<190 - The Strength of a Warrior>
Warrior Ishtar.
She remembers.
The words left by the deity after granting her power.
– Only three shields will protect you from your immaturity. Before you awaken the sacred light, if even one shield is broken, fight with all your might, and if two are broken, then you must flee without fail. If all three are broken, only the descent of the god will save you.
She felt like she had been hit in the face.
She knew she was strong.
She had noticed her versatility.
She was even considered a candidate for the warrior party.
But not this much.
She shouldn’t have been this strong.
One shield has been broken.
Not killing her but reforming her, forcing her to comply by subjugating her; she was no being that could be secured with such silly hopes and hesitations. This child had surpassed what she could handle.
“Could you have been a little weaker? If so, I could have made you submit by force…”
“Hmph. How about you, Ishtar? Realize the difference in power and retreat willingly? If you keep coming at me, you’ll see some real pain. You only have one shield left, right?”
“…Is that what the Foundation told you?”
“Ah, um… I-I can’t say! It’s a secret!”
[False]
A child freely discussing all secrets without any prohibitions from the Foundation.
As the holy sword vibrated and began to emit light, Oknodie’s face turned pale.
It was as if she knew this was the [Holy Sword Release] showcasing its true power.
Evil power.
A broken mind.
Mimicking emotions.
There was only one reason she could think of for such a bad child to know all of the warrior’s secrets.
You must have intended to become the warrior’s enemy from the start. That unsettling class, Dark Princess, was also hinted at by the professors to suggest this fact indirectly.
Not realizing that the professors were quietly fond of the child, she felt foolish.
[Holy Sword Release]
“Eh? Holy Sword Release? Why?”
“Because you’re such a bad child.”
“I didn’t know there was a penalty for being a bad child!?”
“Quit your nonsense and act. If you want to live, don’t resist and let me purify the dark mana within you.”
“No, that’s a problem! Most of my mana pieces are dark mana!”
The whiny excuse didn’t pass.
[Acceleration Afterimage Sword - Concealed Trajectory]
Once again, she unleashed a series of motions that made her appear to multiply.
[Holy Sword Function - Purification]
As the wavelength of light that excludes all unclean powers spread, the afterimages shattered at once, revealing Oknodie’s figure, now close enough to touch.
Although it was an impressive skill that could easily label her as an active high assassin, it ultimately proved fruitless in front of the holy sword.
Enduring the pain is your responsibility. This sword cannot physically harm your body, but it inflicts strong damage on evil beings and purifies unclean powers.
If she were truly a devilish entity that had gone too far, she would not survive being cut by the sword.
As the number of hits increased, the damage would become more significant, and the speed at which her breath ceased would outpace the speed of purification, leading her to lose her life.
But Ishtar wanted to believe.
She wanted to believe in the people following Oknodie.
That their treating Oknodie as a ‘good child’ was not merely a cunning act.
That there was, somewhere deep down in that child, a good heart.
[Holy Smite]
Final technique – 10 consecutive thrusts.
Opting for a heavy attack instead of a technique that could surely annihilate evil beings was due to her shaken heart at the last moment.
That could be considered fortunate for Oknodie in many ways.
[Dark Cloak]
The dark shield that had spread was now shattered, reducing its power, and a singular attack inflicted damage while releasing the diminished purifying power.
One-tenth.
No, including the reduced damage, it was barely one-thirtieth of the purifying power.
Yet, it still exhibited astonishing power surpassing Ishtar’s expectations.
The pressure of Warrior Ishtar was tremendous.
Oknodie’s mouth bled.
A lot.
So much that it made one fear she might just die from it.
“Oknodie!?”
Ishtar halted her attack in shock.
Oknodie, bewildered by her own bleeding, wiped her mouth with one hand, wondering what to do with her now blood-stained hand.
That was evident.
The demonic beasts stained with magic.
The humans controlling the beasts, the demon minions.
And the demonic clan that ruled over even those demon minions.
Among them, the evil beings deep in malevolence.
Those that could even be termed as great demons, evil to the bitter end, were inflicting tremendous damage that disrupted Oknodie’s insides.
That child wasn’t a good child.
She had transcended the level of being merely evil; she was evil incarnate.
A great demon capable of sowing disaster in the world to come.
Dark Princess.
Oh no.
After fighting too intensely post-meal, the pressure in her stomach had caused her to regurgitate the bat-specific animal blood drink she had stolen from [Upper Class Boarding Storage]…!
Gulp.
She glanced around like a kid being scolded by her mom.
Wait, right?
It’s not like I wanted to spit it out on purpose and that they’d confiscate my collection, right?
“You… that blood from your mouth…”
“D-Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”
“It’s nothing? You’re clearly pushing it.”
“Honestly, I’m a bit scared.”
“What on earth did you do at that young age, what kind of life have you lived to be so deeply drenched in malice?”
“I don’t know.”
Ishtar’s face began to wet with tears.
Clack.
She felt sympathy yet wouldn’t back down, demonstrating resolve.
If that can also be called the qualities of a warrior, then Ishtar truly would be an extraordinary warrior.
That made her even scarier.
Did the bad child rise too much, powering up like crazy? What should I do?
Originally, a warrior wouldn’t unleash the holy sword against a classmate.
At most, they would only use their powers once the demon minions took center stage in their third year, certainly not in their first year.
In other words, this was like having advanced studies in the current curriculum’s first semester.
That pace was unreasonable!
As Ishtar bit her lip and was about to rush in, she raised her sword high.
Bang!
A significant amount of force kicked back, and landing in front of me was a girl with short hair that covered her ears, appearing light and graceful.
Skilled as her body moved fluidly, one could even appreciate the beauty in her every motion.
“That’s enough. No matter how much of a warrior you are, I can’t let Oknodie die.”
“Good job, Jiang! Break Ishtar into pieces… Um, uhhh.”
“Fool. Don’t say that. You’re bleeding.”
While Jiang was reprimanding her, the blood she had stolen from lunch spilled out as she struggled to calm herself.
A cold breeze suddenly brushed past from the hallway behind.
This coldness.
Could it be Professor Raeb?
Was it that person who spurred the warrior’s action…?
Just as she grew slightly tense, she sensed a different quality of coldness than Raeb’s and sighed in relief.
“I’ll help too.”
“Irene. Have you finally decided to help that child?”
“It seems so. From now on, I will become the warrior’s enemy.”
Huh?
What are they suddenly talking about?
Irene, the warrior’s enemy?
Choosing my side?
Why the sudden shift? What kind of event is this?
This isn’t an event that was supposed to happen!
A chill breeze brushed gently over my shoulders, leaving me puzzled.
“Don’t make that face. Not everyone in the world is your enemy.”
“No, but… can someone explain this?”
“I know. That you’re wielding an evil power and could walk the wrong path.”
“!”
“The warrior couldn’t forgive you, but I believe it’s the Foundation’s fault, not yours. I think that evil power could be set right with enough time, without extreme measures.”
Jiang chimed in with a sharp retort.
“Don’t pat yourself on the back just yet, why don’t you handle that monstrous presence in front of you? Facing it head-on is quite a burden, you know? Seriously.”
Cold sweat streamed down my face as I looked at Jiang opposing the warrior.
Even feeling the chilling aura emanating from Irene directly behind me, I couldn’t help but sweat profusely, feeling the tension in the air.
The awkward strength recognition may have become a poison in this moment.
Swish.
Swish.
…Or perhaps it was that the small ghost escaping from the ring, Fake Lin, sensed Jiang’s hair and lovingly caressed it.
“You have such good friends. It’s rare to find someone with the courage to block the warrior’s path. Especially when it’s not for self-interests but to protect others.”
Suddenly, the warrior’s honest compliment cut through the air.
“…All of a sudden?”
“I just said my honest feelings.”
The tension in the atmosphere eased significantly.
Could it be that she was going to let it go?
The guard between Jiang and Irene relaxed.
That was the warrior’s plan.
Without any prelude, the warrior lunged forward directly.
“!!”
[Stealth - Shadow Walker]
Jiang quickly conjured her magic, killing her presence.
It became so vague she could hardly be perceived even when standing right in front.
As is usual for assassins, they hide themselves and strike at their enemy’s gaps.
A technique true to an assassin’s basics.
But unlike my skills that lead the opponent’s response and create openings for attacks, Jiang’s technique was too focused on hiding her presence.
A technique that could perform only one role at a time had difficulty being effective against a superhumans warrior.
Without any concern for the vanished presences, the warrior directly followed her position.
“!!”
Discovered.
The warrior swung her holy sword toward Jiang, accurately targeting her.
If it were a slash, her body would surely be cut.
The trajectory was so precise it could freeze her in fear.
However, Jiang was lucky.
Instead of slicing her, the warrior swung the broad side of the sword and struck her instead.
As she rolled across the floor, a stream of blood escaped from Jiang’s lips.
But the amount of bleeding was less than what I would expect from a direct hit.
Ishtar’s expression became a shade more agonized.
At the same time, a torrent of ice surged over Jiang who had fallen.
[Ice Magic - Messenger of Ice]
Ice properties that bind movement, projected onto a medium to cast it across space.
Crowd control.
Ice binding.
The holy sword cut deeply, but the wielding power filled the surrounding space, blooming like snowflowers.
Bang!
As the flowers burst, the cold deepened further.
Exposed to a freezing chill, the warrior found herself encased in frost.
Irene’s clever attack began to stack coldness upon coldness, gradually slowing her adversary.
Cha-ra-ra
Brilliantly sparkling ice particles.
In contrast to the beautiful sight reminiscent of a fairy tale, the ruthless potential hidden within unfurled continuously following Irene’s movements.
Particles expanded and formed sharp, thorn-like shapes as they were shot to the center, while the concentrated coldness entirely froze the ground beneath.
Bestowing a colossal ice wall upon an opponent who couldn’t avoid or move was a brutal assault; it nearly seemed capable of killing someone.
Yet Irene’s expression didn’t brighten at all.
Flash!
Along with light, pure white blades indiscriminately tore apart the ice mana.
If Irene’s attack bloomed like snowflakes, the warrior’s strike blossomed like flowers of luminosity, consuming the beauty of snow.
[Breakthrough - Seven Blades of Light]
An intense rapid succession of seven gleams struck the ice wall with the force to burst through, racing toward Irene.
Clang!
“Don’t interfere.”
“Ugh…”
In an instant, Jiang, who had just steadied herself to rush back, was harshly flung aside, crashing against the wall.
“Jiang!”
“Run…”
Consciousness faded from Jiang, her head drooping.
In that fleeting moment looking back at her, the warrior grabbed Irene’s throat through the barrier of icy chill.
“Grrk…”
As her neck was seized and her breath constricted, Irene lost consciousness and collapsed.
The warrior tossed her limp body aside, raising the blade of the holy sword once more.
“I said I’m a bad child, didn’t I? You’re the bad one. Those kids did nothing wrong.”
“…I promise. I’ll make the Foundation that turned you into this pay for their deeds.”
The warrior’s sword began to emit a threatening glare again.
Hinx.
I didn’t want to use dangerous techniques even in reality…
Should I really have to resort to [Rampage]?
As Ishtar’s aura heightened, instead of ‘controlling’ the dark mana, she decided to ‘operate’ it with total power. Just then, someone slipped between us, calming our hearts with a soothing scent.
“Oh dear. Could you please end the fight among students here?”
With a gently outstretched hand, the warrior’s malice and my dark aura were gently twisted in opposite directions as she refined her wrist.
[Conscious Manipulation - Pure Discussion]
[Mastery - Butterfly Dream]
With movements as soft as a butterfly’s, for some reason, an irresistible force compelled action to be restrained.
According to the irreversibly acting power, both the warrior’s energy and my power were simultaneously nullified.
There was no way an ordinary student could perform such a miraculous feat; the moment I recognized his identity, I instinctively accepted everything he had done.
“You are…!”
“Ah! Professor!”
The interloper was a bald man donned in a gray robe, with a worn brown kasaya draped over one shoulder, known as Myung So.
