The Punishment of the Divine

The now-chimera Hawk threw Lumi on the floor harshly.

Lumi gritted her teeth as she slowly rose, eyeing the shackles in her feet that were glowing with restricting spells. If only she could break away from these chains, then she could've dealt with this easily!

'Siegren will definitely die if I don't find a way to break through from this. And I will be sold if he dies,' Lumi said to herself as she glanced at the man who has been lacerated with the talons of the Hawk that were filled with poison.

He was still walking forward, holding his greatsword.

"Hmm… that's odd. The effect should be manifesting now. Maybe he's not an average person, after all…" The hawk murmured.

'Though it was still strange. How is he not dying?' The Hawk thought as he eyed the man in front of him who seemed to be utterly unaffected by his poison. 'That person told me that the poison should be potent enough to kill a man with one strike...'

'Maybe I didn't cut deep enough?'

The Hawk then flew towards Siegren and tried to pierce his talons around other parts of his body. But Siegren was able to evade the attacks and then proceeded to slash his blade through the chimera.

But the Chimera was fast. If this was a battle of strength, then Siegren would have won. But the speed of the Hawk was fast enough to elude Siegren's sword. Siegren's brows furrowed as he continued to parry the talons, creating a sharp clangor as his greatsword and the grapnel-like feet of the chimera meet in a subsequent clash. The grappling sharp talons and blade created a ringing bluster, rendering the Hawk's senses useless.

'Now's my chance,' Lumi then ran towards the backdoor, only to meet the men that were holding axe and swords.

"Where are you going, you little brat?" One of the men said as he proceeded to grab Lumi. Some of the men gathered to the priestess as they held their weapons tight.

Right. Since these men cannot fight Siegren, they'll prey on the 'weak' instead.

Lumi's light blue eyes gleamed as an idea came to her mind.

"Where am I going?" Lumi grinned. "To the backdoor, of course."

She then curled her fist into a ball and with all her strength she punched straight down to the man's lower region—into his balls.

"ARRRGHH!!!" The man grunted in pain as he winced down, bending a bit as he tried to hold his pelvis whilst his face crumpled in utter torment. He then drew his axe, face red with rage.

"Get her!" The man thundered furiously.

"You little brat…!" Another man exclaimed and then swung his axe down to Lumi.

'Now!'

Lumi bent down and lifted her shackled legs into the axe.

The blade went straight to the girl's restraints. Lumi winced in pain as she felt the impact on her ankles.

Her eyes then darted towards the cuffs around her feet.

Then, her face turned pale.

They were still intact.

'How could that even happen…!? The blade didn't even go through-'

"Ah!" Lumi's thoughts were easily cut as the man whom Lumi punched in the balls now grabbed her by the hair, lifting her up.

"You sly brat… so that's what you were trying to do."

The man's grip on Lumi's hair was harsh on her scalp. She felt her head burn from the physical tug and irk.

"You won't be able to do anything, so just stop resisting or I'll slice your throat!"

Lumi glared at the man, and then suddenly noticed a certain figure from the distance. It seems like the way this man screamed got HIS attention.

Her lips curled to a smirk. "What are you smiling at!? You think you can do anything, huh!?"

"No," she smirked. "But he can."

The man's eyes widened—and before he could even turn around, Siegren's sword swung down towards his back, cutting his spine open.

"We're not done yet!" The Hawk growled as he flew towards Siegren.

"Siegren!" Lumi ran towards him but the other men grabbed her from the back. Siegren then met Lumi's gaze, and from that moment on, he understood. "Break this!"

Siegren's eyes gleamed as he saw the shackles on the girl's feet. He held his greatsword tightly and spun it, making the men around him fall far to the ground as they took the impact of the large blade.

The greatsword was then lifted quickly, with its tip pointing to the shackles of the priestess. With a clenched fist, Lumi prayed that it would work.

A loud clang then resonated to the entirety of the space as the sharp tip of the claymore met that of the metals that bind the priestess' legs.

The hawk was stunned for a moment, before coming back to his senses with a clenched jaw.

Angrily, he flew towards them at his full speed, "You're not getting away from me!" he said with eyes turning bright yellow like that of a real bird.

The Hawk flew to Siegren, its talons ready to pierce him from behind.

But Lumi's shackles were already destroyed.

The priestess then lifted her hand, and with a point of her finger to the Hawk, she lifted her gaze.

"Divine penance."

The Hawk felt his heart loudly throb the moment the priestess uttered those words.

Suddenly, his wings stopped from moving. He then fell to the ground shortly, with wings still spread but has been frozen in their place. The Hawk couldn't move; nor could he even think. The priestess now began walking towards the hawk, with the broken shackles being dragged from the floor.

The chimera's heartbeat grew louder and louder, matching the priestess' footsteps.

Siegren stared at Lumi, who was now free from the Hawk's restricting spells.

"What a shame," the priestess looked down on the hawk who was looking at her with golden eyes filled with nothing but shock. Cold sweat dripped through the chimera's forehead.

"You could've lived a prosperous life," Lumi smiled. "But you chose to be greedy."

Golden light then gleamed in a flash.