Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Signs of the Hexagram #02
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Slash─!!
"Agh! My leg! My leg!"
"Don't come closer recklessly! You'll just get in the High Priest's way!"
As one priest rolled on the floor covered in blood, the Hexagram followers who had been lunging at Sion began to hesitate and fall back.
With the followers who had been targeting her rear finally gone, Sion could at last focus on Rexton, who stood before the exit sneering at her.
"You're putting up quite a fight. If you'd shown this level of skill back during the duel, I wouldn't have had any reason to abandon you, would I?"
"Shut your trap, you bastard. When you were laid up in the hospital, I should've jammed that dagger right into the center of your face instead of the side."
Rexton grinned slyly, and Sion barely managed to rein in her surging rage with the artifact's power. She knew better than anyone that her skills plummeted when she got emotional—it was obvious he was deliberately trying to rile her up.
"Oh, wait—did that dimwitted moron Arthin promise you some money if you threw the fight? Or maybe he vowed to stitch up that cobwebbed hag of yours?"
"──Don't you dare slander Young Master like that, you filthy worm!"
Sion had been clinging to her composure by a thread, but when Rexton dragged Arthin into his insults, she lost it completely and charged straight at him.
And that was precisely what Rexton had wanted. He swung his staff, and the demonic energy permeating the area coalesced into five chains that hurtled toward Sion.
Clang! Claaang!
Sion's rapier flashed like lightning, and the chains of demonic energy scattered harmlessly against the aura sword rippling along her blade tip.
However, these weren't ordinary chains—they were woven from demonic energy itself. Each time Sion shattered them, the fragments launched aggressively at her. She dodged and repositioned, but she couldn't stop the wounds from piling up as some grazed her body.
"Why so furious? Fallen for that Arthin trash? You're the one who started calling him a dimwitted idiot, remember?"
"Shut up! Young Master accepted even a wretch like me! He's not someone a lowlife like you gets to insult!"
Sion ground her teeth. Pressing the attack while steadily accumulating wounds was the way a hunter cornered its prey—a fighting style perfectly matched to Rexton's obsessive penchant for tormenting others.
'That hospital-bed thug—how the hell does he have this kind of power...!'
She gnashed her teeth, but nothing changed. The space was thick with demonic energy, and Rexton—who had always shown freakish talent for necromancy—displayed a natural gift for wielding it as well.
The only reason she'd lasted this long was thanks to the artifact Young Master Arthin had gifted her. But it wouldn't hold out forever. With a temperament so similar to Rexton's, Sion could sense he was about to go for the kill.
"Ha, calling the kid you tormented for nearly ten years 'Young Master'? I ended up in this shithole for lacking talent, but you're just utterly shameless."
"....You...damn bastard..."
He's baiting me for an opening to finish it. The instant that thought crossed her mind, Rexton's words hit her like a thunderbolt, shaking her to her core.
Rexton couldn't stifle his laughter at the blatant turmoil in Sion's eyes. While he'd wallowed in defeat and humiliation back in his hospital room, this discarded mad dog was fawning over the boy she'd sunk her teeth into all these years, calling him "Young Master"—it was laughably pathetic.
'No wonder I feared a bitch like her. Arthin must've thought I was a real joke.'
In that moment, bored of his toy, Rexton scowled in boredom and slammed his staff down. Dozens of chains—far beyond the previous ones—surged toward Sion.
"You're nothing special after all. Time to drop."
Seeing Rexton unleash the chains while yawning in boredom, Sion realized the moment she'd been waiting for had arrived. At the same time, the artifact's red gem began radiating intense light.
In that instant, Rexton sensed the powerful, multifaceted mana surging from the artifact's glow. His smug expression froze, twisting into panic.
"What did you just—"
Hoo──
As Sion drew in a deep breath, time itself seemed to halt.
The artifact's magic was a super-acceleration state via quintuple haste spell. Young Master Arthin had warned it only lasted a split second, but for Sion in this moment, that was more than enough.
──Crash.
"...the hell? You psycho?!"
In that instant, all of Rexton's manifested chains shattered. He scrambled backward, but bereft of any talent in martial arts or swordsmanship, he couldn't reposition faster than an Imperial Knight's charge.
"──Die, you moron!!"
With the distance down to three steps, Sion opted not to dodge past Rexton and flee—instead, she went for his heart.
And that was the worst possible choice.
💕 DEMONIC WHISPER 💕 [Looks dangerous♡ Should I lend a hand, dear?] A faint whisper audible only to Rexton. At the same moment, an intense pink flash streaked through Sion's eyes, halting her blade just shy of his skin.
"...W-what? What just happened?"
"What occurred right there?"
The followers, who had watched the split-second clash in bated breath, began murmuring. With neither party saying a word, these talentless losers—who skulked about licking each other's wounds—couldn't comprehend what had happened.
Thud.
"...Th-the knightswoman collapsed! The High Priest has won!"
In the end, Sion was the one who fell. As the followers erupted in cheers at the sight, Rexton swallowed hard inwardly.
💕 TELEPATHIC LINK 💕 [Rexton: I... I nearly died. Thank you, Lady Liliet.]
[No worries~ You're working so hard for the Demon King; how could I not help with this much♡?] The close call with death at Sion's hands left Rexton drenched in cold sweat. Had he not contracted with Liliet—if she hadn't intervened—his heart would've been ripped out in under 0.1 seconds.
💕 SOUL PACT 💕 [Rexton: I will repay this debt. I'll offer that woman as tribute so you can descend upon the Academy yourself, Lady Liliet!]
[Hehe♡ Such enthusiasm is a delight to behold♡ Let's keep supporting each other, hmm?] Rexton's contract with Liliet had been a stroke of immense fortune. Fresh from the hospital and drowning in resentment, he'd stumbled into the Hexagram social club—a pathetic gathering of untalented students munching snacks and pretending at camaraderie.
But who could've guessed the summoning scroll passed only to the club president was a genuine incantation to call forth a Demon King's vassal? Even the previous president, who'd proudly shown it off to Rexton, had no idea.
The summoning circle hadn't activated amid all the dregs because it needed real power. When necromancy prodigy Rexton participated, it truly engaged—and what descended was Liliet, the Dream Demon Lord, whom only he could commune with.
In that fateful twist, Rexton eagerly accepted her whispered contract. He declared himself the sole High Priest capable of summoning the great one and resolved to transform Hexagram into a true cult.
The weak-willed fell instantly to Liliet's temptation authority. He'd locked the old club president—who'd welcomed him warmly—and the few strong-willed holdouts away on basement level 3. No one left could oppose him.
'I'll use this Hexagram as my launchpad to become the era's true victor..!! Arthin, who scorned me; the household staff who pitied me; that arrogant Shaomei who spurned my love—all of them..!!'
Drunk on overwhelming demonic power and triumph, Rexton was approached cautiously by one of his priest-class followers.
"What shall we do with this woman, High Priest?"
Snap out of his victory high, Rexton gazed with dead eyes at Sion sprawled on the floor. She was still breathing—not dead.
💕 DEMONIC WHISPER 💕 [Rexton: What did you do to her? Knockout? Paralysis?]
[Hehehe, something even better♡ I trapped her in an endless hallucination of being verbally torn apart by the very kid she'd always abused. Not bad, right?] Not bad? That's perfect. Rexton thought to himself. Sion calling Arthin "Young Master"? Ridiculous.
"Toss that woman into the cavern on basement level 3. We'll use her as the sacrifice for the final rite—don't let her die."
Rexton sneered and flicked his hand. The priest bowed deeply, hoisted the unconscious Sion, and began dragging her toward basement level 3.
The red gem still pinned to Sion's chest continued to glow.
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