Let's rewind back a few minutes to Saito's perspective.
He stood there unable to move and for the first time since his transformation, he was feeling fear. He wasn't sure if it was due to his new body or a side effect of the powder itself but he wasn't sweating.
He didn't know what was going on. He was guaranteed to kill this blonde warrior, go back home and be seen as a hero. What went wrong? Was he hit by some sort of illusion or body magic? No, they wouldn't wait this long to bust that out. He wondered if the woman had done anything but she looked just as confused as him.
His body was in agonizing pain. It felt as though he had blood replaced with molten steel. Yet he could do nothing about it. He couldn't move any part of his, the pain resistance of this new body was doing nothing and each time he tried to use that new magic he gained, nothing happened. It was as if the last few minutes were a dream and reality decided it was time to throw the cold water on him. He soon started to cough up blood.
("Why is this happening? I was granted power by my God was I not? My lord provided me with power in a time of need, so why? I was to be a Saint of a God that had none, so why? Why did this have to happen?")
An unnerving thought soon entered his head. He tried to bury it but it kept surfacing. He rejected it with all his might. He had to. If this thought was right then he had no hope.
What if…
("STOP!!")
This power…
("please")
was an accident?
He let it through. He was no special and unheard-of Saint in the cult. His lord didn't save him. It was simply luck.
After using the divine powder, one would be hit with a slew of generally unpleasant effects. It usually varied from person to person but overuse had a common side effect.
Death
Although this transformation wasn't heard about there was probably a good reason. Either the powder killed them as soon as they used the whole pouch or it killed them before it could be reported to anyone. What probably happened was nothing more than an anomaly. He gained this new body but it didn't change the fact he ingested (or accurately absorbed) a whole bag of powder that at minimum would serve him for two months. All it did was prolong his death.
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He soon fell to his knees and cursed himself forever thinking he had gotten an easy way out of this. He fell to the floor and soon looked up to the sky. His vision darkened and he reached towards a strange light he saw in the darkness.
The life known as Saito then left this world.
The adventurers stood around him confused. They didn't know the context behind it so they had no idea what had happened before them. However, this was no time to dilly dally and they got to work treating the wounded. What to do with the monster's corpse and his paralyzed lackeys could come later.
After around an hour Ezekiel regained consciousness. He jerked up and cautiously looked around. He saw Saito's body and jumped back but the fact the monster was lying on the ground stopped him in his tracks. He then looked to Lily who was nearby and immediately asked
"How!?"
Lily looked him in the eyes and shrugged her shoulders.
"You're a bit late to the party," Elizabeth said while sitting near a tree.
"You're still alive after that!?"
"Would you have preferred to have seen a makeshift grave nearby?"
Ezekiel looked dazed and quickly responded.
"No but," he paused for a second. "How are we alive?"
Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. She then reached into a large pouch on her side.
"We tested to see if his blood was poisoned by giving some to a nearby rabbit but it seemed like it gave it more energy. It tried its best to bite Lily's finger off before we decided to kill it."
Lily looked embarrassed when she said and turned her face away.
She continued and held out her hand with the contents of her pouch "And all we found in his pockets were a few gold coins and this pouch. Although it's strange now that I think that it doesn't have any blood stains on it like the coins"
Ezekiel walked over to her and examined the pouch himself. He looked inside and was surprised to see it empty.
"There wasn't anything already in this when you got it right?"
Elizabeth found his question strange and responded "No, why?"
Ezekiel had a look of relief on his face. Elizabeth was further confused by this.
"See, the thing is, I got a friend in the capital and he told me about this. Didn't think I'd see one here though."
Elizabeth was looking at him for further explanation.
"So basically, he saw one of these priest guys put some black powder in his mouth and managed to fight back and escape. They search for him and a few hours later they find him dead clutching his heart though it seems his lackeys took his goodies with them."
He walked over to Saito and examined him.
"So what exactly happened to him?"
Elizabeth then explained the events that took place when he was unconscious.
"Oh, so he probably overdosed or got hit with side effects."
He then kicked the monster's body.
"Why couldn't you have just fallen dead then and there when you took it, you bastard!"
Elizabeth then spoke to him
"Are seriously telling me this bastard just got lucky to have survived this long."
He got one more kick in.
"Basically. (well I'm not exactly sure but it seems like it)"
An audible groan came from all the adventurers present.