Chap 86-Luck

 

“Over there! Group C students are surrounded!”

“Lure them this way! I’ll hold them off!”

The ‘Farm’ was already a scene of utter chaos.

Screams echoed from everywhere, and the roars of magical beasts tore through the night air.

I moved tirelessly through that hellish landscape.

I couldn’t stop for even a moment.

The moment I stopped, someone would die.

In that instant that I was even a step late, a scream might erupt from somewhere, and a life might become food for a magical beast.

Crack! Thwack!

“Kuaaagh!”

I burst the head of a lower-ranking monster that was blocking my path with a punch.

Sticky blood and brain matter splattered everywhere, but there was no time to care.

I climbed onto the fallen magical beast and reached out to the students trembling behind it.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt…”

“Th, thank you… Hiiik…!”

The student, who was about to thank me, screamed and backed away as soon as they saw my face.

The other students were the same.

In their eyes, there was extreme fear and disgust instead of gratitude.

“R, run away! Th, that’s a monster too!”

As one of the female students shouted, they left me behind and ran in the opposite direction.

As if I were a more terrifying being than the magical beasts from just now.

“…….”

I was left alone in the empty forest.

The sight of them screaming and running away from me.

‘No… is my face really that bad?’

I muttered and moved towards a small stream flowing nearby.

Then, I carefully bent down and reflected my face on the calm surface of the water.

A night where even the moonlight was dim.

Although a clear image wasn’t captured on the water, my appearance, revealed even faintly, was…

‘Hmm…’

It’s a bit much.

Torn skin, blood clots stuck haphazardly, and abnormally distorted features.

I had slashed at my face with a dagger to disguise it in my haste earlier, and it was a complete mess.

When Elise had gagged after seeing my face earlier, I was honestly a little hurt.

Now that I see it, it was a natural reaction.

I smiled bitterly and stirred the hideous face reflected on the water with my fingertips.

The calm water rippled, and my distorted form disappeared with it.

‘…Anyway, where is our group now?’

Looking at the situation alone, our Group H was in the worst condition.

The group leader, Camilla, had become a gate core and lost consciousness, and I was moving alone, separated from the other members.

To make matters worse, even Lina was unconscious in my hands.

In the end, Clara and Lea were the only two people in our group who could move properly right now.

Originally, it was a combination that would have been in the most danger in this terrible attack.

Clara, with ordinary skills and no outstanding Unique Ability.

And Lea, who had good grades but no practical experience.

It would be difficult for the two of them alone to cope with the pouring magical beasts.

But that didn’t mean there was any need to worry.

‘…If it’s the Unique Ability I saw in the game, at least High-ranking Monsters won’t be a problem.’

Lina’s Unique Ability, ‘Luck’.

If the magical beasts found her unconscious and attacked…

They would bitterly realize why she was the ‘Saintess Candidate loved by God’.

…

“Th, that’s… a High-ranking Monster?”

Clara, who was next to her, whispered in a voice trembling with fear.

Her face was pale.

But Lea couldn’t blame her.

Even Lea herself couldn’t even open her mouth due to extreme fear.

An oppressive feeling that pricked at her skin.

A primal fear that made it difficult to even breathe was constricting her whole body.

But, that didn’t mean they could run away from here.

In the first place, the possibility that the two of them alone could escape from the clutches of a High-ranking Monster was slim.

Above all, behind them, the hope of mankind, Saintess Candidate Lina, was lying unconscious.

Yeon Bennet.

She was truly an ‘villain’.

And not just an ordinary villain, but a Contamination Worshiper, which was known to be impossible with ordinary evil intentions.

Perhaps the clumsy and somewhat foolish appearance she had shown her was all a meticulous act to put her off guard.

Lea deeply regretted her immature self at that time.

To admire a real villain because of her longing for a character in a novel.

A villain in reality was not an attractive villain that could be laughed off.

That ruthlessness in mercilessly knocking out Saintess Candidate Lina, who had been so friendly to her, and kidnapping the group leader, Camilla, without a second thought.

And above all, that cruelty of throwing other academy students who were taking classes together to the magical beasts as food.

She realized too late that such a terrible being was only beautiful when it was in a novel.

‘…Is this the end?’

Lea despaired as she looked at the High-ranking Monster in front of her.

So futilely, in a place like this.

‘No! How… how did I get here!’

The faces of her father, who was trusting only in her, and her family, who were supporting her from behind, flashed through her mind.

That long-held dream of breaking free from her commoner status and raising her family could not be broken here.

‘…No, maybe.’

If she fought the magical beasts here and died a heroic death, wouldn’t her family be granted a noble title in recognition of her achievements?

Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad ending.

As that thought crossed her mind, Lea smiled bitterly without realizing it.

And finally—

“Kieeeeeeeek!”

The High-ranking Monster, which had spotted them, kicked off the ground and charged fiercely.

A force that seemed to shake the earth.

The moment despair was right in front of her.

…Thud!

“…Huh?”

“…Um?”

The huge High-ranking Monster tripped over a vine that had sprung up from the ground and fell in a spectacular fashion.

The two stared blankly at the scene.

That powerful High-ranking Monster had fallen in such an absurd way, like a cheap novel without any coherence.

Lea did not miss that moment.

Quickly regaining her senses, she raised her staff and immediately fired the magic she had been preparing.

“Clara, quickly! Now’s the time, hurry!”

Clara also regained her senses at Lea’s shout.

Suppressing her fear, she drew her sword and rushed towards the magical beast that had fallen to the ground.

An unexpected stroke of luck had given them a very small chance to counterattack.

But having barely dealt with one High-ranking Monster, the two girls were not given even a moment to catch their breath.

Lower-ranking monsters that had smelled the blood were flocking from all directions, and even Mid-ranking Monsters were mixed in among them.

Like an endlessly pouring wave, their attacks continued without ceasing.

Dragging their tired bodies, the two swung their swords, cast spells, and straightened their posture even as they staggered.

Originally, it was an amount of magical beasts that the two of them could never handle with their current skills.

Their stamina was already running low, and their magical power was almost exhausted.

But strangely, the battle continued precariously.

As before, the magical beasts kept making absurd mistakes for no reason.

One magical beast that was rushing fiercely tripped over a vine again and fell, and another slipped on slippery moss and slammed its head.

Some magical beasts were absurdly rolling around on the ground, and there was even a stupid one that tripped over its companion’s feet.

“Kyaaak!”

When a magical beast that suddenly popped out from outside her field of vision attacked Lea, swinging its sharp claws.

Surprised, she didn’t have time to calculate the correct magic formula, so she instinctively swung her staff and cast a rough spell.

Kwaaaang-!

Lea blinked as if she couldn’t believe what she had just done.

Her heart, which had been pounding like it was about to jump out of her chest, was now throbbing twice as hard with surprise and confusion.

“D, did I just… do that?”

Lea, muttering as she looked at the staff in her hand, felt her fingertips tremble slightly for a moment.

Surprisingly, the unstable magic that she had hastily cast roughly flew towards the magical beast’s vitals and hit it accurately.

The magic exploded with much greater power than usual, and the magical beast turned to ashes without even screaming.

Crack!

Clara was the same.

The blade of her sword, which she had swung carelessly with her tired body, hit the magical beast’s joints or already wounded areas with uncanny accuracy.

Even though it was a blow with almost no force, the magical beast screamed and rolled on the ground.

Her attack was producing the maximum effect with the minimum amount of power.

“What… is going on?”

Clara muttered without realizing it.

It was as if her swordsmanship skills had suddenly improved dramatically.

Lea was feeling a similar sensation.

It was a strange feeling, as if an invisible someone was correcting their mistakes and giving them luck.

The two looked at each other once.

And soon, their gazes naturally shifted to the pink-haired girl who was collapsed behind them.

“This is… could it be… Lina’s luck?”

Clara whispered in disbelief.

They thought they were desperately protecting the unconscious Lina…

But it was actually the opposite.

Lina’s invisible ability was clinging to their lives precariously even at this moment.

“Amazing…”

Clara muttered blankly.

“I honestly didn’t believe it because the Holy Kingdom was promoting it so ridiculously… such an absurd power. Is this the power of a Saintess Candidate?”

“That’s right.”

Lea replied, gripping her staff tightly.

Her eyes contained a firm determination along with reverence, unlike before.

“So, we have to protect Lina even more. It’s already this much now, but if Lina gets stronger and fully awakens later…”

Lea paused for a moment.

Her voice was full of hope.

“Then… maybe mankind will be able to completely drive the magical beasts out of this land.”

It was at that very moment that a new spark of hope was kindled in the hearts of the two girls.

Kugugugugugugugung—!!!

Suddenly, a tremendous noise that shook the ground and made the sky roar struck the entire ‘Farm’.

It wasn’t just a simple explosion.

An unpleasant and enormous roar that seemed to squeeze the heart.

Something that could only be described as a disaster, on a different level from the High-ranking Monsters they had just faced, was approaching from the direction of the north gate.

In the eyes of the two girls, which had been shining with hope, a deep fear and despair were cast in an instant.

“What… is this…”

TN: Lina’s luck ability reminds me of Wonder of U for some reason