During the unsealing process, Elise noticed something strange with her faith power. Rather than being consumed like normal Sacred Speech, it felt more like the coffin itself was absorbing it!
"What's going on?"
This baffled Elise.
Even her movements faltered as she stopped midway. But…
It was already too late. The coffin seemed to have absorbed enough faith power!
Boom—
With the influx of energy, the massive boulder pressing on the coffin instantly shattered!
Countless shards flew outward, some heading straight for Elise's side.
Thud!
Elise shielded Est with her arms as her Prana barrier unfolded, blocking the rain of stone fragments.
Meanwhile, the pitch-black coffin that had been buried beneath began to float, lifted by some unknown force, until it hovered ten meters above the ground.
Though it looked like any ordinary coffin, Elise could sense the energy within rapidly rising—growing stronger and stronger!
What shocked her even more was that mixed into that energy was a power Elise knew all too well…
Faith power!
"How could this be? This world has no gods—there shouldn't be anyone capable of wielding faith power!"
"Or… could that saintess also be like me, able to possess the power of faith?"
Sweat formed on Elise's forehead as unease gnawed at her. She hugged Est tighter in her arms.
This was her first time encountering such a situation!
She had only intended to help Est resolve her inner guilt and incidentally repay a favor to Kamito Kazehaya. So how had things come to this?
The energy inside the coffin kept climbing, absorbing the surrounding Divine Power until it had clearly reached a superhuman realm!
Though it sounded exaggerated, Elise could feel it—the energy surpassed her own!
"Is the one inside the coffin really Saintess Areishia?" Elise murmured, doubt gnawing at her.
This power… as someone who had once experienced this level before, she knew—it was the power of a nonhuman existence!
The one sealed inside the coffin could not possibly be Saintess Areishia!
Then who was it?
Could it be that Demon King Solomon had cursed the Saintess, using her body for resurrection?
And within it, Elise also sensed a power she had never encountered before!
"That's… the Elemental Lord!" Est, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke. But her face was twisted in deep disgust. "What's inside there is an Elemental Lord!"
"What?"
An Elemental Lord?
Weren't they all corrupted?
Why would there be one here?
Elise's mind spun in chaos. Of all things, she had never expected to find an Elemental Lord here!
She hadn't wanted to encounter them at all—yet here one appeared!
"The surrounding Divine Power is gathering inside! It's about to emerge!"
Rare for her, Est's face showed open revulsion, as though she were seeing something filthy.
"Fall back! It's going to erupt!"
Elise hurriedly embraced Est, unfolding her Prana shield. At this moment, she dared not recklessly use faith power again.
Boom—!
In the next instant, golden light shot straight into the heavens!
...
"Hey, have you finished preparing the cargo?"
Allen, the caravan leader they had once traveled with, was now checking over his goods.
"If everything's ready, we'll depart tomorrow!"
This time, they had only survived because of Elise. Without her, they would've been devoured by the antlion swarm.
"We really were lucky, huh? To meet such a powerful Elementalist like Miss Elise!" one of the caravan workers sighed in admiration.
"Yeah. If I could marry a wife like Miss Elise, I'd gladly trade ten years of my life!"
"Hah! Only ten? If it were me, I'd give up a hundred!"
"You wouldn't live that long anyway, haha!"
The caravan members were still joking around, but Allen, their leader, suddenly felt a sense of unease.
"Enough chatter! Work time isn't over yet! Get some proper rest tonight—we leave for home first thing tomorrow!"
"Got it!"
Suddenly, the ground shook violently. Allen, who had been leaning against the wall, was knocked to the floor.
"What's going on? Is this… an earthquake?"
Then, a massive pillar of light shot into the sky, drawing the gaze of people from nearby cities. And the source of that light… was the pyramid!
The Demon King Solomon's tomb!
"Could it be… the Demon King Solomon is about to be resurrected?"
"This is bad! Run!"
Panic erupted in the city as people scattered in terror. Even Allen and his caravan were thrown into disarray.
Deep within the forest, the tremendous surge of energy could still be felt.
But closest of all to the explosion, Elise and Est were in dire straits.
"So this is the power of an Elemental Lord?"
Elise's perception was sharp. In her senses, the coffin before her was like a blazing sun—dazzling, unbearable to look at!
If this truly was the power of an Elemental Lord, then Elise knew she could never defeat it on her own.
Even with faith power, the result was uncertain—and the consequences unpredictable.
By now, Elise had pulled off her eyepatch, staring intently at the coffin suspended in the air.
Crack—
A small fissure appeared on the coffin. Though faint, in this deathly silence it was deafening. And…
Energy seeped out from the crack—and it was growing wider!
Crack, crack, crack—
The jarring sounds multiplied as fractures spread across the coffin's surface.
At last, upon reaching a critical point—
Boom!
Energy exploded outward, blasting the coffin to pieces! The figure inside was revealed in full.
It was a woman with long golden hair clad in armor—exactly the same as the shadow Elise had seen within the boulder earlier!
In other words, she was Saintess Areishia. At least outwardly she appeared so. But…
The power radiating from her body was nothing a human could possibly wield!
And Est had said this was an Elemental Lord?
Could it be… the Light Elemental Lord, Alexandros?
Had she just accidentally released the final boss?
The saintess in the air paid no mind to her surroundings, silently absorbing the energies around her. Only when all the light had fully merged into her body did she slowly open her eyes.
"I thought I'd have to wait a few more years. I even had everything planned…"
"But to be released by such an accident—"
"How amusing."