Chapter: 442
Joy Partlan.
In the game called Soul Academy, she is a character with the highest potential for magic power, yet despite her status as a Ducal Young Lady, she has many sloppy aspects that endear her to users as a companion NPC.
With a hidden passive that causes her to make massive failures at times, she has raised the blood pressure of many users as a wizard.
Still, among the wizards you can take as companions, she is unfortunately the most promising and versatile one, making it inevitable for me to hire her.
At the time I was beyond the monitor, she had spent the most time in my party.
I have no doubt that it was a stroke of luck for me to be able to become friends with Joy.
I don’t say this just because I got to be friends with my favorite person in the game.
I might have started with such reasons, but over time, Joy truly became a real friend to me.
Contrary to her frightening appearance, she’s shy.
She gets angry easily when teased.
Yet she can’t really sulk, so she calms down quickly.
When she gets to eat something really delicious, she breaks into a silly smile that doesn’t fit her face at all.
Her clumsy mistakes, along with her grumbling, made her someone I needed to protect over time.
It’s not that the other friends aren’t precious.
The fact that all of them are valuable bonds to me doesn’t change.
However, strangely, whenever I see Joy, the image of her sitting in front of the dungeon comes to mind, making me more worried.
Perhaps it’s because that scene hasn’t left my mind that I’ve only seen Joy as someone I need to protect even more.
Not as the greatest wizard of Soul Academy, but as my weak, dear friend.
As the entirety of Joy’s magic spreads out.
The way she reveals hidden truths while erasing false ones seemed sloppy even to me, who knows little about magic, which is why it surprised me even more.
It was with that sloppiness that she accomplished miracles that neither I nor Phoebe could have imagined.
Hah. If that old wizard saw this scene, he would have been overjoyed.
Taking in the changing scenery of the world behind my grandfather’s exclamation.
I faced a world I could never see inside the game.
Ding!
[Joy Partlan’s favorability exceeds 85.]
[She completely trusts you!]
[Your bond with Joy Partlan deepens.]
[The soul of the hero guides her with miracles.]
While reading the flood of messages, I raised my head in a struggle and locked eyes with Joy.
It was only after facing Joy, who forced a smile, that I realized I was breaking into a laugh.
“Why have you been such an idiot all this time when you can do things like this? Have you caught protagonist disease? Silly Joy?!”
Joy trusts me completely?
Hahaha. Got it. Then it can’t be helped.
She’s showing me this side since she trusts me, and it would be totally sloppy if I looked unskilled up front.
“Are you messing around? You think I can’t handle this?”
“I can’t~ you fool~!”
Blocking Joy’s path, I glare at the alchemist, making sure his gaze lands on me.
Just as I expected, my friends line up beside me.
Phoebe.
Arthur.
Frey.
Joy.
Each of them holds their respective weapons tightly, looking ahead.
When I stood before the alchemist in the past, I was alone.
I had to block that disaster, which I thought I could never contend with, all by myself.
Not anymore.
I am not alone.
I don’t have to do everything by myself.
“Are you struggling?”
“Stop the nonsense and get ready to get beaten up~! Without the help of my fools, you can’t do anything, pathetic~!”
I take a breath. Gathering the divine grace I had imbued in my shield, I create a divine realm around my heart.
I draw in the warmth that seeks to spread from within to the outside.
And I pray.
Not asking the Sloppy God for something.
I demand anything for the Apostle who works for you.
If you’re up there laughing like a layabout, then at least do something.
Let your apostle move forward. Let her lead the charge to victory. Let me smash those pathetic fools’ faces in.
Bestow blessings.
[The spirit of the hero enhances your steps.]
[A blessing is given to you, walking the path of the saint.]
[The goddess’s blessing instills confidence in your movements.]
A sensation of ecstasy wraps around my entire body.
A certainty that I won’t fail.
A belief that I can overcome any trial that comes my way.
With that, I smile as I step forward, raising my shield towards the giant tree defending the forest.
The giant tree chosen as the master of the forest, having gained wisdom through long ages.
Now, it’s a foe attacking us, having lost its mind and been modified by the alchemist with the power of the Void.
As I consider how to provoke it, a conclusion comes to mind in an instant.
Having verified the word that popped into my head through weakness identification, I grin at the giant tree’s blood-red eyes, which have lost all reason.
“Wow~ look at that rotted root~ how pathetic~ You’ll never get to use it properly, will you?~”
The giant tree is a mutated variant born in the forest.
It wasn’t supposed to grow there, but grew through some kind of miracle.
Since its origin is fundamentally different, the giant tree has guarded the forest for ages without leaving any offspring.
In human terms, that’s like being a virgin for hundreds of years.
“Hmmm, thinking about it, will rotting even change anything?~ You haven’t been able to use it, so just waiting around won’t change anything, will it?~ It might actually be honorable to just rot away?~”
Grrr!
The giant tree, which has been threatening us merely through its roots until now, thunders as it charges towards me.
While the charge of that enormous being looks threatening, I wasn’t scared at all.
As long as it can’t conceal its actions with lies.
As long as it wildly swings its arms without reason.
It’ll never escape the knowledge of that rotting tree.
The tree raises its arm.
The living siege weapon swings down towards me.
Not yet.
Just a bit longer.
Wait until that arm reaches the top and comes down.
Now.
Clang!
With the refreshing sound of a successful parry, the siege weapon is sent flying far away.
I wasn’t unscathed, either.
The power the giant tree possesses is enough to collapse walls, and even with a successful parry, I would still be pushed back.
If I had been alone, this would have been a really tough situation.
If I had been alone.
“Burn!”
A flame shot from Arthur hits the tree’s face, obstructing its vision.
“You should have brought an axe.”
Frey’s swinging sword leaves a massive gash on the tree.
By that time, the giant tree, regaining its senses, tried to swing its roots to attack Frey, but the wind created by Joy cuts those roots off.
Seeing this, Frey quickly inflicted another wound before retreating.
“Impudent fools!”
With such circumstances leaving him bewildered, the alchemist tries to aid with his black magic, but—
“Which side knows its place?”
The energy of purification created by Phoebe blocks him. Standing opposite the Followers of the Evil God.
Before the sacred grace of the saint, which has become truth at the end of deceit, corruption cannot exert its full power, and the alchemist hurriedly tries to fend off the grace approaching him.
Grrr!
Did the giant tree realize it couldn’t win after sharing a moment of teamwork and recklessly rushing in?
Once again, it attempts to plunge its roots into the ground.
But I won’t allow that.
“Are you giving up just because you got pushed back?~ You really have no guts~ I guess that’s why you’re still a virgin~”
…
“Live like that for the rest of your life~ with other trees. Birds. Bugs. Being a tree that everyone hates, stuck somewhere~ How fortunate that your inferior seed doesn’t spread, making the world more beautiful~”
The mad tree charges at me once more.
Charging only at me.
Attacking only me.
It swings its fist at me.
I bounce it off with my shield, creating an opening.
It tries to whip me with its roots.
Dodging and throwing a few scratches to disrupt its movement.
It throws rotten fruits at me.
I block with divine grace and scoff, saying the stench of virginity is dreadful. The tree charges at me again.
In that process, I still didn’t always take the best actions.
While small wounds accumulate on my body, compounded by the shock, I still don’t lose my composure.
I don’t have to attack the opponent.
As long as the mace hidden behind my shield remains a threat, that’s enough.
Being able to focus only on defense and provocation was so comfortable.
While I was thinking that, I saw the giant tree becoming disordered behind my shield and I rushed forward.
My goal is purely to subdue it.
I don’t know if the master of the forest can return to its original state, but I have no intention of giving up on saving it.
So while running, I made the mace smaller and put it in my pocket.
The tree’s movements, which have accumulated wounds from the continued attacks, were slower than when I first saw it.
Even when I ran right in front of it, it couldn’t even swing its arms.
Looking into the tree’s blood-red eyes, I leaped into the void, gathering divine grace into my empty hands.
The divine grace of the Lord, which does not permit corruption. The energy of the sun driving away darkness.
As I struck the tree’s face with a fist full of divine energy, the giant tree’s body slightly lifted into the air and then fell to the ground.
The motionless tree showed no signs of getting up, as if it lost all its power.
“Excellent! Lady Allen! You were so noble and powerful!”
As I worriedly checked to see if the tree was still alive, the Perverted Apostle who had come close to me spoke with amazement.
Ignoring his nonsense, I looked towards where the bear used to be, revealing the large, sprawled-out bear.
The bear’s belly slowly rose and fell.
Did the power of the Evil God subdue it the moment it vanished?
Without even knowing its patterns.
…Without its usual disgusting appearance, it would’ve really been a true apostle.
Lucy, look ahead!
Following my grandfather’s words, I raised my head, spotting the alchemist running away beneath the robe.
What? Is he running away because he thinks he’ll lose?
He was so confident before, but now he seems desperate to live?
“Hahaha!”
The moment I burst into laughter, the alchemist froze.
“Is it because your junk is rotting and falling away?~ Your actions are worse than a girl’s!~”
I can see the alchemist looking at me with a slightly twisted face.
“What’s wrong?~ Are you giving up on running away?~ Did you finally realize that waddling around isn’t going to get you anywhere?~”
…
“Then what will you do now?~ Try anything~ If you flail about ugly enough, I might let you have your last words!~ Oh~ no~ Just die~ Smelling your disgusting breath might make me suffocate to death!~”
“Damn it!”
Seeing the alchemist running toward me, I gripped the mace once more.
Except for the other two masters of the forest.
I can hit this one as hard as I want, right?
Right?
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.