Chapter 234
Chapter 234
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 234
Chapter Title: Lantern, Cogwheel, Power of Friendship -1
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As long as stars shine in the sky of the heart, you'll never lose your way.
Even if someone's schemes and plots cast shadows, even if the interests of each faction tangle in incomprehensible ways, as long as your priorities are clear, you won't wander.
Silently push forward with what you must do. That's all there is to it.
"From the left, the sturdiest knight famed as the Shield of the Goddess! Holy Knight Nouvel of the Church of the Goddess──!!"
The Cardinal Faction's Nouvel.
Boom, thud──! Clank.
With the majesty of a walking castle wall, a holy knight clad head to toe in thick iron plate stepped into the arena. She was a giant over two meters tall, lightly gripping a massive shield on her left arm even larger than her own height.
In her right hand was a standard-sized flanged mace. Given the knight's sheer bulk, it even looked somewhat dainty by comparison. But its power would be something else entirely.
According to inside info, Nouvel hadn't reached apotheosis yet. Was this defensive setup her way of guarding against other apotheosis awakeners?
Or perhaps it was aimed at "Cravellin Render," one of the top favorites—a disgraced flame mage. She'd need that defense to withstand his fire magic.
Block with shield and armor, strike with the short-range mace. A blatant setup to grit it out and win.
And facing her...
"From the right, the young swordsman of the Church of the Goddess who guards the Saintess! Bennett Hilton──!! Huh?!"
Light steps forward. Into an arena where clashing interests are settled by the blade. The Invariable Tournament, round of 32.
One goal──shatter the Church's schemes and rescue Tara.
To do that, he had to brush aside obstacles like this with ease. The trials blocking his path weren't this mild.
Rattle, clink.
Bennett gripped his weapon tightly.
The announcer couldn't hide his shock in the broadcast. Bennett's armament was far removed from the intel they'd received.
"Bennett Hilton is known as a swordsman. But what he's holding now... is a strange weapon! A sickle... connected to a chain?!"
"I know your main weapon is the longsword, Bennett. Even if we've split into different factions, we're both servants of the same Goddess. Face me with true sincerity, not mockery. Otherwise──"
Clink, clink.
"Sorry, but I can't do that. I'm not looking down on you, Nouvel. But to win this tournament... this is the only way."
"So in the end... that's it. You think you can overcome me even without your main weapon. Is that what you're saying, Bennett."
Grind.
Thud, boom, boom──!!
A grinding of teeth echoed from inside Holy Knight Nouvel's helmet. She slowly spun her mace, then charged like a heavy tank.
"That's exactly what I call looking down on me──!!"
"Can't argue with that...!!"
Rattle, whoosh!
The chain sickle writhed like a serpent.
Why had Bennett abandoned his apotheosis Call and stepped into the arena with a bizarre weapon he'd never wielded in his life? To uncover the story, we have to go back a week.
It all started with the mad mage's plan.
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After witnessing the dirty schemes of both factions, I spent most of my time as a tournament diehard. Parked in the arena spectator seats, literally all day, every day.
Naturally, I got chummy with a rich punk obsessed with duels and a farmer guy living it up, saying crops weren't worth it this year so he'd slack off for a full one.
I watched and analyzed every scrappy bout. After matches, we'd arm-in-arm it to the tavern for some versus debates.
"He just got lucky, right?"
"Nah."
I worked hard at it. No matter how much prime knowledge I had crammed in my head, you can't slack on hearing others' ideas.
Those efforts let me grasp the tournament's rough flow. Turbulent as hell. Too wild for normal flight.
Needed countermeasures.
I immediately called a strategy meeting with Bennett's party.
"Our turn at last...! I was starting to think it'd all resolve without us lifting a finger. What did you pull with the imperial family and the Northern Grand Duke?"
[I... I want to thank you, Professor. For helping this much. We're so close to saving Tara now.]
"So we're entering the tournament now? Or some other backup plan?"
Great to see them all piling in.
Bennett looked every bit the hero in his getup, his usual gloomy face a tad brighter. Guess harem life agreed with him.
Tara still rocked her outrageous outfit no matter the occasion. Staring at another guy's heroine like that would be rude, so I politely slapped a mosaic filter on my cornea.
Niore had her hood pulled low, giving off a spooky vibe. Beneath the shadow, her quietly glowing eyes held affection for Bennett—and faint, shimmering patterns.
Overall, Bennett's party buzzed with excitement. Not overconfident victory laps, just that heart-fluttery thrill of light ahead.
I got it. Some cool, competent mage swooped in and flipped the board. But no time to get cocky!
I got serious.
"What if I said there's an apotheosis ability affecting the entire city?"
"......?"
The Red Duke's apotheosis Foreseeing Lantern.
Proportional to pre-gathered intel, it spreads misfortune around him—infinite range, or so I guessed.
Known counters so far: intel disruption or overload. In Cecil vs. Doll, I'd blocked the lantern somehow. Info bombs could probably do similar.
Bennett's crew was surely under its curse too. They'd been Reformists for ages, so their abilities and info were public.
We needed to break this rigged game.
"I sensed something off with the matches. But manipulating 'fate' without mana flow? Never crossed my mind."
"How'd you even figure that out, Bennett? If someone said it, you'd first ask if they were nuts? Sounds as crazy as an apotheosis that swaps a guy's gender in a flash."
[But the Professor wouldn't say it without reason... It's tough. How do we counter fate?]
Bennett's party murmured. World-class cheat ability had them rattled. But I was here. I sternly imparted the wisdom of ancient sages.
"Fighting the ability itself is amateur hour. We target not the arrow loosed from the bow, but the bow before it's drawn."
"Hit the activation conditions for the apotheosis, right?"
"Exactly! Pollute the intel, flood it with new noise till it's unreadable."
"But how? Spreading fake rumors about us? Red Duke'll cross-check and filter. No time for foolproof reverse intel."
Straight talk.
And straight talk gets shattered by bold moves.
"First, overhaul our combat style."
"......?"
"Every round, use a weapon no one's ever seen. You've climbed the tower, Bennett—you know 'em. Chain sickle, iaijutsu, gun kata..."
"Hold up, that's armchair theory. Mastering a weapon class takes time, beating top contenders even more. Impossible."
True. Time issue.
If we had time, just leak reverse intel easy.
──But what about sims and time acceleration?
"...To make us win the tournament, you're tossing us into another otherworld?"
"......"
[......]
Bennett's party paled. Memories of that Cthulhu session with tentacle horrors and fanatics, probably.
Their goal: save Tara.
But crushing her spirit in the process? Total backfire. They were torn.
Of course, total misunderstanding. No plans for ordeal side-sessions to grind weapon skills. They'd seen the happy end—time to live happily ever after.
"Comfortable as the Tower of Trials."
"Not exactly comfy, but... pure combat loops? Yeah, I could drill enough to beat lesser foes."
[Together again, the three of us? Doesn't fit perfectly, but kinda exciting. That was fun.]
Operation 1: Disrupt Foreseeing Lantern with weapon switching.
And.
"Saintess Tara's benched. Got separate work with me. Heh heh heh..."
"...Huh? Leaving just Bennett and Niore alone? Cheater?"
That scratched an itch, huh.
[I'll keep progress minimal, no worries, Tara.]
"Yeah, just a little progress—no need to rush."
"......You're still progressing, Bennett──!!"
"Time's on our side anyway. No rush. You're within reach. Trust me and wait."
Bennett toyed with Tara's ear as he said it, instantly quelling her tantrum. Watching, I wanted to ask what "reach" meant or how he judged that.
But saying "I wanna be a chad harem master like Bennett" now? Image suicide.
Mental note filed this secret sauce. Copy in similar spots. Thanks, Bennett...!
"So why me separate, Professor...?"
"That handled Red Duke. Now countermeasures for Cardinal Faction schemes... You're perfect for it."
"Me?"
"Yes. Someone wants to meet you. High up, so purify yourself and wait piously. Oh, she's a woman, FYI."
Tara eyed me suspiciously, so I tacked on the gender. Planning to intro her to Heart—the goddess's proxy angel.
Easier to unfold the story that way.
Hadn't told Bennett's party the truth yet: "Goddess is a machine, manipulated by Cardinals." For Tara's sake. She hated the goddess.
Telling her it was greedy humans' accident, not the machine goddess? She'd wanna shred Cardinals tenfold. Fine till there.
But rage hurts.
Anger doesn't fade with venting—it spreads. She'd already awakened apotheosis from Bennett's arm loss partly due to me. No more stress.
So.
Kinda... wanted to provide mental care. Let her feel anger, but not let it consume her.
"...Fine. When and where?"
"She'll find you. Higher spot's better if possible."
Operation 2: Raise a powerhouse saintess to crush the Cardinals.
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And unfinished Operation 3: Counter the Goddess's Cogwheel.
Something intangible enveloped this holy city. I'd spotted it through careful observation.
Effects like the Lantern. Cardinal picks got lucky, foes unlucky. Could probably apply anything, but too obvious, so restrained.
Manipulating a god, so above Lantern—but wielded by buggy-coding noobs, so balanced.
Output always constant. Just hadn't pinned the 'when' trigger.
Yeah. Trigger unknown. But guesses possible.
Goddess machine-like. Current one super simplistic. Cogwheel probably if-then statements.
'If A, then B.'
Luck/misfortune effects, so maybe.
'If/When A, luck follows.'
'If/When B, misfortune follows.'
Two types?
Could confirm by wrecking an arm in Divine Punishment again, but other ways existed.
Brute force.
Click-click-click-click!
Hundreds of holograms stood at attention in a cramped basement. All Heart models. Gloomy defaults kill work vibe.
Run every human motion, repeatedly. Catch every movement-triggered conditional.
"I'll handle left-side holos from this centerline. You control all right-side, start from basic sitting pose."
"...Why not call Tower Lord?"
"Yuna's a baby at fine control. Gotta baby her."
"Can't you baby me once per cycle, you bastard?"
Like that.
I dove into pure grind.