Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Holy Nation (8)
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EX-Rank Blacksmith Shin Yujun.
S-Rank Wind Mage Kwon Yena.
And even Kim Hyeji, the (current) bandit who started at E-Rank but could awaken endlessly beyond S-Rank depending on her equipment.
Until now, there had only been ten S-Rank Awakeners worldwide by global standards. Yet three had been born in South Korea at once.
However, that didn't mean Korea had been exceptionally lucky or stolen all the fortune allocated to other countries.
Among them, the Holy Nation guild in Italy had also produced an Awakener of considerable significance.
It was regrettable that she was only A-Rank, but her abilities were as special as any S-Rank.
Meteorologist.
If the right conditions were met, she could summon rain from a clear sky.
Under slightly overcast skies, she could call down thunder and lightning—a conditional wide-area ability.
The moment this power was confirmed, the Holy Nation's Guild Master Gregorio judged that he could finally execute a plan he'd long considered.
Replacing the Saintess.
To be precise, it was about installing a controllable figure as the new Saintess in place of the current uncontrollable one.
In a way, wasn't a Meteorologist who could wield supernatural phenomena more fitting for the role of Saintess than Veronica Estelle, who could only use healing skills?
The moment the conditions were met, he moved to action immediately.
For this plan to succeed, he needed a pretext, a situation, and perfect timing to replace the Saintess.
He determined that it would be the old Saintess's death coinciding with the new Saintess's miraculous feats.
More accurately, the honorable death of the Saintess, followed by miraculous deeds that would make everyone forget that moment of crisis.
——
The old Saintess dies, and the new one performs miracles?
The only place where such coincidences might occur was an S-Rank Gate, of course.
The moment Gregorio confirmed the Meteorologist's abilities, the entire plan crystallized in his mind.
Operation name: Feint East, Strike West.
While the old Saintess's party drew all the aggro and held out, Gregorio and the new Saintess's group would head to the deepest part and target the Gate's core.
The zombie squad relying on the old Saintess's endless healing to pull the monsters' aggro was a tactic he'd considered long before.
But to make that happen, they needed a way to dump all the monsters on the old Saintess's group.
And what made that possible was, of course, the Meteorologist.
The so-called Fire Hell Gate was an environment extremely vulnerable to water, practically made of fire itself.
The monsters were no different.
Until now, the Gate was simply too vast—without an S-Rank water mage, there was no solution.
But the Meteorologist born in the Holy Nation could blanket the entire Gate in torrential rain if minimal conditions were set, securing safety and controlling the monsters' movements.
A being who could rival S-Rank power if the environment was prepared.
And the Holy Nation's vanguard had established those minimal conditions.
Three A-Rank water mages and three warrior-class Awakeners to support their mobility.
The only guild they'd sought cooperation from to secure two A-Rank water mages was Sicario.
They needed over four hours because they had to create an environment for the Meteorologist to shine.
They endlessly generated water in various spots, forming massive clouds overhead as much as possible.
Thanks to that, the Meteorologist unleashed a miracle upon entering the Gate, pouring rain over the Fire Hell.
This allowed Gregorio's group to move safely toward the core, concealed by the downpour.
And all the Gate's monsters could be dumped onto the old Saintess's zombie legion.
Thus, the new Saintess's feats would destroy the core effortlessly, while the old one met an honorable end.
"Hold out as long as you can until support arrives. Only unwavering faith creates miracles."
And what pieced this puzzle together was Gregorio's talent for incitement.
——
Let's communicate.
The four letters that inexplicably made me burst out laughing arrived as a message, and I immediately initiated the regular customer protocol.
I had no idea exactly what situation she was in.
That was why I couldn't execute the original plan of rescuing her instantly with [Regular Customer Summon] the moment she needed help.
After the Saintess first rejected real-time communication via the regular customer protocol, I realized something.
Depending on her situation, my help might come across as overstepping.
I needed to offer appropriate aid based on her circumstances.
But figuring out the situation first might be too late.
So, excluding [Regular Customer Summon]—which would halt the Gate raid entirely—I decided to provide maximum help in every other way.
The transaction with buyer 'Holy Piss' has been completed! Contract conditions must be fulfilled, and cancellation is possible only by mutual agreement.
It was a shame the Light attribute didn't appear for the staff's property infusion, but I hadn't expected much anyway.
The Fire attribute would help Chae Yeonhwa more than the Saintess right now.
Considering her immediate situation, getting a Water-attribute staff was actually pretty lucky.
Compared to her original staff, the stat boosts were overwhelmingly superior, and given the current Gate's nature, gaining Water-attribute skills alone could make a huge difference.
Regular customer 'Holy Piss' has permitted status window sharing!
As expected, the Saintess's stats were monstrous.
I also learned that after SSS+, it wasn't EX but ∞.
Putting aside admiring the Saintess's status window for now, I first gave the blacksmith's thumbs-up and explained the newly usable skills.
'We're connected for real-time communication now, so if you have a moment, please tell me the situation.'
After doing everything I could right away...
All that was left was...
Wait again.
To figure out how to help more efficiently, I examined her status window closely.
The biggest oddity was that her Strength, Stamina, and Agility were all E-Rank, on par with Shin Yujun.
'Boastful Blacksmith.'
Then, her voice finally reached me, drawing my full attention.
'I'm... in a really dire situation. Any more help seems pointless... so just give up...'
The Saintess's first words after staying silent were a declaration of giving up on life.
——
It wasn't strange for the Saintess to declare surrender.
She'd held out only because two protectors blocked front and back, but now one had just given up life, leaving only one.
Thanks to the Sacrifice Command skill, they were barely enduring, but it didn't seem sustainable much longer.
"It looks like we don't have much time left..."
The water bubble that had bought them a brief respite was shrinking again.
Gregorio's support wasn't arriving, and communication remained cut off.
This was a situation for final farewells, not hoping for next time.
"...Thank you for holding out this long."
"..."
Even holding out until now would have been impossible without the man before her.
He'd made the panicked raiders prioritize protecting the Saintess, and he'd stayed until the end, honoring his word.
With the body of a non-Awakener, no less.
"I'm truly sorry, but... I don't think I can hold out any longer..."
Paradoxically, the Saintess had reached her limit first.
Shamefully, the non-Awakener elder still had some strength left.
"...The moment this water bubble vanishes, we'll run for the Gate entrance. Hold on just a bit more."
...
Who was telling whom to hold on?
More than anyone, the powerless elder was the one enduring patiently.
"Why... no, how can you go this far...?"
"Just focus on surviving for now... Veronica."
"Yes?!"
In this moment, the elder's smile overlapped with a familiar face somewhere.
"You...! Who are you?!"
Wuuuung—
At that instant, the bubble fully contracted, sucked into the water staff.
Hwaaak—
The elder hoisted the Saintess onto his back and bolted toward the Gate entrance.
The Saintess had already scraped together every last drop of mana.
"Kuh... ugh..."
Whenever even a trickle regenerated, she force-fed him heals, constantly sustaining internal injuries.
Hwarrrrr—!!
Even after scraping mana for a heal moments ago, the accumulating damage overwhelmed him, and the elder's body crumbled.
The moment the Saintess sensed death...
"Your name... at least tell me your name at the end!"
She truly felt how incredible the elder's sacrifices had been, holding the line on death's edge.
"Cough... ugh..."
But he was already beyond speaking.
"..."
The Saintess closed her eyes for the final time as massive flames engulfed them.
——
[Regular Customer Summon]