Chapter 102: The Student
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 102: The Student
"Good grief, this is a bit much, isn't it?"
The moment that exquisite figure in her magnificent white dress stepped out from the holy scripture, Muen felt a scalp-tingling chill wash over him.
It was because he, too, had seen the dazzling, majestic crown atop her head.
A Crown Bearer!
She was actually a Crown Bearer!
Had the Love God really sent a Crown Bearer just to hunt him down?
That’s overkill. In your eyes, I’m nothing more than a tiny bug. Even if I’ve pissed you off, there’s no need to drive a bulldozer over me just to squash me.
Wait.
No.
Muen quickly realized the truth.
The Love God’s goal—or rather, their true objective—wasn't him at all.
From the moment she appeared, the Crown Bearer hadn't spared him a single glance.
Her gaze was fixed on the ground beneath the academy, as if she were staring through the thick layers of rock at something deep below.
Within those holy, flawless, yet utterly hollow eyes, a faint trace of greed—one that did not belong to her—flickered.
She was searching for something. Something of immense importance.
However, that didn't stop her from casually swatting away an eyesore like Muen.
Her pinky finger, hanging naturally at her side, twitched ever so slightly.
In the next instant, Muen felt as if an invisible dump truck had slammed into his chest. A colossal force struck him; with a muffled groan, he spat out a large mouthful of blood.
With just the flick of a finger, Muen was instantly and severely wounded.
But as the Purification Saintess’s pinky moved again, preparing to finish off the nuisance once and for all, a figure suddenly appeared by his side.
Professor Glen.
He grabbed Muen by the shoulder and tossed out a handkerchief.
The handkerchief expanded abruptly, enveloping them both.
Then, like a stage magician’s trick, the cloth—which had clearly shown the silhouettes of two people—suddenly lost its support and fluttered limply to the ground.
The two of them had vanished into thin air.
The Purification Saintess withdrew her peripheral gaze.
She stopped paying attention to the fleeing Glen and Muen. There would be plenty of opportunities to squash that hateful bug later; right now, there were more important things to do.
The Purification Saintess suddenly raised her hands—long, slender, porcelain hands without a single blemish.
She aimed them at the entire academy shrouded in the night.
Her ten fingers closed into a hollow grip.
It was as if she had grasped the very wedges that pinned this piece of heaven and earth together.
Then, she pulled upward with all her might!
The world shook!
The entire academy trembled violently. A microscopic crack suddenly appeared around the academy's perimeter, extending rapidly until it completed a full circle and met its starting point.
The foundation of the entire academy within that crack began to rise. It was as if some world-shaking power was literally uprooting the entire institution!
"Sigh."
A heavy sigh echoed.
Leaning on a cane in one hand and clutching a pink star wand in the other, Professor Prang stood before the Purification Saintess.
"It has been a long time, Berena."
Professor Prang looked at the Purification Saintess with a somber expression. His aged eyes held a sorrow that even time could not erase.
"My most prideful student."
Though the Purification Saintess still looked like a budding young girl, as one of the few top-tier experts in the human world, she was actually no longer young.
Even the Pink Bear, or Dean Hathaway who governed this academy, were technically her juniors.
When she had first enrolled in the academy, Professor Prang had been nothing more than a young teacher who had just entered the field of education. To have raised such an outstanding Saintess was a matter of immense pride for him back then.
Even now, among all the students Professor Prang had taught, very few could match the legendary Saintess in terms of achievement.
But he didn't care for her because of her status or the fact that she had saved countless lives.
Rather, it was because during those years they spent together when she was just a girl, he had been truly moved by her innocence, her liveliness, and her kindness—by a character as noble as a gemstone.
He was her teacher, but in truth, he had learned more from her during those years.
Thus, he had always loved this child like a father, watching with nothing but pride as the fledgling grew into a white swan that soared through the skies.
"I just never imagined that our reunion after decades would look like this."
Professor Prang gripped his cane tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
"Fate is truly an unpredictable thing."
"Wooo—"
The Purification Saintess’s hollow eyes showed no emotion, only coldness.
And yet, her expression grew increasingly sorrowful.
"I see. To completely control you, the Evil God has almost entirely erased your consciousness?"
Looking at Berena in this state, Professor Prang suddenly understood.
Then, a smile actually appeared on his aged, grieving face.
"Yes, that’s the girl I know."
"That is the Purification Saintess who is worshipped and respected by countless people, whose statues still stand in so many places!"
"If you still had your own consciousness, you would have fought the Evil God until your very last breath."
"So, even if the Evil God corrupted you, they could only control you by wiping your mind clean!"
Yet even while controlled, this Saintess was still weeping instinctively.
She used her mournful cries to resist the holy hymn that sought to erode one's mind like an all-pervading poison.
"Good! Very good! That’s my student!"
Professor Prang laughed heartily, though the corners of his eyes—which had been dry for decades—suddenly grew moist.
"Since my student is already so excellent, I, as her teacher, cannot afford to be an embarrassment."
Professor Prang slammed his cane downward.
Though he was standing on thin air, the cane let out a majestic sound, like metal striking metal.
"Teacher is here to save you, Berena!"
Before his voice could fade.
In an instant.
Deep beneath the earth of St. Maria Academy, massive gears began to turn and mesh. Colossal mechanisms shifted and collided. Infinite mana was siphoned from the earth veins, surging through pipe-like vessels into the massive network that spanned the academy's entire underground.
Then.
Around the perimeter of St. Maria Academy, twelve buildings gleaming with a cold, metallic luster erupted from the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust that blotted out the sky.
Towers.
Twelve pitch-black high towers. When these twelve towers stood tall, the ground of St. Maria shook violently, and the foundation that had been lifted into the air was forcefully nailed back down.
This time, it was incredibly stable; not even a tremor remained.
Following this, profound magic patterns lit up atop the black towers. Under the manipulation of the Grand Ritual, the massive mana drawn from the earth veins converged into layers of magical architecture. They stacked continuously, finally forming a hemispherical barrier that enveloped the entirety of St. Maria.
In the sky above, that ever-growing blue moon finally seemed to halt its approach.
But Professor Prang knew this was only temporary.
Even with the second layer of the Grand Ritual at full power, it couldn't stop an Evil God from descending in a mad frenzy.
However, the ritual was only meant to stall Him.
After all, how could he allow anyone to interrupt this brief reunion with his beloved student?