episode_0148

Yuria vs. Renbu

“Ohoho… Excellent. It seems my divine power worked well. Now then…” “…!!”

Renbu’s divine power flowed through Yuria’s forehead into every part of her soul, and Yuria, seemingly having lost consciousness, drooped her head with vacant eyes. Renbu then disintegrated all the chains binding Yuria and discovered Tiavel, who had been hiding behind a box, observing everything. When Tiavel’s eyes met Renbu’s, she trembled and slowly backed away, seeing Yuria slumped powerlessly with her head bowed. Renbu smiled at Tiavel and said,

“She has already lost her fighting spirit, so she can do nothing. There is no one left to protect you. However, we can protect you. The Goddess is merciful, so she seeks to embrace even those who defied us. Therefore, if you become a Saintess with her, you can live happily under the Goddess’s protection.” “…!!”

As Renbu tried to entice her, saying she could live happily under the Goddess’s protection if she became a Saintess, Tiavel’s body trembled with fear of Renbu. Yet, she frowned and shook her head, indicating she would never join Renbu. Renbu then looked at Tiavel with pity and said,

“Hmm… That’s a shame. To reject the Goddess’s protection while glaring at me like that. But you have no choice, you see? You are destined to become a Saintess with her. You have no right to refuse.” “…!”

“Ah… That might be surprising to you. No choice… It might be a little scary, but you don’t have to worry. Her light is like warm sunlight, so you too will be satisfied…?”

As Renbu tried to forcibly make her a Saintess, claiming she had no right to choose, Tiavel’s eyes welled up with tears, but she sent Renbu a hostile gaze. Then, Tiavel was startled by something she saw, and Renbu assumed Tiavel was surprised by his words. However, a sudden chill began to envelop him, and he realized the reason for Tiavel’s surprise wasn’t him, but Yuria behind him. He looked back with a start. Seeing Yuria staring down at him with cold eyes, Renbu said, greatly perplexed,

“Wh-what is this?! I clearly just extinguished your fighting spirit… How can you even think of opposing me…?”

“Ah… My head certainly feels lighter, like something’s gone… Well, it doesn’t matter now… I’m not moving with fighting spirit anymore. Now that my fighting spirit is gone, all I have left is cruelty, and ruthlessness. So… you’ve turned me back into my old self.”

“Wh-what do you mean by that…? But to explain all that to me… You’ve made a mistake…!! If I eliminate that emotion too, your will to fight me will disappear!?”

Yuria explained that with her fighting spirit gone, what now drove her was cruelty and ruthlessness, and that because of him, she had returned to her former self. Renbu, bewildered that Yuria was revealing all this to him, tried to fly towards Yuria’s forehead, just as before, to eliminate that emotion again. However, the chilling aura surrounding Yuria instantly froze Renbu’s hand as it tried to approach her. His hand frozen, Renbu stopped midway, greatly perplexed.

“Wh-what in the world is this?!”

“Erasing my fighting spirit just now might have been a huge mistake for you. My fighting spirit was an emotion that stemmed from the kindness I awakened through Zeke and Tiavel. But in this situation, where you’ve erased it… all that’s left in me is cruelty. In other words, all mercy towards you has completely vanished from my heart. The me now is…” “…?!”

Yuria replied that her fighting spirit was an emotion born from the kindness that had revived within her, but thanks to Renbu erasing it, she had become ruthless as before. At that moment, ice shot out from the surrounding chill and wrapped around Renbu’s arms, just as Renbu had done to Yuria earlier, connecting him to the wall. Yuria slowly approached Renbu, who was bound by her power, and said,

“The Snow Woman who used to go around killing people, just like before.”

“Th-this is ridiculous…!! The Goddess’s blessing… The Goddess’s blessing isn’t working…!! What in the world is this…?!”

“Ah… You don’t know, perhaps? Why your party, dispatched to Mount Ther, couldn’t return… You still don’t know?” “…!! C-could it be…!! Aaaahhhhhh!!!”

As Renbu couldn’t comprehend the situation, Yuria asked him why the Saintesses and priests dispatched to Mount Ther hadn’t returned. Renbu immediately understood the meaning of Yuria’s words and began to scream in terror. Yuria then formed an icicle nearby and shot it directly at Renbu. At that moment, a powerful light erupted from Renbu’s hand, shattering the ice that bound him. He hastily flew up, dodged the icicle, and panted,

“Gasp… gasp… Th-that was dangerous… To think you were the one who eliminated the Saintesses and priests dispatched to Mount Ther… It seems I shouldn’t let my guard down either.”

“Saying you shouldn’t let your guard down, you’re already too late. You should have fought me when I still had mercy for you. Then you wouldn’t have suffered this.” “…?!”

As Yuria slowly raised her hand, the chilling aura spread around Renbu began to transform into icicles. The icicles aimed at Renbu in a crossfire formation. Realizing that Yuria truly intended to show him no mercy, Renbu exhaled deeply to compose himself and said,

“Hmph… You’re certainly planning to kill me. But it’s a bit regrettable to see that you don’t realize I’m a different kind of Saintess from them.”

“Do you have the luxury to flap your mouth in this situation? Icicle Hunt.”

As Yuria clenched her raised hand, the icicles surrounding Renbu simultaneously shot towards him. Renbu took another deep breath, and a sword of light formed in his left hand, a shield of light in his right. Renbu twisted and turned his body, using the two newly created weapons to block the icicles Yuria had fired. After blocking all the icicles, Renbu pointed his sword at her. Yuria gathered chilling energy in both hands and said,

“To think you have such a trick. You’re certainly different from the Saintesses and priests I killed before.”

“This sword and shield are Her power. As long as I possess this power, I cannot lose to you. It is a devotion and a blessing for Goddess Camilla…!!”

“Sorry, but the kindness-deprived me can’t empathize with that, you see?”

Renbu declared that using the power he possessed was a devotion and blessing for Camilla, and thus he could not lose to her. Yuria replied that with her empathy gone, she couldn’t understand Renbu, and she hurled a block of ice formed from chilling energy at him. Renbu, flying towards Yuria, deflected all the incoming ice blocks with his sword. Yuria immediately gathered chilling energy in her hands and slammed it into the ground, creating a massive wall of ice in front of her. However, Renbu did not stop, even when he saw the ice wall Yuria had created to block him.

“Even if you create a wall to block me… with Her power, I will overcome all obstacles that hinder me…!!” “…?”

Renbu muttered that even if she created a wall to block him, he would deal with the obstacles using Camilla’s power, and he swung his small sword. To Yuria’s surprise, her ice wall split in half twice from Renbu’s small sword and began to crumble. Renbu then continued, speaking to Yuria, who was perplexed by the trivial collapse of her ice wall,

“I will shatter all obstacles.”

“….I didn’t expect my ice wall to crumble to that small sword… But even so, fighting you… I understand something clearly now.” “…?”

Yuria, who had been surprised by Renbu shattering her ice wall, soon said she had realized something. Renbu, who had been flying towards Yuria, suddenly wondered what Yuria meant by understanding something. At that moment, Yuria spread her arms and took a deep breath, and chilling energy began to swirl around her. As his wings began to freeze in the cold, Renbu became greatly perplexed.

‘Th-this is… a blizzard?!’

“You… are certainly… ridiculously weaker than the Black Saintess. Aria has the skill to effortlessly kill me even in this level of cold… whereas you are incomparably weak.” “Ugh…!!”

As Yuria continued to emit chilling energy, slowly freezing Renbu’s body, she formed an ice sword in her hand and charged at Renbu. Renbu, his vision blurring, still saw Yuria approaching and managed to move his body to block Yuria’s swinging sword. However, his body had already reached its limit due to the cold, and ultimately, Renbu’s sword disintegrated powerlessly against Yuria’s. At the same time, Renbu was cut in the abdomen by Yuria’s sword.

“Aargh… Hah… hah… This… Indeed… someone who has dealt with Saintesses and priests before… is certainly different…” “…Still alive?”

“Ha… haha… Don’t worry, Snow Woman… I’ll die soon anyway… My body has already reached its limit because of your chilling energy… My divine power… isn’t coming out properly either… Ha… haha… For me, a Saintess of the great Goddess Camilla… to recklessly charge without considering the surroundings… how shameful…”

Renbu, embarrassed that he had recklessly released his power without realizing his body was slowly dying from Yuria’s chilling energy, forced a laugh. Then, feeling his death approaching, Renbu looked at Yuria, who was glaring at him through his blurring vision, and said,

“Ah… right… As an apology for underestimating you… I’ll tell you about our plan, especially for you… Just a little bit…” “…”

Renbu made a shocking offer, saying he would reveal a tiny bit of their plan as an apology for having underestimated Yuria. But Yuria showed no reaction to Renbu’s words. Renbu, realizing that Yuria was reacting so ruthlessly because she had lost her emotions due to him, chuckled.

“Hehehe… You’re showing no reaction because of my power, aren’t you… Well, that’s fine… Our plan… it’s related to that Black Saintess you acknowledged as strong…”

“…Related to the Black Saintess? You’re talking nonsense. I know very well that Aria, the Aria I know, would never be the type to participate in your plans. Yet, for that Black Saintess to seem to be helping you…”

“Ah… you don’t have to worry about that… Whether the Black Saintess intends to participate in our work or not… she’s moving exactly as we envision… Hehehe… I want to see all of you… serving Goddess Camilla… from… the other… world…” “…!!”

Yuria stated that she knew Aria, the Aria she knew, would never be the type to join the Saintesses and priests. Renbu, as if mocking Yuria, laughed and said that regardless of Aria’s thoughts, she was moving according to their plans, and that he wanted to see everyone serving Goddess Camilla from the other world, before he finally breathed his last. At that moment, Yuria felt a pain in her chest, plopped down onto the spot, and began to pant and mutter.

“Hah… hah… Phew… Oh, thank goodness… Renbu’s divine power disappeared after he died… I almost showed Tiavel a bad side even after defeating him…!! Oh, right! Tiavel!! Tiavel! Are you safe?!” “…!!”

With Renbu’s divine power gone, Yuria returned to her original self. Just as she feared having almost shown Tiavel an unpleasant side of herself, having lost her kindness, she remembered Tiavel and frantically began searching for her. Tiavel, surprised, ran towards Yuria, weeping. Yuria, seeing Tiavel rush towards her from behind, smiled brightly and embraced Tiavel.

“Tiavel!! I’m so glad you’re safe, my daughter!! Everything’s alright now, so don’t worry!!” ‘Mom, are you really okay?’

“Yes! I’m fine now… Ugh… Thinking about it again, going back to that time… is really quite embarrassing…”

Tiavel showed her a piece of paper with the question, ‘Mom, are you really okay?’. Yuria smiled and replied that she was fine, then, thinking back to the moment she had reverted to her ruthless self, she looked at Renbu with a serious expression. Then, Yuria remembered Renbu revealing that Aria was moving according to their plans, and she began to ponder it with a serious expression.

“The Black Saintess is moving according to their plans right now…? There must be some connection…” ‘Didn’t both the Black Saintess and this fairy, Renbu, have divine power?’

“That’s right. They do have that in common… Divine power… Saintess… Goddess Camilla… and emotion con…?”

When Tiavel mentioned that both Aria and Renbu possessed the same divine power, Yuria began to think deeply, connecting the dots. Then, at the moment she recalled Renbu having removed her kindness through Camilla’s divine power, Yuria finally grasped the meaning of Renbu’s words, and she muttered with such great perplexity that cold sweat dripped down her face.

“C-could it be… If that’s what it means, and if that’s how the Black Saintess acquired that personality… Th-this is a huge problem…!! I thought it was fortunate that Aria was by Zeke’s side… but it was the exact opposite!!!” “…?”

“I need to quickly tell Zeke and Aria about this!! Otherwise, things will truly go exactly as these guys want…!!”

As Yuria realized something and was greatly shocked, Tiavel wondered what Yuria had realized. Then, just as Yuria was about to quickly inform Zeke and Aria of her realization, numerous footsteps became audible. Yuria looked around and was greatly flustered to see Saintesses and priests rushing towards them from both sides of the corridor.

“…!!” “S-Saintess Renbu has fallen!!!” “How dare you kill Saintess Renbu!! Eliminate that heretic!!”

“Th-this damn it…!! As if I wasn’t already frantic enough… I need to tell Zeke and Aria about this quickly!!!”

Yuria, who needed to quickly inform Zeke and Aria of what she had realized, saw the Saintesses and priests rushing towards her and realized she had no time, putting her in a difficult predicament. Meanwhile, Aria and I were alternately swinging our weapons at Stain, and Stain was deflecting all our attacks with a bracelet equipped on his arm. I then shouted, greatly perplexed, seeing Stain’s bracelet, which wasn’t even scratched by Aria’s staff or Trahan,

“What is this bracelet?! Why won’t it break?!”

“Didn’t you underestimate me too much, Explorer? I, too, have traveled through various dimensions and prepared my body for numerous threats. And of course, I have things like this!” “…!!”

As Stain spoke of his body being prepared for various threats from traveling through dimensions and seemed about to do something, I retreated nervously. At that moment, an intense light began to emit from Stain’s bracelet, and blinded by the light, I closed my eyes, wincing in pain. “Aargh… Fl-flash…”

“Aaaargh… My… my eyes…!!” “Zeke-nim!! This wretched researcher… How dare he cause Zeke-nim such pain…!!”

“Oho… You truly have a unique physique. To be perfectly fine after taking a flash directly in front of your eyes…” “I won’t let you get away with th—”

“Get out of the way, Aria!!! Flame Orb!!!” “!!!”

The moment Aria, seeing me in pain from the flash, furiously declared she wouldn’t let Stain get away with it, Dio V Runner, standing at the doorway, shouted at Aria to get out of the way and attacked Stain by spewing flames from his flamethrower. A faint light then emerged from Stain’s bracelet, deflecting Dio V Runner’s flames upwards, and Aria, infuriated by Dio V Runner suddenly taking the initiative, shouted,

“What are you doing!!! I was going to kill him, but you just interfered, didn’t you!!”

“Ah… My apologies. I just arrived and didn’t know what kind of device that guy had. Besides, I detected suspicious movements… Now then… are you ready for your punishment?” “Ugh… Otherworlder…”