abcnovels
Chapter 284
Chapter 284
Chapter 284
A spear engulfed in golden lightning and pitch-black flames was launched at Benius.
The moment my spear hit Benius.
BOOM-!!
“Ahhhh!”
“A storm! It’s a storm!”
“Everyone, get down!”
A storm erupted on the battlefield.
It was so powerful that the kids on the hill were blown back!
About a minute later, as the dust settled, a figure emerged.
“What happened to the principal?”“Wait a minute, I can see something… over there…”
In the battlefield where Dwener and Benius had fought, the one standing was.
“Th-this can’t be…”
“The demon…!”
It was the 4th-grade demon, Benius.
There was no sign of Dwener anywhere.
As the kids’ faces hardened.
“Wait, something seems off.”
“Yeah, why is it just standing there?”
“Could it be…”
The dust gradually settled, and everyone could see clearly.
Eyes turned up, mouth gaping wide open, and.
Benius, with two large holes in its body.
Clearly a sign of death.
[Hidden Quest, ‘Defeat the Wrathful Benius’, has been completed.]
[The quest will be marked complete after the story progresses.]
A notification confirming the quest’s completion appeared.
The rewards were yet to be given, but Benius’s death was certain.
A cheer erupted from the hill.
“The principal defeated the high-ranking demon!”
“Amazing! I’ve never seen such a powerful technique before!”
“He must have been hiding his strength all this time…!”
Although I dealt the final blow to Benius, the kids had no idea.
It was natural they didn’t notice my attack.
Using [Gáe Bolg] while wearing the [Cloak of Silent Storm] with its stealth feature made my actions invisible.
And the [Gáe Bolg] mimicked through [Divine Imitation], rated A, combined with the various effects of Adonis’s spear, had made it even faster.
It was literally light speed. The spear flew at the speed of light, so it was natural the kids couldn’t see it.
‘And I threw my spear timed with Dwener’s attack, so they could only mistake it as his attack.’
Perhaps because they were out of danger, the kids on the hill started chattering excitedly.
“I always thought it was odd. How could the principal of Annwood Academy be incompetent? It makes no sense.”
“But isn’t Principal Dwener a scholar, not a knight?”
“That makes it even more surprising. Even though he spent his life as a civil servant, he can easily subdue a high-ranking demon.”
“Indeed, Annwood Academy… A place where excellence in both academics and combat is fundamental.”
“And who attends there? You and me. Us.”
As the kids’ pride soared, one of them suddenly muttered.
“But… where is our principal?”
They looked around, but no one was near Benius.
There was only Benius and the dust blowing in the wind.
“Could it be… he protected us and…”
“No, it can’t be! That’s impossible!”
“Sniff… Principal! You were my hero!”
The hill, once filled with cheers, quickly turned into a sea of tears.
“Principal…”
And it was the same for us too.
As we stared blankly at where Dwener had been.
“Ugh…”
A cough came from the ground, and someone rose from the dust.
It was Dwener, the 18th principal of Annwood Academy.
“P-principal! It’s the principal!”
“Principal! You’re alive!”
The kids tumbled down the hill, some literally rolling.
They lifted Dwener up and threw him into the air.
They were giving him a celebratory toss.
“Dwener! Dwener!”
“The great principal of Annwood Academy!”
“Kyaaah! So cool!”
Watching Dwener, who had no idea what was happening, I let out a small chuckle.
Though the cheers were originally meant for me, this time, I decided to hand over the spotlight.
Without Dwener, half of the people here would have been dead.
“You brats, I’m going to die. Cough, cough…”
Dwener spat a fountain of blood.
Right, his remaining HP was 1, wasn’t it? I hoped he wouldn’t die just from this.
But I had more pressing matters than saving Dwener.
‘What about Luna?’
I quickly ran towards Luna.
Perhaps the paralysis wore off after the battle ended. Victoria was pouring divine power into her without rest.
Behind me, the kids began to appear one by one.
Rodelin, Alex, Raymon, Yuridia, and Rezé.
“L-Luna!”
Rezé crawled on all fours to Luna’s side.
But Rezé couldn’t do anything. All she could do was cry her eyes out next to Luna.
And it was the same for me.
Not that I was crying. But I couldn’t do anything to help dying Luna.
It was so frustrating. I wanted to cry like Rezé.
“What are you doing? At least hold her hand.”
Yuridia poked me in the side.
Hold her hand, she said.
“…Does that even matter?”
“It matters a lot! The power of love is great. It can overcome trials like these easily!”
Talking about love even in this situation.
Yuridia’s obsession with love was almost scary.
As she glared at me and then turned away, she muttered.
“I hate to ask you, who was more focused on killing the demon than on Luna, but… you’re still better than me.”
“…”
“Hold her hand. It might be the last… chance.”
My heart suddenly felt like it was being squeezed.
The last chance?
I desperately tried to deny it, but a sense of unease kept growing in my heart.
Because this game was like that.
A game where companions could die at any time, anywhere.
Damn game.
I knelt beside Luna, who was being treated, and carefully took her hand.
It was warm.
If holding her hand could save Luna.
I would do it as much as needed.
“Whew…”
Victoria, using divine power almost as if she were pouring it, wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“For now, the crisis is over.”
“Is she okay?”
“I just said the crisis is over. The organs are an issue, but the blood vessels are too damaged. I managed to save the most critical areas, but…”
Victoria hung her head low.
That’s right. Divine power wasn’t omnipotent.
‘It only borrows future recovery power.’
It’s like a loan concept. Not money, but health.
Of course, divine power is undeniably incredible.
It can even reattach severed body parts, truly a god-given power.
But even such divine power couldn’t be of great help to Luna right now.
“We can only rely on Luna’s recovery ability for now. I’ll continue the treatment every midnight. And we need a place where Luna can rest comfortably to regain her strength…”
“Hmm, I’ll take care of that. I’ll also find a place where we can wash up.”
Rodelin began climbing the hill. Climbing a 5-meter wall with her bare hands.
She was an amazing person, no matter how many times I saw it.
“Sniff… Luna…”
Rezé, exhausted, collapsed next to Luna and soon fell asleep.
The other kids also rested while keeping vigil over Luna.
‘If Luna woke up now… she’d be surprised.’
Realizing that she had many friends besides Rezé and me.
“Ugh…”
Suddenly feeling a wave of dizziness, I steadied myself by leaning on a rock.
I had hunted demons in the 4th zone and fought the unexpected 4th-grade demon, Benius.
I was naturally exhausted and wanted to lie down next to Luna. But.
‘Let’s get to work. What I need to do now.’
I had to get stronger. To prevent Luna from going through such things again.
I needed to become much stronger than I was now.
“Mumble, mumble.”
“Ugh… Luna…”
Everyone had fallen asleep.
Putting on the Cloak of Silent Storm, I headed to Benius’s corpse.
Crackle-.
The first thing I did was retrieve Adonis’s spear and put it into the [Pocket Dimension].
‘I can’t let anyone know I was the one who killed him.’
After retrieving the spear, I looked around.
I found two items lying on the ground.
[Spirit Orb: S]
An orb containing the five great energies: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Lightning.
It seemed useful for something.
[Eroded Twig: S]
A twig exuding a sinister energy. It can be used as a weapon but is not recommended.
It seemed useful for something.
Both items were new to me. Meaning I didn’t know how to use them yet.
But.
‘They must be good rewards.’
It was easy to tell how to use them.
Both were likely combination items.
Like the ‘Cloak of Silent Storm’ made by combining a transparent material and a storm cloak, these items would show their power when combined with others.
I had the items. Next was.
‘Predation.’
As I placed my hand on Benius’s corpse and used predation, an alarm popped up.
[You have obtained the skill ‘White Lightning’ through Predation. Its rank is reduced to F.]
[White Lightning: F]
Unleashes white lightning.
Its power varies depending on the amount of mana used.
It was ironic to gain the [White Lightning] skill that had tormented us.
The last thing was to claim the hidden quest reward.
After giving Benius’s corpse a kick, I returned to where Luna was.
The long siege of Carpathia was nearing its end.
“Sniff…”
“…”
“Sob…”
“Rezé, please stop crying. Luna will be fine.”
“Waaaaah!!”
Despite my best efforts to comfort her, Rezé only cried louder.
Luna had been moved to a place where the critically injured were gathered.
I wanted to stay by Luna’s side, but it was impossible. Caron had issued a summons.
Yes, we were currently inside Carpathia Castle.
“Sniff…”
With nothing to do on the way to the assembly point, I used the [Information Window] skill on the crying Rezé.
To find out why the critical hit occurred.
And I soon found out. She had gained a new trait.
[Cowardly Demon Hunter]
When attacking demons, critical hit chance is adjusted to 100%.
When attacking non-demons, critical hit chance is adjusted to 0%.
‘Our rabbit is quite extreme…’
Well, having 100% against demons was far more advantageous. Most enemies were demons, and the final boss was also a demon.
‘The critical hit problem is solved. Now if only I can get rid of the coward trait…’
[Coward], a trait that made her run away when targeted.
If I could eliminate that, Rezé would be fit for the final boss raid party.
“Sniff… Luna…”
Of course, none of this would be possible without Luna.
It was undeniable that I needed Luna now.
“Please stop crying. Luna will wake up soon.”
“D-do you really think that’s appropriate? It’s all your fault that she ended up like this in the first place!”
Whap-!
Rezé began hitting me with her small hands.
The fierce front paw attack of the rabbit!
If I were a demon, the 100% critical hit chance would have applied, and I might have died right there.
It was that fierce an attack.
‘This rabbit is always so strict with me.’
I grabbed Rezé’s head with one hand and tucked her under my arm.
She struggled in the sudden headlock but soon went limp.
She fainted. Expecting Luna to tackle me any moment, I was taken aback.
“Keke, Luna. Have you finally decided to toughen Rezé up? If so, I’m very proud…”
Mid-sentence, I realized something.
Luna wasn’t beside me.
Familiarity. Truly a scary thing.
‘…You fool, come back quickly. If you’re late, I’ll eat this rabbit for sure.’
With the unconscious Rezé under my arm, I walked.
Hoping Luna would come running any moment.
–TL Notes–
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