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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Ugh… Uh…”
Hayun couldn’t move a muscle. The realization of her own helplessness, only hitting her after she had fallen, turned into a wave of self-loathing.
“Gasp… Huff…!”
She tried to sit up, but the pain from the wound in her abdomen forced a groan from her lips.
The bleeding wasn’t as severe as she had expected.
Her clothes were soaked in blood, but the wound itself wasn’t deep. The Priestess hadn’t used a proper weapon, just a makeshift bone sword.
But that didn’t make her feel any better.
In fact, it made the pain in her heart even sharper.
She had been defeated so easily by an opponent who wasn’t even using a real weapon. She knew the difference in their skill levels, but it was still humiliating.
Hayun gritted her teeth and tried to get up again, pressing both hands against the wound in her chest as she looked up.
The Priestess was walking towards the Grand Witch.
She moved with a casual arrogance, as if she could kill the Grand Witch at any moment. She was enjoying the humiliation she was inflicting.
“Haa… Ugh…”
What a joke, the academy’s strongest swordsman.
“Ugh…”
What a pathetic, talented young girl.
“Sob…”
Tears welled up in Hayun’s eyes, spilling down her cheeks and staining the earth of the Demon Realm Forest. The physical pain was agonizing, but the pain in her heart… The Priestess’s words, like thorns, twisted and pierced her soul.
She had been afraid of failure, so she had created an impossibly high standard for herself.
She had realized she was in love with Daniel McLean, but the pain she felt back in Yggdrasil had been the starting point.
Would she have accepted her feelings if there had been a special event, a defining moment?
If, like Eve, she had helped him overcome trauma and grow.
Or, like May, had been kidnapped and rescued by him.
Or, like Sen, had been freed from the Chokugen Faction with his help.
Or, like Elise, had started as enemies but ended up as allies.
Would it have been different if she had a memorable experience with him?
She still remembered the moment she realized her feelings.
It was at the café in front of the dormitory, while waiting for Eve and Tana. Daniel had simply asked, with a smile,
‘What’s your favorite coffee?’
She had never felt so ridiculous and deflated in her life. Why then? What was so special about that moment?
But the realization had hit her like a bolt of lightning.
Ah, I’ve been in love with this man all along.
And she felt a twinge of resentment.
Why did she have to realize her feelings through such a mundane conversation, unlike the other girls who had shared extraordinary experiences with him?
Couldn’t she have had a more dramatic, romantic experience, like something out of a book?
“Ugh… Sob…”
So she had given up.
She convinced herself that she could never be with Daniel, that it was better for him to be with someone as exceptional as Eris.
She wanted to tell herself that he was always out of her reach.
Tears streamed down her face.
She regretted her past foolishness.
If she had known she would end up like this, defeated and dying, she would have confessed her feelings.
She wouldn’t have given him up to the elf.
Her head was spinning, her body trembling. She no longer had the will to fight, only a crushing sense of helplessness…
But then…
Boom!
The deafening roars of the ancient beasts echoed in the distance. Was Daniel fighting amidst that chaos?
What an incredible man.
‘People are always swayed, shaken, and lost. It’s unavoidable.’
She wanted to give up, to rest, but the words of the man she loved, the man she both adored and resented, echoed in her ears.
‘But you can remain calm in any situation.’
“Stop.”
She wanted to rest.
Her body and mind, torn apart by the Priestess, were aching. She didn’t want to move a muscle, didn’t want to think anymore.
‘Even when you’re shaken, you always find your center.’
“Please stop.”
Stop it.
Stop telling me I have a chance.
Stop looking at me with those eyes filled with belief.
‘That’s a great talent for a swordsman.’
“Why?”
Why do your words have such power over me?
Just a moment ago, she had wanted to stay down, to give up.
She felt she had no talent, that her struggles were futile.
Her thoughts were still muddled and confused.
But why…
Why did his words give her the strength to get back up?
Hayun, still kneeling on the ground, wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Her face, soaked in tears, must have looked awful, but…
“My… sword.”
She stumbled to her feet, reaching for her swords. They lay on the ground, waiting for their owner. She sheathed them, her hands trembling.
She remembered a conversation she had with Daniel on their way to the Demon Realm Forest.
‘Isn’t that way too focused on your own strength? I don’t have that kind of power.’
‘You can’t do this?’
‘You can do that?’
She had thought he was teaching her something impossible.
She had declared it was beyond the realm of human capability, and in the end, he had conceded.
He had a tendency to assume others could do what he could, even if it was only possible because of his unique physical abilities.
That was probably why he kept increasing the intensity of their morning training.
“Heh.”
A faint smile touched her lips as she remembered his frustrated, yet hopeful expression.
‘But wouldn’t it be cool if you could do it?’
She hadn’t answered him then, but she agreed.
It would be cool.
“I can’t even catch your eye as an ordinary person.”
He was surrounded by beautiful, talented women.
What did she have to do to stand out?
“Thank you… for showing me.”
Slowly, Hayun leaned forward, her posture like a racehorse about to bolt. One leg forward, the other stretched back, her weight shifting forward.
From this precarious stance…
She crossed her arms, gripping the hilts of both swords simultaneously.
It was a single-strike technique from her mother’s Eastern swordsmanship, a deadly art passed down through generations.
A double draw, executed with both hands.
So you can see me.
“I’ll show you cool.”
It was no longer Yunran Len’s swordsmanship, but Hayun Len’s own unique style.
“……!”
The Priestess’s hair fluttered wildly in the wind as she finally noticed Hayun standing before her. She tried to dodge, but…
It was like a flash of lightning.
Two flashes, converging from both sides.
Hayun’s dual swords, drawn simultaneously, sliced through the Priestess’s chest.
Blood sprayed from the wounds, painting a gruesome picture on the forest floor.
The Priestess, who had believed she had completely broken Hayun’s spirit, had made a fatal mistake.
She tried to retaliate, swinging her sword towards Hayun’s neck, but…
“You’ll pay dearly for giving the witch time to prepare.”
Hayun wasn’t fighting alone.
“This is…!?”
A wave of black energy erupted from the Grand Witch’s fingertips, engulfing the Priestess. The Priestess, unable to withstand the sudden attack, stumbled backwards.
“This magic will relentlessly pursue you until your death. If even a little girl can be strong. This old woman can still pack a punch. This spell, imbued with my will, will cling to you like a curse, refusing to let go.”
The black energy merged with the Priestess’s body, writhing and twisting as it began to corrode her flesh.
“Gasp… Gasp… Did… Did we win?”
Hayun’s hands were trembling from the exertion of her attack. She dropped her swords and collapsed to the ground, her body screaming in protest.
The Grand Witch smiled kindly as she cast a healing spell on Hayun.
“Yes, we won. Thanks to you, we’ve prevented the future where our witches are slaughtered.”
“I-Is that so?”
Hayun nodded, still unsure what the Grand Witch meant.
But then…
“It’s customary to make a graceful exit in such situations. What a shame.”
The Grand Witch and Hayun’s heads snapped up, their eyes widening in shock. The Priestess of Time emerged from the black energy, splitting it in two as she walked towards them.
“It seems the gods are not ready for me to die yet.”
“The… Goddess of Death?”
Even the Grand Witch couldn’t hide her surprise. The mark on the Priestess’s forehead… it was the mark of the Goddess of Death.
The same mark as the Earliest Apocalypse.
The Grand Witch’s magic pursued its target until they died. If they died, the magic would disappear.
The Priestess of Time had easily shrugged off the spell. Without a single scratch.
As if she had died and been resurrected.
She smiled sweetly, her expression filled with a terrifying serenity. The Grand Witch and Hayun felt a wave of dread wash over them, but it was too late.
“I’d love to continue this, but…”
The Priestess of Time turned her head and sighed.
“It seems things have already been settled over there.”
A massive explosion erupted in the distance, its shockwave shaking the very earth beneath their feet.
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The priestess is like a cockroach :s