Ch.152152. Magical Smash (Physical)

The original plan was like this.

If Lilith created a weapon with Creation, I would use it to subdue Lina.

By showing this process to people, I’d make them believe what I’d been saying all along.

For that to happen, I first needed to subdue Lina with the weapon.

I needed to subdue her, but…

“Pfft… hehe, hahaha.”

“Hey, stop laughing. You’re the one who made it.”

“I’m really sorry. Sorry, but… I’m really sorry. Pfft.”

The weapon for subduing was truly abnormal.

The weapon Lilith created was something that could only be described as adorably cute.

A magic wand. And one with a cute heart shape at the end.

It looked like something a magical girl would use.

Since I’m a guy, would that make me a magical boy? This is the worst.

Anyway. Just thinking about standing there holding this thing like some holy sword was incredibly embarrassing.

But well. I couldn’t stop here.

As they say, once you’ve drawn your sword, you should cut something with it. Similarly, once you’ve pulled out a magic wand, it makes sense that you should defeat villains with it. That’s how I rationalized it.

I tried placing the cute heart magic wand against Lina’s forehead.

Nothing particularly special happened.

How am I supposed to use this? As I was pondering this, I discovered something like a button on part of the handle.

Ah, could this be the activation button?

Without thinking too deeply, I pressed it.

Since the magic wand was made of Divine Power and felt weightless, I couldn’t really feel the button being pressed, but the response was definitely there.

Light exploded from the center of the heart shape… and shot forward.

“Kyaaaaaaah?!”

Lina’s scream echoed as she was hit directly by the light.

The light that shot out accidentally had quite a range, and I could hear the screams of other people caught in it, but they were nothing compared to Lina’s genuinely pained scream right in front of me.

Still, perhaps because she was the leader, unlike the minions who collapsed immediately, she remained standing after the explosion of light… Wait, why is she moving?

“Finally, my chance… has come!”

Whatever effect the Divine Power light had, it seemed to have broken Celia’s magic that was binding Lina.

She pulled out a dagger from her clothes and threw it straight at me.

But…

‘If you throw it so obviously, I won’t get hit.’

Earlier I almost got hit because I didn’t know, but doing this right in front of me won’t work.

Honestly, it feels like she’s underestimating me, which hurts my pride.

But if I dodged in front of all these people, who knows what might happen next, so I stayed still.

Things had already escalated with all this talk about being the Saint’s handler and whatnot. If things got any bigger, it would truly be unmanageable.

Besides, I wasn’t worried since Celia was waiting behind me to block it.

Once again, the dagger stopped in mid-air. And… my body started glowing again.

…Why is my body glowing?

“…Lilith?”

“No. I just saw her attacking, so I just…”

Apparently, she reflexively cast a buff on me when she saw Lina pull out the dagger.

I was worried she might not be able to control it properly and wouldn’t use it when needed, but seeing this, I guess I don’t need to worry.

More importantly, the light seems stronger than before, or is that just my imagination?

Just to be sure, I checked my stats:

[Toughness: 8(+35)]

Insane. +35?

That’s 3 points higher than Alkine’s total toughness of 32.

Of course, Alkine isn’t specialized in toughness, but it’s undeniable that she’s quite sturdy among humans.

I received a buff higher than Alkine’s. Adding my original toughness, my current toughness stat is a whopping 43.

In terms of numbers, it might not seem like much, but this meant that ordinary attacks… simple swordplay or a barrage of arrows wouldn’t even leave a proper wound.

Taking it a step further, I could probably survive even if I got hit by the dagger Lina just threw at me.

In other words, Lilith had done something incredible.

It’s just that Celia had blocked it at the source before her efforts could shine.

This is seriously unbelievable.

But regardless of the numbers, dealing with Lina, who was still resisting, was the priority.

With that in mind, I approached Lina again. By then, Celia had bound her with magic again, rendering her immobile.

“Kuk, kill me.”

She spoke like an honorable female knight, but in reality, she was one of the worst villains.

Actually, for the leader of a massive evil force, she doesn’t really have a typical villain image… If you dig deep enough, she’s a strangely well-developed character with her own story and favorability system…

But that doesn’t excuse her personality that commits crimes out of curiosity. She just tried to kill me, after all. It’s best to deal with her while I can.

With that thought, I placed the magic wand that was still in my hand against Lina’s forehead again.

At that moment, I felt a sensation of my body becoming soft.

Ah, the buff must have ended, I thought… but something was off.

The light surrounding my body was still shining brilliantly.

My toughness seemed to have decreased, but when I checked:

[Strength: 17(+35)]

The buff had shifted from toughness to strength.

I glanced at Lilith, who was glaring at Lina with a very sharp gaze… so I decided not to say anything.

Okay. I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s good. Now that it’s like this, let’s try that method.

I exploded the light against Lina’s forehead once more…

“Kyaaaaa, ugh?!”

In that moment when everyone’s vision was obscured by light, I swung the magic wand and smashed Lina’s head.

Yes, it was a Magical Smash (physical).

Crack-

Crack-

The sound of Lina’s hidden protective artifact breaking was heard along with the sound of her head cracking.

When the light subsided, Lina was sprawled on the floor, completely unconscious from the blow to her head.

“Kheok, kheuk.”

Thanks to the artifact’s protection, she seemed to have endured somewhat, but it was insufficient to block the magical power of 52 strength.

Leaving the fallen Lina as she was, I said one last thing to the people watching this scene.

“I hope this incident will make all of you people who won’t be swayed by uncertain rumors. That is all.”

No joke, seriously. What kind of situation is this, just trying to clear up a rumor about the Saint?

After becoming a perfect magical boy, I fled into the cathedral.

The heart-shaped magic wand was still clutched in my hand.

///

Regarding Lina’s subsequent disposition, it was decided that it would be handled within Ritten, and I would be contacted separately later.

After all, matters concerning the Elnos Association, especially those related to the association president, are quite important and would probably go to the Imperial Palace anyway…

“Besides that, I’ll send you a letter with everything perfectly clarified regarding the other rumors as well. Don’t worry. I know a trustworthy person and will go through them.”

Since the information broker Belmont, who had come to watch the show, was making such a fuss, I felt awkward refusing and just told him to send it.

And…

“Lilith. Why isn’t this disappearing?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then at least take it with you. It’s yours.”

“Why is it mine?”

“Because you made it, so it’s yours.”

“I don’t know. I don’t want it. How could I carry something like that around?”

“This is really ridiculous.”

Fortunately, or should I say thankfully, the magic wand naturally disappeared while Lilith and I were having that argument.

And… finally, we returned to the flow of the originally planned schedule.

“…Shall we go then?”

“Yes. Girls, I’ll be back.”

A date with Alkine.

To avoid making the same mistake as yesterday, today we reserved rooms in advance—one for the women and one for me—and as Alkine and I were about to go out alone, Alkine suddenly turned around and called out to Celia.

“Wait. Celia.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t spy on us.”

“…Why not?”

“What do you mean ‘why not’…!”

It seemed she was concerned about the tracking and surveillance magic Celia had placed on me.

Celia teased Alkine with it for a moment, but ultimately, we were only able to go outside after hearing her declaration that she wouldn’t spy on us.

Perhaps because of all the various events that had happened, the sun was already setting when we went outside.

Still, in terms of time, it was only early evening, so we had plenty of time.

With that in mind, we started walking… come to think of it, it had been quite a while since Alkine and I were alone together.

No, it had actually been a long time.

It was essentially the first time since that day when we were forced to go on a date due to Celia’s whim.

“Ludion.”

“Yes.”

“It’s nothing. Want to hold hands?”

“Do as you please.”

Alkine also seemed excited about being alone together after a long time, as she was approaching more actively than usual.

Now then. We came out for what’s supposed to be a date, but what should we do now?

As I was recalling the map of Ritten I’d seen in the game, Alkine, who had been staring at me, asked:

“Do you have any place in mind you want to go?”

“I would have if you’d waited a little longer. Unfortunately, I don’t have any right now.”

When I shook my head saying that, she said that was good, then pulled my hand and wrapped her arm around mine.

Then, looking up at me with strangely moist eyes, she made a suggestion.

But… that suggestion was quite unexpected.

“Let’s go get some drinks.”

…Excuse me, senior. We’re still minors.

It’s illegal for us to buy alcohol…