Chapter 303 : Chapter 303
Chapter 303. The Last Day of the Academy Autumn Festival (1)
Gillian Gard.
He had been frail since the day he was born.
No matter how powerful a priest cast Heal upon him, his pain never disappeared.
What one was born with weak could not be fixed.
As a child, Gillian prayed every day.
That he would not vomit tomorrow, that he could run around like the other children.
That when he woke up the next day, he would not be in pain.
His mother, heartbroken over her sickly son, always repeated the same words.
‘The Supreme Deity will answer your prayers.’
Perhaps his prayers truly had reached someone.
One day, Gillian realized that he had gained the power to heal.
When his hands touched others, they began to recover.
People with broken legs or twisted arms, people bleeding from their wounds.
When he prayed, their injuries vanished as if washed away.
It was Divine Power, something that often manifested in children with deep faith. And so, he became a priest.
But Gillian soon came to a realization.
The healing power given to him could not heal himself.
He continued to suffer, and on days when his condition worsened, his coughing would not stop.
‘Supreme Deity.’
I cannot breathe.
Must I still heal others in this state?
Why did you grant me this power?
If you intend to keep me in this agony forever……
Then please, let me die instead.
‘Supreme Deity!’
No matter how desperately Gillian cried out, the Supreme Deity did not answer.
The one who answered him was something else.
A being with an infinitely gentle voice.
-Child.
-Pitiful child.
It was unbearably sweet, unbearably beautiful.
Gillian instinctively knew that the voice belonged to a demon.
-Is this not cruel? Is it not unfair?
-That you heal others, yet cannot heal yourself.
The demon whispered to him.
-Even the Supreme Deity is too much.
-Can it be that he cannot hear your nightly pleas?
Gillian’s pupils trembled.
The demon knew him far too well.
-Well, I suppose that is only natural.
-How many lambs must the Supreme Deity tend to?
-But I am different. I take only those I choose.
-I will heal you.
It was a night when the wind howled fiercely.
In agony so severe that he could not even breathe.
-My name is Asmodeus.
-Give me your soul.
That night, Gillian offered his soul to the Archdemon.
And his body was healed as if cleansed.
From the next day onward, he was no longer sick.
He could run around like everyone else.
When the priests of the Supreme Deity Order learned of this, they rejoiced.
The Supreme Deity has answered Brother Gillian’s prayers.
The blessing of the Supreme Deity is with him!
Each time, Gillian bowed his head humbly.
But the corners of his mouth twisted as he did so.
‘As if that could be true.’
If the Supreme Deity had answered his prayers, there would have been no need to sell his soul to a demon.
Whether fortunate or unfortunate, even after his fall, Gillian’s Divine Power remained.
He was able to continue living as a priest.
Because he had been chosen by the Archdemon Asmodeus, and because he could still wield Divine Power, he became an executive of the Black Order.
Yet why was it?
Even as he worked for Asmodeus, there remained a lingering doubt in one corner of his heart.
Perhaps.
Perhaps it had been his faith that was lacking.
If he had not doubted the Supreme Deity.
……What if he had not?
“……No. That is impossible.”
As far as he knew, it had been nearly twenty years since the Supreme Deity Order last received a response from the Supreme Deity.
Though not known to the outside world, the key figures within the Order were already aware of it.
After obtaining this information, the Black Order speculated that the Supreme Deity had fallen into slumber.
Now was the chance.
A chance to bring about the end of the world.
A chance to summon hell upon this world once more.
Gillian believed that as well.
The Supreme Deity had abandoned this world.
No matter how many people vanished, the Supreme Deity would not even blink.
He was a priest.
One who served closer to the god than anyone else.
Yet even the prayers of such a person were ignored.
It was not he who had abandoned faith first.
‘If you intended to save me, you should have answered that night.’
On the night he sold his soul to the demon, the one he sought until the very end was the Supreme Deity.
Clutching the pouch in his hand, Gillian stood blankly, watching the people enjoying the festival.
All of them were destined to die today.
Just as he had, their souls would be offered up.
At that moment, he saw a child running and then stumbling.
By cruel coincidence, a cart piled high with goods was racing forward, unable to see the fallen child.
At this rate, the child would be crushed beneath it.
Screams erupted as people belatedly realized what was happening.
“There is a child on the ground!”
“Stop!”
“Oh no! They are going to die!”
BANG!
As expected.
With the sound of something colliding, goods spilled everywhere.
People rushed over in panic.
Gillian moved in that direction as well.
“My goodness……!”
“The child is alive!”
And there, he saw someone he never expected.
The 8th Prince.
He lay sprawled on the ground, shielding the child with his body.
“That man saved the child!”
“He came flying out of nowhere and covered them, and then…….”
Gillian’s eyes widened.
Though the child had been saved, it seemed the prince had been unable to block the incoming goods completely.
Blood was flowing from the 8th Prince’s head.
At a glance, Gillian knew it was a serious wound.
“Priest here! Make way!”
He pushed through the crowd toward them.
There was no time to think.
If they waited any longer, it could be dangerous.
Even more so if the prince had lost consciousness.
Gillian rushed to the 8th Prince and the child, pouring his Divine Power into them.
FLASH!
With a brilliant light, the wounds on the child’s body began to heal.
But no matter how much Heal he cast, it had no effect on the 8th Prince.
‘Why?’
In his desperation, information about the 8th Prince surfaced in Gillian’s mind.
After manifesting his Ability, Heal no longer worked on him.
“You idiot……!”
And yet he still jumped in?
Gillian’s expression twisted.
***
The fourth-year Combat Magic major booth.
At the academy festival, the booths run by fourth-years were traditionally the most popular.
They were students on the verge of graduation, and their skills were the finest.
In particular, the duels of the Combat Magic majors were always a highlight.
Moreover, this year’s fourth-year class included the 3rd Princess and the 4th Princess, both strong contenders for the throne.
As many had predicted, the final match of the fourth-year Combat Magic booth belonged to the two of them.
A perfect time to cap off the festival.
As their turn arrived, crowds surged in.
Members of families supporting the princesses, figures connected to the imperial household,
and even their relatives.
Nobles gathered, chatting as they waited for the match.
“Who do you think will win?”
“Surely Her Highness the 3rd Princess. I heard she recently defeated members of the Imperial Knights one after another.”
“That is swordsmanship, is it not? Magic is different. In any case, who in the imperial family could stand against Her Highness’s swordsmanship?”
Someone nearby smiled faintly at those words.
It was a sturdy old man with a greatsword strapped to his back.
Alexius Kudente.
He stood among the crowd, pretending to be indifferent as he listened to rumors about his granddaughter.
At the same time, he was carefully scanning the spectators.
He was searching for the 2nd Prince.
According to the 8th Prince, he was attending the academy festival.
He was surely here to watch Shartea’s match.
Alexius had something he needed to say to his grandson.
As he looked around, Professor Lilian Merchent, the fourth-year supervisor and professor of Combat Magic, appeared.
“Everyone has waited a long time, right? This is the final match of the fourth-year Combat Magic majors, here to light up the Autumn Festival!”
Standing on the stage, Professor Lilian used amplification magic to shout to the audience.
“First, let me introduce the competitors!”
She extended one hand and gestured to the left.
“The ace of the Combat Magic major! A key figure in magical beast subjugation! The shield of the Empire, Estina Mecure Cretian!”
In time with the introduction, Estina appeared with graceful poise.
Through image magic, her beautiful figure was clearly visible even to those outside the arena.
“Wooo!”
“Princess Estina!”
As her followers cheered, Estina casually raised a hand.
Her demeanor was the very picture of elegance.
“And now, I will introduce her opponent!”
An excited Professor Lilian pointed to the right and shouted.
“The top student of the Combat Magic major! A prodigy who has never lost first place in four years! The sword of the Empire, Shartea Kudente Cretian!”
Shartea’s followers erupted as well.
“Waaah!”
“It is Lady Shartea!”
Perhaps because most of them were swordsmen, it sounded more like a roar than a cheer.
Hearing that, Estina let out a small laugh.
Facing Shartea across the arena, she spoke.
“Shartea, where did this herd of beasts come from? I cannot stand how crude your followers sound.”
“They say one only sees what one wishes to see.”
Shartea replied coldly.
A brief exchange of tension unfolded between them.
“Watch your words, Shartea. There is no one here to protect you.”
“Protect me……?”
“Yes. Your precious brother, your followers, your escort knights.”
Shartea’s icy gaze pierced Estina.
“I protect myself.”
“Will that be true today as well?”
Shartea stared at her final opponent.
Estina Mecure Cretian.
The 4th Princess wore a hazy smile on her beautiful face.
“You know, I have always dreamed of the day I would face you in front of everyone.”
Every time she saw Shartea, Estina struggled to hide her expression.
At times, her killing intent spilled out so strongly that Shartea could feel it directly.
But today, something was different.
“It was so hard. Being born with you always standing in front of me. Why do you keep blocking my path? You have everything I do not.”
“You are not worth responding to.”
“I envy you, Shartea.”
That admission surprised even Shartea.
She had not expected such words from Estina.
Estina drew her staff and continued.
“So now, I am going to take everything you have.”
Starting with the imperial throne.
All the way to your life.
A purple light shimmered in Estina’s pupils.
It was the power of jealousy possessed by the Archdemon Leviathan.
***
Ding.
[The user’s body has sustained moderate damage.]
[Trait, Troll’s Heart, has activated.]
[Warning! Pain is surging!]
Regaining consciousness, Radel checked his Status Window and shook his head.
He still felt dizzy, likely because he was in the midst of recovery.
“Is the child all right……?”
As Radel murmured, the priest beside him answered.
“He is unharmed.”
It was Gillian.
He wiped his face with a weary expression.
“I was aware that Heal does not work on you. What possessed you to rush in like that?”
He had jumped in expecting Troll’s Heart to activate.
And Radel had something he trusted as well.
Before losing consciousness, Radel had seen Gillian’s feet.
“Then why did you run over like that, Brother?”
Those had been desperate footsteps, meant to save someone.
The actions of a man who, despite betraying his god, had continued to heal the suffering of others.
“If I had died, it would have benefited you more.”
Radel trusted that action.
Gillian froze, as if struck.
“……Just what are you?”