missnovel Chapter 626: Episode 626
Chapter 626: Episode 626
With Kajan pinning the fanatic, the Chaos Spear Simon had summoned flew fiercely toward her.
"Kghh!"
The fanatic, struggling to break free, stomped her foot hard on the ground. Two arms forged from her Innate Ability shot out from the earth and caught the charging spear. The sound of grinding filled the air, but the Chaos Spear didn’t stop. Only after she summoned two more arms to grip the weapon did its power begin to wane, and it finally crumbled as the four arms clenched around it.
"You annoying pests!" she snarled.
She drove her elbow into Kajan’s chest with a sickening thud. He coughed up blood and staggered as another arm erupted from behind, grabbed his head, and slammed it into the ground.
"Kajan!" Simon cried, starting to rush forward.
"I wouldn’t do that," she warned sharply.
Simon skidded to a halt and looked up. A massive moon of Divinity now hung in the sky, its radius so vast that they couldn’t possibly outrun it.
’When did she cast something like that...!’
Simon’s head snapped back to her. The ten arms of her Innate Ability swayed behind her, each forming the elements of a magic circle. That was how she could fight hand-to-hand while simultaneously casting high-level magic.
"I don’t know why Divinity doesn’t work on necromancers," the fanatic said, swinging her arm down. "But you can’t do anything about physical force, can you?"
The distorted white moon descended from the sky, letting out a deafening roar. Instead of dodging, Simon focused on the arms that formed the spell.
’If I destroy those arms, it should affect the magic.’
The moment Simon reached for his waist to summon a new Chaos Spear, a sickening crunch echoed through the clearing. A deep bite mark had appeared on one of the arms.
A series of marks, as if from a wild beast, appeared on the previously flawless constructs. That was all it took. The ten mountain-sized arms crumbled, and the moon of Divinity, with all its physical force, vanished.
"What?"
Everyone turned. Through the cloud of dust rising from the collapsing arms, a young man in a crow-feather cloak emerged.
"This is really pissing me off," he drawled, sauntering over with a delinquent’s swagger, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "A Priest in the middle of Roc Island. Are you kidding me?"
His hair stuck out in a bizarre shape, like the leaves of a plant, and he chewed on a twig he looked to have picked up off the street.
’A Crow Agent!’ Simon let out a sigh of relief.
Kajan, however, who was still pinned to the ground, didn’t look nearly as relieved.
"Don’t come any closer!" the Priest shrieked, backing away and gesturing with her hand. More arms made of her Innate Ability rose from the ground. "I’m warning you! If you care about the safety of the students here, back off—!"
The Crow Agent simply chewed on his twig.
A graphic crunching sound echoed. Drops of blood splattered everywhere, a few landing on Simon’s cheek and trickling down. The Priest creakily lowered her head to look at her own body. A huge, gouged-out wound marred her waist, as if she’d been bitten by a beast. Bone and organs were visible, and blood was pouring out.
"The condition for my curse has already been met," the Crow Agent grinned.
The fanatic collapsed to her knees. Trembling in disbelief, she moved her hands toward the wound.
Another sickening crunch, and this time, both her wrists were pierced through, leaving identical bite marks. She let out a piercing scream.
"Did you really think I’d let you use something like healing?" he scoffed. "You cockroaches."
The Crow Agent approached with an eccentric swagger, lifting his knees high before roughly stomping on her head.
With a heavy thud, the fanatic’s head was driven into the dirt.
"What kind of guts does it take to come to this island? If you wanted a fight, you should’ve brought a Saintess or an Arch Paladin..."
"Stop."
The Crow Agent grunted in annoyance and turned around. Kajan was staggering to his feet.
"What, you’re really just a student? How did a student survive a fight with a Priest?"
"Cut the chatter," Kajan panted, glaring at him. "Move your leg. We need to get information from her. It’ll be a problem if you kill her here."
"Listen here, ’student’," the Crow Agent chuckled. "A student has no right to order an agent around. Got it? A student’s job is to study hard and listen to their professors. That’s it."
The agent’s foot pressed down harder, and the fanatic’s face looked as if it was about to be crushed.
"These Priest bastards are just bugs. Why should we listen to what a bug has to say? If a bug gets in your house, you just step on it. Who’s going to complain?"
’Thwack!’
The agent’s leg was suddenly knocked aside. Simon had kicked it away. He strode forward and pushed the man’s chest with his palm.
"Simon Polentia, Student Council President."
Simon was momentarily startled. He had intended to knock him over, but even with one leg in the air, the man’s body didn’t budge an inch.
"Pardon the intrusion. I was concerned about the destruction of evidence."
"Oh, right," the Crow Agent replied, surprisingly not angry. He just smiled. "So you’re this year’s Student Council President? Impressive."
"You’re too kind."
"Wait, what was your name again?"
"Simon Polentia."
"Simon Polentia. Simon Polentia. Simon Polentia," the agent murmured blankly, then clapped his hands. "Ah! I remember! The student my colleague Bahil dotes on so much! Right, right!"
Simon’s eyes widened. ’A colleague of Bahil’s? This man?’
"My friend, Simon Polentia. Actually, this old man has a little problem. Would you hear me out?" The Crow Agent placed a hand on Simon’s shoulder. "My dear colleague Bahil hasn’t been playing with me lately, and I’m quite bothered."
A chilling sensation, like insects skittering across his skin, crawled over Simon’s entire body.
"You see, Bahil... he’s several times more of a genius than I am, and dozens of times crazier. But lately, he seems to be focusing only on his job as a professor, and I’m disappointed." A sinister light ignited in his pupils. "Bahil belongs in the field. Even if a genius like him teaches, normal people won’t understand a quarter of it. That genius should be used solely for killing those Priest bastards. But he’s so fixated on one student that he doesn’t even listen to a word I say."
His hollow, empty eyes turned to Simon.
"If that student were to disappear, I wonder... would he come back to us?"
Every cell in his body screamed ’danger’.
[Summon me, boy!] Pier’s voice echoed in his mind.
The moment Simon began to open a subspace in the man’s blind spot, a heavy voice vibrated through the air.
"What do you think you’re doing, Quinter?"
Simon immediately froze. The Crow Agent called Quinter turned around to face a middle-aged man, also wearing a crow robe, who stood there with a grim expression. Several necromancer combatants flanked him.
"Aha." Quinter took his hand off Simon’s shoulder. "I was just giving some advice to a junior from Kizen, Senior."
"Stand down, Quinter. If you don’t want to be subjected to unnecessary suspicion."
The senior Crow Agent gestured with his chin. The other necromancers ran over, grabbed the unconscious fanatic’s arms, and pulled her to her feet.
"She’s bleeding heavily."
"We’ll perform first aid immediately."
The Priest was quickly bandaged and moved via a teleportation circle. The senior agent approached Quinter.
"Why are you here?"
"Why else?" Quinter shrugged, chewing on his twig. "Isn’t it our duty as Crows to protect Roc Island and Lady Nephthys? I was just wandering around when I happened to sense Divinity, and well..."
"Quinter!"
"More importantly, who are all these people?" Quinter cut his senior off, looking around at the other necromancers. "No alarms went off inside headquarters, yet you’ve set up a perimeter as if you knew a Priest had entered Roc Island."
The senior agent sighed deeply.
"And then you just naturally take the Priest away. Ha," Quinter spat the twig from his mouth. It bounced off his senior’s chest and rolled on the ground. "This is the problem with the Dark Alliance. We’re on the same team, but how can we function with so many secrets between us?"
"It’s classified. I’ll explain later, after this is over."
"Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you will."
Quinter stopped, turned toward Simon, and grinned. An unsettling chill ran down Simon’s spine.
"Hope to see you again, Bahil’s student."
With a great flapping of wings, his body transformed into a flock of crows and soared into the sky.
---
After the incident was resolved, Simon helped Kajan recover. Pouring a special potion that only worked on him over his wounds was enough for him to get back on his feet. All that remained were the scars that seemed to be etched deep into his body.
"Kajan, are you really okay?"
"I’m fine." Kajan rotated a creaking arm and moved his head from side to side, the sound of bones popping back into place accompanying the motion.
"You both did well," the senior Crow Agent who had sent Quinter away said as he approached.
Kajan tilted his head and whispered to Simon, "This man can be trusted. He’s one of Lady Nephthys’s people."
"Oh."
Like Bahil’s colleague, Quinter, this man seemed just as powerful. His reddish-brown hair, beard, and goatee were all connected. He had a solid, sturdy build that made Simon briefly wonder if he was a martial arts major.
Simon shook the agent’s hand. "Simon Polentia, Student Council President."
"Call me by my codename, Alistair. I’ve heard much about you from Lady Nephthys."
"It’s an honor."
Alistair nodded and sighed. "It’s a relief we captured the fanatic before the Dark Festival officially began..."
"Are you certain the Priest we just caught is Ever Kireh?" Kajan suddenly interjected.
Alistair smiled, showing no sign of displeasure at being interrupted. "She’s receiving treatment now. We’ll know for sure after she wakes up and we can interrogate her. Her appearance is a bit different from the photo, but with her Innate Ability, changing her face would be a piece of cake." He turned his head. "We owe a great debt to the Saintess of Harvest. Where is she now?"
"She’s resting after using her detection magic."
"Let’s go."
---
Simon, Kajan, and the Crow Agent went to the beach. They saw her sitting calmly on a shaded chair on the sand, seemingly at rest.
"Saintess! I hope you haven’t been waiting long—!" Simon shouted as he approached, but his words died in his throat.
Something was wrong.
"...Damn it," Kajan swore.
With a devastated expression, Simon dropped to one knee.
The Saintess of Harvest sat at the table, her legs crossed. Her head was gone. All that remained was her lower jaw, chin included, still attached to her neck.
Her neat, rosy teeth were exposed. The rest of her head lay discarded on the sandy ground. The cross-section was unnaturally clean—the mark of an Innate Ability.
’The Saintess...’
The Saintess had been murdered.