Chapter 159: Estelle Hadassa El Rath (1)
8OJAbThe iron bars were thick and tough enough to hold back a demonic beast, and it was further reinforced through a magic spell.SrF8j
1f1z7jIt would create a loud noise if I were to break it with sheer force. It might be possible to lift the spell if Marie was here but… it was probably made personally by the Lord of the Tower, meaning it wouldn’t be easy for her either.3A3rxG
QfAvj5“That one there is a low-grade mage so I don’t think she would have the keys.”Y7ibrh
1SOn“Oh~. You mean her?”lGd
fxz5I said while looking at the mage that was lying unconsciously on the ground. They had to monitor the Saintess but because the higher-ups were too proud to do that, it seemed that they had allocated the task to a low-grade mage.nCU1q5o
EoDRgWIt might have been better for them had they assigned a veteran mercenary for the task but as expected of the secluded Tower of Mages, even chores like this had to be done by mages.eTqZjVf
h2r3“It doesn’t matter. Step back from the bars for a bit.”8t2q
rb4lZI took out the red spear that was hanging behind my back and gently stabbed the lock of the prison cell.RdIzwJ
7Gh5z-Bam!chLb
eMiutRO“Junior? What are you… huh?”L3yA
gKrxThe prison door started to open before she could even finish her question. It seemed that the lock had been purely based on magic.XTFbNx
4fNK“Wow… Is that one of your abilities?”nkv
v3CTYw“Just something that nullifies spells.”Xkcuhb
QZJwWThe red anti-magic spear, Gae Derg, was one of the spears you could get from Manannan Mac Lir and was the best weapon to use against mages due to its magic-nullifying capabilities.ByShj
T3V4ERg“Shall we go now?”X6GR
HHpI suggested while reaching out with one of my hands. She gladly took my hand before walking out of the cell.ff3k
Umr3“Oh my. Thank you so much.”0p3T
HpDg7“The kiss can wait until we are done with everything.”g5E
UfoEC“Pervert.”Cqn0tWw
qhJTEstelle didn’t seem that displeased by my joke, but that was understandable considering that she was a chill person by nature.UGhQ
ax7“Did they do anything big to you?”MEBpWS
GpIStCx“Apart from taking my blood, not much. Oh, right, Junior. We have to let the Kingdom know immediately. The Tower is using my blood to…”Egjw9
94K7wW“Attempt to revive the Titans, right? And there’s also someone running around with Holy Grail… a large cauldron, yes?”aI77mi
QWYJIh“Umm… How did you know that already?”IwFP62C
BhN6“It’s a long story.”3GYFg
2HYnEstelle was someone on my priority list that I had to invite into my guild. I would have to tell her one day but that could wait for now.ZMIfF
lgD“By the way, Saintess, can you give prayers? It would be a lot easier with a buff.”UKEMf
qiuZbUd“Actually… I can’t use any divine spells right now.”CBfj0xN
yMAHeuIt appeared to be the same as the game. According to the original storyline, it was because of a traitor of the New Faith doing something, but what exactly they did wasn’t revealed till the end.pVa
BCa“Let’s first find our—”cCG
6IThL7-Kwaaang!WXl
ygoIt was then. Along with a deafening thud, a cold mist of mana pervaded across from the other side of the laboratory.e4E5
JhL4“Senior Marie?”BgM
9D77rV2There was no one other than Marie who could lower the temperature of an entire floor… Wait, there was another one that could.a3Gk6
wmoFGR“Elder Serarion of the Navy Cult.”zrUY
AFwerHe was the strongest ice mage who would have later appeared at the Northern Kingdom to show off his immaculate strength. The Absolute Zero spell he would use after being baptized by the Frost Giants—iwOIN
0n6BBf-Kwaang!IbbCf
JLNA large crystal spear of ice struck the wall behind us.x1b
NW3g8Pd“Stay back. I think I need to help.”pnXFv
WPErLzr“Korin?”Fit
z67h2IAppearing from the wall that was stabbed open by the crystal spear was Marie, who was wearing an outfit that did not suit the cold and harsh environment around us.G8QnsU
vSmQrdShe looked at me while tilting her head. Standing behind her was Doggo, who seemed to have grouped up with her already.3n9ocL
uOPBefore long, Master Erin also joined the party.owa5LEz
lGqS6m“I am here to help… Ohh?”SGj
6mrZShe, who appeared from the other side in order to help us, covered her mouth in surprise. That was natural because Elder Serarion… the strongest ice mage was covered in bruises and being dragged along by Marie.NzBx9n
qpjXtN“I guess he’s the ‘previous’ strongest mage. Congratulations, Senior Marie. You are officially the strongest ice mage now.”50cg
TvAZv3s“Haht!? Don’t put me on a pedestal like that. This person was weak.”yC9Ce0
UtY5j0Now that I thought about it, it was obvious that he wouldn’t stand a chance. Marie was already blessed with a heap of mana and yet after acquiring the power of a vampire, she was able to bash up most knights with her pure strength.f8FgMgm
7xNW6FOnly the few highest-class mages would be able to stand a chance against her with magic.SgXtW
Ma0k“They will start coming here because of that fight just then. Let’s hurry. Your Highness, so your body is like a normal person’s right now, is that correct?”LCGST
gJdcbTZ“H, huh? Yes.”QQ7
FqGgw‘Excuse me,’ I whispered before supporting her by the shoulders and the back of her knees. It was the so-called princess carry.1CDq
qOWxPxIt wasn’t wrong since she really was a princess.0CAPQf
viYl9“This is embarrassing…”WX1SZr
Hz2SPXEstelle said with a shy look on her face.ujXC8O
d6rDGAfter carrying Estelle, I marked the start of the next set of plans.e2D
u9Q“Jump!”X6r1s
ooiq“Nn? Jump? What?”9jg
LUyO9zTowards the wall that was broken by the spell – to that empty wall and the ocean beyond!83qa
fiWQMkE“KYAAAAAK?!”iycZ2
w4tFrom the 8th floor of the Tower of Mages, we jumped out without even the slightest bit of hesitation.nQT
7f5N————zDbhEn5
Zr9UDWe fell faster and faster as the wind pushed harder into our faces.IPS
7r0“What’s the plan? You had a plan in mind; that’s why you jumped right?!”pxnkz
6fAThe Princess shouted out something while desperately clasping onto my neck, but I couldn’t really hear what she was saying. Well, she was probably asking about what we were going to do next.DBNyljr
7Yv4hw“Don’t worry! Senior Mar-!?”CKvp1J1
sww7tsIt was then. During the free fall… I looked up to the night sky and was met with 3 other faces.OAv
hHejPMaster Erin, Senior Marie, and…RAZNzEO
XaaIiLv“UHIHIHIHIT!”2pCFx
USXDun Scaith was falling with us along with the laughter of a lunatic.uY4
guIviX“Ugh… that disgusting bastard.”yrUjwN
bo4We had a plan in mind. The plan was to use the runes of deceleration and acceleration appropriately to absorb the shock of the fall.ue8c
pUPwHowever, there was no need for Dun Scaith to even do that. He was the King of Beasts; a culmination of snakes, toads, cows, and dragons. He was probably going to turn into a dragon and—JVEwHn
ddD“OUIIIIIIII…!”IIM
gJUwR3“Huh?”y5pIa
PI946M“Hnn?”eYOF80
ayyzeWe started to decelerate but Dun Scaith continued to fall without doing anything. Eventually, the exploding noise of flesh echoed from the ground and…rJb
Mf266I“Kihit? Kihihi…!”bbXgr4
MyFlOHe, who fell before us, turned himself into thousands of toads.NNW
XkDvu“Uwek… Disgusting!”RNxLC
jA10Estelle was appalled at the sight of thousands of toads but there was something more important to worry about.X6JXyW
5XS“Senior…!”zlIYGQY
WrAh1K7“I know!”xR4awhe
9wLWWmYMarie fired dozens of spells at the thousands of monster toads welcoming us on the ground. They destroyed whichever toad they touched, but there were simply too many of them.0aAy
ZFJ0yv-Tak!aVBoRqi
57gNUIn the end, we couldn’t avoid being met with a wave of toads the moment we landed on the ground. Venomous toads, bomb toads, bow toads… there was a whole parade of them.IyjzdEZ
LgtpE2p“Master! Carry Senior Marie!”l0o7kMJ
fEnHq“Got it!”8Qo4q
Dc4Like how I was carrying Estelle, Master similarly lifted Marie with her arms.h4P3jy
lFfX“Doggo…! Open up the path!”nfiIpu
W0LiY4b“Woof!”PrCjvP
mYZERvHe truly was a reliable party member. After shooting out of Marie’s shadow, the bloodhound crushed all the toads blocking our path, ripped them to pieces, and opened up a pathway.dtuej
tjvSixth Style, Shura—MV0JB
JElxtImmediately after that, I activated Shura to increase my physical stats to the extreme and kicked off the ground. The background changed swiftly as blades of wind cut through my cheeks but thanks to that, we were able to escape from the toads before long.Of5gq
k1C3Like that, we once again entered the underground sewage of the Tower of Mages and hurried to where Lady Josephine and Hua Ran were, hoping that they would have prepared the teleportation beforehand after sensing the commotion outside.qO5dB
AEaTtV“MUOO…!”36D
Cib7PA sudden goosebump urged me to turn around, and I found a flock of things that resembled bulls chasing after us. Master uttered in shock after seeing the one in the lead.6oGlM0U
yOwEIQ“That’s… the white-horned bull, Finnbennach…!”MgoxWg
JFf“Do you know what it does?!”pB8mRW
uuic“I know it has a very good sense of hearing… and you get cursed if you get struck by that horn!”jhI
VN5FmJG“What’s with all these weird animals!? They have absolutely nothing in common!”tbvs
6XLQWhy does a bull have some magical abilities? At this point, why not start a war because of a bull, huh?0Q8Qf
XqlCF“Be careful not to fall!”hCaeK
dwHRGPgEntering the sewage, we started running across the splattering floor. The passageways were narrow and too complex for bulls to run through, but the sound of their pursuit was still echoing behind us.f3af4
0hzU“Master. Let’s blow this place up.”6ZGp
Qz9Wr“Right. If it’s here…”aGF
lUDciIWe each took out our Silver Spears and crushed the walls of the passageway.GkJfZ8
7En-Kwaaa!gymhFt
aiPThe sound of a large amount of mana exploding at once was incredibly impressive. We, being two rune mages, had planted several letters throughout the sewage beforehand. Although it might not have been possible inside the Tower of Mages, Resonant Activation was possible outside of it.PSV2Z
NaSoq2“GUWOOOOOOO…!”XidT
CUDIbywFlames erupted from all sides of the sewage including the floor and the ceiling as the flocks of bulls got scorched to death by the soaring flames and turbulent storms.npwvpo
uSSlfzAlthough this wouldn’t be enough to kill Dun Scaith, it would be more than enough to let us escape from him.1yLeC0
mW8ECZ“Here…!”6GGP
YNr5oAt last, we were almost there at the control room after escaping from the chasers and found Hua Ran waving at us from a distance.FOV
vjfCUM“Start the teleportation right now!”k6VXRS
vcBThere were only 100 meters between us. It was a straight line with no obstacles in the way. Inside the old control room that the mages of the Tower wouldn’t even remember by now, Josephine opened up the alternate dimension, preparing for a long dimensional leap.xckXvi
sKi“Everyone, come inside the magic circle!”YRLBjxd
yFrWe quickly entered the circle Lady Josephine set up. I was in such a hurry that I forgot to let go of the girl that I was carrying in my arms.bUE
mgv“10 seconds!”EJcgi
L76ZpOI heaved a sigh of relief after hearing her shout. This magic circle was linked to the marker that was placed on the main encampment of the Kingdom’s military back on the main continent.c7tTEx
8Sddbk“8… 7…!”OFsO
SlmVPfAfter escaping like this, all we had to do was wait for the seeds to sprout. Attack immediately after the curse implodes and that will be enough for us to sweep through the Tower.nkY
7nt41c“6…!”sgReNE
Zbbvr-Kwang!m4LIk
wLgA roar echoed from a distance… one that shook the entire sewer.8nsf7R
NLL3eDT“W, what?”aa6l9y
RtlG5 seconds.3UMr2w
1Kb-Kwangg!sbg
ZgBwk“Junior. Next to you…!”8iSa
3sWdLv-KWAAAAANG!nFjF163
K6WDeafening thuds were reverberating on repeat from the other side of the wall. It sounded like something was being crushed time after time.xcN5
7jDPg7qThis crazy bastard! Is he breaking through all the walls of the underground sewer?GBlwDQn
2Byat“Senior Marie. Freeze the wall!”hxo
ImNpmjiIn a hurry, she immediately froze the wall. At a glance, the frozen wall seemed fortified enough to last for years.yTQ
0RA2VdK4 seconds.Y1l
3HRDqEQ-Kwaang!jUTb7a
4JXaThe sound came closer and closer as Master and I pointed our spears toward the wall. For some reason, a strong inkling hit us that the toughened wall might be broken through like silicon.5FoOJ
BOUiu43 seconds.uw3Xn
plhk8-Kwa—!Gf0J7
Wz4IIt thudded. But it stopped and was blocked.xmGFJHL
5jk4Z9QThe wall in front of us shook after the impact but remained firm. Right as we were about to heave a sigh of relief.Ru9
JQWH9-KWAAAA!!LvEECrw
Dg23QCzThe wall and the ice covering it crumbled at once, and appearing from the other side of the cloud of dust was a standing bull with a white horn. That was the form of Dun Scaith that I had seen from him, back when we were at the floating island to obtain Claiomh Solais.xsMTm
Exw9“There you are~”hML
szJB“Aht…”89t
wxMSomeone let out a vacant mutter.kiqZ8
h0XUcZWe were almost there – we were very close to escaping but… in that split moment, with only 2 seconds left behind… if not 1, the horn of the monster stabbed through me.uJ3b
S1v“KYAA!?”0C0
lZPIMREstelle, who was still in my arms, screamed as the bull did not stop its march even after stabbing my shoulder with its horn. I couldn’t even do anything – all I could do was desperately hold onto Estelle.uz1
7uPKV“KORINNNN…!”9F44h7k
3Jboz6I saw the look of astonishment on Marie and Master’s faces but only for a split second… Before long, they jumped across the dimension and disappeared from sight.g84TqF
baAzKdw-Kwaaaang!lhYMy
0iMwjAfter breaking through several walls of the sewer, we were thrown into the waterway.ouOYOe
kLxT***vC7a
g34xDz“Korin…! Korin! KORIN!!”8KL
TM3WokjMarie screamed as she pounded at the magic circle.sAWFcoq
mMIu1kHowever, the place they were in now wasn’t the dark and gloomy sewer that they used to be in, but the military encampment.sT3XL
qK0M“You are back… Huh?”jpDcn
3WC7Alicia closed her mouth after seeing the number of people who came back.sGiH
bHIJvCBJosephine, Erin, Marie, Hua Ran and Korin. Five people. If things went well, they should have returned in a group of six.PN5yqg
lJTLHowever, all she could see was a group of three. The numbers weren’t adding up.Pjmr5
EtO“Chairman! We have to go back! Right now!”Ukv
w4dxE3“Calm down, Student Marie. Even if we teleport back now, we’ll…”NPN
4nasl“Please send just me at the very least…!”7EcuK
dZgB8yMarie ran up to Josephine, requesting for another jump back, but Josephine returned a shake.fNJlt
Yj19M“They must have strengthened their security. Going back now would be suicidal.”LaT3jj
1QG“We have to attack right now!”7lG
BVNxql“Marie.”xmK
7LcrJ“There must be some troops that can…!”63gqf0
EB2“Marie!”h8LHeYw
Cj7Erin was the one who put a stop to her desperate struggle. Like the experienced veteran she was, Erin calmly soothed her despite the disappearance of her own disciple.SLFQS
njS“I am sure the two of them will be fine.”v0H
qMg9NV“B, but…”OTzps
WnljOKt“They would have died already or made it out alive. If it’s the former, going now wouldn’t change anything.”uqiR5F
dePHolding onto her hands, the teacher of heroes said with a straight and believing gaze.N2GA
Mr0By“Korin will make it out alive for sure. Believe that. That is something you can be assured of.”tCLdH
5h0hTErin Danua, the teacher of heroes, believed in the destiny that was assigned to each hero.y6B
j6lPuShe thus had a firm belief that the hero of this generation, Korin Lork, would not crumble at a place like this.ECYodg
oCo2CfB“Umm… everyone?”BNiPAe
J5WCbHRight as they all started to settle their thoughts regarding this matter, Alicia carefully raised her hand for a question.cOY0keY
Uw2J9T“Where is Ms. Hua Ran?”0Tztr
PJqeHLIGently falling onto the magic circle that was starting to lose its light after the teleportation was the feather of a crow.ppQ7Zo
w1O0***U2Zm
CuKXKhSThey were gone! They were nowhere to be found!YcbKHhO
tEPXKp“Kughh… KUAAAAAHKK!”QpiI
stccuu4Drenched with sticky and smelly wastewater, Dun Scaith screamed out in uncontrollable fury. It was great that he smashed through the walls with an unstoppable march and stabbed through Korin, that little rat. Even better was the fact that he pushed both him and the Saintess out of the magic circle.7tmiZD
joiy75cThe issue was what came after that. Due to his own unstoppable march, they all ended up diving into a strong underwater current. 10 minutes after swimming through the dark waterways of the sewage, Dun Scaith found himself at the port.VGL
bjTM0xc“M, Mr. Scaith!”Nsgt3
7bFzdTOne of the mages that was protecting the port recognized him and immediately ran up, but his venomous gaze halted their feet.J5qXe8
fuKl“The Saintess has escaped! Find her!”AGp7T6
0n579qKorin… his master’s contender wasn’t the important one here.2XjV
aat5fNo matter what, they had to find the Saintess because the divine blood of the King of Gods was crucial to garner enough divine energy for Undry to resurrect the Titans.uOw
ls7In the distant past, a child was born between Balor’s daughter and Dian Cecht’s son.PJYbYh
fxCQ3kHis name was Lugh Lamhfada. Lugh married the great-granddaughter of Dagda and gave birth to a hero, whose descendants were the royal family of the El Rath Kingdom.9zrp
Rz7Because of that, the blood flowing through the members of the royal family had the blood of both Balor the King of Titans, and Dagda the King of Gods.gCQ8w
whxb4zOver time, that blood became thinner and thinner, but there was someone whose blood resembled that of their forefathers, and that was none other than Saintess Estelle Hadassa El Rath.OhS
GswcNow that the titans and gods were no more, with only divinities left behind in this world, she was an omnipotent existence who could borrow infinitely from the energy floating around.tAlo4y
HAAThat was why her blood was crucial for the resurrection of the Titans.v21pW0E
8FopMmPeople were mistaking her as the Saintess but Tates, the one who inherited the divinity of Lugh, was able to immediately see through Estelle and Miruam.3gxa
D2EDFNThat was why he had been preparing for the corpses of Titans ever since Estelle was born, and had been preparing for a long time by even dragging the Tower of Mages into it, and yet…orGlHY
nH8nOl“Kuhhgggg…!”WwS2qV
0IGjVBThat damned Korin Lork! And how I wish I could rip that Erin Danua to pieces!U199E
vCsDAgThose two bastards were trying to foil his master’s plans again and again.gbw
SKshioi“That is not happening. It can’t be!”dFLh
Jg6DnScaith let out a furious roar that echoed across the entire port.K5AWGN
117***lGWpUh
pJQ6f3“Ughh… So cold, and stinky…”3Fg2csF
ZYwm5VBeing thrown into wastewater and being swept by the currents for a long time felt horrible.TEjC
M90dpIt took Estelle a long time to come to terms with the situation because of everything happening at once, but what was certain was that it was really cold and that they were going to die from it at this rate.Gi4Xr
VqXFuJa“Junior? Junior, are you alright?”Q21
ZISnhpShe was better off at the very least, because her sacred outfit and the rosary had a divine spell cast on it – which the Tower of Mages referred to as Magic of Light – that somewhat controlled the temperature.TW9D7T
Z3uWhile gripping onto the golden rosary on her neck, she crawled on all fours towards the junior who was swept away by the currents just like herself.zf7Pu6G
0XE“Wake up. We will freeze to death at this rate!”Epwm
wS0w“…”8ns
PbwyHe didn’t wake up. There was nothing but white snow around them and their body temperatures were dropping at an exponential rate.0MK
MfgHj“Goodness sake…! Knnn…!”fYat
KhzOvNow that she couldn’t use her divine spells, Estelle was no different from a normal girl. While dragging a boy that was bigger than herself, she looked for a place that could allow them to hide from the cold.bFY
dZJmLLFootsteps and a straight line were left on the white, level snow behind them. Fortunately, Estelle discovered a small cave that was hidden from the blizzard before long.UoN86p
jkPtiWf“L, look! Junior! Over there! If we go there, we can raise our temperature… but it’s a bit far.”xgwser
6lNIt was far – around 300 meters away from where they were. It would probably take her around 10 minutes if she were to crawl her way there by herself, but right now, she had a boy who was bigger than her that she had to take care of.ss8qVW
xs5CSb“Aigo…”J3q8
bS7Pushing herself forward, she dragged Korin all the way to the cave. The cold blizzard covered her sight and her wavering arms almost failed her, but Estelle advanced forward, step by step without giving up.VovNp
gyh7Both Estelle and Miruam… the royal family of this country were more used to physically taxing jobs than what one might expect.3FM3LJU
3tptcAfter arriving at the cave, Estelle grabbed a few twigs nearby and created a little fire. It wasn’t that hard thanks to an igniting magic artifact that was hanging on her clothes.JHTVIPg
LU1BDyIt was something that she bought on a whim when purchasing all sorts of things that had life magic cast on it, and she certainly wasn’t expecting to use it in a way like this. Estelle thought about how her wasteful personality had turned out to be a positive trait.M4CHvoq
RLlHP“Junior? Hello? Can you wake up? Please? You’re starting to scare me here.”oBH0OCN
q6MohShe wasn’t used to death, because the people under her blessing tended to stay alive unless things were incredibly rough for them. It would be sad to see a Prince Charming freeze to death after valiantly coming to save her, right?ESOq
CsJJHuM“Ugh… his temperature’s not going up. What should I do? What should I do?”0D2VQ
pHoyw5Thinking that his wet clothes might be the problem, she took it off of him but was then worried that it might have made him colder. There was nothing around them that could be used in place of a blanket, and she noticed that his chest was as cold as a layer of ice when she slightly touched it.wZ9R6QN
S5xJCb9One of them was going to die fast at this rate, but that was when Estelle remembered a scene she read from a romance novel.AoPam9
o3CGIAfter losing their way on the snowy mountains, a pair of male and female… to avoid freezing to death, they…wSGUuGV
cqgh7“Noo… That’s, no… right? Come on… That’s just fiction, isn’t it? It’s fiction…”ePX5
FRs42In denial, she gazed down at Korin, who was shivering like there was no tomorrow… and that rushed her even more.qnMiIU
Kovrg“Huu, huu…”1GHQN9D
8TU5MEstelle gulped with a half-crying look on her face.eYP
9j0MYG“Me, this Princess; this Saintess, is going this far to save you from freezing to death, okay…? You owe me a good wine. An expensive one, you hear me?”phIdtow
Y1yps3eThere was only one option left.Cnew
w3CEstelle resolved herself.q6OTL
5rYHer pure and sacred clothes slipped down onto the ground.FllT
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