Chapter: 442
Joy Partan.
The character with the highest magical potential in the game “Soul Academy,” a fellow NPC who garnered players’ affection due to her many clumsy aspects despite her status as a duke’s daughter.
A wizard known for causing major failures occasionally, thanks to a hidden passive ability that raised everyone’s blood pressure.
Nonetheless, she was the most capable and versatile among the wizards you could recruit, making her ultimately an unavoidable choice.
She had probably spent the longest time in my party, even beyond the monitor screen.
I have no doubt that it’s good luck that I could be friends with Joy.
Not just because I could be friends with my favorite character from the game.
I might have started feeling that way for that reason, but as time passed, Joy became a true friend to me.
Despite her intimidating appearance, she’s timid.
Quick to get angry when teased.
Yet she can’t really complain, so she calms down quickly.
And when she gets to eat something really delicious, she makes a silly smile that doesn’t match her face.
The girl who messes up and then grumbles has somehow become someone I need to protect.
That doesn’t mean other friends aren’t precious.
It doesn’t change the fact that everyone is a valued connection to me.
However, strangely enough, when I see Joy, I remember her sitting in front of the dungeon looking hesitant, and it makes me worry even more.
Perhaps it’s because that moment hasn’t left my mind, which is why I see her as someone I need to protect.
Not as the top magician of Soul Academy, but as my weak friend.
Joy’s magic spreads throughout the area.
Her spell, which wipes away false truths and reveals hidden realities, looked clumsy even to someone like me who didn’t know much about magic, but that was what made it even more surprising.
That clumsiness led to a miracle neither I nor Phebe could have imagined.
[Ha. If that old wizard saw this scene, he’d be overjoyed.]
I took in the changing scenery of the world while leaving my grandfather’s astonishment behind.
I was now facing a world I could never see inside the game.
– Ding!
[Joy Partan’s affinity has exceeded 85.]
[She completely trusts you!]
[Your bond with Joy Partan deepens.]
[The Hero’s soul guides her to a miracle.]
While reading the deluge of messages flooding in, I lifted my head and locked eyes with Joy, who was struggling to smile.
Once I saw Joy’s effort, I realized I was grinning like an idiot myself.
“Why have you been acting like such an airhead if you could do this? Did you catch the protagonist disease? Airhead Joy?!”
Joy completely trusts me?
Haha. Got it. Then I can’t hold back.
Seeing Joy show this side of herself, me, the one standing at the front, showing poor form would just look like a total letdown.
“Are you fooling around? You think I can’t handle this?”
“I can’t!♡ You idiot!♡”
I blocked Joy’s way and glared at the alchemist. I made sure his gaze was on me.
Then my friends stood by my side as if they had been waiting.
Phebe.
Arthur.
Frey.
Joy.
Each of them firmly gripping their weapons and staring ahead.
When I stood before the alchemist in the past, I was all alone.
I had to stand against that disaster alone, thinking I could never hope to fight back.
But not anymore.
I’m not alone.
I don’t have to do everything by myself.
“Are you kicking up a fuss?”
“Cut the crap and get ready to be stomped!♡ You pathetic loser can’t do a thing without help!♡”
I take a deep breath. I withdraw the sanctity I had built into my shield, creating a realm of divinity around my heart.
As warmth tries to spread from within me, I pull it back inside.
And then I pray.
Not asking the pathetic god for something.
But asking for anything that would allow the Apostle working for you to forge ahead.
If you’re up there snickering like a bum, then do something!
Let your Apostle push forward, take the lead in victory, and smash those useless fools’ faces.
Bestow your blessing.
[The hero’s spirit bolsters your steps.]
[Blessings are granted to you, walking on the path of sainthood.]
[The goddess’s blessing instills confidence in your movements.]
A wave of exhilaration enveloped me.
Confidence that I would not fail.
Faith that no matter what trials might come, I could overcome them.
With that, I lifted my chin, presenting my shield to the tree.
The giant tree that guards the forest.
The one chosen as the lord of the woods after gaining wisdom over long ages.
Now, it was an enemy, having lost its mind due to the power of the Void and modified by the alchemist to attack us.
As I ponder about how to provoke that thing, the conclusion comes quickly.
Having validated the words in my mind through weakness identification, I looked at the tree’s mindless red eyes and grinned.
“Wow♡ Look at those rotten roots!♡ You poor thing!♡ You’ve never used them properly, and now you won’t be able to!♡”
The giant tree is a mutant born in the forest.
Originally, it shouldn’t have grown there, but grew through some miracle.
Because it’s a different species, the giant tree has watched over the woods for a long time without leaving any offspring behind.
In human terms, it’s like an ancient virgin.
“Hmm♡ On second thought, will it be any different even if it rots?♡ It never worked before, so why would it change now?♡ It might even be more honorable to just rot away, huh?♡”
– Groaaar!
The giant tree, which had only threatened us through its roots, started stomping towards me with a loud clang.
While that thing’s charge may seem threatening for its size, I wasn’t scared at all.
As long as it couldn’t hide its actions in deceit.
As long as it swung its arms wildly, having lost its mind.
It wouldn’t escape the knowledge of its rotten reality.
The tree raises its arms.
The living battering ram swings down towards me.
Not yet.
Just a little more wait.
Wait until its arms are at the top and begin to come down.
Now.
Thwack!
With a clear sound announcing my successful parry, the battering ram flies far away.
That didn’t mean I was unharmed.
The power of the giant tree could crumble walls, so even a successful parry would push me back somewhat.
If I had been alone, I would’ve been in big, big trouble.
If I had been alone.
“Flame, rise up!”
The fire that Arthur shot hit the tree’s face, distracting it.
“I should’ve brought an axe.”
Frey’s sword left a massive cut in the tree.
Around that time, the giant tree snapped back to attention, trying to strike Frey with its roots, but Joy’s wind cut through them.
Frey managed to carve another wound before he fell back.
“Arrogant little brats!”
Surprised by the situation, the alchemist tried to support it with his dark magic.
“Which side is really clueless here?”
Joy’s purifying aura stood against him, right at the opposing side of the Evil God’s followers.
In the face of the saint’s holiness, which had become truth at the end of falsehood, the alchemist struggled to fend off the divine energy that approached even him.
– Grrr!
Perhaps realizing that rushing in wouldn’t lead to victory, the giant tree tried to dig its roots back in.
But I wouldn’t allow that.
“Giving up after being pushed back just once?♡ Talk about having no grit!♡ It’s probably why you’ve stayed a virgin all this time!♡”
– …
“Just continue living like that for the rest of your life, yeah?♡ Like the other trees, the birds, the bugs—stay a despised tree and get buried somewhere!♡ In a way, it’s a blessing!♡ That your inferior seed won’t spread and make the world more beautiful!♡”
The tree, its eyes gone mad, charges at me once more.
It only targets me.
It attacks me only.
Swinging its fist down.
I deflect it with my shield, creating an opening.
It tries to wrap around me with its roots.
I dodge while scratching at them to disrupt their movement.
It hurls rotten fruit.
I blocked it with the divine but laughed it off, saying it reeked of virginity. Yet the tree came charging again.
In that process, I didn’t always manage to take my best action.
I accumulated minor wounds and shocks while my movements became disordered, but even so, I remained calm.
Because I didn’t need to attack.
As long as the mace hidden behind my shield remained a threat, it was fine.
I could solely focus on defense and provocation for once; how nice that felt.
While thinking that, I saw the giant tree become unsettled behind my shield and charged forward.
My sole objective was to subdue it.
I didn’t care if the lord of the forest returned to its former self or not, I had no intention of giving up on saving it.
So, while running, I shrank the mace and stored it in my pouch.
The giant tree, with its accumulated wounds from continuous attacks, moved more sluggishly than when I first saw it.
Even when it saw me running right up to it, it was too late to swing an arm.
I leaped into the air, confronting the giant tree’s red eyes with my empty hands filled with sanctity.
The divine energy that rejects evil. The sunlight that chases away darkness.
With a fist packed full of that energy, I slammed it into the giant tree’s face, causing its massive form to rise slightly into the air before falling hard to the ground.
After a brief tremor, the tree didn’t rise again, apparently lacking the energy to move.
“Excellent! Young Lady Alrn! Such noble and strong appearance!”
While I anxiously hoped the tree would remain alive, the perverted apostle approached beside me, voice filled with awe.
Ignoring his absurd babble, I checked where the bear had been, only to find the lifeless form of the bear sprawled out.
Its belly moved sluggishly up and down.
Had the Evil God’s power waned just after subduing me?
Without even fully grasping its patterns.
…If it weren’t for its usual disgusting demeanor, it’d definitely be a real apostle.
[Lucy. Look ahead.]
Following my grandfather’s words, I lifted my head to see the alchemist fleeing under his robe with tentacles.
What’s this? Are you running because you think you’ll lose?
Wasn’t he so confident before? Now he seems desperate to live?
“Ha ha ha!♡”
The moment I burst out laughing, the alchemist’s movements came to a halt.
“Is it because they’re rotten away?♡ Your actions are worse than those of a little girl!♡”
I could see the alchemist looking back at me with a slightly turned face.
“What are you doing?♡ Have you given up on running away?♡ Finally realized that waddling around gives you no answers?♡”
“…”
“So what will you do now?♡ Go on and try anything!♡ If you act ugly, I might even listen to your last words!♡ Ah~♡ No, just die!♡ If I get a whiff of your foul breath, I might suffocate!♡”
“You filthy bitch!”
Seeing the alchemist charge towards me, I once again gripped the mace tightly.
I could hit him as much as I wanted.
Not with the other forest masters, but this one? He’s perfectly fair game!
Right?
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