Ch-97: Apocalypse? (1)

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On the way back to the Kingdom of Prona.

Leslie's mind was full of Shedia.

'She is more competent than I thought.'

To be honest, her first impression of Shedia was not very good. Even though she had a possessively cute face, she looked stupid because of her unique blank expression.

But that thought was reversed on the first day of the journey, when she'd witnessed Shedia emerging from her shadow.

She couldn't comprehend what principle it was, but Shedia was able to freely move in and out of the shadows.

It was a very useful ability, even from Leslie's viewpoint, which was naturally very high. It must be the reason that not only Katarina, but also Cloud, appeared to trust her.

Furthermore, it hadn't been empty words when Shedia had told Katarina she was capable of killing Leslie.

She could jump out of Leslie's shadow if she ever loosened her guard, meathook her, and drag her dagger across Leslie's mage physique. And Shedia wouldn't find it hard to fulfill the exact description.

Of course, Leslie did not neglect this risk factor.

"Hi…"

Shedia turned her head around and crept closer to Leslie. She was hesitant as she got closer, but Leslie spoke to her first.

"Do you want to see magic today?"

Leslie looked carefully after Shedia to eliminate the potential danger of an assassination. And so, Leslie knew that Shedia liked things that were either novel or beautiful. Leslie immediately approached Shedia and showed off the beauty of her magic, and the effect was outstanding indeed.

Initially wary of her, Shedia soon fell in love with sparkling snow crystals and gigantic ice statues.

Leslie smiled as she watched Shedia bob her head, a face full of anticipation.

"Yup. I'll show you. Just, from now on, please call me unnie."

"Eh..?"

"You don't… want to? It's not a difficult request, is it?"

"That…"

Shedia glanced ahead, over her shoulder, hesitant to answer. Leslie spoke reassuringly, as she knew Shedia cared about Katarina.

"If it's Katarina's anger that worries you, then worry not. We are colleagues now, aren't we? As much as she is fixated with Cloud, Katarina isn't inherently jealous, now is she?'

"Is that so?"

"Of course. Trust me."

Shedia was persuaded by her confident tone. She looked ahead once and then closed her eyes tightly.

"Uh, unnie!"

"Not just unnie, Leslie unnie."

"Leslie unnie!"

"Well done. Shedia is a good kid. Good kids should receive gifts."

A plume of mist rushed over Leslie's palms and began to take shape. In less than a minute, a statue of a war horse made of ice materialized. The statue was so delicate that even the mane of its fur was clearly enunciated in minute detail.

"Ahhh…"

Shedia, who was handed the statue, giggled heartily. Leslie said something more to her, and Shedia replied with a smile on her face. Meanwhile, Katarina looked at them with a puffed up expression.

"Traitor."

"Traitor? Oh, goodness. She's just bonding with her colleague. Why don't you also try to chat with Leslie?"

Her dark gaze moved to Cloud.

"Why? Do you want me to get close to her and then allow her to marry you? Goddess forbid, if you have that plan, wake up. I have no intention of sharing you with anyone."

Katarina leaned her back on Cloud's chest and stated firmly.

Cloud smiled bitterly.

"I don't know if you will be able to become friends with my other teammates like this."

"Your other colleagues who are waiting in the capital, those you mentioned before? Don't worry about that. It's not like I'm not sociable, I'm confident that I'll get along with them just fine." She cast a dismissive gaze at Leslie. "It's just stray cats that make me grumpy."

"I hope it's as you say …"

"In fact, I'm more curious about what your other colleagues are doing there?"

"Didn't I ever tell you?"

Katarina shook her head.

"You just said you had colleagues who were waiting, but never said anything about them."

"Really? I guess, I must have forgotten. Should I tell you about them now?"

"Yes, do. I should know them in advance. Wouldn't that make it easier to make friends with?"

"Right, then…"

Cloud massaged Katarina's breasts with his left hand. As she looked at him with judging eyes asking what he was doing, Cloud spoke with an innocent expression.

"What, you wanna touch mine too?"

"…you really like breasts."

Katarina shook her head, and Cloud smiled and started talking about his teammates.

"Eri is an outstanding wizard who has reached 4 stars despite her young age. She may be a bit prickly, but if she finds you fine, you will face no problem getting along."

"Four stars? What's that?"

"Oh, maybe you don't know. As per the Mage Tower, wizards are scaled based on various criteria, such as spell understanding and mana depth. The result concluded thus is graded. The rating ranges from 1 to 9, and the higher, the better."

"I didn't know that wizards had ranks like dancers. Then how many 9 stars wizards are there in the world?"

There were three first-class dancers in the Kingdom of Alitia.

Concludingly, 9 stars for a wizard and first-class for a dancer were the peak summit of their profession. Since the continent was larger than a Kingdom, more than three, perhaps?

Katarina asked with such a simple thought.

However, what she was returned with, was an answer different from her thoughts.

"No? According to rumors, the Mage Tower Master of the Empire is a 7 star. Unless there is an archmage hiding somewhere on the continent, there won't be any wizard higher than 8 star."

Katarina opened her eyes slightly wide.

"Is it that hard to become a 9-star wizard? Even harder than becoming a first-class dancer?"

Cloud chuckled.

"If you say that to another wizard, their spiteful glare will burn you to ashes."

…wizards sounded grumpier than her roused self.

Katarina's expression lightened slightly.

"Uh… um, that's right. So, is Eri a great wizard? The Mage Master is 7 star, and she is 4 star. Young, too."

"I told you. An outstanding wizard."

"If we already have such an outstanding wizard, then isn't she unnecessary?"

She pointed a thumb behind.

"I think, Leslie is also on the same level? And the two types of magic they wield are different."

"Tsk."

"…Neria is a knight. Because she uses her shield and one-handed sword, she specializes in defense rather than offense. She's sturdy, so in case of emergency, hide behind her back."

Pretending not to hear Katarina click her tongue, Cloud continued speaking.

"Finally Ophelia. She is a Saintess candidate chosen by the goddess. Her main job is to heal wounds and bestow blessings."

"I see."

Katarina muttered to herself, trying to memorize the three people in order.

"Wizard Eri. Knight Neria. Saint Ophelia… Huh? How come all the names are feminine?"

"Because they all are, you know, female?"

"…?"

Katarina's body stiffened.

As if the imaginary puzzle fit into the place.

Her stiff body began to tremble.

"Oh, isn't it…?"

She was crying.

"No, no… no. There's no way, right?"

In a voice dripping with sorrow.

"Please say no. Please. Please?"

Shaking her head wildly.

Cloud was meanwhile appalled as Katarina looked like as if she were possessed. His wide-eyed silence made Katarina motion it as the truth, rendering her hysterical.

"Why, why don't you say anything? No way… is it real? Is that so!?"

She moistened her eyes and grabbed Cloud by the collar.

"You, you, you, you… Had you and me been enemies in our previous lives? Why are you doing this to me!? Why are you like this..!"

She grabbed him by the collar and started shaking him.

"What are you talking about? What's wrong, what previous life are you talking about? What does that have to do with my colleagues…"

Cloud stopped speaking, and Katarina also stopped shaking him. He spoke, confused, looking at her teary-eyed yet expectant face.

"No. You don't think I had an orgy wi—"

"You, you… You cheater!!!"

Katarina shook Cloud so strongly that he winded like a fan.

"Stop, stop! I didn't have any orgy, stop shaking me, Katarina. I will fall from the horse."

"Liar!"

"I'm telling no lie. I haven't even held hands with them."

"Sure! You must have held the chest, not the hand!"

"No, really not. We share a healthy colleague relationship."

"Then tell me! How do you explain your bed techniques?! Why are you so good at it!"

"…Talent?"

"Are you kidding me right now!?"

"Why would I kid you? If you don't believe me, you can ask them directly. They are all there. Cresting this hill…"

Cloud suddenly scrunched his brows. He tilted his head as if he were looking at something bizarre.

"What, say what? There's no use changing the topic… Huh?"

As if freezed, Cloud no longer responded, and she turned her head to follow his gaze, embarrassed, and her eyes widened and froze at the scene before her.

"Mr. Cloud? Why are you like that? Do we have any problem…"

Leslie, who followed behind, also soon stiffened.

Only Shedia exclaimed, "Wow."

"…Cloud, is that… the capital of the Kingdom of Prona?"

"That's right, but…"

Cloud scratched his cheek as he looked at Lupus, the kingdom's capital.

"It definitely doesn't look like that."

Hovering above the city, a giant purple octopus was slowly devouring the palace with numerous tentacles lashing.

'What had been those three doing?'

He had left them behind to stop something like this from happening.

* * *

"Are you really going to be okay without an escort? Of course, no ungodly person would dare to harm the Saintess candidate, but just in case…"

"It's really fine. I can defend myself."

Ophelia pointed at the mace slung around her waist. Seeing the heavy mace, the priest swallowed his saliva. He had seen her lift and sway it like a child toy moments ago.

"Yeah, I mean, that's right. I guess I'm worried about nothing. Then please be careful."

Leaving behind the priest to focus on his work, Ophelia left the church. It wasn't until she had left the church building and its premises that Ophelia dropped her smile.

'I'm tired.'

It took her over a week just to get permission to go out. They had been insistent on getting her a host of escorts, but somehow she had managed to convince them out of it.

'I can't get used to it.'

It wasn't to this extent in her childhood.

They had no reason to care so much about her, as she used to be only a little nun. However, after she became a saintess candidate, everything was different. The church tried to monitor her every move.

Even now.

They thought she wouldn't perceive the two people they had employed to tail her?

'This never happens when I'm with hero.'

Without him, it immediately took a similar turn.

'A saintess candidate… it would have been better if I hadn't been one.'

She sighed and moved on. After a while of strolling, the place she arrived at was a shabby inn. There was only one guest at the inn, and the one she was looking for.

"You are eating."

Ophelia approached Eri, who was stuffing sausages into her mouth at a table in the corner of the inn. Even though she came pretty close, she just mechanically ate the sausages.

"Eri?"

"Whoops! O, Ophelia? What a surprise! You suddenly popped out of nowhere! Definitely surprised me!"

Eri lowered the staff she had, by reflex, aimed forward.

"I came over calling you, Eri. You didn't hear me."

"…was it? Sorry. I'm not so observing these days."

"It's because you don't take proper sleep."

""

Eri's eyes were dark, and her skin was flaky. There was no vigor to be found in her eyes. It was the result of staying up all night for several days straight.

"It can't be helped. Sooner or later, the research will be completed. How to sleep in such a situation? If I sleep, I'm disqualified as a wizard."

Saying that, Eri stood up from the table, as she crammed the rest of the sausage into her mouth roughly.

"I have to continue the rest of my research, so I'll be going upstairs."

Eri headed for the stairs as Ophelia looked at her back with concerned gaze.

"Please get some sleep at night. You'll otherwise break yourself."

"Worry more about Neria than me. I only expend my mind, but she? She expends her body, right?"

Eri shrugged her shoulders and climbed the stairs. Ophelia looked for a moment at the stairs as Eri climbed, then she sighed and left the inn.

"That's right… Neria's situation is more precarious…"

After she left the inn, Ophelia headed for the royal arena. Inside the arena, numerous knights were honing their skills, and Neria was one of them.

"Ha!"

One of the knights slammed her sword down at Neria, perpendicular to her. Neria parried off the sword with her shield, and she immediately turned around to dodge another.

Block and avoid, block and avoid.

She seemed busy enough with that repeating motion.

That was also true, for she was sparring with eight people at the same time.

Not just eight ordinary soldiers, but eight knights.

'She didn't do this at first.'

Neria couldn't deal with eight knights at the same time from the beginning. She sparred with one by one and when she defeated them all, she started sparring with two at the same time.

As it continued, she reached a level where she could deal with eight knights at the same time.

It was clear that she had grown to this extent in a little over half a year, which was great. But it was also clear that she was overdoing it.

Because of her big and small injuries, she visited church almost every day, and when her injuries were serious, she even came to visit Ophelia herself.

That made Ophelia more concerned than proud of her.

"OMG!"

Neria pushed the last of the knights with her shield and hit her helmet with a wooden sword. Neria, who had passed her ordeal of defeating eight knights, flopped down tired.

As she stared at the floor and breathed heavily, a white handkerchief appeared in front of her eyes.

Knowing who the owner of the handkerchief was, Neria smiled.

"When did you come?"

"A little while ago. You're doing great. It's really spectacular to compete with eight people at the same time and win."

"Thanks."

Neria wiped the sweat with the handkerchief handed to her. Ophelia watched the scene and cautiously opened her mouth.

"At least now, hero will think you're great enough."

The hand that was wiping the sweat froze. The expression on her hardened face soon loosened up again. Neria smiled bitterly.

"…maybe so."

"Well? Hero must be…"

"But maybe not. He might even think that I am not good enough."

"Neria, hero didn't leave you alone because he thought you were lacking."

"…"

Neria didn't answer. She just silently wiped off the sweat. Ophelia felt tight in her chest. The same was with Eri as was with Neria. Everyone thought that the reason Cloud left was because of their lack of ability, so they pushed themselves endlessly.

'They are holding on somehow…'

But if they keep doing this, sooner or later, they will break.

'I have to stop it.'

She had to somehow put some leeway back in the hearts of the two of them.

Just when Ophelia was choosing the words to persuade Neria in her head.

– Pound!

Suddenly, her chest tightened strongly.

An eerie sensation spread through her body, and cold sweat drenched her back.

Ophelia slowly turned her head.

Palace.

An evil aura was flowing from within the palace. An aura strong enough to weigh down her sainthood candidature. Even that was being suppressed and overpowered.

And it felt like that suppressed energy would explode soon.

Her lips trembled slightly.

"Oh my…"

"Ophelia?"

"Run away! Everyone, get out of the palace right now!!!"

Having said that, Ophelia grabbed Neria by wrist and started running. She could feel the commotion behind her back, but she didn't have time to pay attention to the chaos. She couldn't even answer Neria's question why she was doing what she was.

She just kept running.

The moment they finally got out of the palace proper.

– Crumble!

The palace collapsed, revealing a huge monster with numerous tentacles.

An evil aura enveloped the entire city, and dark clouds covered the sun.

Lupus, the capital of the Kingdom of Prona and a city teeming with life.

There, the apostle of the end had arrived.

You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.

p(a)treon.com/Daoist02