Chapter 234
Chapter 234
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 234
Chapter Title: Verita's Madness
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Verita's neck wasn't cleanly severed with a thunk.
That said, it wasn't just a glancing wound either.
The blade successfully carved a fatal gash across the nun's body, from her left collarbone to her right side.
Blood sprayed from her pitch-black nun's habit.
"You mad bastard...!"
Even as he spat curses, Chain Sickle stayed true to his mission. With uncanny control, he hurled his chain and secured the jar.
"......!"
The eyes of everyone in the chamber turned to Chain Sickle. A few quick thinkers were already charging toward him.
I shouted.
"Run!"
Chain Sickle clutched the jar to his chest and bolted straight for the entrance he'd come from.
At the same time, I tensed my knees and plunged into the fray.
Boom!
My slightly rough landing kicked up clouds of dust and shards of stone in every direction.
I planted myself like a cork in the entrance, smirking as I did.
"Where's the fire?"
"......"
If Chain Sickle made it back to the starting point with the jar like this, our team would win.
Well, not exactly a win, but we'd get the highest score, anyway.
'But come to think of it, why the hell am I even bothering?'
All I needed was to pass this exam.
I didn't give a damn how Heros evaluated me. As long as I secured B-rank hero status, that was it.
And yet here I was, risking my life like some score-obsessed maniac.
I clicked my tongue inwardly, but with things this far along, I couldn't back out now.
'Six opponents.'
Safe to assume they were all C-rank heroes. There wasn't much merit in B-ranks or higher bothering with the promotion exam.
Except for special cases like Erudi.
That didn't mean I could let my guard down, though.
These guys were a well-coordinated team that knew how to leverage their numbers.
Unlike the dim-witted bats I'd just fought, the Seven Sins Sword alone wouldn't cut it here.
No room for arrogance. I opted to meet them with the White Sun Eclipse.
I could distinctly feel the three meridians extending from my heart throughout my body.
I charged through these channels.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted from my dantian, spreading through me in an instant.
After a few days of rest and recovery on the way to Tefer, my internal energy control had improved dramatically from before.
'Just a bit more polish, and...'
I might be able to enter the whitening state on command.
The dwarf at the front lunged at me, swinging his axe without a word.
The momentum infused in the blade was fierce, but surprisingly restrained. Enough to deal a serious wound, but not to kill?
Of course, these things were subjective, so you had to gauge them from the opponent's vibe or expression rather than the raw energy in the weapon.
'None of these six are out for blood, anyway.'
Maybe that's why Verita had held up—none of them were using killing blows.
Or perhaps she'd been holding back herself.
Since they weren't serious, I played defensive while stealing a glance at Verita.
She stood steady despite a wound that should've dropped her, her expression betraying no pain.
Instead, she wore her signature faint smile as she addressed the knight who'd slashed her.
"Feeling calmer now?"
"What?"
"I apologize for what happened in the first exam. But with time running out, that was the best I could do."
"Your best? Do you even know what happened to my mentor because of your insane stunt?"
"Your mentor—Lady Erudi, you mean?"
"That's right! She'll never know peace for the rest of her days! She'll spend her life on the run, only to end up torn apart by pursuers in some pathetic death!"
"How tragic. The Dark Cult truly shows no mercy to apostates. How about this, then? We protect your mentor on behalf of the cult."
"...What?"
The knight froze at the unexpected offer.
"I know what kind of person Lady Erudi is. I heard her confession in the first exam. She seemed genuinely repentant of her past and focused on the present. Decades in Heros proved her sincerity. It was model rehabilitation—I could use it as a textbook! I don't want someone like that dying at the cult's hands."
Verita pressed a hand to her chest with a gentle smile.
Blood seeped into her pale fingers.
"Given her moderate temperament, she could walk the path of a monk like me. I'm not much, but I have enough pull to recommend one repentant elder to the cult."
"......"
The knight stared at her in dismay.
Blood poured from her, yet her complexion was fine, her breathing steady, her eyes sparkling like they held starlight.
He was probably feeling a touch of fear right now. Toward this inscrutable nun.
"Ah, you can't bring yourself to trust me so easily? I understand. Our first meeting wasn't pleasant, and what I did to you lingers. If this won't heal your wounded heart..."
A wet squelch rang out.
I couldn't believe my ears. I couldn't see Verita's movement clearly since her back was to me, but judging by her hand angle, posture, and the sound...
She'd jammed her finger into her own eye.
"...Huh?"
"Hang on. This one's... not... coming... out. Ah, oh, there we go."
With a pop, Verita plucked out her own eyeball. She held it out to the knight and said.
"Now I've suffered a major shoulder injury and the agony of losing an eye!! 'Know your enemy's pain. That is the first step to understanding,' says the great god—and I'm ashamed this crude method is all I can manage to follow it."
"What the...?"
"Pain is relative, of course, and these physical wounds mean little to me... but I hope you understand my sincerity."
"You... you're... what the hell...?"
"Sister Razbet. Oh, but more importantly..."
Blood dripping from her face, Verita turned and gazed at where Chain Sickle had vanished.
"This is awkward..."
"Exactly."
The mage, silent until now, finally spoke.
"That's why I said from the start—force is the only way with thick-headed idiots like these."
"Hmm... no choice, then. Lady Koralis, Baron. Could you pursue the one with the jar?"
"Sigh. Fine."
"Got it."
The mage and baron nodded.
They eyed Verita with the same dismay, probably having witnessed her antics on the way here.
'Slow them down?'
I hesitated, but Chain Sickle had a head start.
He wouldn't be caught by pursuers starting now, so I let them go.
Besides, I didn't have the luxury with six-on-one already.
Verita clapped and called out to the rest.
"Come on, everyone left—gather here a moment! I have an announcement! This isn't the time for us to fight each other!"
"......"
If words alone could stop a fight, the first scene I'd walked into here wouldn't have been a battle.
Verita muttered awkwardly.
"This is tricky."
That was the moment.
My senses blared a warning, just like when Verita had ambushed me before.
A faint...
Peach scent wafted from somewhere, and Verita vanished from sight.
But this time, I didn't miss it.
She was gone from view, but I still sensed her presence. Absurdly, she hadn't used any special technique or footwork.
She was just fast.
She glided across the ground, weaving through the heroes like a phantom.
Thud thud thud thud thud!
The five heroes couldn't react.
They didn't even realize what hit them until their vital spots were struck.
At least they all hit the floor the same way.
And the dwarf warrior who'd been pressuring me up front.
His skill was actually pretty high.
Purely on talent, he'd scrape B-rank.
Thud!
So he'd traded a few blows at least.
He hadn't spotted Verita's movement, but the instant his allies dropped, he guarded his vitals and held out...
Then reflexively swung his axe in counterattack.
In other words, that was his limit.
Smack!
Verita's palm then slammed into the dwarf's forehead.
"Guh..."
His eyes rolled back white, and he collapsed.
"...Hmm."
By Heros standards, that put her at least A-rank? Maybe higher, judging by raw physical prowess.
I'd gauged my odds against her briefly when we'd clashed before.
To be honest.
Pretty damn slim right now.
"Why didn't you do that sooner if you could crush them this easily?"
I asked, and Verita replied.
"Behemoth's Feather."
"Huh?"
"That's the name of the jar your ally just took!"
"...Behemoth."
The great demon, obviously.
The wave of apocalypse, star of revelation, absolute god of the Dark Cult.
"This place is a seal, and the jar is the seal's core! Step outside the designated area, and the seal breaks—the demon inside is freed. Behemoth's Feather is one of the Dark Cult's sacred relics."
"Wait. So that means..."
"Yes. We were supposed to team up and defeat the demon from the start! Anyone greedy enough to grab the jar alone gets killed instantly by the freed demon."
"Why say it now?"
Verita sounded a bit indignant.
"I've been saying it all along! No one believed me!"
"......"
Can't blame them.
She'd started off seeming like a devout nun, but now she gave off a dangerous vibe.
The kind you didn't want to get involved with.
And somehow, it felt like my presence was the reason—unsettling as hell.
Either way, this spelled trouble for Rokan.
"No time to fight each other, huh? Then let's—"
"Ah, wait. Hold on, just a sec!"
Verita called after me urgently.
She tilted her head repeatedly, studying my behavior.
"If I may ask, brother... how did you get that wound?"
"Wound? Oh."
I touched the stinging cut on my cheek.
"Bit of a scuffle with that knight earlier. Just a scratch, no big deal. More importantly."
I stared at Verita in disbelief.
"Your wounds are the issue. You're moving fine, but are you really okay? Shoulder, eye—you yanked out a perfectly good eyeball? Can you even heal that?"
"...My fault."
The knight behind me spoke in a subdued tone.
"I lost all reason. Sister, I'm truly sorry. I'll accept punishment gladly after the exam."
Verita turned her back to him.
That was the moment.
"......?"
A chill prickled my arm.
The cave air suddenly felt cold, brushing my nape.
"...Forgive."
Staggering.
A cracked voice leaked from Verita as she approached the knight.
"F-For, for, forgi—"
Casting a spell?
"Sister?"
The knight called uncertainly...
And then.
"You irreverent bastard—!"
Verita's eyes rolled back as she smashed the knight's head with her mace.
Crack!
"......"
I stared blankly.
The knight's face crumpled like a smashed can, his eyeball oozing out like slime.
It didn't feel real.
"...No way."
As I muttered, veins bulged on the back of Verita's hand gripping the mace.
"How dare you, how dare you, how DARE you! You filthy dogshit son of a bitch! Lower than food waste, lower than unusable filth, you vermin! How DARE you harm the holy High Priest's body—!"
Crack! Crack!
I hadn't asked for it, but I got front-row seats to a man's head being pounded into his shoulders.
"Know your place, you presumptuous fool...! With those nauseating, filthy, disgusting, grimy fingers! How DARE you touch the sacred High Priest—! Die! Die! Drop dead! Die! I said DROP DEAD—!"
Verita swung the mace wildly.
Like a child in a frenzy flailing a stick.
Random thought: even if that weren't a mace but a thick scripture...
She'd have smashed his head with it anyway.
"Atone in death! Atone with your death! Even in death, atone! Regret this until your soul is worn to nothing! You worthless heretic pig fodder—!"
Crack...
Verita finally stopped, after the knight's head had sunk to his waist.
"Hah... hah..."
She panted.
Not from exertion, but true loss of reason and excitement—people gasp like that without moving much.
"......"
Only then did I realize my mouth was hanging open.
Even realizing it, no words came.
I, who could yap through anything, was speechless.
Confidence shattered.
As Verita caught her breath, she wiped the blood splattered on her face.
Wipe wipe.
Wipe wipe.
Wipe wipe.
Over and over.
Her ragged breathing steadied. When she turned to me, dried blood smeared her face.
And this woman gave a shy smile that could haunt nightmares.
"...My deepest apologies."
"......"
"But High Priest, the vermin who dared harm your sacred body... has been eradicated by me."
Seeing that smile, I recalled the scholar's mutter right after the first exam.
Crazy bitch, right?
Spot on.
This woman was truly insane.