Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: The High Priest's Scheme
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A cold wind brushed my cheek.
I wanted to raise the collar of my cape, but I didn't, instead keeping my eyes on my opponent.
Seren looked at me and asked.
“Are you really going to fight me?”
“You’re not going to move. So we have to fight.”
“…Hah.”
Seren let out a low sigh, then took a stance as if she had no choice.
I, too, slowly drew up my internal energy, as if warming up.
Come to think of it, is this the first time I've fought Seren?
‘This one, I heard she defeated Hector during a sparring session.’
In that case, her one-on-one combat skills might be on par with, or even greater than, Karon's.
I'd like to start with a probing attack, but...
For various reasons, I couldn't afford to waste time, so I struck first.
*Tap.*
Seren immediately rushed toward me.
A silver light flashed, and before I knew it, her fingernails had grown long, cloaked in a brilliant glow.
‘The Blessing of the Silver Moon... she's serious.’
The sharpness of her aura was extraordinary.
Clashing head-on with those claws with my current internal energy would be difficult... or so,
I would have thought just a day ago.
*Clang!*
“……!”
I slammed my flame-wreathed fist into Seren's claws.
It was Seren who was pushed back.
No point hiding it—it was thanks to the Spirit Jade.
Thanks to explosively absorbing the Spirit Jade's energy while healing Seren's internal injuries, my current level of internal energy is three times what it was.
In terms of raw power, I had the overwhelming advantage.
Seren must have realized it too, but she didn't back down, exchanging blows with me rapidly at close range.
‘...Something's strange.’
To be honest, I was confident I could subdue Seren without much difficulty.
It wasn't that I was underestimating her, but because I, too, had gained a lot from the training retreat.
But the combat prowess Seren was displaying now easily surpassed my expectations.
It wasn't just rapid improvement.
She had grown so much that she felt like a completely different person.
Is this also related to Seren's secret?
*Smack!*
The back of Seren's hand struck my cheek.
As a stinging pain spread, I realized two things.
First, my current strength was less than half of what it normally was.
Second, Seren was holding back against me.
“……”
Why are martial artists such a foolish breed?
The moment you realize your opponent is going easy on you, a fire ignites in your gut.
Of course, I was also refraining from any attacks that could kill Seren, but...
What did my Third Martial Brother call this again?
‘A double standard?’
*Swish, swish, swish!*
The price for my stray thoughts was a few small cuts on my body.
I know about the Blessing of the Silver Moon.
It's the main power of the future hero, Silver Moon, a blessing that channels the power of the divine beast, the Silver Fox, into one's body.
‘Come to think of it...’
The form Arjan showed in the Jewel Mountains was similar to Seren's now.
Did Arjan have a Blessing too?
*Tap.*
At that moment, Seren suddenly retreated.
She looked at me as if she were seeing some kind of monster.
“...Weren't you in terrible condition just now?”
“I am. I can't even use half my full strength right now.”
“Half.”
Seren let out a laugh of disbelief.
I wiped the blood from my face.
There were no fatal wounds, but because my condition was so poor, I felt dizzy just from losing a little blood.
Perhaps that's what Seren was aiming for...
I know that dragging this out would be disadvantageous for me.
I knew, but I couldn't help but ask.
“Was it an order from the Goodsprings?”
“What?”
“Your family heard about Evan beforehand, and you infiltrated this training retreat to kill him... If I think of it that way, your actions make some sense.”
“Heh heh.”
Seren burst out with a sneer.
“An interesting guess. But there's one thing you haven't considered.”
“What’s that?”
“How I’m treated in the Goodspring family.”
Seren said with a cold smile.
“Did you know? The Goodspring bloodline is incredibly strong. Strangely, whenever this family's blood is mixed, no matter the other lineage, the offspring is born with the exact same traits.”
I've had almost no contact with the Goodsprings.
However, I have seen the family's head once before.
Hatem Goodspring.
Warm golden hair that seemed to have melted from sunlight, and deep blue eyes like the ocean.
The sight of him standing next to the Iron-Blooded Duke was such a stark contrast that it remains vivid in my memory.
“……”
I looked at Seren.
In my case, I also look different from a typical Bednicker, but I still inherited the characteristic violet eyes of the dark elves.
Seren, on the other hand, had no resemblance to the Hatem in my memory.
“They say it’s the first time something like this has happened in Goodspring history. That's why the family hates me as much as they hate the Bednickers. They've treated me like a witch since the moment I was born.”
“That's surprising. I thought the Goodsprings would be the complete opposite of the Bednickers.”
“The opposite?”
“Just like the name, I imagined it would be a place like a warm spring day.”
At my words, Seren finally burst into laughter.
Usually, when an unintentional comment provokes laughter, one tends to feel displeased.
Because it feels like you're being mocked.
But Seren's laughter felt different somehow.
She was clearly roaring with laughter, yet I could feel a hint of sadness.
When she stopped laughing, Seren, still smiling, said.
“Life can’t always be like spring. Eventually, you’ll have to face the biting cold. That’s why I hate spring. Its languor makes people lazy and forget hardship. Winter is chilling, but it reminds you of reality. An order from the Goodsprings?”
Seren raised her middle finger.
“They can go screw themselves. If there was such an order, I would have been the first to ruin it.”
“Then why are you trying to kill Evan? Is it simply because you don't want to die?”
We haven't known each other for long, but she isn't the type to kill someone for such a simple reason.
“...If I kill the Young Lord of the Dark Cult, the Emperor himself will probably commend me. It’s an achievement so great that the high-and-mighty nobles of my family would bow down to me.”
Seren's lips twisted.
“You’re not entirely wrong. I’m here not by my family’s command, but by my own will.”
“You want to be acknowledged by the Goodsprings?”
“Acknowledged, my ass. I just want to make the family want to see ‘Seren’ again.”
“What?”
“……”
Her tone was a bit strange, so I asked, but she snapped her mouth shut with a look of regret.
Then she shook her head.
“...Let's stop with the useless chatter. It's not like you have time to spare, right?”
“You’re right.”
I don't know Seren very well.
But I got the feeling that she didn't just hate her family, as she claimed.
I could understand that feeling a little.
Blood ties are tenacious.
Forget your family and live on...
Easier said than done. It's incredibly difficult to completely sever ties with the place you were born.
I know this from experience.
And so I also know the solution.
It's surprisingly simple.
You just have to find a place more precious than your family.
I found one.
It was after I died, but to borrow her words, spring had come to my life.
Seren, on the other hand, didn't seem to be having such luck.
“……”
Should I offer some comfort?
I don't think so.
Aside from my clumsy way with words, I felt that the very act of comforting her would be an insult.
As much as she longed for spring, she had also accepted winter.
Hasty pity would be nothing but an insult.
So the conclusion was simple.
We just have to fight.
Until we're both satisfied.
*Kwwaaaaa...*
It was at that moment that a sound like an explosion came from a distance.
Seren and I, who were just about to charge at each other, froze and looked in that direction.
I could feel a terrifying energy erupting against my skin.
“That’s...”
“...Demonic energy?”
Urgency bloomed on Seren's face as she stared blankly.
“Don’t tell me...”
Seren gritted her teeth and bolted in that direction.
I instinctively realized this was no longer the time to fight, so I had no choice but to follow her.
* * *
The place where we felt the demonic energy wasn't far.
It wasn't long after sprinting with Seren that we arrived at the scene, and...
I took in the sight before me, piece by piece.
Hector and Karon, lying collapsed.
The blood-soaked Medical Teacher, Junian.
And...
“...Evan?”
[…….]
A being that looked like Evan stood blankly in the center.
Of course, he looked very different from the person I remembered. His skin was dark, and his eyes were rolled back.
I'm no expert in medicine, but one look was enough to tell he wasn't normal.
“Cough...”
The Medical Teacher spat out blood.
Seren rushed over to support him and asked.
“What happened? Did you fail?”
“...Fail? Yes. If you want to call it a failure, then it was a failure.”
“What do you mean...”
“It’s irresponsible of me to say, but... I don't know either... Evan should have been dead...”
“Yes. He was certainly dead, Medical Teacher.”
That answer came from neither me nor Seren.
With a sinister laugh, the sky turned black.
*Woooooo-.*
A mournful wail echoed through the forest.
*Rustle!*
Though there was no wind, the bushes shook madly.
The forest, which had been quiet since the ritual began, erupted into a frenzy.
*Creeeak-!*
The thick branches that had obscured the sky bent strangely, making an unpleasant sound like twisting joints.
And for the first time since entering the Butterfly Forest, I saw the view beyond the leaves.
Instead of the night sky, dozens of demons were circling.
Winged beasts and banshees swirled together, and at their center, I saw the High Priest.
“...Instructor Juan.”
Junian spat the name out as if chewing on it.
The High Priest, Juan, smiled brightly and said.
“You don’t look so well, Junian. Was it an unlucky day for you?”
“The worst day. Because of you.”
“Me?”
Juan pointed to himself with a look of feigned surprise.
“Cut the disgusting act.”
“It’s not an act; I’m genuinely hurt. To be treated like this by the person whose life I saved.”
“The one who saved my life?”
“Does it sound like a joke, Medical Teacher? You seem to believe you survived because of your own cleverness. Tsk, tsk.”
Juan wagged his index finger and said.
“Aren’t you underestimating a High Priest?”
“...What do you mean.”
“I knew you were an expert in demon hunting. That’s why you, of all people, were essential for this training retreat. The final piece, so to speak...”
The High Priest looked pleased.
As if he no longer considered us a threat, he looked down on us like mice caught in a jar.
“Evan Helvin is different from an ordinary cultist. A normal cultist must break a medium to regain their sealed memories, but the Young Lord awakens through death.”
“...Death.”
“That’s why you were needed. You, who knew not only about the Dark Cult, but also about the methods for sealing a cultist’s memories and how to counter them.”
Junian's face hardened.
“And you made him face the most gruesome death possible. Haha! Evan Helvin will be reborn as the greatest Young Lord!”
“...It can’t be.”
Junian, who wouldn't bat an eye at most things, lowered his head for the first time with a look of despair.
He seemed unable to bear the fact that he had created a great evil with his own hands.
“In the end, you were right, Ruan Bednicker.”
Seren muttered in a hollow voice.
Of course, shouting 'I told you so!' like an idiot here would look pretty lame.
“...Ahem. I told you so.”
Still, it felt so unfair that I couldn't resist saying something.
Seren made a dumbfounded face, then suddenly chuckled.
“……”
“Right. In that case, I'll have to pay the price for my choice.”
“Do you have a way?”
“That thing I used to wipe out the demons. I'm going to use it again.”
“Oh?”
“It takes some time to concentrate. You know what I mean, right?”
“You need me to buy you time.”
I habitually cracked my neck and said.
“Roger.”