Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Light Priesthood (1)
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Japan's three great guilds, Shinsen.
The guild led by Black Tiger Arima Enji.
"What do you think?"
"Pre-contact is illegal, you know."
"As long as you don't get caught."
I looked at Arima Kanna's face.
"..."
In the game, Arima Kanna was actually a pretty pitiful character.
Her brother, Arima Kisho, had been born with fully awakened golden eyes that shone brilliantly from birth.
And at age ten, he achieved complete beastification.
But Arima Kanna failed to awaken or beastify.
By the lore, she was supposed to have beastification and golden eyes, but pure lack of talent meant she couldn't succeed.
So Arima Kanna decided to build up her influence instead of her own power.
In the game, if you showed good performances a few times, you could get a guild invitation from her.
"I can guess what you're thinking. Don't worry. I'm set to inherit the guild."
"...I'll think about it."
Relics.
A kind of core item.
They're extremely important items that cover a build's weaknesses or amplify its strengths.
That's also why I didn't invest in mana.
Relics that boost mana are surprisingly common.
There are various ways to obtain relics—you can get them from gates or buy them with money.
'In my case, there's also the option of buying from the shop.'
Realistically, though, none of those are possible right now.
"Hmm..."
There was another method.
In game terms, a random event.
It was something I'd agonized over a lot.
But this wasn't a game—it was reality.
No second chances, and one wrong hit from a blade meant death.
"Guess I have to do it..."
Normally, you couldn't leave Orbis Academy.
Most things could be handled inside.
But on weekends, you could go out.
Most students went home or out into the city.
And that included the protagonist.
Random events popped up here sometimes.
Where there were heroes, there were villains.
This other world had its villains too.
The most common were the demons—devil worshippers.
For reference, the ones called actual demons were also monsters.
The association classified monsters with intelligence that could grant power to humans as "demons."
And then there was the Light Priesthood.
A cult of lunatics who worshipped the monster "Cthuga" that burst out from a Red Gate incident.
"Hmm..."
This felt like straight-up stalking, and it was putting me in a foul mood.
"Hm?"
And damn, she was sharp—kept looking back over her shoulder.
.
.
.
.
'Nothing happened after all.'
I'd end up as some aimless young guy wandering around all day sightseeing.
"Sigh."
I let out a sigh and turned to head back to the dorm—
"Fire!!!"
Someone shouted.
The Light Priesthood, a cult worshipping the monster "Cthuga" as a god.
Cthuga was classified as a regular monster, not a demon, since it lacked intelligence.
You might wonder why people would worship a monster that couldn't even speak.
Cthuga's monster grade was "disaster."
Normal monsters ranged from 9th to 1st grade, and even demons fit that scale.
Then Cthuga shattered the scale entirely.
Fifteen 1st Grade Heroes, 224 2nd Grade Heroes, 402 3rd Grade Heroes, and countless civilians had been burned alive by it.
It was said to have been subjugated, but in truth, Cthuga still lived.
Officially, it died scattered into tens of thousands of flames, but actually, it split its body into that many pieces—called "Cthuga's Flames."
Those flames scattered across the world, possessing humans, monsters, and animals alike. Most lifeforms burned up under the power, but some endured.
And those who survived Cthuga's flames formed the Light Priesthood.
I hurried toward the voice and saw a man engulfed in flames.
Roarrrrr—!!!
"Kyaaah!!!"
"Save me!!!"
People screamed and fled as the burning man spread flames around him.
'Light Priesthood, huh.'
Most were probably madmen who'd survived Cthuga's power, but the early-game ones weren't much of a threat.
"Ah, damn it. It's my day off."
A man in plain clothes nearby approached him.
From his words, he seemed to be a Hero.
The plainclothes man began channeling mana.
'Around 6th Grade Hero level.'
And—
"Uwaaaaaah!!!!!!!"
Roarrrrr—!
He turned to ash in an instant.
'What?'
One man had burned to death.
Not a civilian. A Hero.
Even without gear, a Hero was a Hero.
And the mana I'd sensed was around 6th Grade.
"Calm down!"
A voice echoed from afar.
Looking over, Seo Ji-ho was directing civilians to evacuate.
"..."
I cautiously eyed the burning man.
Roarrrrr—!
The burning man's gaze shifted to the fleeing crowd.
'Shit!'
I placed my hand on the sword I'd secretly brought.
'Please don't.'
Cold sweat dripped down.
—!
I swung, and moments later, the sound of cutting wind rang out.
Shiiiik—!
At the same time.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!
The ground split as the burning man was cleaved in two.
"..."
All eyes turned to me in that instant.
"Woooah!!!"
"It's a Hero!!!"
Crackle—.
Bad feelings were always spot on.
Why had a Light Priest shown up so early?
It did appear in the game.
Low probability, though.
But why was it this strong?
'...'
It didn't take long to realize.
This was reality, akin to the game.
Villains didn't get weaker just because they showed up early.
The man stopped chasing the fleeing crowd and turned toward us.
A wave of disgust hit me.
Why come back this way?
Some idiots were even pulling out phones to take pictures.
"Don't come closer—run!!!"
My shout made them pause.
And then, all at once—
Roaaaaar!!!!!!!!
The flames intensified.
"Kyaaah!!!"
"Help!!!"
Step... step...
"Ah.... uh...?"
The burning man's gaze locked onto me, spitting incomprehensible words.
"Shit."
Roaaaaarrrr!!!
Flames surged toward me.
Roarrr!
I rolled aside, dodging by a hair's breadth.
Pzzt—!
I gripped my sword, but intense electricity crackled through it.
'Shit.'
If you couldn't kill in one strike, you were done.
That was why the iaido build was called a joke build despite its devastating opener.
In a game, I'd quit and reload here.
No restart button in reality.
Chrrrrk—!
Chains made of mana appeared around us, binding the burning man.
Han Ain was casting from afar.
Kagggg—!
But they cracked almost immediately.
Normally, Heroes would arrive in about a minute.
'How long has it been?'
Cold sweat poured.
Feels like over a minute already...
"..."
The burning man's eyes stayed fixed on me.
Then I spotted Seo Ji-ho charging from behind him.
I hurled the sword at my waist toward Seo Ji-ho.
Nothing else I could do.
Shwick!
Seo Ji-ho drew it and channeled mana.
Vrrrrm—!
Blue sword aura enveloped the blade.
I quickly fell back.
'The protagonist's the protagonist.'
That was my thought seeing the glowing blue aura.
Even without direct player control, it shone like that.
Chiaaaaaak!!!
Seo Ji-ho swung at the burning man.
Klang—!!!!
His blade halted against the man's skin.
"Huh?"
"Heh... heh..."
The burning man muttered nonsense, staring at Seo Ji-ho.
No face visible, but it felt like he was grinning.
Kwaaaaaang!!!!!
The burning man's fist slammed into Seo Ji-ho.
He flew off without even a scream.
"..."
We're screwed.
"Die!!!"
Han Ain cast again from afar.
Her blue mana shifted form, becoming water.
The mass hurtled toward the burning man.
Sssshhhh—!
The area fell silent.
"Did we get him?"
Han Ain's words broke the quiet.
—Roaaaaarrrrrr!!!!!!!
Oh, fuck!!!
Right in the depths of despair.
Then mana arrows flew in from afar.
Shiiiiiik!!!!!
Klang—!
But they bounced off without penetrating.
"...?"
The burning man looked toward the arrows' origin.
Shiiiiiik!!!!! Shiiiiiik!!!!! Shiiiiiik!!!!! Shiiiiiik!!!!!
Moments later, dozens rained down.
Plop plop plop!!!
An arrow storm like pouring rain.
Far stronger mana than before—the burning man became a pincushion.
"...!...!"
A figure slowly approached from the distance.
"Didn't expect it to deflect that."
"Ah...!...!"
"Die."
Kwachik!!!
A woman with brown hair in a ponytail.
I knew her face.
4th Grade Hero Kim Soo-jeong.
The White Night Guild master's sister.
.
.
.
.
The sun had set long ago, leaving the area dark, but plenty of people remained.
Firefighters who'd mobilized to extinguish the blaze, ambulances carrying the injured and dead to hospitals.
"Shit."
I collapsed to the ground.
Lifted my hand—it was trembling.
Penalty? Fear? No way to know.
[Around 7 PM today, a 'demon' appeared.] ...
Han Ain was watching the news report of the incident.
"..."
[White Night Guild's 4th Grade Hero Kim Soo-jeong defeated the 'demon'...]
Click.
She rewound the footage once more.
It was the scene of the burning demon deflecting a 4th Grade Hero's mana arrow.
Though it turned into a pincushion a second later from the barrage.
"Even Seo Ji-ho's sword..."
The demon had even blocked Seo Ji-ho's sword.
Then a question arose in Han Ain's mind.
She'd clearly seen Lee Han-su, who appeared out of nowhere, bisect the demon in one strike.
'Did he not use his ability?'
To one-shot a demon that blocked Seo Ji-ho—with his trait—and deflected a 4th Grade Hero's mana arrow.
Of course, it had regenerated after being bisected, but still.