Chapter 101: The Saintess
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 101: The Saintess
"It’s over—"
The moment that terrifying torrent of magic was kneaded into a candy-like ball by that hand and swallowed by the entity within the codex, those were the only words left in Wei’er’s mind.
It seemed... she had made another wrong decision.
What should she do? What should she do?
She had to find a way to make amends, otherwise...
"You’ve done well enough, Wei’er."
Just then, a familiar, cool voice rang out from behind her.
Wei’er froze for a moment, then pulled her head in and looked back like a child who had done something wrong, her eyes rimmed with red.
"President, I think I’ve messed things up again."
"This has nothing to do with you."
With a trace of blood on her uniform and her hair slightly disheveled, Celicia patted Wei’er’s head and spoke softly.
"When facing an enemy beyond comprehension, anyone would end up like this. If anything, the fact that no students have died in this turmoil yet is already..."
Celicia glanced at Ariel, who was wrapped up like a zongzi nearby, and paused. "You’ve already done a very good job. What comes next is no longer for us to interfere with."
Celicia looked up and scanned the surroundings, grasping the current state of affairs in an instant. However, when she saw that naked man sprinting through the wind—the "prodigy" of the Campbell family and her fiancé, a certain Mu Certain—even someone as calm as her couldn't help but feel her lip twitch slightly.
But she quickly composed herself and issued orders to all the surrounding students.
"The doors to the Academy’s underground shelters have opened. Everyone, retreat immediately and take cover underground!"
She didn't use any voice-amplifying magic instruments, yet her cool, unquestionable voice reached the ears of every student simultaneously.
It caused the students, who had been terrified by the current spectacle, to quickly calm down.
With the help of the Student Council elites, the students rapidly organized an orderly retreat.
But.
"Too slow."
A sigh drifted through the air.
An old man, leaning on a cane but still looking hale and hearty, appeared beside Celicia.
Professor Prang looked toward the codex floating in the sky.
That hand had already retracted, but that didn't mean the enemy was retreating. On the contrary, it meant the enemy’s next step was a full descent.
"Which of us is going?"
Another voice spoke up.
Professor Glen had stood there at some unknown point.
Behind him, on the other side of those spatial ripples, a dozen or so aged gazes seemed to be casting their sights toward this place.
"I’ll do it," Professor Prang sighed.
"You?"
Professor Glen raised an eyebrow and let out a whistle. "You're in your seventies or eighties; you won't suddenly throw out your back halfway through the fight, will you?"
"Who else, then?"
Professor Prang shot Glen a cold, annoyed look. "Should we let a guy like you, who hasn't fought in over a decade, go up? Or should we let those folks behind us who already have one foot in the grave do it?"
"Well, true. Among us old fogies, you, the old man who teaches magic, just happen to be the best fighter."
Professor Glen shrugged. "Then I’ll handle the student evacuation. Go on up, and don't worry."
"Don't make it sound like I’m going on a one-way trip."
Professor Prang reached into the spatial ripples and pulled out an object radiating a majestic aura...
A cute, pink, star-topped little magic wand appeared in his hand.
Holding the pink star wand, the corner of Professor Prang’s eye couldn't help but twitch. He sighed, "I've used you so many times, but every time I do... the feeling is still quite something."
*
"Wooo—"
The mournful wailing rang out once more.
Within the pitch-black pages of the codex, the faint sound of footsteps drew closer and closer.
Then, with the swaying of a soft gauze skirt, a fair, jade-like foot stepped out from the darkness.
In an instant.
A holy hymn began to play.
It was as if the sound of pure gold trumpets echoed from behind the curtain of the heavens.
The ethereal, sacred singing, mingled with that mournful weeping, resonated between the lonely heaven and earth.
Anyone who heard the weeping couldn't help but feel a heart-wrenching sorrow, yet listening to the hymn, they would sincerely experience the blissful happiness of offering their everything to a great existence.
Countless white feathers appeared from nowhere, scattering with the wind.
They were like flower petals strewn by flower girls at a wedding.
A breathtakingly beautiful figure dressed in an intricate white gown finally stepped completely out of the codex, descending upon this place.
Her expression was sorrowful, as if she were pitying the suffering people of the world.
Behind her, pure white wings unfurled, blooming with an endless light far brighter than the spotlights gathered here.
And atop her head, a crown engraved with the stars, sun, and moon revolved, emitting a suffocatingly terrifying aura.
Coronation Level, a Crown Bearer!
The Purification Saintess!
*
"Holy crap, that brainless Love God actually has a Coronation Level believer?"
In the Silver Well, the Pink Bear watched this scene from afar. Especially seeing the majestic crown atop the holy woman's head, his bear mouth hung open in shock for a moment.
Only by breaking through the limits of humanity, stepping into the realm beyond the Fifth-Tier, and gaining the recognition of this world could one be bestowed with a [Title] and a [Crown], becoming a Coronation Level powerhouse—honored by the world as a [Crown Bearer].
Compared to ordinary people, a Crown Bearer represented a qualitative change in the level of existence. Thus, some scholars referred to them as "Near-Gods."
While it was impossible for them to truly wield supreme Authority like a deity, every Crown Bearer represented the pinnacle of human power.
And now, a Crown Bearer had descended upon the Academy as a believer of that Corrupted Love God.
This was indeed beyond the Pink Bear's expectations.
But the biggest problem didn't lie there. It wasn't as if the Academy lacked Crown Bearers, and with the existence of the Great Ritual, a lone Crown Bearer wouldn't be able to shake the Academy's foundations unless seven or eight of them showed up at once.
The biggest problem was...
With a Crown Bearer acting as the vessel and medium, just how much power could that Love God project here?
"Speaking of which, why does this Crown Bearer look a bit familiar?"
Looking at that nearly perfect, pretty face, the Pink Bear couldn't help but stroke his chin in thought.
He felt like he had seen her somewhere before.
But that wasn't right; he never forgot a beautiful woman he had laid eyes on.
"Could it be..."
The Pink Bear seemed to realize something. He suddenly pulled out his treasured "Saintess Photo Book" and began flipping through it rapidly.
When he reached a certain page, his bear paw came to a sudden halt, and his expression turned grave.
"I see..."
"This Crown Bearer is actually the Saintess before the previous one of the Life Church?"
"But didn't that Saintess announce her retirement twenty years ago? There were rumors she married her lover and went off to live a life for just the two of them."
"Lover..."
The Pink Bear looked up as if enlightened, gazing at the sorrowful Saintess. Unknowingly, a trace of pity appeared on his face.
"What 'Near-God'? In the end, she's just a mortal who could be polluted and corrupted by the twisted love in her heart."