322nd Chapter
Grrg—.
A pulse faintly sensed from the other side.
A vibration so minimal that only those sensitive to mana could perceive it, reached the hospital of the Darek Union.
“…Alicia.”
Charlotte, Alicia’s mentor, gazed out the window with a sorrowful expression.
She could guess that a battle was unfolding from afar.
A fight with her older sister, whom she thought was dead and longed for deeply.
While Alicia endured a painful battle, Charlotte, unable to provide any help, felt her heart burning with anxiety.
“I’m sorry, Alicia.”
If only she had been stronger, if she could have captured Salecius on the day they met…
She pondered such regrets, but it was all meaningless.
The gap in power between Salecius and Charlotte was glaring. It was barely a miracle that she had escaped with her life.
Grrg—.
A faint red glow visible at the edge of the hill.
An aura that had transcended. It felt unmistakably like Alicia’s.
“Please, may you return without any issues.”
Charlotte clasped her hands in prayer. She knew that her fervent hope wouldn’t help her now, but still, she tightened her grip.
“May you never suffer another wound.”
Memories of her time at Academia, where she had mentored Alicia, flooded her mind.
The pure and gentle smile that Alicia wore at that time flickered before her eyes.
“Please, may you be able to smile again. Oh God…”
Being powerless is a sad affair.
Not being able to move one’s own body is a miserable thing.
Charlotte, barely sitting on the edge of the bed with her frail legs, deeply felt that truth.
*
Kagagagakang—!
Alicia swung her sword. Salecius blocked it.
Alicia’s swordsmanship had intensified significantly since the beginning of the battle. She pressed on harder to subdue Salecius.
The red pollen that filled the area around them had halved.
In its place filled the space were red butterflies.
A swarm of countless butterflies flutters in, slowly engulfing the stage.
Kakang—!!
Two swords collide with a proper clash. A tremendous shockwave erupts as their extremely solid auras meet, and both Salecius and Alicia stagger back, catching their breath for a moment.
“Hah… Hah…”
Salecius has never panted this hard in battles against the Heroes before.
Sweat flows down his body as if drenched in rain. The once-stable power of mana flickers like a spark disturbed by the wind.
Salecius’s gaze is locked onto the woman before him. The Hero that resembles her is also panting heavily, but her mana remains stable.
It’s an achievement that’s simply impossible without undergoing numerous life-and-death experiences and training that pushes the body to its limits.
“….”
Even in this brief moment, Salecius’s non-human body begins to recover on its own. However, the areas where the traces of the red aura remain recover significantly slower.
And it’s hard to find places on Alicia where the traces of the red aura are faint.
“…You’ve gotten stronger, Alicia.”
At Salecius’s words, Alicia bites down hard on her lip.
Surrounded by Holy Light, she raises her aura even higher, causing the swarm of butterflies around her to shift according to her will.
Zzazazaza!
Strange sounds echo as the butterflies collide with the pollen.
Both are made of red aura, but the precision of their mana is different.
It’s none other than Alicia who shows a higher level of proficiency.
Zzazazak—!
The swarm of butterflies gradually overwhelms the pollen.
Gathering his mana into the blade, Salecius swings a massive strike to obliterate the swarm.
In an instant, the additional attack leaves the butterflies vanished, creating a storm.
“…You’ve gotten stronger. A lot.”
Alicia emerges from the storm.
With eyes shining like a predatory bird, she slashes diagonally with her sword.
Shwaak—!
Salecius’s shoulder is deeply cut. Flesh bursts out with blood. It’s a strike that wouldn’t be out of place with a scream.
Yet, Salecius, without even wincing, instead shows an expression of regret and sympathy as he drops to one knee.
The pulsing of his heart throbs painfully at the wound. Cells are trying to recover, but it’s not easy.
His purple mana seems unstable, losing its balance. It’s hard to gather his thoughts. His vision is blurred, and he can barely see Alicia and her sword.
Zzzzzzzzzz—.
The blade still burns with fierce aura.
It’s not just wrapped in red aura. The Holy Light that annihilates evil is etched into that aura.
Clank.
Alicia points the blade at the neck of Salecius, who is weakened and kneeling.
Alicia’s eyes resemble those of an executioner, delivering the death sentence to the sinner. Emotionless and cold.
“I’m going to confront emotions and make it cold.
Archbishop Salecius slowly opens his mouth, facing that emotion.
‘Alicia.’
His face and tone have turned stiff and blunt.
However, it’s a statement filled with more sincerity than ever before.
‘How… did you become so strong…?’
That wasn’t a blame directed at Alicia, who had defeated him.
On the contrary, he blamed himself for not being able to protect his sister by her side.
‘How hard did you push yourself…?’
Strength, or achievement, cannot be obtained without a price.
Whether you have talent or not, you can’t become strong without effort, and even if you had a talent bestowed from the sky, the level Archbishop Salecius had reached was absolutely unattainable through ordinary effort.
Szzzzt—
The range of the aura surrounding Alicia’s sword expanded slightly, piercing into Salecius’s neck. No blood fell from the wound due to the aura evaporating it.
‘…Archbishop Salecius. The right to ask questions belongs to me. The only time you can speak is when you answer my questions.’
Alicia was trying to contain her personal emotions.
She steadied her trembling gaze and continued speaking.
‘You, in human form, can make a special choice. The first is to meet death immediately here. The second is to be captured by us and live as a subject of bio-experiments, subjected to all kinds of torture every day, or having your brain and organs dissected.’
‘…….’
‘I can’t give you much time, so hurry up and choose. …Salecius, which one will you pick?’
A brief silence ensues.
Salecius stared blankly at Alicia.
Her eyes lacking the vitality of emotion, he observed Alicia closely and then noticed the subtle cue, speaking.
‘Don’t cry.’
Alicia wasn’t shedding tears.
Yet, Salecius said it once more.
‘Don’t cry. Alicia.’
Perhaps due to his unclear vision, he assumed Alicia was crying.
Without sound, without tears.
It seemed that Alicia was crying from unbearable sorrow.
‘Just answer the question, Salecius! Which one will you choose?!’
Alicia pressed Salecius harder, sharpening the blade of her sword.
The sparks of battle still hadn’t died down. Salecius wasn’t the only enemy that needed dealing with.
For that reason, Alicia grew even more oppressive.
Beyond their familial bond, Alicia was a hero. A figure burdened with the heavy responsibility of protecting humanity.
‘…I can’t die. That person hasn’t allowed my death yet.’
Bound to the cardinal, Salecius considered Jephar’s will more important than his own.
‘Then, are you saying you’ll live as a subject of bio-experiments?’
After a moment of contemplation, Salecius nodded.
Alicia let out a trembling breath, difficult to understand, and took out a box from within her cloak.”
Inside it, there was a syringe filled with a mysterious purple liquid.
『…What is that?』
“It’s an experimental item whose dangers haven’t been assessed yet. No need to know the details.”
The liquid handed over by Diphelia.
Since Salecius was keen on survival, she needed to be the first test subject.
It was a situation that might hold pain more terrible than death.
Alicia asked one last time.
“Salecius, are you really choosing the second option?”
『I still need to be alive.』
“Right.”
Having finished confirming with the doctor, Alicia brought her body closer while still aiming her sword.
She had to be prepared in case Salecius might counterattack.
‘Salecius’s condition is no joke, but… No, it’s precisely because of that that it might work.’
Alicia, who had heard in advance about the drug’s effects from Diphelia, kept her emotions hidden and proceeded with her actions.
Although she couldn’t predict what side effects might occur.
The purpose of biological experiments is to verify by administering such drugs.
As Alicia was about to inject the needle, the cross-section of Salecius’s wound looked strange from the collarbone down.
Salecius’s body began to tremble. With a dazed expression, he murmured.
『…Escape.』
Kaboom—!
Like a chemical reaction, something unidentifiable suddenly swelled.
What surged from Salecius’s deep wound looked somewhat like an organ of a living being or a mass of cells haphazardly combined.
The bloody mass tightly gripped Alicia’s sword and even the hand holding the syringe.
That ominous and bizarre thing quickly absorbed Alicia’s mana and stamina.
“Ugh…!”
Alicia strengthened her crimson aura to escape.
However, even her dense red aura was sucked into the unidentifiable cells.
Crack, crackle—!
The cells rapidly began to divide.
With a grotesque shape, it gradually grew and began to resemble a living organism.
What emerged from the wound grabbed Alicia with both hands and smiled chillingly.
『Finally caught you.』
Terribly thick poison spreading in all directions.
An overwhelming mana that pressed heavily upon the battlefield.
Even though he was a stranger, Alicia recognized who he was.
It felt like she had met an absolute predator.
Her entire body was screaming to run away, sending alarm signals through every cell.
“Cardinal…!”
The influential Cardinal of the Goddess Church. Only one among them had an unknown face.
The mad scientist Jephar.
『Hehehe, Alicia. Do you know how eager I’ve been to catch you…!』
Jephar cackled with a maniacal laugh.
In his mind, Alicia was already on the experiment table.
『Ah… I can’t wait to place a knife on that beautiful skin.』
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