Chapter 25: Barely, the fishermen overwhelmed

“Elisha, are you alright?”

Elisha opened her eyes at the worried voice coming from beside her.

She slowly rose and spoke to Hestia, the owner of the voice.

“I just rested for a bit because I was tired. You don’t have to worry, I’m fine.”

“…Understood.”

Hestia nodded with a look of unease.

There were no visible injuries on Elisha, but her exhausted appearance worried Hestia.

Elisha vaguely sensed Hestia’s concern, but she could only pretend not to notice and simply say she was fine.

‘There’s no need to make her anxious for no reason.’

Not wanting Hestia’s attention to be diverted elsewhere, Elisha tried to maintain her composure, as if everything was going according to plan.

Consoling herself that it was unavoidable, she turned her gaze towards the fallen blood-red giant that had been rampaging moments before.

The giant, unmoving since it collapsed from Hestia’s final attack.

It was a familiar enemy she had faced countless times already.

Moreover, Elisha was far stronger than in previous iterations, so it should have been easier to deal with, not harder.

Yet, she felt an odd sense of incongruity at the fact that her stamina consumption was not significantly different from before.

‘Strange. Did I miss something?’

It was a relief that things were going smoothly without any major incidents, but if these variables continued, the knowledge she had accumulated through regression would become meaningless.

For the future, she needed to find all variables and possibilities in advance.

Elisha fell into deep thought, observing the unmoving giant.

Beside her, Hestia naturally sat down.

“……”

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence lingered for a moment.

Elisha was simply waiting for Hestia to speak first, without much thought, but Hestia, in turn, was hesitating, unsure how to start a conversation.

Unlike Elisha, who had built up friendships many times through regression and felt no awkwardness, to Hestia, Elisha was merely ‘a friend she had just made a while ago’.

As Hestia, who lacked social skills, Elisha was still a difficult person to approach.

Nevertheless, she tried her best to maintain her composure and cautiously opened her mouth.

“Elisha… you seem to know a lot of things.”

“Huh? Well, I just got lucky and had some opportunities… It was just good fortune.”

Hestia narrowed her eyes at her nonchalant reply.

“I’ve been curious for a while, Elisha. What did you do before coming to the academy?”

“Before enrolling in the academy? Hmm……”

She seemed to ponder the question for a moment, then gave an awkward laugh and said.

“Haha, well… it was so long ago, I can’t remember.”

“…Hasn’t it only been half a year since you enrolled in the academy?”

“Ah, well… my memory is a bit bad…”

Elisha stammered, flustered, trying to brush off the question.

It was an obvious lie, but Hestia didn’t press further.

‘It seems it wasn’t a good memory.’

It was her own way of showing consideration, not wanting to prod at her friend’s wounds.

…Of course, Elisha genuinely couldn’t remember.

‘Right, memories… To regain them all, I need to become a transcendent as soon as possible…’

In truth, her memories were not complete.

Even she, who had experienced countless events through multiple regressions, couldn’t perfectly remember everything.

In fact, it was precisely because she knew so much that it was harder.

Because of that, Elisha tended to prioritize remembering only the truly important things.

Even this wasn’t perfect, so she sometimes made mistakes and missed minor details.

But if she became a transcendent, the story would be very different.

Unlike mortals who rely heavily on their brains for memory, a transcendent transcends the limits of the flesh and reads history itself.

Thanks to this, upon reaching transcendence, it becomes possible to properly recall lost memories or parts that were misremembered.

Unfortunately, her realm had been reset due to the aftermath of regression, but she was confident that her memories would become complete once she reached transcendence again someday.

‘This time, it won’t take long.’

The newly acquired, unidentified martial art brought her a growth rate incomparable to before.

Now, her reaching the realm of transcendence was truly only a matter of time.

The important thing was her subsequent goals: [The Tomb] and [Destruction].

‘Memories related to The Tomb and Destruction are so jumbled, I guess I’ll only know once I reach transcendence…’

“Elisha… Elisha…?”

“Ah.”

At Hestia’s voice, Elisha stopped her thoughts and looked back at her.

“What is it?”

“I apologize if I interrupted you, but… it seems the time you mentioned before has come.”

“…Ah?!”

At Hestia’s words, Elisha looked up at the sky. Only then did she realize that the dark-red mist spread around them had become denser than before.

Pascal, who had become a giant and controlled malevolent energy, was unconscious…

Only one person came to mind who could do this right now.

“Looks like they’re finally here.”

“I don’t sense anyone.”

“That’s because the core is still active. As long as the malevolent energy accumulated in the heirloom isn’t completely depleted, the already spread malevolent energy will continue to interfere with us.”

“Then why didn’t we destroy the core from the beginning…?”

“Exactly. To extract all the power accumulated in the heirloom and clear the malevolent energy, Kal Myers first needs to become complete.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than someone rapidly plunged into the core.

Elisha and Hestia could have easily interfered, but they waited quietly as they had agreed beforehand.

– Gyaaaah!!!

Soon, with an ear-splitting scream, the dark-red mist began to churn.

The thick, dark-red mist was the malevolent energy materialized.

The movement of the surrounding mist meant that someone had begun to control the malevolent energy, just like Pascal.

“This is……”

The dense malevolent energy spread throughout the academy was all being drawn to this place.

That wasn’t all.

Magic power subtly mixed with the malevolent energy was also gathering here.

Hestia felt that, unlike other places, magic power with a particularly unsettling feeling was moving together, and she spoke with a slight tension.

“This seems serious. Has even a transcendent arrived?”

“Similar. But they aren’t a proper transcendent, so we two are enough to handle them.”

“……Understood.”

It was an unfounded statement, but Hestia didn’t doubt her friend.

Soon after, the core shook violently, and the surrounding scenery began to change little by little.

The dark-red mist gradually lost its color, and the sharply honed malevolent energy also lost its presence.

At the place where the diluted malevolent energy and magic power gathered, Hestia and Elisha could see someone whose body was half-merged with the core.

“Kal Myers.”

Elisha murmured softly.

Perhaps hearing her voice, he flinched and reacted.

“Ugh… Haaah!”

With a pained groan, he gasped for breath and glared at Hestia and Elisha.

“Pascal is… where is he…?”

“There.”

In the direction Elisha gestured with her chin, Pascal, who had somehow returned from his giant form to his original ordinary body, lay collapsed.

“……”

For a moment, Kal looked at his son with a complex expression, then clicked his tongue and said.

“……Tsk, what a pity.”

“Something didn’t go your way, huh?”

“Pascal merely served his purpose… Mind your own business, you impudent brat.”

Elisha looked bewildered for a moment, but then she returned to her normal self and nodded.

“Well, I guess… you’re not wrong.”

“……?”

“I’m certainly very young… Right, Hestia?”

“Yes, yes? Why are you asking me that…?”

Hestia, who was tense and ready to enter combat at any moment, was flustered and about to turn to Elisha when…

– CRUNCH!

With the sound of something being violently torn away, Kal Myers, who had been confronting them, moved.

The entire core was torn out, and his grotesque form, half-swallowed by his body, gradually transformed into a dark-red armor.

Elisha, who had been quietly watching this, spoke softly.

“Hestia. Get ready soon.”

“…Understood.”

As previously discussed, Hestia immediately retreated backwards.

Once a certain distance was created between them and Kal, Elisha stepped forward, shielding Hestia.

Their strategy was simple.

Elisha would hold out as much as possible, and Hestia would aim for an opening to deliver the decisive blow.

It was a simple and obvious plan that their opponent could easily figure out, but Elisha, having already succeeded with it in her memories, was absolutely confident it wouldn’t fail.

‘I just need to do the same as in the last iteration. Besides, I’m much stronger than before, aren’t I?’

As long as there were no variables, it should end smoothly…

She enveloped her entire body in blue magic power and took her stance.

Soon, as the malevolent energy and magic power gathering around Kal subsided, and the vibrations in the atmosphere also quieted.

He silently opened his eyes, his entire body covered in dark-red carapaces.

“Haa… Thank you for waiting.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Kal Myers looked at Elisha, who casually brushed off his words, with a slightly exasperated expression.

She replied with a shrug.

“……I can’t tell if you’re arrogant or foolish… I just can’t get a read on you.”

“Ha?!”

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Kal, as if bored, slowly raised his right arm, encased in carapace, and pointed at Elisha.

– BOOM!

At the same instant, a large explosion erupted from where she had been standing.

“Elisha?!”

“I’m fine.”

She reassured Hestia, who called out to her urgently, then brushed off her arm, which was smeared with dark-red mud, and let out a small laugh.

“That was light for a surprise attack.”

“…Unbelievable. That attack was meant to end you in one go, yet…”

“Do you really think I’d be easily defeated by some half-baked wannabe transcendent?”

“……How dare this brat keep…!

– CRUNCH!

Finally, Kal, whose anger had reached its peak due to Elisha’s relentless provocation, threw a dark-red blade and charged at her.

Elisha, who narrowly dodged the attack, subtly smiled, confident.

That this time, there would be no variables…

****

The malevolent energy and magic power filling the academy had faded.

It seemed Kal Myers had finally stepped into the realm of transcendence.

Even if he was still only half-complete, he was a sufficiently dangerous opponent for Hestia and Elisha.

Well, there’s probably no need to worry too much, though.

By the way, before their battle ends, I need to get Arie there somehow…

“Hehe, how interesting.”

“……”

…It seems she won’t go quietly.