Chapter 70
Chapter 70
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Apostle Executioner Anastasia - (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
***
A battlefield drenched crimson in blood of unknown origin.
Rows of ravaged, toppled trees lined the landscape, and a strange heat emanated from the earth, which was stained black with blood and flesh.
And now.
A wave of monsters surged.
Like a great black tide, the monster horde advanced, their footsteps thundering across the battlefield. Yet, the number of humans opposing them was pitifully small.
Facing this horde was a small group of humans, barely forty in number, holding their ground.
Even the various objects installed to block the monsters' advance were now failing, battered by the successive waves.
“…….”
“…”
Nevertheless, the officers and soldiers holding their positions did not waver. Their eyes showed no fear, no hesitation, no doubt, nor any other unstable emotion that would suggest a loss of morale.
It was because a presence they now held not just firm faith in, but absolute trust, was with them on the battlefield.
*Rustle.*
A lukewarm breeze, heated by the battlefield, blew past and enveloped a woman.
Standing several paces ahead of the others, a blue-haired woman held her ground alone.
As her blue hair fluttered in the faint wind, some watched her with eyes full of admiration, while others gazed at her with calm acceptance.
Her title: Apostle Executioner.
With Anastasia, the pillar of the western front, standing with them, they felt a sense of pride just to be on the same battlefield as her.
…
*Clang! Clang-clang!*
*Boom!*
The fierce sounds of clashes with monsters echoed endlessly.
*Grrr….*
The pained cries of monsters rang out continuously. Among them, the occasional shout from an officer or soldier could be heard, but they were few and far between compared to the monsters' screams.
And at the center of this fierce battlefield.
A woman with deep blue hair stood alone.
Standing aloof on the blood-soaked ground, her figure possessed a brilliant beauty that seemed out of place with the gravity of the battlefield.
But the overwhelming aura radiating from her instantly consumed the entire area.
The woman, more often called by her title, Apostle Executioner, had the battlefield completely under her command.
The jeweled sword in her hand, made of blue gemstone, was a product of magitech—a treasure whose ownership had been ‘confirmed’ as hers.
*Slice!*
With a single swing, as if slicing through space itself, the very fabric of the battlefield momentarily warped.
A ‘supernatural phenomenon’ unfolded on a grand scale—something one would struggle to believe even after witnessing it firsthand.
*Thud. Thump, thud-thud!*
The majority of the monsters that had been rushing toward her collapsed to the ground in an instant, as if they were a single entity.
Then, just as a massive drake swooped down from the sky to crush her.
*–––!*
A clear, cutting sound rang out, and the drake's body was instantly split in two, collapsing to the ground.
Despite being on the same battlefield, some of the officers and soldiers couldn’t even see the moment she swung her sword.
They only saw the massive spray of blood from the drake’s cleaved body paint the air,
*Craaash! Crash!*
and witnessed the overwhelming divine power of Anastasia as a cascade of monsters were crushed to death under the drake's falling corpse.
As her blue hair was slowly stained with blood, Anastasia's expression remained utterly calm.
As if she were observing a perfectly ordinary reality…
…
*Click.*
After spending hours on the battlefield, Anastasia returned to her quarters.
*Swish, swish.*
As if by habit, she picked up a pure white towel prepared by the entrance and began to wipe herself down.
She meticulously wiped her body, caked in a mixture of sticky and dried blood, then slowly began to remove her officer's uniform, now stained so red its original color was lost.
*Swish, swish.*
Soon, Anastasia, her pale, naked form without a single thread on it, found her gaze drawn to her hands. No matter how much she wiped with the towel, the bloodstains wouldn't come off easily.
Her hands, the most exposed to the blood, couldn't be cleaned just by wiping. The sticky, caked-on blood would only wash away with a proper cleansing.
It wasn’t just her hands. After running her fingers through her hair, which was strangely sticky with blood, Anastasia headed straight for the shower.
*Click!*
As soon as she entered the shower, she activated the magic stone. Moments later, a stream of warm water began to pour down.
*Swoooosh—*
“……”
The warm water pattered against her chilled body. A blank sigh escaped her lips at the steady sound of the water in her ears.
“Haa.”
It felt as if the frigid heat that had filled her body on the battlefield was finally being released.
As the tension in her entire body eased, her rigid heart could finally relax a little. As she ran her hand through her sticky hair, she was struck by an unexpected feeling of loneliness.
As she wondered how much warmth her chilled body would need to absorb to regain its natural temperature, a corner of her heart felt completely empty.
More than her body being cold… her heart felt even more desolate.
And so, her younger sister’s face suddenly came to mind.
Beneath the same blue hair, a cold face, different from her own. But she was just clumsy at expressing her emotions; a terribly cute younger sister who had always tried to show her affection.
“How many years has it been since I last saw Glacia?”
The thought came unbidden, and she realized a long time had passed.
In terms of years, it had already been three. The last time I saw Glacia was when I graduated from the academy… that was already three years ago.
Staring blankly at the pouring water, a small laugh escaped her.
“I really am… a terrible sister.”
Three years was a very long time.
She thought she had provided Glacia with as much support as she could during that time, but still, Glacia had to live alone at a young age.
A time when she would have longed for the warmth of family. As her older sister, I should have been there for her. But I couldn't.
And she had heard the news of her sister's enrollment in the academy only a few days ago.
That Glacia had been granted the unique trait, Guidance of the Wind, and had been assigned to the A1-Class, considered the top class in the academy, excluding royalty.
Watching the sticky bloodstains wash away under the water drenching her body… her heart stirred.
“…Three years.”
Most officers serve on the front lines for one or two years before taking a kind of break.
It was essential to have time to recover, as day after day on the battlefield drained both mind and body.
But. She had been on the front lines for nearly three years, ignoring even that. She had dedicated herself to this empire.
Naturally, various offers had already come her way. The ceremony for her peerage, granted for her military achievements, had been postponed for quite some time, and there were countless medals and other honors waiting for her back in the empire.
She had lost count of how many times her superiors had recently told her she could take a rest.
“……”
Objectively speaking, she was in a position where she could say she had earned her merits.
So, not only would no one object to her taking a break, but many people actively wished for her to do so.
*Swoooosh—*
Even as the warm water cascaded over her, she frowned.
But.
“…Why?”
Lately, a feeling of anxiety, or perhaps a sense of crisis, had been welling up in a corner of her heart.
There was no reason for such feelings, no basis at all.
And yet, she had this strange intuition, as if she shouldn't leave this battlefield.
That anxiety and sense of crisis kept pushing her from behind, making it difficult for her to leave the front.
“…”
She gently placed a hand on her chest, lost in thought, before finally nodding.
“Let’s take a break, even if it’s a short one.”
This emptiness, this void in her heart. She felt she had to fill it somehow.
Even if her body could endure and her mind could persevere, she couldn't possibly fill the loneliness that felt so hollow.
It would slowly eat away at her spirit.
She wanted to take this opportunity to return to the empire, take care of her postponed affairs, and at the same time, meet Glacia and get some proper rest.
As an officer, visiting the academy was possible. More than anything else, she wanted to see Glacia.
Her cute little sister must have grown up to be a fine young woman.
She believed without a doubt that her own heart, worn down by the battlefield, would surely be filled with warm comfort upon seeing her.
…
As she surrendered her body to the warm stream of water, Anastasia held a small hope.
For her reunion with Glacia after so long.
***
—C1-Class Lecture Hall.
“Good work, everyone. That's all for today's lecture.”
Kalli announced the end of the afternoon lecture from the podium.
Immediately, students began to rise from their seats and head out of the classroom. Their expressions were mostly bright, relieved by Kalli's slightly diminished coldness.
But. There was one student who did not get up.
“Well, Han Cheon-seong. Good luck today.”
David said with a smirk, and Cheon-seong nodded blankly.
“…Yeah. You go train, too.”
He felt strange as he replied.
Lately, Kalli had been calling him out publicly so often that the situation itself was becoming familiar.
—Cadet Han Cheon-seong, follow the instructor after class.
Before finishing the lecture, Kalli had suddenly said this, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
He had things to discuss with Kalli about the training room anyway, so he had been hoping for the summons and had no objections.
But it was the fact that he was called out in such a ‘public setting’ that felt so odd.
The other students leaving the classroom now, the way their eyes flickered toward him as they left, was proof of that.
“…”
“He’s got it tough.”
“I know, right…”
The gazes of the other students were all filled with pity, sympathy, and… condolence for him. It would be awkward to try and explain, so he just accepted it calmly.
‘It’s not bad at all being with Kalli, though.’
Because Kalli was so cold to the students during lectures, they all misunderstood.
It would be strange for him to say that outside of lectures, Kalli wasn't cold and was actually quite kind. The other students had never seen that side of her, so even if he said it, it wouldn't really sink in…
*Scrape.*
He slowly rose to his feet. Kalli seemed to be in a pretty good mood today.
Her iciness had lessened throughout the lecture, and she hadn't shot him any sharp glares. It seemed her conversation with Adelia had gone quite well.
*Step.*
As he walked toward Kalli, he organized his thoughts.
‘I’ll have to sacrifice one day of the weekend, I guess?’
It might look a bit strange to others if he was always seen with Kalli on weekdays.
“Cadet Han Cheon-seong.”
“Yes, Instructor.”
“You have time today, right?”
Kalli asked lightly, looking at him, and he nodded in return.
“Yes, I do.”
The moment he answered.
He… finally remembered.
He must have been out of it, because he had completely forgotten.
‘Today’s the day I’m meeting Glacia…’
He smiled awkwardly and immediately corrected himself.
“Ah. I should be free until 6 PM.”
“Is that so? 6 o’clock. That should be just enough time.”
Kalli nodded at his words and started walking. As he matched her pace, his eyes suddenly widened.
‘Why?’
Why was Glacia standing in front of our classroom? For a moment, he couldn't understand.
He was sure they'd agreed to meet twice a week, on Tuesdays and Sundays.
And since he had a lecture on Tuesday, he remembered they had agreed to meet at 6 PM.
“Han Cheon-seong.”