I’m Not a Saint, Not a Priest, Just a Healer.

“This is really disgusting.”
“Shut it, Emmerson.”
The ever-complaining archer Emmerson. Even in this situation, Yona wasn’t in a good mood after snapping at his usual grumbling.
They were all trudging through that viscous muck underfoot. Unless they were particularly meticulous about gear like Alec treating his as precious as life itself, their boots were just crudely made from leather.
Yona’s were the same.

“Alec, it’s okay. It’s okay.”
Yona placed a hand on Alec’s shoulder, muttering repeatedly. Whether she liked it or not, as the healer she had to stay close to the tank once they entered the dungeon.
While Alec had shielded Yona well up until now, this was a larger scale situation than they were used to.

“If it’s okay-”
“I said it’s okay.”
“If we make it out alive.”
Alec took a deep breath. As the one leading at the front of the descending stairs, he readjusted his grip on his shield with a clang. He wielded that near-solid slab of metal with surprising ease.

“If we get out alive, then what?”
“Let me grope those tits.”
“You mutt.”

Such inane banter in this situation. And Yona playing along with his nonsense.
Thanks to them, a small ripple of laughter spread through the trailing adventurers.
Yet their footsteps never faltered as they continued down the long, winding staircase. Just as Yona thought they must be nearing the second level:

-Meeeeeh!
A bleating cry suddenly rang out, like that of a goat.
“…A goat?”
Someone muttered from behind. Their confusion was shared by all.
To hear a goat’s cry in an underground catacomb like this – it seemed completely out of place.

-Meeeeeh!
-Bang!
Along with the bleat came the sound of something crashing. And what sounded like a scream as well.
Their bodies reacted before their minds.

“Yona, stick close behind me! Everyone, run!”
At Alec’s shout, Yona tightly gripped her holy cloth. While she didn’t know the source of that cry, it couldn’t be an actual goat.
And that crashing sound, that scream – it seemed Kairoc’s party had already engaged the enemy first.
Without any hesitation or ritual chanting, the twenty adventurers immediately broke into a sprint down the stairs.

Yona ran directly behind Alec, readjusting her grip on the round shield strapped to her left arm. As they descended, the shouts, screams, and clanging of metal grew louder.

“Emmerson, don’t get too far ahead!”
At Alec’s warning, Emmerson slowed his pace somewhat. Alec took the lead, with Yona following right behind him.
Once they reached the bottom of the stairs and passed through an open stone door, they entered a vast catacomb chamber.
And the torches lining the high walls illuminated the interior just enough to see-

“Shit. What the hell is that?”
Standing four times taller than an adult male, with a bulk like five Alecs combined. Its crimson skin bore a massive curving horn atop its head.
With a human torso mounted on reversed goat-like legs, it presented an utterly grotesque visage.

“…Ah, it’s a demon…!”
“Everyone shut up and get into formation-uu!”
At Alec’s shout, the twenty adventurers scattered into their respective parties.
The parties of four or five fanned out across the expansive catacomb chamber.

“Alec, Alec. Calm down, stay calm, okay? Got it?”
Panting heavily, Yona brushed aside the hair sticking to her face.
Alec glanced back at her words.
“Stop worrying about me and just heal this cow’s udders.”
“You focus on your dick.”
Even now, the inane banter.
Yona raised her holy cloth-wrapped hand. Her holy power surged forth, the soothing warmth circulating smoothly through her arm.

“Alec, strike its rear!”
Kairoc’s cry rang out. While Kairoc’s party likely had a vanguard of their own, for some reason Kairoc was currently tanking the demon’s greatswords with his two-handed hammer.

“Yona!”
Hearing Prickery’s voice, Yona turned to look. The goblin mage was gesturing towards a man slumped against a pillar, one arm nearly severed as he gasped raggedly.

“Roch!”
“Hurry Yona!”

If only there were a couple more healers around.
Yona shot Alec a worried glance before rushing over to where Prickery indicated. As she ran, she noticed the grotesque beast wielding greatswords in each multi-headed hand.
It seemed vaguely familiar, yet what did it matter if she had seen it before or not.

“Hey Roch! Are you okay?!”
Yona’s hands grasped Roch’s partially severed arm.
“Aaaaarrgghh!”
Roch screamed in agony. Thrashing as if to shake her off, when Yona refused to let go, he lashed out and struck her across the face.
“Ugh!”

Yona’s head whipped to the side, but she maintained her grip on Roch’s arm. A coppery taste filled her mouth, likely from a split lip.
In this damn world, healing required direct physical contact, not just proximity. Unlike in other novels or anime where a chant was enough to heal from a distance, here the healer’s hands had to literally touch the wound.
More specifically, the wound had to be touched by her holy cloth-wrapped hands.

The holy power circulating through the cloth followed Yona’s hands into Roch’s injury. Accompanied by a soft blue glow, the severed flesh began knitting back together. At this rate, it would soon be fully healed when-

“Yona!”
At Alec’s shout, Yona rolled to the side while still clinging to Roch’s arm. Where she had been crouched, the demon’s greatsword slammed down, kicking up a cloud of dust before withdrawing.

“What are the archers doing? Start shooting!”
Kairoc’s bellow was matched by the demon’s reverberating roar. The clashing of blades and spells, the cries of mages – from the flashes, it seemed the mages were putting up a fierce fight as well.

Confirming Roch’s arm had mended, Yona gave his cheek a few light taps before immediately looking back towards Alec.
As she turned, something whizzed right past her face.
Upon seeing the object embedded in the stone bricks, Yona froze.
It was the haft of Kairoc’s two-handed hammer, vibrating as it was lodged in the wall just inches from her.

“Th-This is…”
Without realizing it, she had collapsed to the ground right there.
Looking towards where that haft had flown from, Yona’s eyes met the demon’s as it loomed over her.
One of its greatsword-wielding arms raised high.
Despite the barrage of attacks from the adventurers, while wounded, the demon still seemed plenty mobile.

The greatsword carved through the air in what seemed like slow motion as it descended towards Yona’s face.
She had to dodge it.
A direct hit would kill her instantly.
Ah…
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Is this how I die?
She had already given up on returning to her original world, but she didn’t want to die in this female body either.
Ah…
The demon’s greatsword filled Yona’s golden eyes as it bore down on her.

“Yona!”
Someone roughly shoved the dazed, kneeling Yona aside. Without even a gasp, she went tumbling, slamming into the wall hard enough to dislodge some bricks.

“What are you doing!? Did you leave your brain back home, you crazy bitch!”
Yona’s glazed eyes refocused on the face thrust into view – the bald Alec, his features sharp in the torchlight.

‘Shit, I’m fucked.’
Kairoc tossed aside his shattered hammer and snatched up an axe from some fallen adventurer. No one traveled without a weapon, so the axe’s owner must have perished.
In Kairoc’s estimation, this wasn’t actually a demon they faced. If a true demon had appeared, the forty adventurers – no, less than thirty now – would be woefully outmatched.
It was likely just an extraordinarily massive monster, the likes of which he had never encountered before.

“Mages, use fire magic! Keep peppering it with flame spells, cycle through! Prickery, you runt, did you think hiding would make you invisible?!”
Kairoc barked orders while cursing everyone around him. Damn it, bitching was the only way to stay alive right now.

“Alec, cover me!”
“Got it!”
Alec came rushing over from the distance, Yona trailing right behind despite her usual boasts of once being male. Her labored panting showed how strenuous this was for her female body.

“Yona, can you still heal?”
“…Y-Yes, I can.”
Alec’s clothes were drenched in blood from multiple wounds. It was difficult to fully block the demon’s greatswords, so he could only deflect them, resulting in injuries.
Yet he remained combat-ready, likely thanks to Yona’s healing.

“Emmerson, how many arrows left?!”
“Not many!”
“Prickery, Freon! Mana reserves?!”
“Almost drained!”

Shit, how amusing. Goddamn hilarious.
Kairoc couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity. The subjugation force of knights and priests who were supposed to handle this demon had never even made it inside.
That these adventurers, most of them only copper-ranked, had held out this long against the beast was astounding. Yet Kairoc understood the reality:
None of them would survive this encounter.
Despite their fervent assault, the monster showed no signs of faltering.

Yona realized the thought running through Kairoc’s mind – because she had been thinking the same.
But then, a notion suddenly occurred to her.

“…No, there might be a way.”
Yona spoke up.
“But I might die doing it.”