was indeed an easy situation to misinterpret.

‘But man, that grandma sure is strong.’

No, it wasn’t just physical strength—it was destructive power that ignored physical laws entirely.

Though Shia couldn’t fully understand the principle behind it…

Hmm, this seems comparable to Menelapie’s full-power martial arts.

Depending on the situation, one side might even have an advantage.

Thump!

Screech, creak! Crack, crack, crack!

Disliking being thrown any further, Shia’s tentacles latched onto trees and anchored her body.

Good job.

I was getting dizzy.

The tentacles seemed angry, grinding their teeth as if they wanted to devour Yeonhwa’s grandmother in retaliation for the attack.

“Oh no, you can’t do that.”

Calming the tentacles down, Shia glanced around and realized how far she’d been thrown.

At the spot where she and Yeonhwa had been, the dungeon was collapsing, and she had thought they needed to leave quickly. However, here, the dungeon’s collapse hadn’t progressed at all.

It seemed the dungeon’s collapse was happening slower than expected.

And then Shia sensed a faint vibration in the air nearby and raised her hand.

[Miracle – Rupture]

Ting—!

“Ugh!”

As soon as she activated the miracle, Yeonhwa’s grandmother appeared and punched toward Shia.

Their powers clashed, the miracle and Yeonseo’s punch sending both of them flying back.

Right, so she’s using teleportation to move in and out like that.

Although, it’s likely more than just teleportation—she’s probably manipulating or controlling space somehow…

“Smart monster, aren’t you?”

“Am I?”

“You’ve got intelligence too… I better crush you before you grow any further.”

Yeonseo knew all too well the catastrophe that an intelligent dungeon boss could bring.

A monster with intelligence didn’t stop at mere invasion.

It could divide and manipulate humanity from within, sometimes even raising followers to spread chaos.

Having protected humanity since the First Great Rift, Yeonseo had lost countless people to such intelligent monsters.

Indeed, in a dungeon that had been upgraded from A to S rank, it wasn’t surprising for such a monster to emerge.

Determined to obliterate this tentacled woman, Yeonhwa’s grandmother adjusted the coordinates again and vanished.

Shia, who had been considering capturing Yeonseo with her tentacles to subdue her, clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“By the way, crushing…”

Thunk!!

“Ugh…!”

Shia gasped as a blow hit her abdomen, knocking the wind out of her.

Though not severely damaged, the physical impact from seemingly thin air startled her.

“I don’t need to touch you to fight.”

Then another invisible force rushed toward her.

This time, it seemed even more powerful than before.

But no matter how strong the physical force was, as long as it was a wave-type attack, she could just cancel it out.

‘All I have to do is resist…’

If it were an ambush by a monster, I could just dodge and counter with a lethal miracle, but I don’t want to kill a human—especially since she’s Yeonhwa’s grandmother.

How could I even think of harming her?

Well… despite her youthful appearance, she is supposed to be a grandmother.

Shia decided she would resolve the misunderstanding later and enveloped her body in holy energy.

Holy energy is fundamentally a higher power than mana.

Whether for offense or defense, it’s far more versatile and easier to use.

If mana is the power of humans, holy energy is like mana bestowed directly by a god or used by gods themselves.

I’ve never failed to block anything with this before, and since my body is tougher than steel, I should be able to block this with minimal damage.

Shatter…!

“Hm?”

I’m fine. I’m fine.

My body’s durability is something I’ve always thought was…

Crack!!

“…Ah…?!”

Ah, it’s been a while.

I’m feeling pain again?

Shia realized it had been a long time since she had felt pain like this.

As a human, even the slightest cut on a finger would have caused her to make a big fuss, but as the Saintess of the Dead, both her mind and body had become so accustomed to suffering that her pain tolerance had significantly increased.

Ten years.

No, thirty years ago, when Menelapie and I killed the Demon King, that was the last time I felt this kind of physical pain.

Shia had believed in her holy energy, thinking it could block anything, even if it was a spatially disruptive attack.

Up until now, Shia had never encountered an attack her holy energy couldn’t block.

Even the Demon King’s final desperate strike hadn’t been able to penetrate the barrier she had created.

However, the attack Yeonhwa’s grandmother launched wasn’t just a simple shockwave.

The moment it made contact with Shia’s arm, it traveled through to her elbow, rapidly breaking it down into tiny cubes, and by the time she registered the pain, her arm had been neatly divided into little blocks and disappeared somewhere.

Amid the pain, Shia realized time had slowed for her.

The sudden return of pain heightened her perception, allowing her to observe her arm slowly disintegrating cube by cube. Shia recognized that her holy energy hadn’t failed to resist.

The holy energy was trying its best to resist the invisible force that was disassembling her arm.

However, the spatial wave was slipping through the gaps in the holy energy, breaking her arm down.

‘The angles and methods of disassembly shift with each wave.’

As she watched her arm fall apart, Shia calmly analyzed the situation.

The attack from Yeonhwa’s grandmother, the strongest hunter on Earth, was clearly a full-force strike.

Yeonseo’s fans or others might call it something ridiculous like the Coordinate Disassembly Cannon or Spatial Rupture Beam, but Yeonseo preferred simplicity and referred to it merely as [Disassembly Contagion].

The moment this wave touched something, living or non-living, it broke it down into cubes, disassembling and disintegrating them.

The most terrifying part was that the wave was unstoppable.

Once something began to disassemble, the fragmented pieces spread like a contagion, infecting other parts and causing them to disintegrate as well.

This was Yeonseo’s full-power strike, aimed at eliminating the twisted tentacle monster trying harm her granddaughter.

Actually, it was Shia’s resilience in surviving this attack that was unusual.

[Miracle – Great Healing]

Shia activated her miracle on the disintegrating arm.

The cubes of her arm rapidly reassembled into a clean, restored limb.

Crackle…!

‘It’s not working…’

However, the contagious disassembly of space resumed, breaking Shia’s newly healed arm once again.

Even healing wasn’t enough to stop the spatial disintegration.

Yeonseo’s attack didn’t care whether the target was alive or dead—it would continue to disassemble the entire body until nothing was left.

Now the disintegration had moved past Shia’s arm, creeping up toward her elbow and, if left unchecked, would eventually reach her head.

Regeneration wasn’t enough.

Resistance wasn’t enough. Canceling it wasn’t possible either.

Realizing this, Shia opened her mouth.

‘I’ve got no choice.’

Crunch!!

“…!”

Then, Shia bit into her disintegrating arm and started to eat it.

Crunch, crack, snap!

She devoured her own arm in seconds, the shocking sight leaving Yeonseo, who was watching from afar, wide-eyed in horror.

[Miracle – Great Healing]

Shia then used her miracle again to regrow the arm she had just eaten.

Although the sleeve of her clothes was shredded, the disintegration had finally stopped.

‘I ate it? Not just a physical thing, but something conceptual?’

Yeonseo, who had just witnessed Shia eating her arm and halting the [Disassembly Contagion], let out a disbelieving laugh.

If Shia could consume something as abstract as spatial disintegration, it meant she could potentially devour magic and other conceptual attacks as well.

If this creature were to escape the dungeon and start invading the human world…

That couldn’t be allowed.

For the sake of her granddaughter, for Yeonhwa, she had to eliminate this threat right here.

“…Damn monster.”

“Is that a compliment?”

Shia responded casually, offering a light-hearted reply to Yeonseo’s words that came from somewhere nearby.

Was Shia’s nonchalant tone the final straw that provoked Yeonseo?

“Why would I ever compliment you?”

Thunk!!

“Ouch…”

Boom! Thud!

Suddenly, unseen physical blows began raining down on Shia, catching her off guard.

She dodged to the best of her abilities, following where the impact seemed to come from, quickly realizing that something invisible was physically attacking her.

‘It’s not just teleportation. Her abilities are far more complex and versatile…!’

It felt like giant spears and hammers were ripping through the air, slamming into her.

Shia couldn’t see the weapons, but she could definitely feel their weight and mass.

‘Invisible mass… isn’t this just unfair…?!’

Yeonseo was controlling the rebound force created by folding and unfolding space and directing that massive physical energy toward Shia.

Since Shia didn’t fully understand Yeonhwa’s grandmother’s powers, she couldn’t get a clear grasp of the situation.

All she could do was curse at the unfairness of it while dodging and parrying.

Crunch! Thud!

It was getting harder for Shia to dodge and block attacks she couldn’t see.

Moreover, every so often, a [Disassembly Contagion] wave would hit her, and Shia had to keep devouring and healing parts of her body to stop the disintegration.

If she could at least see the attacks, things would be easier, but the attacks were mostly invisible, like vague distortions in the air, until they struck with brutal force.

Each strike carried a clear sense of murderous intent.

As Shia evaded the blows, she had to acknowledge that Yeonhwa’s grandmother was stronger than she had initially thought.

Back in the other world Shia had lived in, someone of Yeonseo’s caliber could be counted on one hand.

Thud! Boom! Crash!

But Shia was growing tired of dodging.

Blows she couldn’t avoid, she simply took head-on.

In less than a minute, Yeonhwa’s grandmother had landed about 30 direct hits with her massive invisible hammer-like strikes, causing Shia’s patience to wear thin.

Hey, grandma!

These days, kids get scary when they’re angry!

Besides, Shia hated fighting.

She didn’t fear it, but she found it deeply unpleasant.

This fight, born from a misunderstanding, had escalated into a life-or-death battle, and Shia was seriously annoyed by that.

‘She must be somewhere within my line of sight.’

Yeonseo had to be able to see Shia in order to keep attacking like this.

If she didn’t have some kind of clairvoyant power to see across vast distances, she’d need to have direct visual contact to launch her attacks.

Then, it was time to subdue her.

Even if it meant using more forceful means.

‘I’ll destroy everything.’

Shia gathered her holy energy.

The malice she had absorbed from devouring the Black Minotaur with Yeonhwa quickly converted into pure, radiant holy power that swirled around her body.

“…!”

Yeonhwa’s grandmother seemed to sense something was amiss, as several vibrations in the air hinted at her intent to strike before Shia could act.

But it was already too late.

[Miracle – Holy Body Annihilation]

A massive white explosion erupted from Shia’s body, swallowing the mass and vibrations in the surrounding space and expanding in all directions.

From the outside, it might have looked like a nuclear explosion had gone off.

Thankfully, this was a dungeon, so Shia had used the miracle with the confidence that no one else was around.

Even so, she had intentionally minimized the explosion’s range.

The forest within the dungeon was instantly wiped out, leaving a barren wasteland in Shia’s wake.

Not a single flower, weed, or rock remained in the desolate expanse.

And not far away stood Yeonhwa’s grandmother, glaring fiercely at Shia with blazing eyes.

“Hah, hah…”

With the entire forest gone, Yeonseo seemed to have judged that hiding was now meaningless.

While Shia had toned down the lethality of the miracle for the sake of restraint, [Holy Body Annihilation] was still her most destructive ability.

How had a human survived that?

I had expected to at least knock her out, but she seems completely fine.

Shia was genuinely surprised at how unaffected Yeonhwa’s grandmother appeared.

“Heh, you’re quite something…”

“You too.”

In the brief moment of their standoff, Yeonseo clenched her fist.

There was no reason to hold back.

‘That thing’ was far more dangerous than she had initially thought.

“She’s powerful, but…”

Crrrack!!!

“I won’t let anything touch my granddaughter.”

A horrible ripping sound filled the air as space itself began to tear apart, massive amounts of mass compressing within Yeonseo’s grasp.

Seeing that, Shia felt an icy sweat trickle down her spine.

‘She’s preparing something big.’

Yeonseo hadn’t felt this drained of power since the Second Great Rift.

But this tentacle woman had resisted even her [Disassembly Contagion], a feat that only an incredibly powerful monster could achieve.

Without a massive effort, she wouldn’t be able to deal enough damage.

“A long time ago, I lost a granddaughter I cherished more than anything…”

During the Second Great Rift, Yeonseo had received countless distress signals and saved many people.

But in doing so, she had lost her own granddaughter.

Yeonseo had become a hunter to save others, to protect what was precious to her.

Yet, in the end, she had failed to protect her most precious treasure, the feeling of that loss so devastating that words couldn’t describe it.

She never wanted to feel that pain again.

No matter how much Yeonhwa might disobey her grandmother, Yeonhwa was more precious to Yeonseo than her own life.

‘Yeonhwa, don’t worry. This grandma will protect you, even if it costs me my life…’

Even if it seemed overprotective, or extreme, Yeonseo didn’t care. She would eradicate anything that posed even the slightest threat to Yeonhwa.

Any potential danger would be eliminated. Only afterward would she reflect on her actions.

Here, now, she would kill this twisted, monstrous tentacle woman with all her might!

“Grandma!!!”

“?!”

And in that moment, Yeonseo saw Yeonhwa running toward her.

“Stop it already!!!”

“…!!!”

“Wha—no, don’t come any closer!!”

Oh no…!

This was a mistake.

No, it was a terrible blunder!

Yeonhwa, didn’t I tell you to get out of here!

Why didn’t you leave!!!

Yeonseo frantically tried to control the massive compressed space and energy in her hand.

But the mass she had gathered was already on the verge of exploding beyond her control.

If it detonated, she would be the one to harm Yeonhwa.

Yeonseo gritted her teeth and desperately tried to suppress the mass.

But with such a vast amount of compressed space and energy, it was ready to erupt at any moment, and Yeonseo bit her lip in frustration.

If the tentacle woman attacked her now, Yeonhwa would get hurt!

[Miracle – Orphan’s Sanctuary]

“…!”

At that moment, Yeonseo felt the cold hand of the tentacle woman gently wrap around her own.

Warm, white holy energy flowed from Shia’s hand, encapsulating the immense mass that Yeonseo was struggling to contain, and Yeonseo’s eyes widened in shock.

Before she could even ask, ‘When did she get this close? And what did she just do?’ Shia, the tentacled woman, spoke quietly to Yeonseo.

“Go ahead, release it.”

Shia’s expression was calm and neutral as she spoke softly.

“……”

Though Yeonseo had no reason to trust her, for some inexplicable reason, she believed Shia’s words and released the compressed mass.

Crackle, crackle, crack…

The massive energy and spatial distortion that had built up in Yeonseo’s hands dissipated without any sound or violent reaction, dissolving into nothing.

A small wisp of smoke rose from Yeonseo’s hand due to the friction and residual heat, but the energy and mass had harmlessly vanished.

“……”

“Hah, hah…”

Finally realizing the situation had deescalated, Yeonhwa let out a long, relieved sigh.

The Yeon family always said they never forgot kindness…

It seemed that the debt they owed had just gotten a lot bigger.

“Yeon… Yeonhwa…! I told you to stay back!”

“Grandma, what were you thinking?!”

“What was I thinking? I was trying to protect you!”

“That’s the point! The one who saved me from the dungeon break was this unnie, Shia!”

“…What…?”

Yeonseo looked back at the tentacle woman, whom Yeonhwa had referred to as “Shia,” in disbelief.

“That… That tentacle woman… saved you…?”

“Yes, exactly! And now you just tried to beat her up out of nowhere!”

“But… but her hands were covered in blood… weren’t they…?”

“That was Black Minotaur blood! You thought it was mine? Didn’t you see the Black Minotaur’s corpse lying there?!”

“…Uh…”

Yeonseo’s expression faltered, and her eyes began to waver.

Now that she thought about it, a few things hadn’t made sense.

Shia, the tentacle woman, hadn’t seemed particularly aggressive toward her during the fight.

And now, Shia stood there, her arms crossed, looking sulky and pouting, glaring off into the distance.

‘Hmph, too much, honestly…!’

Having taken a solid beating from Yeonseo, Shia was clearly annoyed and hurt, as evidenced by the way she huffed and turned away.

Yeonseo’s body stiffened.

“…What have I done…”

“Exactly! You should’ve taken a moment to calm down and assess the situation. Now look at the mess you’ve made! How are you going to make this right after attacking Shia unnie like that?!”

“……”

“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Shia unnie! You always say the Yeon family never forgets kindness, right? How are you going to take responsibility for this? You just beat up someone who saved me!”

At Yeonhwa’s harsh scolding, Yeonseo nervously approached Shia, who still had her back turned.

“…Uh, Shia…?”

“……”

‘Hmph, I may have been a saintess for decades, but even I don’t forgive easily, grandma.’

“…If what Yeonhwa says is true, then… I… deeply apologize… for my mistake…”

“……Hmph.”

“…I must be going senile in my old age. I’m truly sorry…”

Watching for any sign of a reaction, Yeonseo apologized in a shaky voice.

“And not just an apology… since you saved my granddaughter, I must also properly thank you.”

‘You think a mere apology will cut it? I’m an expensive saintess, you know, grandma.’

“…Uh, by any chance, do you like meat?”

“I’ve always thought we could get along well, grandma.”

“…………”

Seeing Shia’s sudden bright smile as she reconciled with Yeonseo, Yeonhwa couldn’t help but cover her face in disbelief.

It seemed that Shia unnie… was a lot easier to please than she had imagined.