The Golden Light of Salvation
The moment Miroel embraced me, my vision changed completely.
All this time, I had prided myself on possessing the fraudulent 5-star trait. I believed no one had sharper eyes than I did. But I was wrong.
The world Miroel saw was on an entirely different level. She could perceive things so far away they seemed unreachable. It felt as if her sight expanded boundlessly, as though there was nothing she couldn’t see.
'So this is how Miroel sees the world.'
No. It had to be even more than this.
After all—
Right now, my condition was only a fraction of Miroel’s true power.
-Even though your possession time has increased thanks to the disciple’s doping and growth, one minute is still the limit.
At that moment, Miroel’s voice echoed inside my head. I nodded quietly in response.
Then, with a confident tone, I spoke.
“That will be more than enough.”
As I said this, I shifted my gaze toward Sherry.
I immediately poured mana into the Bow of the Beginning.
-Vwoooong.
What appeared was completely different from anything I had summoned before. Instead of a form made purely of mana, a real bow materialized. Thick, dense mana even rippled across its surface.
Had she noticed the change?
-Fwoooosh!
Sherry swiftly created an orb of black flames. At the same time, countless streams of black fire erupted from it and surged toward me.
-Shwaaaaa!
The black flames hurtled forward, scorching the air. This attack was far faster than before.
If this had been before the possession, I wouldn’t have been able to react properly. But now—
-Vwoooooong.
It looked incredibly slow, as if time itself had stopped.
I breathed in slowly.
-Whooooosh!
In less than a second, the mana floating in the atmosphere rushed into me. It felt as though I had become one with nature itself.
I reshaped the gathered mana into the form of an arrow.
The next instant—
-Crackle!
Sparks flew from the arrow made of dense mana. It seemed the sheer volume of power had caused an overload.
I quietly nocked the sparking arrow onto the bowstring.
Then I looked at the flames flying toward me.
-Fwoooooosh!
The black flames roared forward with the intent to burn everything in their path.
I stared at them calmly.
Then, I slowly drew the bowstring back and—
-Whiiiiiiir!
Released it.
The next moment—
-Keeeeeeeeee!
A sharp ringing tore through my ears.
I stared at the scene before me. With a single shot, the flames had been split apart.
But that wasn’t all.
-Kwaaaaaaaaang!
The orb that I had thought was like a sun exploded in an instant.
Sherry’s eyes widened in shock at the unexpected outcome.
“Huh?”
It was only natural for her to be so surprised. The power I was displaying right now was, objectively speaking, beyond even the level of a professor.
“Ugh!”
At that moment, her face flushed red as she unleashed her mana.
-Whaaaaaaa!
An enormous amount of mana erupted from her body. It was clear that her strengthened state had increased her mana capacity to an entirely different scale than before.
But perhaps because of the brainwashing?
“The Sherry I know isn’t this reckless.”
She was simply releasing her mana without any thought. Her control was even sloppier than before.
-You can use Type 1 now, disciple.
Miroel’s voice rang inside my head once again.
Thanks to her possession, the knowledge of Type 1 flashed through my mind.
'This should work.'
The reason I hadn’t used the Purification Arrow until now was simple. I feared the arrow would burn up before it could withstand Sherry’s attacks.
That was why I had to wait for a clear opening.
However, if I used the Type 1 Miroel had just mentioned, I could definitely strike her heart.
-Vwoong.
I took out the Purification Arrow from my spatial pouch.
The moment Sherry saw it, her delicate brows furrowed. It seemed she instinctively sensed that the arrow I had just drawn was dangerous.
-Fwoooooosh!
The mana pouring from her body began gathering above her head. An orb even larger than before formed. It was so massive it truly resembled the sun itself.
“I’ll make it comfortable for you, Baran.”
With tears streaming down her face, she swung her hand downward. The sun floating in the sky began to descend slowly.
It held the kind of power that could burn everything in the world equally.
-Rumble…!
As proof, the surrounding forest had already begun blazing fiercely from the aftershock. If this continued, the entire forest would turn into charcoal. Not only that, but Kanya and Risa would surely die as well.
Yet, perhaps thanks to the Composure trait? Or maybe because my power had grown to an entirely different dimension?
Even though only fifteen seconds of possession time remained, I felt strangely at ease.
-Vwoooooong.
I absorbed the mana floating in the atmosphere once again. Pure, untainted mana gathered in my hand.
It had taken roughly eight seconds to prepare this far.
-Crackle!
Using the mana gathered in my hand, I interfered with the space between Sherry and myself. A tiny distortion appeared—visible only to my eyes.
-7 seconds.
I nocked the silver arrow onto the bow and poured every ounce of mana in my body into it.
-6 seconds.
The next instant, thick mana overlaid the arrow.
“Kyaaaaaaa!”
A scream came from behind me.
-Kwaaaaaaaaang!
A massive explosion erupted from the shelter.
But I kept my focus solely on Sherry.
-5 seconds.
I pulled the bowstring with enough force to nearly snap it.
-4 seconds.
Looking at Sherry, I opened my mouth.
“It’s time to come back now, Miss Sherry.”
With those words, I released the bowstring.
-3 seconds.
Just before the Purification Arrow entered the distorted space—
-Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!
Due to the spatial distortion, the sun descending from the sky exploded before it could even touch the ground.
-2 seconds.
The Purification Arrow crossed through the distorted space.
A brief silence fell between us.
Sherry’s lips curled upward, thinking the arrow must have failed to withstand the pressure.
But at that exact moment—
-1 second.
The arrow I had just fired appeared right in front of Sherry.
Her eyes widened in disbelief at the impossible sight.
-0 seconds.
The Purification Arrow finally pierced straight through her heart.
Everything went pitch black.
The only thing around me was thick darkness. I couldn’t see a single path forward.
-How disappointing, my daughter. A Patrick lady should naturally take the top spot.
A voice I didn’t want to hear echoed in my ears. It was my father’s voice, always filled with disappointment. At first I had simply wished for things to return to how they used to be, but before I knew it, the only word that came from his mouth was “disappointing.”
-Did you hear? They say a woman named Luden took the top spot this time.
-Really? Not Sherry?
-Yeah. I heard Sherry only got second place.
-Whoa. That’s actually pretty shocking.
The voices evaluating her swirled around me. The moment she lost the top spot, the students around her began looking at her with pity.
The memories flooding into my mind stabbed at my heart. It was a painfully familiar sensation.
Normally, I would have brushed off such words without a second thought. But perhaps my heart had grown too weary. It felt like I could no longer endure it.
All I wanted was to sink into this deep darkness.
Just when I wished someone would save me—
-I’m not sure if someone like me has the right to say this, but your power is far greater than mine.
-You may not realize it, but to me, your mana burns brighter than anyone else’s. If you gain just a little more confidence, you’ll be able to control your mana with even greater precision.
A warm voice reached my ears. Unlike all the people who had only ever judged me, this voice was filled with genuine sincerity.
Even though it was simple advice, to me it was like a single ray of light.
And then—
A single beam of light shone down through the pitch-black surroundings. Golden light enveloped her as if it had come to save her.
Sherry did not resist the light that wrapped around her.
That was the moment her will broke free from Jack’s brainwashing.
I briefly looked around.
The surrounding area had been completely devastated by the final use of Type 1—Space Arrow. Just how powerful was it that a single shot could twist space itself?
While I clicked my tongue and scanned the destruction, a voice called out.
“Mister Baran! Are you okay!?”
Risa, who had been hiding behind a tree, came running toward me in a panic.
I slowly nodded at her question.
“Yes, I’m fine. More importantly, could you please check on Miss Kanya?”
“Ah, yes!”
She nodded and rushed over to the fallen Kanya.
-Kwaaaaaaaaang!
A tremendous explosion erupted from the shelter. It was obvious that a fierce battle was currently taking place inside.
Well, things had now returned to the original storyline. If it continued like this, the subjugation force would surely finish things on their own.
I quietly called out to Miroel.
“Master.”
There was no response. I had known it from the moment the possession began, but it seemed Miroel had fallen back into slumber within the Bow of the Beginning.
'She said she could come out again in a week, so it should be fine.'
Just as I was thinking that—
Act 1 Final Main Episode Cleared!
📍 Page 1: Sand Golem defeated before the main episode began! Additional rewards granted!
📍 Page 2: Successfully saved Sherry von Patrick, the mid-boss, without killing her! Additional rewards granted!
📍 Page 3: Defeated Jack the Brainwasher, a Demon Army executive, without any casualties! Final rewards granted!
Countless reward messages flooded my vision.