Chapter 152
The clash of two powers.
Deep purple mana that signifies Altife, and an overwhelming presence of mana that is not easily perceptible.
The magic cannons created by Vargan to face Blurans have now increased to twelve. Black flames engulf these magic cannons imbued with the magic of decay.
The reason for the increase beyond the initially declared amount is simple.
Upon engaging with Vargan, Blurans realized he had to give it his all to face his opponent, prompting him to display an early form of Liberation, a skill usable only by those of Archbishop level and above.
Blurans, who first opened up his power, was in an incomplete state of Liberation, but it enhanced his physical body and significantly increased his mana and power.
Blurans was thrilled.
Each technique displayed by Vargan was bizarre yet powerful.
The vast amount of mana supporting it could be described as downright cheating.
During his time infiltrating the Academia, Blurans hadn’t engaged in any real battles.
In the past, he had traversed the battlefield, not sparing his life, and his body longed to repeat that history.
But now.
For the first time in a long while.
He had found a decent opponent.
He could finally engage in a proper fight.
“This is it! This is what I wanted!”
Vargan had already far surpassed the level of a mere student.
Even factoring in the church’s Hero Rankings, it wouldn’t take long for him to reach double digits.
This guy was currently holding back his true power.
His original strength surpassed this limit.
He was even researching Unique Spells.
…What would happen if he perfected that?
Just how interesting would he become!
He wanted to fight.
He wanted to fight like crazy.
He wanted to engage in a life-or-death duel with you, Schugenharz Troa Vargan…!
Blurans swung his spear, exhilarated and mad, as if flames had ignited his body.
The blue lightning that he had maintained from the human realm had, before he knew it, become his own, dyed in purple.
Born from the union of human and Altife, Blendan was a mongrel.
His fateful birth, which had been nearly impossible, was a testament to his precarious destiny.
Having overpowered those who looked down on him through sheer strength.
With that pure force.
Forgetting the purpose of serving the goddess.
Erasing any other objectives from his mind.
Now, he was savoring this fight.
Even with his power liberated, his entire body was soaked in blood.
Even as his regeneration continued, the unrelenting magic of decay gradually ate away at him. Though his recovery was stalled once the red aura was torn, Vargan’s magic was even more lethal.
The current battle was occurring both outside and inside Blurans’ body.
Simultaneously.
“Bwahahahaha!”
Perhaps due to Vargan’s overwhelming magic and the innate qualities of dark magic, it was as if he were fighting a formidable Bishop-level or higher from the Goddess Church.
The magic of decay also reminded him of Ami, who had been an Archbishop…
Blurans was unleashing a relentless assault, shooting invisible lightning spears at a speed that couldn’t even be recognized.
Suddenly, an amusing thought struck him.
Vargan, possessing a nature similar to the Goddess Church, was too good to be rotting away in a place like this.
His talents and actions didn’t align with those of a Hero.
Blurans narrowly dodged the corrupt Magic Cannons aimed at him, just a paper’s breadth away.
A sly smile crept across his face.
“How about joining the Goddess Church?”
In the rapidly unfolding battle, Blurans’s voice reached Vargan’s brain without any distortion.
The reason why Blurans uttered such words was simple.
“If you join the Goddess Church, you could receive ‘blessings.’ You know, blessings are like miracles that can’t be explained by magic.”
He grinned wickedly.
Just the thought of it excited him, and he let out an enthusiastic voice.
“Imagine it! You, blessed! You could become even stronger. And not just that?! You could continue the struggle… the war… until the day you die!”
Blurans believed that the blood of a fighter flowed through Vargan, just like him.
The reason his own blood was boiling so fiercely was that he had met someone from the same lineage.
Though he wrapped it up with trivial things like being a Noble or a Hero, that guy would surely shine when under the Goddess’s protection!
“If you’re as authoritative as you seem, I have quite an enticing tale for you.”
Blurans aimed to recruit Vargan.
He coveted his talents to gather a force that would support him in the future.
“In the Goddess Church, rank is absolute! With your abilities, becoming a Bishop is a piece of cake. That means you’ll have many Priests following you!”
In a world where power equates to rank.
A journey to reach the pinnacle.
The Goddess Church is a religion to praise the Goddess, but it’s also a jungle ruled by the logic of strength, filled with powerful beings that must continuously prove their worth.
In other words, joining the Goddess Church means being able to fight against strong Altife or anyone else.
“Exciting, isn’t it? Aren’t you trembling? Your name will spread far and wide, becoming a source of fear! People will wet themselves just hearing your name, and tears of terror will flow!”
Blurans promised that if he became the Archbishop soon, he would allow Vargan to act freely under his command.
He wished to unveil the desire for murder that he tried to hide.
The craving for the smell of blood on the battlefield.
Vargan listened to Blurans’s continued words, then finally opened his mouth.
“…Not a bad proposal.”
He finally spoke.
“There should be plenty of things to do if I join the Goddess Church. Also, the power I could obtain separately is quite tempting.”
Hearing Vargan’s positive response, Blurans’s mouth stretched into an enormous grin.
It seemed he was going to succeed in his recruitment.
Indeed, that guy was just like him…!
“Yes, that’s it, Vargan! What’s the point of protecting people! What enjoyment is there! A slaughterfest…! A death arena where you can never let your guard down, that’s the perfect place for you!”
Blurans temporarily halted his fervent attacks.
He took a moment to distance himself, laughing as if he had gone mad. His skin was peeling, and black flames flickered around him, but he didn’t care.
With great expectations, the voice he heard was,
“One, I refuse.”
“What…?”
As the response turned out to be the exact opposite of what he hoped for, Blurans’s face twisted in disbelief.
Blurans asked Vargan to repeat his answer, but the reply was the same.
Vargan expressed his refusal.
And Blurans, who considered him to be from the same lineage, couldn’t understand it at all.
Blurans couldn’t understand it.
『What’s the reason… Surely you’re not really there to save people.』
Despite Blurans’ continuous remarks, Vargan shook his head and interrupted him.
Vargan, not interested in all the rambling, pointed out that the point was completely missed.
He referred to the proposal that Blurans had made and emphasized it.
“Being a Bishop isn’t enough.”
With an even more confused expression, Blurans furrowed his brow.
Vargan looked down with a smug smile at the Bishop, who had invaded Academia to stand out in the Archbishop selection.
“If you want to take me with you, you’ll at least have to offer the position of Archbishop.”
Archbishop.
The highest authority in the Goddess Church, except for the Cardinals, who are practically the true powers with only 15 members.
That great position, enjoying all sorts of privileges.
So casually.
Vargan demanded it as bargaining material.
Madman. He’s truly a madman.
That’s what Blurans thought.
Even though he clearly knew why he and the other Bishops at the top tier were causing a ruckus in Academia.
He taunted him by lightly calling his name.
This was not just a simple rejection.
It was an utter disregard for him and, by extension, all Bishops.
In this temporarily calmed place.
After a while, the sound of a purplish current crackling around the spear echoed.
『Ka, hahah.』
Blurans let out an unserious laugh.
『Ka, hahah. Hahahaha!』
The laughter flowed out in a chain, drowning out Blurans’ rough voice.
『Kahahahahaha! You must be insane! This is nonsense even to me! You’re truly a madman! Kaah!』
Blurans knew.
In the history of the Goddess Church, there has never been a single ‘person’ who reached the rank of Archbishop after being evangelized.
And yet, demanding that from the start?
Getting brought in as a Bishop was already an unusual event!
Vargan… that guy has truly lost his mind…!
After laughing heartily for a while, perhaps due to the laughter, the intent to kill that had engulfed him also faded.
His body still suffered from the black flames burning here and there, yet he showed no signs of it.
Once he stopped laughing, he glanced around for any signs.
There were approaching footsteps.
At this level… it’s probably just the First-Year Arterion’s group.
He compared the current state of himself with Vargan’s and determined that if they joined in now, it would become dangerous.
Having made his decision, he conveyed to Vargan.
『The slaughter is over. The rematch can wait for the next opportunity.』
See you later, you crazy human.
With those words, Blurans felt a trace of regret for not finishing the deal of life and death.
His gaze transformed.
The changed eyes reflected the demeanor of a carefree human wanting to take a nap.
As if a switch had flipped.
In an instant, he transformed from ‘Blurans’ to ‘Pertigle.’
Pertigle spoke in a languid manner.
“Well, that’s it for being in Academia… I wanted to take it easy a bit longer….”
He let out a long yawn and lightly sprang up.
Pertigle floated as if he had lost all weight.
Turning his gaze toward Vargan, he lightly waved.
“Take care, noisy First-Year. Let’s not run into each other if we can help it.”
As Pertigle floated through the sky, he attempted to make a hasty escape. Despite his slothful speech and actions resembling a sloth, everything unraveled in the blink of an eye.
However.
⎯Clank.
As Pertigle tried to escape through the window, something grabbed his wrist and stopped him.
He fell for it.
The black iron chain extending from his wrist was connected to Vargan’s arm.
Vargan lifted the taut chain and said, “There’s no way I’m going to let you go this easily.”
“Wasn’t it obviously a scene where I could escape safely?”
“That’s not for you to decide.”
“Come on… I wasn’t even fighting you. I’m dying from your Flame of Corruption burning everything around!”
Vargan was fully aware of what it meant for Pertigle to show up in this situation.
Blurans specialized in combat.
Pertigle was specialized in escape.
He pleaded for leniency, but if he squeezed out the remaining strength, he could escape from here.
Currently, Vargan was clad in his chain Familiar, the wolf named Nigdol, but he couldn’t be sure it would be enough to stop Pertigle.
Yeah.
If he was going to run away anyway, at the very least…
“Make it so that breathing is painful for a few months before you let me go.”
“See, this is why I’m asking for leniency…”
*
Arterion and his group arrived just after Pertigle had fled, severely injured.
His whole body was scorched by the Flame of Corruption, yet it was surprising that he could dismantle the chain and still escape.
Thinking back to the extreme situation in the original story where Pertigle had also managed to escape against the protagonist’s party, it made sense.
Knowing this, Vargan chose to inflict the maximum possible damage rather than capture or kill him.
His body, which had seemed to lighten, was undoubtedly unstable, meaning he had sustained internal injuries.
Most likely, he wouldn’t be able to do anything for the next two months and would have to focus on recovery.
Vargan had entrusted the safety of the people here to the Golden Knight Arterion and his group and moved his legs.
Then, the youthful-looking voice of a young man said, “…Is it really okay to just go?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Considering you’re in this state, your opponent must have been quite strong.”
“……”
Arterion pointed out Vargan’s current condition.
Like Blurans, he hadn’t made even the slightest sound of pain during the fight, but now his body was…
“If Alicia saw you like this, she would be quite saddened.”
He was significantly battered.
Throughout the battle, Vargan had maintained an attitude as though he was dominating, saying things as if everything was fine, but in reality, the fight between Blurans and Vargan had been neck-and-neck.
In the beginning, Vargan, who knew Blurans’ abilities and techniques through the original story, had the upper hand, but as time went on, the balance had shifted.
Eventually, they reached a stalemate.
Their skills were evenly matched.
Vargan had accurately recognized his own standing.
A top-tier Bishop.
On par with Pertigle Blurans.
By the standards of an Academia student—or even a Hero—he was certainly among the upper ranks, but Vargan felt something was lacking.
He felt a burning thirst.
…He was still lacking in depth. He had a long way to go.
He was not satisfied.
“…The prince is genuinely interested in my servant, isn’t he?”
“Her talent is second to none.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Vargan brushed aside Arterion’s concerns and moved to walk away. The festival was not over yet.
There was still much to be done.
That’s why he showed no signs of pain.
He didn’t stop his legs.
This level of damage was well within the realm of expectation, so it was fine.
Arterion no longer tried to stop him and took care of the people.
Vargan, using healing magic for emergency treatment, slowly walked out.
Outside, it was still dark.
Vargan’s steps headed toward the place guided by the moonlight.
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