Chaotic Entrance Ceremony (6)
“Your Holiness?”
“…”
Asselina opened her closed eyes.
The moment she did, the surrounding priests turned toward her with worried gazes, softly calling her title with careful deference.
“I am fine. For now, let us focus on our prayers.”
Asselina assumed a solemn, pious expression.
In the end… it has begun.
In this world inhabited by the living beings created by the Goddess, three divine arrangements had been bestowed so that humanity would not fall to the invasions of the Demon Realm, preserving long-lasting peace.
The Light Guardian Dragon, revered as one of those three arrangements—that was none other than herself.
“…”
The Pope—or rather, Asselina—looked down at her aged hands.
As the leader of the Guardian Dragons, she possessed a singular blessing she could bestow upon anyone of her choosing: the Blessing of Protection. It was a divine blessing of light granted solely to guard and protect another soul.
Asselina had secretly bestowed that blessing upon Aria.
Of course, compared to the divine authority granted directly by the Goddess, a mere blessing from a Guardian Dragon could never measure up. Naturally, most of the secondary boons it provided were rendered entirely redundant, but for Asselina, that had never been an issue. She had granted it with only a single purpose in mind: to monitor Aria's condition.
It was not detailed enough to reveal precise coordinates, offering only a vague sense of her general whereabouts, which might make one wonder what good it was. Yet, as the name 'Blessing of Protection' implied, the blessing bestowed by a Guardian Dragon held a unique trait. It allowed her to monitor the target’s vital signs and physical condition in real time.
Furthermore, should the target's life ever fall into mortal peril, it possessed the ability to transport the dragon directly to their side.
Granted, for a Saintess like Aria, the concept of facing genuine mortal peril was virtually impossible, rendering instant teleportation practically moot. But that was never what Asselina had been aiming for. Her focus was on the ability to perceive vital signs and bodily status—more specifically, the ability to detect anything inflicting harm upon her ward.
And today, for the very first time, she had felt it.
Demonic energy.
The dark power that served as the wellspring of all demons, dragging the mortal world into endless abyss.
To sense demonic energy means…
A demon had undeniably manifested.
And Aria had unquestionably clashed with it. The faint resonance of demonic corruption attempting to spread throughout her body, coupled with trauma severe enough to kill an ordinary person several times over, made that absolute certainty.
Yet, something was wrong.
That shouldn't be possible…
Arhen Academy was guarded by that Archmage. To prevent the tragic errors of several centuries ago from ever repeating, she had founded the academy in accordance with the late Hero's will and presided over it as its headmaster. For a raid to occur while a former party member of the Hero of Salvation and legendary Archmage stood guard defied all common sense.
An attack slipped through despite that child watching over the grounds…?
In that case, someone had paved the way from the shadows, meddling with the defensive wards to grant the intruder passage.
Indeed.
It meant there was an insider.
I must pay a visit myself.
Behind the frail guise of the elderly Pope, Asselina’s eyes briefly flashed with slit, draconic pupils as she murmured under her breath. The era of peace was drawing to an end.
This is awkward.
Lying in a bed inside the academy clinic, I let out a heavy sigh, my mind tangled in knots over how to handle things moving forward.
My decision to sideline Evan and Stella in the first place was based on the premise that this encounter was merely a tutorial boss appearing early in the prologue. Passing over it without them facing it shouldn't have caused any major issues. While I might have enjoyed the beating a bit too enthusiastically, my primary objective had been to test the current limits of my abilities in solo combat.
It wasn't that I was completely ignorant of my own strength, but I lacked objective combat data. Taking on a High Demon alone was meant to establish a solid baseline for future reference.
And yet…
Stella and Evan, who should have been sitting peacefully through the entrance ceremony, somehow wandered right into the training grounds. Something had gone seriously off the rails.
In the original game, Evan only came to the training ground to vent his frustration and train because he got suspended. I went out of my way to prevent him from being suspended in the first place, so why on earth did he show up?
Evan wasn't the kind of delinquent who would ditch a formal entrance ceremony just to fool around. If events had progressed according to my plan, there was zero reason for him to seek out the training grounds at all. That meant the only wildcard left was Stella.
I personally showed Stella the way so she wouldn't get lost, and I woke her up early in the morning so she wouldn't be late…
I had cleanly eliminated Stella’s deviation flags as well. Yet not only did she end up here, but instead of bumping into the demon by chance like in the original scenario, the two of them met outside and walked into the training grounds together.
If this is just pure coincidence, fine… but if it isn't, things are going to get ridiculously annoying.
It would essentially prove that narrative gravity was forcing the world to adhere to the game’s original plotline at all costs.
And on top of that, I’ve managed to create an absolute disaster right in front of them.
I had exposed them to a sight no sane person should ever have to witness. At first, I couldn't comprehend why they were in such utter shock, but then it clicked. Watching me get mangled was entirely different for grizzled veterans in the Demonic Realm who saw comrades die every single day versus sheltered teenagers who had never witnessed a real war, let alone a blood-drenched deathmatch. I had unconsciously thrown my body on the line just like I always did back in the frozen north.
At least Evan, having traveled as an adventurer, recovered his senses quickly and followed my instructions, but…
Stella had completely lost her fighting spirit on the spot, breaking down and trembling like a terrified child. Her mental state had been utterly shattered.
Honestly, the sight I presented back then was horrific by any standard. My neck had been visibly broken, my heart gouged out, and my uniform was torn to shreds and soaked through with crimson. Even that alone would turn anyone's stomach, yet I had remained standing right before their eyes with a gaping void carved clean through my abdomen—an injury that would have meant instantaneous death for any normal human. Given that she believed an acquaintance had thrown herself into fatal harm just to shield her, such an extreme breakdown was entirely understandable.
I focused my divine perception on the neighboring bed.
Stella still looked awful. While she had recovered somewhat from the catatonic state she was in earlier, the way she flinched whenever she looked in my direction made it painfully obvious that the memory was replaying in her mind like a waking nightmare.
Haa… I can't just leave her like this.
Like it or not, we were destined to journey together to subjugate the Demon King. I couldn't afford to let a core party member crumble into pieces before our quest had even properly begun. More than that, a genuine twinge of guilt weighed on my conscience.
Even if my initial motive for keeping them away had been to gather objective data on my holy power without interference, that didn't mean I didn't care about their well-being. Far from it.
Because I literally cannot die.
Short of an attack from the Demon King himself, nothing in this world could end my life. Even against the Demon King, I would only succumb if my entire body was thoroughly corrupted by demonic energy and cursed down to the marrow. That absolute invulnerability was precisely why I treated my own physical vessel with such reckless abandon.
No matter how savagely I battered myself, death was off the table. I already knew every enemy in the game inside and out, so even if I ended up captured or trapped, I could predict the outcome, prepare countermeasures, and push forward. And any physical agony I suffered along the way was nothing more than divine, intoxicating pleasure to me.
Whether this world finds lasting peace or falls to ruin doesn't matter to me in the slightest.
My sole objective was to enjoy the adulation of an idolized Saintess, comfortably clear the Demon King campaign, and return to my original world. That was all. Yes, that was my only goal. Everything else was secondary.
To achieve that, the ends justified the means. I couldn't afford to waver.
Steeling my resolve, I pushed myself up from the mattress.
Focusing my senses toward the adjacent bed, I felt Stella flinch violently at my sudden movement. It was undeniably ironic that the very person who had driven her into this mental breakdown was now trying to nurse her back to health, but I couldn't stand by and watch a promising teammate turn into an invalid because of me.
Besides, the harsh reality was that she was going to witness me in far worse states countless times before the Demon King was dead. As long as my healing ability demanded that I absorb the exact wounds of whoever I restored, self-mutilation was an inescapable occupational hazard.
…I'm sorry.
I felt terrible for deceiving her, but I would take my true nature to the grave. If she ever found out about the twisted hedonism lurking beneath my saintly facade, she would probably shake with betrayal and try to strangle me herself. But I had no choice.
Right now, all I could do was sit by her side and help her stand back on her feet.
I swung my legs over the edge and gently perched on the side of Stella's bed.
The real work began now.