episode_0009

Hilda’s words, “Run.”

Alice ran to the square without any questions. As she got closer to the square, she saw a person hanging on the scaffold. She couldn’t see his face, but she recognized him at a glance.

There was still some distance to go, but Arthur’s body was seen sagging due to the rope.

At that moment, Alice’s mind was filled with regret. If only she had used her skill on Arthur back then, if only she had always been by his side… Many hypotheses flashed through her mind.

-Crunch!

At that moment, a sharp sound was heard in Alice’s ears.

Looking ahead, I saw that the rope around Arthur’s neck had been cut off.

“Arthur!!!”

If he ran a little further, he would be within a distance of catching Arthur. At that moment, four heretic inquisitors blocked Aris’ path.

“Hey, if you come this far, we’ll have no choice but to draw our swords.”

The inquisitors spoke and reached for their swords. But there was no turning back for Aris.

-Squeak squeak!!!

Engulfed in blue electricity, Aris dashed forward and swung her sword at one of the heretic inquisitors.

-Cheong!

“Ugh.. What kind of kid has this much strength..!”

The heretic inquisitors were taken aback by Aris’ speed and power, which were much faster than expected, and there was a brief opening.

Aris, who did not miss the gap, ignored the heretic inquisitors and ran towards Arthur.

But the inquisitor next to the fallen Arthur took out his sword and said:

“I’m sorry, but that’s all. No matter what happens, I can’t let the Demon’s contractors live.”

A sword heading for Arthur’s neck along with the horse.

‘Hey, we have to stop it!!’

At that moment, an electric current rose from the tips of Alice’s feet. She took a stabbing stance, the elbow of her right arm holding the sword was turned backwards, and the target was the sword heading towards Arthur’s neck.

Thunder Dragon Nine Type – Type 1 Lightning

“!!!”

An unexpected and tremendously fast thrust. The Inquisitor moved backwards and narrowly avoided Alice’s sword.

“If I had swung the sword like that, it would have broken before it even reached the neck.”

“He’s a really funny guy. Are you a contracted member of the Demon Tribe too?”

“… … ”

Alice aimed her sword without saying a word.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll have to kill you first to kill that guy anyway.”

At that moment, a tremendous amount of mana burst out from the Inquisitor’s body.

‘That’s a lot of mana… I think he might be similar to the current teacher!’

Even the possibility of the opponent letting their guard down has disappeared with the attack just now. Now there is only one chance left.

‘I have to put everything on the line for this attack.’

A blue current began to surge from the sword Alice held. At the same time, her hands began to tremble.

As I clenched my fist, the shaking stopped, and at the same time a sound came from the sword.

-Dudududuk

The air around the sword began to shake with the sound. Blood continued to flow from Aris’ nose, but the sword she was holding did not shake at all.

At that moment, the heretic inquisitor swung his sword, shining brightly. It was a perfect slash, just like in a painting.

Alice also immediately moved her sword to counterattack.

Thunder Dragon Nine Style – The 9th Style……

-Kwaaang!

The moment he was about to swing his sword, the Inquisitor was struck by something and was blown to the side.

Alice, who was trying to swing her sword, also tried to move her sword, but it wouldn’t move. It was as if it was fixed to something solid.

When Alice looked back, she saw a middle-aged woman standing and holding Alice’s sword blade.

Alice immediately used the status window.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Name: Anaristo

[Ability]

Stamina-81

Strength-77

Agility-73

Horsepower-85

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

‘What, what is this? It’s a total monster..!’

At that moment, the heretic inquisitor who had been flying away rose from the floor, groaning.

“Ugh….. Huh? Pope?”

As he looked ahead, the pupils of the heretic inquisitor began to waver.

“Why did you attack me?”

“Ichael, take the mana. I will tell you why.”

At the Pope’s command, the Inquisitors withdrew Mana.

The Pope looked at Aris and said:

“Wow, you’re amazing. You broke through the trainee heretic inquisitors and challenged Ichael, the best heretic inquisitor in the empire. Haha!”

“I’ve never seen anyone your age with that much strength in my life. But that last technique, if I hadn’t stopped it, your body would’ve been torn apart.”

“I don’t know who taught you this, but your body is still too weak to use that technique.”

After finishing his speech, the Pope looked at the boy lying under the scaffold.

“Ichael, release that boy.”

“Yes? But that kid is a contract holder of the Demon Tribe!!”

“I understand why you misunderstood. But this time, things are different. You know how the crystal ball works, right?”

“I know. If you make a contract with a demon, a trace of magic will remain on your soul. I know that the crystal ball can detect that.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But what if the person is cursed?”

“I know that curses… remain on the body. So isn’t it generally accepted that they have nothing to do with the soul?”

“Yeah, but I know that’s not the case now that I see that boy.”

“!!!”

“What is that..?”

“Looking at it, a very powerful curse was engraved on the boy’s soul. Perhaps the crystal ball detected the magic flowing from the curse. ”

The Pope placed his hand on Arthur’s chest, and a bright light flowed out from his hand and entered Arthur’s body.

“… As expected, it’s a curse that I can’t break even with my own strength. At this point, it’s like Ma…”

At that moment, the face of the warrior I had seen before came to mind. He had black hair like this boy.

After killing the Demon King, the hero and his companions disappeared. The imperial family reported that the hero and his companions went into hiding to live out the rest of their lives in comfort, and the holy sword was also returned to them by the imperial family.

Even the ‘saint’ Elin disappeared without showing her face, so I thought it was strange. However, it was hard to doubt the royal family. The warrior’s strength was ‘real’, so even if I wanted to kill her, I couldn’t. So I thought this was the goddess’s will and forgot about it.

At this moment, all the puzzle pieces began to fall into place. The missing hero and his companions, the curse that seemed to have been cast by the Demon King.

‘So in the end, it was the royal family that betrayed first…’

‘I guess I’ll have to deal with the urgent situation first.’

“Ichael, you have hurt this boy so much. It must have been too much pain for an innocent child to bear.”

“If you return to the school, you will be given an appropriate punishment. Any objections?”

“None.”

Ikael, who had answered, walked towards Aris.

“I’m sorry. My misjudgment caused your friend an irreparable wound.”

“… The apology should be to Arthur lying next to you, not me. And I have no intention of forgiving you. I want to tear you to pieces right now.”

“… … If you ever come to the main school in the capital, come find me. Then I will make sure to give you sufficient compensation.”

“Yes. I don’t know when that will be, but I think it would be better to take my life, right?”

Ichael smiled bitterly.

The Pope said to Aris.

“I will apologize on your behalf. If you ever need help, come to me. I will definitely help you at least once.”

“Yes. I’ll take Arthur and go first.”

As she said that, Alice tried to hear Arthur. However, she couldn’t because of Arthur’s appearance.

The neck was covered in black bruises as a sign of pressure, and all of the fingernails and toenails were gone, and only hardened blood was visible in their place. A quick glance at the body also showed severe burn marks and wounds from sharp objects, and the entire body was covered in bruises as if it had been badly beaten. The only part that was intact was the face.

“This is profit!!! I’ll kill you now!!!”

Suddenly, a blue current surged from Alice’s body again, and she drew her sword and tried to rush at Ikael.

The surprised Pope stopped Aris, and after hearing the reason, he healed Arthur for an hour.

“Whoa…. What the hell is this heal not working… It’s finally over. Ikael, you really need to be prepared.”

Ikael couldn’t raise his head as he remembered the terrible torture he had inflicted on the boy.

“Yes…”

Alice used the status window, vowing in her heart that she would definitely kill Ichael with her own hands.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Name: Ichael

[Ability]

Stamina -59

Strength-61

Agility-57

Horsepower-64

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Aris, who remembered Ichael’s ability, carried the fallen Arthur on her back. After briefly greeting the Pope, she left the square and as she walked, a question occurred to her mind.

“Come to think of it, why didn’t the teacher come to the square?”

“Did you not come after seeing from afar that I saved Arthur?”

Ominous thoughts continued to run through Alice’s head, and she hoped that nothing bad would happen, and walked to the place where the village chief and her teacher had last been.