Youngest on Top - Chapter 114

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 114

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At that same moment.
The Death Knight lunged toward Saelika.
The attack was so powerful that her long hair whipped wildly in the resulting gust.

“Sae!”
“Dodge!”

The Trainee Priests cried out in alarm toward Saelika.
But Saelika remained motionless.

Gritting their teeth, the children threw themselves forward to intercept the Death Knight’s attack.

‘Too late…!’
‘Too far away!’

Because the Death Knight held its greatsword raised high, its chest lay completely exposed.
They attempted to strike the vital point to disrupt the blade’s trajectory, but it was already too late.
Before their attack could even reach the Death Knight, the greatsword would cleave down upon Saelika’s small frame.

And that prediction came true.
The massive greatsword descended as if to split Saelika’s diminutive body in two.
In that instant.

Clang!

Clang?
The children were bewildered by a sound that absolutely should not have been heard.

The enormous greatsword had stopped dead above Saelika’s head.
What was blocking the blade was something gleaming with golden light—.

‘A… a fist?!’

—a clenched fist wrapped in Angandre.

‘Insane—how hard is this fist that it makes the sound of metal clashing against metal?’
‘It was definitely a clang! Not a thud, not a dull thump, but a perfect high-pitched clang!!’
‘Wait, so we’ve been getting hit by that fist all this time?!’

“….”

The Trainee Priests’ expressions became complicated.
It was truly fortunate that Saelika had blocked the attack.
Really fortunate and good, truly it was.
So why couldn’t I simply feel joy about this….

‘…Now that I think about it, she blocked Reyatan’s scythe with her bare hands even when she was much younger.’

Of course, Helene, the Sacred Maiden of Reyatan, lacked the ability to properly wield the sacred relic, the Broken Sicilis.
So it only manifested at half the power of half the original—merely its appearance.
But even so, breaking it with bare hands….

‘And now she’s blocked a Death Knight’s sword with her bare fist.’
‘She’s definitely not human.’
‘Just how strong is that fist.’

As everyone fell silent, one child muttered.

“…Perhaps I am now a new human—one step more evolved than humanity itself.”
“…?”
“Because I still have an intact head after taking a flick from that fist.”
“…!”

At those words, the other Trainee Priests’ faces lit up with enlightenment.

“Then I’m a new human too?!”
“Right, surviving something like that should mean we’ve transcended our limits and evolved!”

Listening to the excited children’s voices, Ilay muttered.

“Isn’t that just a thick skull?”
“Their conversation level does seem thick-skulled too.”

Edmund shook his head with an exhausted expression.

Enrik: These little ones haven’t seen your true fists in action, have they?
Enrik: You destroyed buildings with your bare hands in the Heavenly Realm.
Enrik: Just thinking about cleaning up after that mess…
Enrik: Sigh, you’ve aged me a thousand years.

‘Didn’t he say ten thousand years earlier?’

Enrik: Honestly, it’s been ten thousand years too.
Enrik: Anyway, are you alright?

Saelika bit her lip instead of answering.
Her arm tingled with numbness.

‘I’m being pushed back by a Death Knight of all things…’

Normally, the Death Knight wouldn’t have dared make contact with Saelika and would have been incinerated by her touch.
Because it could be purified by the powerful holy power she possessed.

But now the Death Knight was withstanding Saelika’s fist wrapped in abundant holy power.

Enrik: This isn’t the time to complain.
Enrik: There isn’t just one Death Knight. There are others too.
Enrik: And there are the little ones as well.

Enrik was right.
This was an opportunity that wouldn’t come again.

Enrik: …An opportunity?

An opportunity to properly train the children in real combat experience!

Enrik: No, wait. Hold on.

They say a lioness pushes her cubs off a cliff.
That’s how she raises them so strong that the lion becomes the king of beasts!

Enrik: Don’t you know that’s misinformation?

Saelika swung her fist with a sharp crack.

Clang!

The moment a perfectly pitched high F note rang out, the greatswords clashing against each other veered off course.
Saelika seized that opening and swiftly increased the distance between them.

Enrik: Whatever you’re thinking, that’s not it.
Enrik: I’m against it.
Enrik: These kids have never faced a Death Knight before!
Enrik: And on top of that, skeletons are swarming in by the legion!

‘Enrik did say there were two Death Knights and that the children would be together.’

Enrik: That’s why I meant for you to protect the kids!
Enrik: We can’t have the precious Artemeia’s priests dying, can we!
Enrik: I didn’t mean to keep them sheltered like flowers in a greenhouse!
Enrik: I meant for you to lead the kids as the Sacred Maiden!

Enrik was telling me to utilize the Sacred Maiden’s traits like 【Resonance】 or 【Amplification】.
Of course, it was the most logical approach in this situation.

‘A Sacred Maiden capable of using her traits would normally do it that way.’

Because it could achieve maximum effect with minimal casualties.
Moreover, the children would be able to grow one step further.

However, Saelika’s thoughts were different.
The Trainee Priests had to overcome this on their own.

‘Something feels off. Kaiser receiving a support request, and this situation too….’

Unlike before the regression, the unfolding circumstances felt ominous.
To prepare, the Trainee Priests needed to become stronger.

“Everyone, focus!”

At Saelika’s cry, the new human Trainee Priests concentrated.

“From this moment on, I will stop the Death Knight.”
“…!”
“Anyone who dies by the Death Knight’s hand, I will kill them.”
“….”

The children’s expressions grew subtle.
How could she kill someone who was already dead?

But if it was Saelika, it seemed possible.

“Dmitri, Ilay, Edmund!”

The three responded instinctively to Saelika’s call.
It was a poignant reaction carved into their bodies through grueling training.

Sacred power immediately infused Dmitri’s blade.
He blocked the Death Knight’s sword as it rushed toward Saelika.

By sheer strength alone, it was impossible to block head-on.
But sacred power was the natural antithesis to the undead.
And beyond that—.

“Captain! We’ll scatter its attention!”
“First, knock it off the horse!”
“We’ve already learned how to defeat a Death Knight!”

The other children immediately joined in.
They were children who had followed Dmitri since childhood and willingly became his subordinates.
Their coordination was naturally flawless.

Sacred power poured from the children’s blades as they attacked the Death Knight.
Not fatal strikes, but the Death Knight could not ignore them.

The Death Knight twisted its body to evade the annoying attacks.
Then it gripped the reins and leaned its body deeply forward.

“It’s about to charge! Dodge!”

Dmitri warned the children.
It was a charge mobilizing a massive dark horse.
If trampled, not even bones would remain!

That was when it happened.
A tremendous surge of holy power erupted from behind, engulfing the Death Knight.
It was a powerful sacred spell cast by Ilay.

The Death Knight released a murky aura and instantly shielded itself.
But the dark horse he rode was different.

Kieeeee—!

With a wail like a funeral dirge came the sound of sizzzzle! The screech of an evil spirit burning away.

“Maybe you should break that habit of charging forward without looking?”
“Aren’t you going to acknowledge that I bought him time to cast his spell?”

Ilay and Dmitri exchanged smirks at each other.

Meanwhile, Edmund was rallying and directing the children.
To hold back the skeletons pouring in from both rear and front.

“Skeletons are enemies we can easily defeat from the start! There are just so many of them!”
“Besides, skeletons are slow anyway. If you stay calm, there’s nothing difficult about this!”
“Don’t worry about the Death Knight—focus on methodically striking down the skeletons right in front of you!”

The children tried to move according to his words.
Their practical training was paying off.
Even in this sudden crisis, they began responding reflexively with the habits ingrained in their bodies.

But their minds couldn’t keep up.

‘This, this, this is insanity!’

Until now, I had only ever faced low-tier monsters.
Even skeletons were a crisis when there were this many of them.
No matter how many I struck down, they kept surging forward without end.

‘Death Knights here of all places!’

And not just one—there were two of them.
Facing them was utterly unreasonable.

‘D-Dmitri is….’

I glanced toward Dmitri, but he and the others were struggling against one Death Knight that had lost its voice.
Fortunately, they didn’t seem to be losing ground, but what about the other one?

Even Dmitri was barely holding his own with the other children fighting in unison.
Could we possibly withstand the remaining Death Knight?

“W-we could actually die…. This is no joke….”

Fear spread with the murmuring.
The sinister aura emanating from the dark-natured undead Death Knight amplified this dread and anxiety, swelling it further.

The Trainee Priests’ bodies began to shrink and stiffen.
In combat, this was fatal.

‘Such useless talk!’

It was just as Edmund was about to open his mouth with a contemptuous expression.

“When weren’t you like this?”

Ilay, who was preparing a large-scale holy spell, spoke as though it were nothing.

“Huh? When weren’t you like this?”
“…!”
“I’ve nearly died over ten times already. You all haven’t?”

There was no way they hadn’t.
If anything, we’d faced worse than Ilay, the model student—never less.

“Wait, wait, wait! Youngest! Put that down and let’s talk, okay?”
“Why?”
“Why? Because if that hits me, I could actually die!”
“Do you know when a person truly breaks through their limits and makes a sudden leap forward?”
“Is it… when you accumulate training through perseverance and never giving up?”
“No.”

Saelika smiled with a gentle face, like a benevolent Sacred Maiden.

“It’s when death comes knocking, and you survive without dying.”

The moment she finished speaking, Saelika swung her mace without warning.

The Trainee Priest saw the shadow of death looming before his eyes.
It was a genuine brush with death.

Faced with mortal danger, his body moved of its own accord, and his Divine Heart was squeezed to its limit.
It was a superhuman strength that transcended all boundaries.

“Gasp, gasp, gasp!”

Saelika nodded at the Trainee Priest, who was drenched in cold sweat.

“See? You blocked it even though I said you absolutely couldn’t.”

That smiling face was nothing short of devilish.

“…Yeah. I’ve always survived death’s threshold.”

To stay alive, I had to evade Saelika’s attacks.
Not as a joke—literally.

Once, I had complained to Saelika about this.
Wasn’t this going too far?
And her answer was…

“Why take the long way around when there’s an easy path?”
“This isn’t an easy path! This is the path to death!”

“Hm? Do you want me to show you the path to actual death? I can increase the training intensity as much as you’d like.”

“…No, this is perfect as it is.”

Are all Sacred Maidens like this?
Every one I’ve met so far has been strange.

In any case, while not an easy path, it was certainly a shortcut.
That’s why I could endure even in this situation.

“Right! When were we ever safe!”
“I’ve even been ambushed in my sleep by the youngest! With weak defense, you must always train to be vigilant!”
“I’ve been attacked while eating too! Is it really too much to leave someone alone while they’re eating, for humanity’s sake?!”
“It’s assassination, assassination!”

A hellish Temple life where you can’t even eat or sleep in peace!
This is so much better than that!

The children rallied their spirits.
Riding that momentum, the battle gained new vigor.

The skeleton soldiers fell like autumn leaves.
The Death Knight began to retreat under the accumulated sacred power.
The holy light burned through the armor and seared the flesh beneath.

“At this rate, we can win!”
“Everyone, hold on just a little longer!”

Watching this unfold, Saelika thought to herself.

‘…This isn’t good.’

It was good that the children had rallied their spirits.
The problem was something else.

The children were channeling far more sacred power than usual.
It was due to the excitement, confusion, and sense of crisis from the battle.

‘This isn’t a situation where we can end this quickly.’

In a situation like this, I need to use sacred power efficiently.
But right now, the Trainee Priests aren’t managing that at all.

‘If this continues, our sacred power will be depleted and we’ll be reversed.’

I wanted to transcend this sense of crisis and make another leap forward, but at this rate, we’ll fail.
Because the children have endured such harsh training, they aren’t recognizing this crisis as a true crisis.

‘Then….’

Enrik: You…!

Enrik, realizing what Saelika was about to do, tried to stop her.
But Saelika remained unwavering.

Enrik: Have you lost your mind?!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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