Chapter 259: Chapter 259: Bad News (3)

Rebecca Grimfield.

The founder of the academy, its headmaster, and chairman. She was a companion of the first hero, Rahim, and the only grand magician of the current era.

…Such grand titles, but Rebecca now is like a slowly dying corpse.

This is why she’s hiding away in such a secluded place, and why Iona mentioned it would be difficult to get direct help from her.

After all, even though she is a grand magician, it’s impossible for a human to live over 300 years. So how is Rebecca still alive?

The reason is simple. There are circumstances that absolutely prevent her from dying, so she’s forcing herself to live.

To explain this, we must go back to the final battle of Rahim, at the end of the War of the Gods.

Rahim, fully blessed by all the gods, went on a quest to defeat and seal each Evil God he encountered.

However, he struggled immensely against the final god, the Sovereign of Arrogance.

All the Evil Gods were powerful, as befitting their titles, but the Sovereign of Arrogance was a being of a different caliber altogether.

The Sovereign of Arrogance was the oldest of the seven Evil Gods and had played a role in the fall of the other six gods—a relic of an ancient past.

This is why, in H&A, he appeared as the final boss.

Such a being was not only powerful in combat but also carried a level of existence far above the rest, which posed a significant problem for Rahim’s party.

No matter how hard they tried to incapacitate and seal the Sovereign of Arrogance, they kept failing due to the disparity in their levels of existence.

They severed his limbs, beheaded him, and pierced his heart, yet he continuously revived and fought on as if nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, Rahim’s party, though strong and blessed in every way, were mortals who gradually wore out.

Eventually, Reinhardt, known as the Iron Knight and their frontline warrior, fell in battle. It was an instant death with no chance of recovery.

With the vanguard gone, the situation was clearly going to worsen.

In response, Flora, the party’s healer and the saintess of the Circulating Life, made a decision.

She decided to use a self-sacrificial spell to temporarily incapacitate the Sovereign of Arrogance and allow the others to escape.

She believed that as long as the hero survived, there would be another opportunity. And she wanted to save her lover, Rahim.

Surprisingly, the spell was far more effective than expected.

Perhaps due to the accumulated damage, or the value of the Saintess’s soul… or maybe because her sacrifice stood in stark contrast to his arrogance.

The Sovereign of Arrogance, struck by Flora’s spell, fell with a fatal wound.

This was finally their chance to seal the last Evil God… but the problem was that the Saintess who could perform the sealing had perished.

However, Rahim did not give up. He decided to use the holy sword and himself as a stake to bind the Sovereign of Arrogance.

Rahim’s body, imbued with even more divine blessings than Flora’s, made it possible, but… it wasn’t a true seal.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

If anything, it was more like pinning a living insect to a board—if someone were to pull the pin out, the Sovereign of Arrogance would revive.

Even so, Rahim managed to silence the Sovereign of Arrogance, albeit imperfectly, and entrusted the aftermath to his last remaining companion, Rebecca.

He asked her to seal the area, since he couldn’t leave and was unable to die due to the overwhelming divine blessings. He also asked her to eliminate the remaining cultists so that the Sovereign of Arrogance wouldn’t regain his power.

This was a choice made out of duty as a hero and the grief of losing his lover, but Rahim was sincere.

And his sincerity was something that Rebecca, who had always loved him from afar, could never refuse.

Rebecca used the last of her magic power to seal Rahim and the Sovereign of Arrogance together and announced to the world:

Reinhardt, the Iron Knight, had bravely fallen in battle, while Saintess Flora and Hero Rahim sacrificed their lives to seal the last Evil God.

However, since the remnants of the Evil God still remained on this land, she would honor Rahim’s will by creating an institution to eradicate the cultists and dungeons.

And so, the academy was founded.

At first, Rebecca traveled diligently across the continent, working hard to exterminate cultists. During this time, she met Iona and recruited her as a professor.

But after 100 years, Rebecca’s lifespan reached its limit.

For a grand magician, the body remains in its prime, so physical aging wasn’t the issue.

Even if her body crumbled, there were ways to create a new one, become a vampire, or periodically consume the dew of the World Tree.

The problem was not her body but her soul reaching its limit.

Ordinarily, she would have passed control of the seal to a successor and prepared for the end of her long life…

But she couldn’t accept death.

She thought that perhaps if she eradicated all the cultists and restored the power of the Good Gods, they could kill the Sovereign of Arrogance.

Surely, the five gods, once restored, could easily defeat a weakened Evil God.

Even if they couldn’t kill him, at least they could seal him like the other Evil Gods.

…And then she could meet Rahim again.

A foolish plan. But it was a hope she couldn’t ignore.

Rebecca’s love forcibly clung to life, and she had to give up many things in exchange.

Her body, now extremely fragile from forcing life to continue, had to be protected by a life-support device, hidden in the safest place, and she could only act through a doppelgänger.

Though her skills as a grand magician remained, her internal mana kept trying to escape her body, which should have died long ago, making her unable to use great magic.

Furthermore, the strain of maintaining her sanity was so great that she spent most of her time asleep, only waking when necessary.

In most cases, she could be said to exist merely to be alive.

Rebecca had endured 300 years, not hoping for Rahim to notice her, but just wanting to meet him again, even just once.

There’s a lot I’d like to say, but… what matters to me is that Rebecca is sincere about eradicating the cultists.

That’s what I trusted in, and that’s why I’ve come this far.

I politely requested, looking at the doll floating inside the tank filled with a faint orange liquid.

“Please lend me a piece of the Dragon Heart.”

-Are you out of your mind?

Oh, come on.

I just need to borrow it for a bit, and I’ll return it, I swear.

Rebecca’s appearance was truly strange.

It wasn’t just the fact that she was floating in a cylindrical life-support device.

It was the content, the body itself, that looked like it had static interference.

A fully mosaic-covered human… saying that made it sound a bit different, but in any case, no part of Rebecca could be properly perceived.

Seeing that she had one head and two arms and legs, she was clearly human. The long hair and elegant figure indicated that she was female, but beyond that, nothing else was discernible.

This was also one of the side effects of Rebecca forcibly prolonging her life. As her soul reached its limit and began to wear down, those around her found it increasingly difficult to perceive her properly.

Rebecca let out a long sigh with a face devoid of any readable expression.

“A Dragon Heart fragment? Do you think such an item can be easily taken out?”

“No, but it needs to be done.”

“…Let’s hear your reason first.”

“You’ve heard that Solaris is surrounded by monsters, haven’t you?”

“Despite my condition, my hearing is still fine.”

“If you lend me the Dragon Heart fragment, I can resolve this quickly and cleanly.”

“Though your track record is impressive, this is not something that should be entrusted to a student.”

“But there’s probably no one who knows how to deal with the servants of the Reckless Roar better than I do.”

“Those are rather arrogant words to say in front of someone who ended the Great War… but even if that’s true, it doesn’t give you a reason to take action. If you have a good strategy, I can pass it on to the coalition army that should be forming by now.”

“By the time the coalition army is ready to deploy, it will be too late.”

“I heard that the situation has stabilized? Solaris is the headquarters of the Church of Righteous Radiance. Moreover, a saint has recently emerged. There should be no shortage of divine power, so the main issue would be supplies… but they won’t run out in just a few days.”

“It might be fine for now. But they won’t hold out for long. The original plan of those monsters wasn’t just to capture Solaris, but to corrupt the Church of Righteous Radiance. Even if they can’t manage full corruption due to the rush, they could still cut off the supply of divine power or temporarily neutralize it.”

“…Can you explain in more detail?”

Now that Rebecca seemed more inclined to have a conversation, I explained what had been happening and my speculations, embellishing them appropriately.

“That’s how it is.”

“Indeed. This isn’t something that can be delayed. But I still haven’t heard what this has to do with the Dragon Heart fragment. What do you intend to use it for?”

“I plan to use it as the core power source for a high-level magic circle. Even a small piece of the Dragon Heart contains an immense amount of mana. We could continuously unleash high-level magic for about half a day.”

Iris, the most knowledgeable in magic, would activate the magic circle, while Carla and Elisha would protect her.

With concentrated firepower, we could create a path through the monsters surrounding Solaris, and Iona and I would infiltrate during the opening.

If we could eliminate the cultists preparing their ritual in time, their plot to corrupt the Church of Righteous Radiance would be thwarted.

Then, the church would be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

“I’m not planning to deal with all the monsters. My goal is to stop the corruption or any related rituals. After that, I’ll leave the rest to others.”

“…That’s not a bad plan.”

After a moment of hesitation, Rebecca opened her mouth as if reluctant to speak.

“Yandel. What is your goal? Why do you keep throwing yourself into these battles?”

“The complete eradication of all Evil Gods. The happy ending that will come at the end is my only goal. Besides, one of my lovers is in Solaris.”

There can’t be a happy ending if anyone is left out.

As I shrugged and said that, Rebecca paused, seemingly taken aback.

Rebecca let out a deeper sigh and then asked.

“That’s all well and good, but there’s one problem.”

“What is it?”

“Yandel. I know you possess combat abilities beyond that of an ordinary intermediate magician. But can you match up to a cardinal-level opponent?”

“That’s… no, I can’t. Are you suggesting that the cultists might have sent a cardinal-level figure given all that’s happened? If that’s the case, Professor Iona…”

“Iona is strong. But depending on the situation, there may be times when you’ll have to handle things on your own. Do you have a plan for that?”

“Well…”

To be honest, the plan was to run away if things got too tough, but that’s hardly a real plan.

“Then, take the Dragon Heart fragment and consume it.”

“But delaying could make it more dangerous… Wait, what?”

“I said, take it and eat it. If your mana capacity increases to that of a high-level magician, you’ll at least be able to protect yourself for a while. Moreover…”

“Moreover?”

“Even though it’s a Dragon Heart fragment, a broken piece can’t withstand that level of output. By the time you return it, it would have suffered permanent damage. If you’re going to return it broken, you might as well use it properly.”

“Haha…”

She saw through me. I was planning to use it to its fullest since I wouldn’t be able to return it anyway.

Seeing my awkward smile, Rebecca shook her head.

“I’ll lend you something else as a power source. Also, I see you’ve accumulated a fair number of points. I’ll advance you the Dragon Heart fragment based on those.”

“That works for me, but are you sure it’s okay?”

“Both the Dragon Heart fragment and the item I’ll lend you are my personal property. Points system? That can be pushed through with the chairman’s authority.”

Her tone was calm, but the terms she was offering were shockingly generous.

I was briefly puzzled as to why she was being so generous. Rebecca, perhaps sensing my thoughts, added more to her words.

“Did you know?”

“Know what?”

“Since you arrived here, you haven’t been surprised even once. You were calm when you were suddenly brought here, and you were composed even after seeing my current state.”

“Oh.”

“And yet you confidently spoke of the eradication of the Evil Gods right in front of me.”

“……”

“You don’t have to keep your mouth shut so tightly. I won’t ask for details. I’ll just assume that there’s someone else, other than me, who’s prepared for the future.”

Rebecca’s voice held a faint sense of longing as she spoke, and her shoulders trembled slightly.

Is she smiling…?

As I hesitated, Rebecca seemed to reach some conclusion on her own, nodded, and waved her hand.

“Take them.”

A box the size of a fist and a staff adorned with ornate decorations floated up and stopped in front of me.

Both items exuded an aura that made it clear they were extraordinary.

“A box containing the Dragon Heart fragment and the staff I used. You can use this as a sufficient power source.”

“…Is it really okay for you to give me these?”

“I’m lending them to you. Return the staff later.”

Rebecca spoke in a stern voice, curling up her body afterward.

“I’ll send you back now. Though I’d like to talk more, as I said at the beginning, both you and I are short on time, so let’s skip it.”

I need to prepare quickly to rescue Helena, and Rebecca’s time awake is running out.

As Rebecca buried her face completely in her knees, I heard a soft whisper.

“Good luck.”

With that, I returned to the surface.