༺ Hocoming (1) ༻
[ Soul Linker ]
Type: Exclusive Equipnt
Enchantnt: Epic
Fusions: [ ‘Hero Shard’ Fusion ] [ ‘Evil Essence’ Fusion ]
#1
Spirit: Caliban – Guardian, Knight of Dawn
Currently Charged Magic Power Rate: 0%
Current Synchronization Rate: 12%
< Additional Features >
■ Skill: Image World
#2
Evil Spirit: Valkasus – Forbidden Sorcery User, Last King of Armada
Current Synchronization Rate: 10.00%
< Additional Features >
■ Skill: Forbidden Sorcery – Basic
At the sa ti as that window passed before my eyes…
My consciousness was pulled back into the Material Realm.
“…Ugh.”
At first, pain so intense that I couldn’t express it properly with words, struck . Then, I felt sothing more otherworldly…
I felt a strangely soft sensation on my head.
“…”
I blinked, trying to figure out what was happening. Beyond my slowly returning vision, soone’s face ca into view.
Crimson eyes were looking down at , as if trying to devour .
“…!”
Startled, I tensed up involuntarily, making the pain increase several fold, causing to moan and droop back down.
My whole body was a ss. Back when I defeated the Purifier, I was at least healed instantly, but this ti, I didn’t have such a luxury.
“Are you awake?”
“…Eleanor?”
“That’s right. It seems like you haven’t forgotten my face.”
Eleanor seed several tis colder than usual. The chill she exuded was practically dripping onto .
“…Uh, Eleanor?”
“Hm?”
“Are you angry?”
“I am.”
“…”
Yep. She certainly was.
So, uh, there was a question that beca even more important now that I knew she was angry.
“…If you’re so angry, why are you giving a lap pillow?”
“I’m angry, so I can do whatever I want.”
“…”
Yep… Whatever you say…
I let out a wry smile. After a few monts of just breathing, I looked around with great effort.
“What a scene.”
“Indeed.”
The Forbidden Sorcery released from Valkasus’ collapsed body had now completely enveloped the sky.
It was almost as if the heavens had opened up, and the spirits were ascending one after another.
Well, that expression was actually quite close to the truth.
With this, the Armada Kingdom had attained its salvation.
After all, their souls would return to the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn in a new body.
That was the common sense of this world.
Yet Valkasus had spent all those years suffering just to achieve this minimal right for his subjects.
“…”
I raised my arm with difficulty and looked at the amulet hanging from it.
White and black light mixed to emit a grey one from inside.
It was probably because Caliban and Valkasus were both sleeping in there.
‘…I’ll see you later.’
Just like Caliban, Valkasus would likely spend most of his ti asleep until I had enough divine power again.
I hoped the ti when I could easily wake them up and have a proper conversation with them would co soon.
Just as I had this thought, a stream of ssages suddenly appeared before my eyes.
System Notification
[ Main Quest Completed! ]
[ Rewards Received! ]
[ 1 ‘Evil Essence’ Received! ]
[ 1 ‘Hero Shard’ Received! ]
[ 10,000pt Received! ]
System Notification
[ This Quest was subjected to an Ergency Event. Additional Rewards Received! ]
[ Special Interaction with ‘Heretic Inquisition’ Added! ]
[ Feature will be imdiately activated upon contact with mbers of the ‘Heretic Inquisition! ]
My gaze scrolled down the ssages until stopping at one particular part.
The rest was good and all, but the last sentence was particularly important.
‘…Hmm…Heretic Inquisition…’
In a survey conducted on Sera users, the ‘group least wanted as an enemy’ category was dominated by the Heretic Inquisition with an uncontested first place.
There were several reasons for that, but the powerful presence of the ‘Companion’ character within that group was the main reason.
‘I’m not gonna go out of my way to look for them.’
I would have to et them sooner or later, but I’ll try to postpone it for as long as possible.
Right now, I could count the number of humans more directly entangled with the Devils than I was in just one hand.
It was safe to say that there was no chance that the Heretic Inquisition would welco my existence when they considered ‘Devil Hunting’ as their profession.
‘Well, that’s that.’
There was one more thing I had to rember.
You see, after clearing the Valkasus Boss Battle via the battle route, there was sothing that was ‘opened’.
System Notification
[ 1 Trigger Condition for Hidden Event ‘???’ t! (1/3) ]
There we go.
Savior Rising was a surprisingly well-made ga, and it even offered special rewards whenever the main scenario was cleared using unconventional thods instead of the ‘orthodox’ way.
The ‘Hidden Event’ ntioned here was one of them. It was a reward that popped up when the main scenario had been thoroughly completed.
And this…
“…Why are you looking at like that?”
I smirked in response to the grumpy Eleanor.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
This was the only redy that could alleviate the ‘Madness’ passed down in Eleanor’s household.
This was the first step and I had finally taken it.
“…”
Eleanor, who had been silently observing , sighed and flicked my nose with her finger.
From her actions, one would think it was just a childish prank, but my head, which took the brunt of it, twisted backwards entirely.
The fuck? How strong exactly was she?
“…What was that for?”
“Stop trying to seduce . I have a lot of grievances right now.”
“…”
…What? All I did was smile a bit at her.
“That, in itself, is seduction.”
“…Huh? Why is tha—”
“Because I said so.”
“…”
What does she even want from then…?
As I fell silent with my mouth closed, Eleanor let out a sigh while lifting up.
“For now, since you were injured to this extent, it would be best to get so treatnt first.”
“…”
Well, she was right.
To put it mildly, I was thoroughly fucked. My body was a complete ss.
Given Eleanor’s ‘disposition’, I expected her to lose her shit when she saw like this, but her reaction was surprisingly calm.
It was to the extent that made think I could’ve just brought her with to battle Valkasus.
‘…What changed?’
I did have a guess.
When she used the Descent skill to face the Flesh Tearer, there was a ssage saying that she had completed her fusion with the fragnts.
As far as I knew, that was another trigger for a new event.
It seed like she was already receiving the influence fro–
“Also, while you receive treatnt, You can slowly give an explanation to .”
“…Huh?”
“Where did you say you were going with Iliya Krisanax?”
“…”
Oh yeah.
I forgot about that part.
“Iliya, welco back! You didn’t get too hurt right— Wait, why do you look like that?!”
Trisha, Iliya’s worried roommate who had been waiting for her to return to the dorm, scread in shock upon seeing her enter the room.
Of course, she hadn’t expected Iliya’s day to go smoothly when she was dragged away, but she didn’t anticipate it being this bad.
Dirt and dust covered her whole body and she had various minor injuries. Well, to so extent, that wasn’t a big of a deal, but…
Her face was in utter shambles.
She had swollen eyes, a nose that was obviously worn out from being wiped too much, and a lingering sadness that had yet to leave her face.
“Were you crying? No, seriously, what happened to make you like this…!”
And above all…
The ‘Color of Emotions’ she saw from Iliya greatly concerned her.
If she was just in a bad mood, Trisha wouldn’t have been so shocked.
However, the color she displayed was like she had lost all of her usual ‘vitality’.
“…Um, Trisha.”
Iliya spoke in a hoarse voice.
“…Aren’t I just utterly useless?”
“…”
She didn’t even know what to say after hearing those words.
It was ridiculous to hear such words co from the mouth of the Hero Candidate with the greatest talent on the continent. Moreover, she was still young enough to be called just a girl.
“…D-Do I even deserve to stay next to Teach? I keep receiving his help, but I can’t even properly help in return…”
The girl who was always upright, filled with unwavering determination, and inspired the energy of others was now….
Utterly indecisive. The color of her emotions had not only turned murky, but it also had beco an almost gooey and sticky darkness.
And that color was getting stronger by the seconds.
“…”
Trisha was so taken aback that she could only twitch her lips in silence. However, she quickly regained her composure and slapped her own cheeks.
Right now, it wasn’t the ti to worry about such things. Iliya’s condition was genuinely alarming.
‘…If I don’t straighten this out right now—!’
As soone who could see the color of other’s emotions, she was well aware that this was a genuine ‘sign of danger’.
If she hesitated to address it now, Iliya’s very nature could change. She couldn’t just stand by and watch that happen to her friend!
‘For now…’
She didn’t exactly know what had happened…
But she knew for sure that this matter involved ‘that person’ again.
And so, she had to make sure of this before anything.
“Iliya, what exactly are your feelings towards that person?”
“That person? Who…?”
“I’m talking about Mr. Dowd Campbell. How do you feel about him? Respect? Do you think of him as a friend?”
“Um, well, I’m not exactly sure…”
“Maybe… Do you like him?”
When the question was posed so directly, Iliya suddenly stopped moving.
Even the color of her emotions seed to montarily stop evolving into a deeper shade of black.
“…”
Seeing her reaction, Trisha sighed internally.
Although she was not so love expert, she did have a decent understanding of a relationship’s ‘flow’ thanks to her many observations.
And she could tell that this case was one of those types.
Iliya was halfway in love, but since she had never experienced sothing like this before, she was uncertain about her feelings.
Seeing how her emotions briefly turned brighter after hearing the question of whether she liked him or not, despite her being unsure of the nature of her feelings, only made Trisha convinced of this theory.
“…Iliya. You said you had a wish ticket or sothing from that person, right?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“In that case, let’s use it. It can’t be helped.”
“Huh? Use it? On what?”
‘Where else would you use it, you fool…?’
“During vacation. At the Pilgrimage Hocoming Ceremony.”
With that, Trisha quickly stood up from her seat.
anwhile, IIliya’s face had turned bright red in an instant.
It seed as if she was nervous just from imagining it.
Her whole body continued to fidget.
“I-Is it r-really o-okay? W-What if he rejects ? What should I do then?”
“You said it’s a wish ticket. If he doesn’t grant it, then argue or complain. In the first place, you wanted to use it for this purpose, so why are you getting cold feet now?”
Iliya bit her lips and fell silent at Trisha’s decisive words.
Sohow, her friend appeared several tis more mature than usual.
She looked almost dignified in a way.
‘…This alone probably won’t be enough.’
Just like Iliya had assud, Trisha was racking her brain while maintaining an extraordinarily level-headed manner.
Although she hadn’t always seen it, Elfante’s Student Council President had a terrifying obsession for Dowd Campbell.
Especially considering what the ‘Pilgrimage Hocoming’ was usually used for by students at Elfante, she would definitely not miss Iliya’s intentions.
As such, in order to get the upper hand, Iliya also had to use a very VERY strong card.
“Also, let’s write a letter.”
“…Huh? What? Eh?”
Unable to follow along, Iliya’s eyes were practically spinning as Trisha handed her a pen and placed a piece of paper in front of her.
“Write exactly what I say.”
She then took a deep breath before continuing.
“Recipient. Margrave Kendride.”
Iliya’s jaw dropped.
“Your complexion doesn’t look that great, Dowd.”
Atalante’s voice, filled with concern, ca from across the room.
“I heard you had a serious injury not long ago. If you find it difficult to focus, you should rest up more.”
“…No. I’m fine.”
Honestly, there was nothing wrong with my physical body.
It was just… There was another problem that I had.
With a slightly pale complexion, I wiped my face.
I had been thinking about this a lot lately, but my improvisational skills were certainly improving day by day.
I an, that was probably because unexpected things kept blowing up in my face ever so frequently.
Basically, whenever sothing unrelated to popped up, I was getting better at quickly formulating courses of action and guidelines to resolve such surprises.
System ssage
[ Target ‘Margrave Kendride’ has started to take an interest in you. ]
[ A related event will be generated soon! ]
But, seriously. Couldn’t they just give so ti to breathe?
Please.
“…”
Margrave Kendride.
Iliya’s foster father. Duke Gideon Tristan’s eternal rival among the high nobility. The strongest Holy Knight of the current generation.
‘What does this guy even want from little old …?’
“You’ve been through quite a lot this ti.”
Atlante, who obviously didn’t have a clue about my feelings, let out a sigh and continued speaking.
“The Empire, the Holy Land, the Tribal Alliance… All three nations had suddenly taken an interest in your whereabouts. Moreover, not soon after such an incident happened, a major terrorist attack fell upon Elfante. I can’t recall such major incidents happening one after another…”
The Headmistress pushed her glasses up.
“Even so, it is way too early to be relieved.”
Her words were dead serious.
“As I ntioned before, the Devil Worshippers will continue to co after you. In my opinion, this incident is also related to that.”
“…”
“All incidents will continue to revolve around you from now on. I think you should assu that sothing else will happen soon, so stay busy preparing.”
“…I agree.”
Although there had been so many incidents, in reality, I had only finished the second chapter of the ga.
There was still a long way to go in the scenario, and resolving the issues with the Devil’s Vessels were far from complete.
In order to survive, I couldn’t stop increasing my strength.
And above all…
That bitch was a problem.
The woman who suddenly popped out and then disappeared. The Prophet. The Leader of the Devil Worshippers.
‘…Was that motherfucker originally a woman?’
I didn’t recall it being so.
Out of all the elents of the scenario that I rembered, only the Prophet existed outside my ‘knowledge’.
In this world, which was built on a ga system where everything moved according to my knowledge, her existence was the only one who defied my expectations.
I knew about everyone else…
But, at least for that person, I had no idea what thoughts and intentions she was harboring.
“However!”
Atalante imdiately spoke up with a cheerful voice, as if she saw my darkening expression getting lost in my thoughts again.
“A human can’t just keep on working, right? You’ll break down if you push yourself too much, you know?”
“…Huh?”
“Originally, the vacation was supposed to start shortly after the midterms. But due to the recent assault, the entire academy’s functions are temporarily suspended. Since we can’t hold classes, we’re planning to let everyone take a break a little earlier.”
‘So you’re telling to take a break too?’
The Headmistress winked as she said that.
However…
“…I do want to take a break as well, but…”
The definition of a vacation was to rest, right?
Yeah. It was.
However, for , there was a low chance of experiencing sothing as difficult as rest.
“But?”
“But there’s the Pilgrimage Hocoming Ceremony. Do you know about it, Headmistress?”
“Of course, I know about it…?”
The Headmistress cocked her head in perplexion.
After all, it was one of the main ‘romance’ events in the ga.
During the vacation, students would make arrangents and visit each other’s hotowns.
But, among the nobility within the Empire… How should I explain this…
Honestly, it was basically treated as a date trip between students.
Although it was not an officially organized event by the academy, it was a long-standing tradition among students. As such, there was even dedicated personnel to manage it.
“…”
I handed the docunts I received from such personnel to Atalante.
The contents were sothing I absolutely didn’t want to do. I would rather die. Really. Seriously. Truly.
Because it seed as if they would either kill or commit suicide, I was unable to reject either side in the past. The result of that was now laid in those docunts.
“…This is a joke, right?”
Atalante let out a bitter laugh.
“Iliya Krisanax. Eleanor Elinalise La Tristan.”
“…”
“The Hero Candidate and the Lady of the Tristan Duchy. With just one of these two, most territories would be turned upside down.”
“…”
“…But you’re going to go to your hotown… With both of them? To ‘Baron’ Campbell’s territory?”
“…”
I wish it was a joke too.
I really do.
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