Reborn as a Useless Noble with my SSS-Class Innate Talent-Chapter 227: Ch : The Price of Power- Part 1

The Saintess gripped her staff tightly, but her hands trembled despite her will.

Kyle’s presence felt like a mountain pressing down on her—his aura overwhelming, devouring the divine resonance around her.

She felt it deep in her bones: a suffocating force that stripped her connection to the goddess thread by thread.

The light that always lingered within her, so constant she’d taken it for granted, now flickered like a candle caught in a storm.

Her knees buckled slightly. She bit her lip hard, tasting blood as she forced herself to stay upright. She couldn’t show weakness now.

Not in front of the Grand Priest. Not in front of their army. Not in front of him.

The Grand Priest stepped forward with a frown, sensing something off.

"Saintess... what’s wrong? Why have you stopped? The enemy is right in front of us. Why do you hesitate?"

"Shut up. Get everyone out. Now."

She snapped, voice laced with panic.

The Grand Priest blinked, stunned.

"What—"

"I said leave! I’m going to need more room to fight. If I don’t use higher-tier miracles, he’ll kill us all... I don’t want to involve the innocent!""

She shouted, eyes wide, chest heaving.

The Grand Priest’s expression twisted into something dark and grave. He understood now.

For the Saintess to make such a request... the threat had to be real. Dangerous. Far more than they’d expected. He turned quickly.

"All soldiers and priests—retreat from this location! Fall back outside the field and await further instruction!"

He ordered.

"But why? The Saintess is here! She’ll protect us—"

Someone called from the crowd.

"Do not question divine command! She must limit her power in our presence. Do you wish to be caught in her judgment as well?"

The Grand Priest barked.

The Saintess didn’t speak again, but her glowing eyes stared directly at Kyle.

She raised her staff and began channeling again, this time not toward a spell, but to fortify herself. She needed everything she had to stay steady.

But Kyle didn’t give her time.

With no warning, he moved.

Like a shadow and a blade wrapped in living flame, he cut through the space between them. His mana clashed with hers in an explosion of black-blue lightning and blinding golden light.

The ground trembled from the force of it. The Saintess managed to parry the strike, barely, but the shock sent her staggering backward.

Kyle was relentless.

His strikes were surgical and fluid, every swing of his blade driving her mana back. He overwhelmed her divine shields with raw, precise force, unyielding like a tide swallowing a lone torch.

"I won’t let you desecrate her name!"

She screamed, retaliating with a blast of radiant light from her staff. But Kyle slashed through the beam like it was air. The momentum of his mana nearly knocked her off her feet again.

A frightened soldier in the back murmured.

"She’s... losing..."

The Grand Priest spun immediately, voice booming.

"She is holding back—for your sake! Her divine miracles could reduce this battlefield to ash. Leave before you’re caught in her mercy!"

That seemed to jolt the crowd into motion.

One by one, reluctantly, they began to pull back. The Saintess didn’t even look their way. She couldn’t afford to.

Kyle’s blade missed her by inches again—only because she conjured a last-second shield that cracked under the force of the impact.

Her arms burned, her skin flaking in places from divine backlash. But she didn’t let go of her staff.

She couldn’t.

Kyle’s voice was calm but cold.

"Your people believed in you. You should’ve told them the truth."

She met his gaze, breath ragged.

"The truth doesn’t matter when the goddess commands. Her will is truth."

He tilted his head.

"Then maybe it’s time someone rewrote it."

The Saintess growled and swung her staff again, this time causing a shockwave of light to erupt around her.

Kyle jumped back, landing cleanly on his feet without even scuffing his boots.

The Grand Priest, watching from afar, clenched his fists and whispered a quiet prayer.

"I’ll send you backup. We can’t afford to lose you yet."

He muttered to himself.

He turned and marched away from the battlefield with his remaining entourage, eyes fixed on the path leading toward the village.

"If Kyle is here, then the Grand Duchess must be vulnerable."

He said softly.

And with that, he made his move—toward the very heart of the resistance.

______-

The Saintess let out a long, satisfied breath as the last of her followers disappeared from view. Without their eyes on her, the weight on her shoulders lightened—if only slightly.

But the moment of peace was fleeting.

A sharp glint flashed before her eyes.

Kyle’s blade cut through the air with lethal precision, so close that she felt the wind off the strike graze her cheek.

Her eyes widened as she jerked her head back just in time, a thin red line appearing on her skin.

She barely managed to form a barrier of light between them, but it didn’t matter. Kyle’s mana surged with violent purpose, crashing into her shield and slicing through it as if it were made of paper. Light scattered, and the explosion of energy nearly knocked her off her feet.

"You’re slow. Either your goddess has grown weak, or you’re simply unworthy of her power."

Kyle said coldly.

The Saintess’s expression twisted with fury.

"You dare! You’re a faithless fool—unclean, unblessed! You’ve never even felt the presence of the divine, so don’t you dare speak of Her!"

She shouted.

Kyle chuckled, low and dangerous. His eyes glinted like steel. "Is that what you think?" he asked, his tone mocking.

"Then tell me—does Goddess Seraphina’s scar still ache after all this time?"

The Saintess froze.

Her fingers tightened around her staff, and for a moment, the very air around her trembled with pressure.

Her pupils narrowed, and a vein pulsed at her temple as she stared at him with disbelief and rising rage.

"You... You dare utter Her name—and mock her sacred wound?"

Kyle tilted his head.

"Oh, I’m not mocking it. I gave it to her."

The Saintess’s breath hitched.

The words rang in her ears like thunder, and for a second, she forgot how to breathe. Her goddess—wounded? By this man?

Impossible.

"You... You’re lying. You... no, that’s not possible. You... couldn’t have..."

"

She spat, though her voice trembled.

Kyle’s grin widened, sharp and humorless.

"And yet, I told you a secret, right?."

The Saintess’s face contorted with pure hatred.

"A slow, painful death won’t even begin to be enough for you. I will make you suffer for your blasphemy—every word, every breath will cost you!""

She hissed. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

She raised her staff high, the mana in her body boiling over with wrath and righteous fury. She wasn’t going to hold back anymore. Not for her followers. Not for the Grand Priest.

Not for anyone.

This fight wasn’t just about protecting her people or obeying divine command. Not anymore.

Now, it was personal.

The Saintess’s aura exploded in a violent cascade of divine light, shaking the earth beneath her.

"You will kneel, blasphemer,"

She snarled, her voice laced with divine wrath.

Kyle merely raised his blade, unfazed.

"Try me. Let’s see if your goddess can save you this time."

He said coldly.