Return (Part 2)

"Order everyone to rest and regroup, then withdraw!" Staring in the direction the Demon Viscount had fled, Archbishop Andalu's face turned deathly pale. He muttered to himself, but no one nearby could make out what he was saying.

They could only vaguely sense that the blow to Archbishop Andalu had not merely been physical—his spirit, too, had suddenly collapsed.

"Lord Andalu, your injuries have not healed yet. Please rest a while longer." At once, the people of the Radiance Church were thrown into a flurry of activity.

At this moment, Andalu no longer played such an important leading role within the entire party.

Everyone in the hall became busy. Some helped their companions treat their wounds, while others searched the piles of corpses for survivors. Before they had fully rested and regrouped, they could not go outside yet.

Archbishop Andalu had never been especially popular, and now, amid the chaos when the mission was nearly over, aside from the people of the Radiance Church, who had the time to spare him any concern?

There were many factions in the party, and every faction needed to preserve its own strength. While the mission had yet to end, they had temporarily gathered together. But now that the Demon Baron was dead, their mission had been completed. As for anything else, it was beyond the scope marked in their contracts.

"I'm fine. Go and do your work." The Demon Baron's strike had injured Archbishop Andalu's internal organs. Although divine magic had treated him, his wounds still needed careful recuperation. His face was so pale it was worrying, and beyond that, his expression carried a bleak desolation.

Looking at the people busily working around the hall, he softly said to a Radiance Church priest beside him, "Although Romon has been watching, just in case,