Chapter 101 : Chapter 101
Volume 2
Chapter 25 : Student
“Damn, is there really a need to go this far?”
The moment that breathtaking figure in the luxurious white dress stepped out of the holy scripture, Muen felt a chill so fierce it made his scalp go numb.
Because he had also seen the magnificent crown above her head, one so dazzling it was hard to look at directly.
A Crowned One!
This was actually a Crowned One!
Lord Love had actually sent a Crowned One to hunt him down?
That is too much, is it not? In your eyes, I am nothing more than a tiny insect.
Even if I have truly angered You, there is no need to send a bulldozer straight at me just to crush me to death.
Wait.
No.
Muen quickly realized the truth.
Lord Love’s objective, or rather, the real objective, had never been him at all.
Because from the moment the Crowned One appeared, she had not spared him a single glance.
She had been staring beneath the academy the whole time, as if her gaze had pierced through the thick layers of stone to fix upon something far below.
Within those holy and flawless yet utterly hollow eyes, there flickered a trace of greed that did not belong to her.
She was searching for something, searching for something immensely important.
But that did not stop her from casually disposing of an eyesore like Muen along the way.
Thus, among the hands hanging naturally at her sides, her little finger moved slightly.
In the next instant, Muen felt as though an invisible truck had slammed into his chest.
A tremendous force struck him, and with a muffled groan, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
With nothing more than the slightest twitch of a finger, Muen was gravely wounded.
But just as the Saintess of Purification’s little finger moved again, preparing to kill this irritating insect outright, a figure suddenly appeared at his side.
Professor Gran.
He seized Muen by the shoulder and casually flung out a handkerchief.
The handkerchief suddenly expanded, enveloping the two of them.
Then, as if by magic, the handkerchief, which had still shown the outlines of two human figures a moment ago, instantly lost all support and drifted down in the wind.
The two of them vanished without a trace.
The Saintess of Purification withdrew the edge of her gaze.
She no longer paid any attention to Gran and Muen’s escape.
There would be plenty of chances in the future to crush that hateful insect to death.
Right now, there was something far more important to do.
The Saintess of Purification slowly raised her hand, that long, slender, flawless white hand.
She aimed it toward the entire academy beneath the night sky.
Her ten fingers drew inward into a phantom grip.
As though she had seized the wedge that fixed heaven and earth in place.
Then she yanked.
The world shook.
The entire academy trembled.
A nearly imperceptible crack suddenly appeared along the academy’s outer perimeter, raced outward, and after encircling the academy in a complete ring, sealed shut.
The foundation of the academy within that ring began to rise.
It was as though some world-shaking force was uprooting the entire academy from the earth.
“Sigh.”
With one hand resting on his cane and the other holding a pink star-tipped wand, Professor Prang stood before the Saintess of Purification.
He looked at her, his expression dim with sorrow, and in those aged eyes lingered a grief that even time had failed to erase.
“It has been a long time, Belena.”
“My proudest student.”
Though the Saintess of Purification still wore the outward appearance of a young girl, as one of the most powerful beings in the human world, she had long since ceased to be young.
Even Pink Bear, or Principal Hathaway, who presided over this academy, counted as her juniors.
Back when she had entered the academy as a student, Professor Prang had merely been a young teacher just beginning his career in education.
To be able to cultivate such an outstanding saintess had been, for him at the time, a matter of immense pride.
Even now, among all the students Professor Prang had taught, very few could stand shoulder to shoulder with this world-renowned saintess in terms of accomplishment.
But that was not why he cared for her so deeply, nor was it because she had once saved countless lives, nor because of her immense achievements or lofty status.
It was because, in those years when he had known her as a girl, he had truly been moved by her innocence, her liveliness, her kindness, and by the noble purity of her character, as precious as a gemstone.
He had been called her teacher, but in truth, during those years, he had learned far more from her than she ever had from him.
So he had always cherished this child. Like a father, he had watched her grow from a fledgling into a white swan soaring into the heavens, and his heart had known nothing but comfort and pride.
“I simply never imagined that after decades apart, this would be the scene of our reunion.”
Professor Prang tightened his grip on his cane, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged sharply.
“Fate truly is an unfathomable thing.”
“...Sob...”
The Saintess of Purification’s hollow eyes revealed no emotion at all.
There was only coldness within them.
And yet, her expression grew more and more sorrowful.
“I see now. In order to control you completely, that evil god has all but erased your consciousness.”
Looking at Belena in this state, Professor Prang suddenly understood.
Then, upon that aged and grief-stricken face, a smile unexpectedly appeared.
“Yes. This is who you are.”
“This is the Saintess of Purification worshiped and revered by countless people, the saintess whose statues still stand in many places to this day!”
“If you still had your own will, you would have fought that evil god to the very last moment.”
“That is why, even after corrupting you, it could only control you by erasing your consciousness entirely!”
Even under control, this saintess was still crying in instinctive resistance.
Using that grief-stricken sobbing to defy the all-pervasive holy hymn that seemed capable of eroding human consciousness itself.
“Good, good, good! That is exactly my student!”
Professor Prang laughed heartily, yet the corners of his eyes, dry for decades, had suddenly grown damp.
“Since my student has already become so outstanding, then as her teacher, I cannot afford to disgrace myself.”
Professor Prang slammed the cane in his hand downward.
Though his feet stood upon empty air, the cane rang out with the grave, majestic clang of metal colliding with metal.
“Your teacher has come to save you, Belena!”
Before the last word had even faded—
In an instant—
Deep beneath the grounds of Saint Maria Academy, massive gears began to turn and interlock. Vast mechanisms shifted and collided.
Endless Mana was drawn from the ley lines below, then channeled through conduits like blood vessels into the enormous network spread throughout the underground reaches of Saint Maria.
And then—
At the outer perimeter of Saint Maria Academy, twelve structures gleaming with a metallic chill burst upward from the earth, throwing up clouds of dust that blotted out the sky.
Towers.
They were twelve black towers, and the moment they rose to stand in place, the earth of Saint Maria shook violently.
The foundation that had already been lifted high was once more driven back down with overwhelming force.
This time, it was utterly secure, without even the slightest tremor remaining.
After that, mysterious patterns lit up across the black towers.
The vast Mana drawn from the ley lines, under the control of that grand ritual, layered itself into intricate structures of power, folding over one another again and again until at last they formed a hemispherical barrier that enveloped all of Saint Maria.
Above the heavens, that blue moon, growing ever larger, finally seemed to halt its advance.
But Professor Prang knew that it was only temporary.
Even the second layer of the grand ritual, fully activated, could not stop an evil god from descending directly if it truly went mad enough to do so.
But that was never its purpose.
It only needed to delay it.
After all, how could anyone be allowed to disturb this brief reunion with his beloved student?