763 – Like a Warrior (9)
After witnessing the tragic sacrifice of the fake Oknodie, Warrior Ishtar returned to the operation area, resolute.
“I don’t want to fail. Today, of all days, I must succeed!”
In truth, not every journey of a warrior ends in success.
They seize territories, bribe organizations, and increase their allies.
The somewhat successful villains naturally grow in scale.
As individuals, they’re merely parties of warriors.
As organizations, they become regional forces of evil.
It’s lucky if one out of ten warrior journeys ends in success; often, seven times the enemy evades battle and vanishes.
Barely catching a glimpse of them leads to two retreats, making escape a priority.
Seven failures.
Two retreats.
One success.
Even that single success can be overshadowed by an irretrievable defeat, and the warrior’s journey must conclude immediately.
Even if they stack up successes, if the opponent is a demon and cannot be purified, the journey will inevitably end.
Even with a saintly companion, once the purification exceeds her limits, a heartbreaking tug-of-war will begin between the warrior and the saintess.
One wishes to purify more demons, risking their own lifespan, while the other, wishing to conceal the taint, longs for freedom from this hellish life.
Essentially, warriors must fight within this challenging structure, making careful considerations.
If they clash with all visible evils, they may fall into strategically laid traps and suffer defeats.
Even if they win against evil, if they can’t stand the ramping wave of dark mana, the journey will come to an abrupt end.
Their lives, along with their comrades’, could be sacrificed due to their vanity.
It becomes an unyielding resolve to persist, even when watching oneself or their companions suffer and perish.
“Why isn’t the warrior helping us?!”
“We prayed so sincerely!”
“In the end, the warrior is no different from the hypocrites of the church!”
Since childhood, Ishtar had long kept a tight lip.
She felt wronged.
The believers of the church let the very evils they should stop run rampant just to gnaw at the warrior’s lifespan.
If they wish to complain, they should curse the church’s vile reality instead! Why should she bear the reproach for their madness in forcing the warrior into a fate of demonic addiction?
She knew that no one would listen to such a counterargument.
And even if someone did, it would be problematic.
The enemies would become aware of the warrior’s weaknesses.
Secrets known only to a few would be exposed.
Warriors cannot reveal their vulnerabilities.
The church’s villainy gets enabled.
Thus, she slowly rotted from within, alone.
Ishtar’s reticence stemmed from such torment.
It was impossible not to become twisted in spirit.
Somehow, this flawed self and Oknodie casually bickered.
Seeing the others, she honestly had many wretched thoughts.
They enjoyed a peace she couldn’t grasp.
They could dive into growth with ease.
Even when training, they weren’t reprimanded for lacking concern for the people.
“Why are you all weaker than me?
So utterly incompetent?”
Oknodie turned those thoughts upside down through their very existence.
A child who, despite not being a warrior, faced harsher discrimination than her.
A child who worked harder than her, a warrior.
A child who may not be strong but is respected.
The child she wanted to emulate.
The child she wished to become.
The child who acknowledged and supported her.
And the child she wanted to protect.
“I’ve seen it. The child’s weak side, the whiny looks, the crying face. Too many eyes on what should be unseen. So…”
“If that child changed me, then now it’s my turn to change that child.”
Just like when she altered the emperor at the empire’s center.
This time, she aimed for the throat of the foundation’s head, the director, with this sword’s tip.
“Everyone, it’s late, but I’m joining. Can you go ahead with me?”
“What’s with the formalities? A warrior party naturally follows its warrior.”
Her companions, who had suffered immensely to infiltrate the core facility of the archipelago, welcomed her addition instead of being envious of Ishtar’s easy arrival amid the principal’s magic.
Although there were skirmishes on the way, the warrior’s appearance was a great help here, where formidable foes loomed.
“This will be handled by our Secret Scholarship Society.”
Led by Jaku, the foundation scholarship students made their way through the secret passage, boldly darting into the enemy whenever rapid breakthroughs were necessary.
Thud, thud, thud…
Far off, the Northern Grand Duchess Irene’s freezing domain disabled the enemy’s coastal artillery along the shore, while the Sandkooker’s earthquake magic roared through the cliffs with mighty sounds.
Just one more.
If they can surpass this one branch, the door to the foundation’s inner sanctum, where the director resides, will open.
Then they can reclaim Oknodie, the torn soul of Oknodie.
“Is that the branch hunters warned about?”
“A foolish one. We’ve been prepared for ages.”
“Warrior. It’s time to pay the price for your audacity in wielding a sword against the foundation.”
As different voices emerged from the branch heads, Ishtar’s vision elongated sideways, revealing multiple enemies.
[Azmond's Hallucination]
[Effect: Rapidly distorts the perceptual awareness of the target before magical mana.]
When several enemies raised their hands simultaneously, the lights in the room extinguished, and all 87 types of magic circles erupted with fierce mana light.
“This is insane. Caught in illusions just by making eye contact. With this, I can’t even start as an archer…!”
“Skola, stop the dramatics. You learned how to fight even when you can’t see in the upper-class lectures, didn’t you?”
Though often overshadowed by Ishtar’s fame, the saintess Yufi was a steadfast ally whom Ishtar chose as her partner and first companion.
As Yufi’s massive reaping scythe flashed, holy artifacts stored in her inventory poured out like whoosh.
[Holy Head of the Thunder God]
[Holy Head of the Plague Lord]
[Holy Head of the Evil Spirit Kegemono]
[Holy Head of the Thief Santa Claus]
[Holy Head of the Mad Unicorn]
Suddenly surrounded by the holy energy from countless heads raining from the void, branch heads of the foundation shivered, knowing none of them could contend against such might and malice.
What could be in the backpack of a demon, one might wonder, but how could heads emerge from a saint’s inventory?!
However, if they understood the purpose of those heads, they would realize how mild their earlier thoughts were.
Of course, ignorance would do just fine.
Experience is a blessing granted to the ignorant.
Once you go through it, you can’t help but learn.
“Holy Barrier. And… Holy Bomb!”
The sacred barrier enveloping the warrior party.
As the thrown heads exploded, immense holy power surged forth in every direction.
The branch heads screamed silently within—as they faced an indescribable amount of holy power, their spirits dampened.
To bombard the heads of executed criminals was not only dreadfully vicious, but the accompanying intrusion of holy power was perilously dangerous.
Their plans to operate magic circles were heavily disrupted as the heads’ holy energy erupted, making them wonder when their bodies might be beheaded if they remained defenseless.
“This is… dark mana?!”
The problem arose when the holy barrier unveiled that dark mana seeped in behind the holy power.
Hide attacks within attacks.
Conceal dark mana within holy power.
This was a familiar combat style to Yufi.
“What about your ‘lady’s’ technique? Powerful, right? Ridiculous, even?”
Not just any dark mana.
What on earth did they do at the academy to incite such curses and “status ailment” effects?
Yufi, who’d harvested and stored heads from all those week-long academy events, unleashed her nightmare in dual divine-darkness effects.
Divine and dark.
Just one could trigger a cascade of status ailments, drastically differing in level of threat.
“My fingers are… numbed…!”
“Spells… won’t come to mind?!”
“Why won’t my mana… move?!”
Paralysis, forgetfulness, mana poison.
The sheer variety of toxic events is staggering.
The weekly events held by the Gift Academy.
Spells collected and developed from across the world by the principal.
And the perilous elements.
There was no way a mere branch head could handle such pressure.
In a bid to torment the principal’s students, Yufi infused her attacks with malice as she unleashed them upon the branch heads.
“Turning academy students into scholarship students, issuing orders, and discarding them as worthless—taste this. See what the students you discarded have had to endure!”
“C-cowardly…”
“Cowardly? How hilariously ironic. That child, Oknodie, never whined like this. Make excuses before the child whose soul you’ve severed!”
Beyond Yufi’s exclamations, the robust assault of the warrior party poured out.
*
They won.
Though they used up most of the stored heads except for a few specialized items, Yufi succeeded in killing the branch heads.
The final spells were now in the hands of the warrior party.
Combined with the spells acquired earlier, the key spell would now be fully realized, unlocking the path to the director’s abode.
“That’s…!”
As the mana density suddenly weighed heavily, the warrior party hurried to look out the window.
A colossal flying vessel resembling a dominator-level high-tier monster descended from above, reminiscent of a rampaging non-fair flight.
“It’s the flagship of the foundation.”
With a cold sweat, Skola identified the airship.
“What do we do?”
“There are people gathered from all over the world for today. We’ll leave this to them and proceed to do what only we can do as a warrior party.”
Ishtar turned the key formed by her spells, opening the door in mid-air, leaving behind the director’s emergence and the ominous atmosphere.
“If the director has shown up, it may be the perfect chance. Perhaps we can rescue Oknodie’s torn soul without confronting him.”
“What about our schoolmates being attacked by the director?”
“They’ve gone through so much and grown. They’ll surely endure.”
Ignoring the support request echoing through the warrior party’s communication magic tool, Ishtar completely brushed it aside.
A clash of heartfelt, dramatic vibes from Ishtar and pleas for assistance from her friends echoed through the magic tool.
As Yufi abruptly powered down, the warrior party’s companions regained their senses.
“After four years with my classmates, I’ll be together with the warrior party for life!”
“If Nise betrays, would I betray too?!”
“Honestly, I wasn’t very close to others since I was just the tank for the warrior party!”
“Well… I have certainly gotten a bit stronger. There’s no reason for us to worry.”
The companions of the warrior party willingly supported Ishtar’s decision.
“We managed to pull our weight.”
“Everyone, I know it’s tough, but please hold on.
I feel like Ishtar can do anything now!”
“With the help of the divine power of the Golgotha, next, we’ll show you the strength of our Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church’s holy Matheus.”
“But I heard from Oknodie that Matheus became an Evil God.”
“Shut it!”
With a huff, Nise darted through the spell gate before Ishtar, wielding her Gashimeis.
While everyone hurried to ensure Nise’s safety, they bumped heads or backsides with one another, making grimaces.
“What’s this? Isn’t it common courtesy to step aside for the person behind after passing through the door?”
As Skola was about to complain in discontent, her gaze followed where Nise was looking, into the open view beyond.
Wait, they were in the sky.
Why was this view so familiar?
Looking closely, they were on a non-fair flight.
A well-groomed young man, perfectly suited, stood on the deck.
“The Wahyhiemhai Foundation’s director?”
At Skola’s startled words, everyone felt the rush of reality hitting them.
They had arrived at the flagship of the foundation.
Right in the heart of the enemy’s territory.
