Youngest on Top - Chapter 144

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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 144

Nelije couldn’t respond.
It was the moment her lips trembled.

“Sae!”

I heard Ilay’s shout.
The serpent, which had staggered from the blow to its jaw, straightened its posture again and glared at Saelika.

Ssssshhhhh—!
That piercing roar carried the distinctive fear aura of a colossal monster.

‘Basilisk Fear!’

Nelije felt her sacred power shrivel in an instant, and strength drained from her entire body.
A powerful debuff effect!

Moreover, hundreds of eyes were fixed solely on Saelika.
Even the petrification curse that turned flesh to stone!

‘No, this won’t do. In this state….’

Anyone but Saelika would be in mortal danger!

Nelije forced strength into her legs to rise from her seat.
Of all times, such a colossal monster had to appear at the edge of the desert.
It was a terrible coincidence.
But this would never have happened if she hadn’t brought Saelika here.

‘I have to help this time. Please move. Please.’

Yet by the time the petrification curse barely lifted, her body exposed to the Basilisk Fear wouldn’t obey her will.
What of Saelika, who was suffering both afflictions simultaneously!

Saelika stood rooted to the spot, unable to move an inch.
Sharp fangs descended upon the small child as if to tear her apart.

“No—!!”

The moment the fangs were about to strike.
Saelika leaped lightly as though completely unrestrained.

Enrik: Defend yourself.

‘The best defense is a good offense!’

Kailros: My beloved sister. With me here, you need not defend yourself.

Saelika ignored Kailros.
In any case, under the protection of the two angels, neither the basilisk’s fear nor the curse of petrification could touch Saelika.
It was proof of how strong her connection with the angels was.

The serpent’s fangs pierced into the sand dune where Saelika had been standing.

Boom!

Without missing the moment, a golden fist crashed down upon the serpent’s triangular head.
More precisely, upon the massive magic stone above the triangular head.

“No! The head is dangerous!”

Ryubik, who had experience fighting serpent monsters, shouted harshly.

“When the magic stone is attacked, it condenses its energy and fires a death beam!”

His words proved true.
The magic stone gleamed ominously as it began condensing power.
An ominous sign.
It was clear that if struck by the condensed energy, her corrupted body would rot away in an instant.

“Dodge!!!”

But Saelika did not dodge.
She simply raised her fist and drove it straight into the magic stone.

Thud!
The mana stone lost its light.

“?!”

The mana stone began glowing ominously once more.

Thud!
The mana stone lost its light again.

“…?!??!”

Ryubik was so shocked he lost his words.

“No, to disable it so easily….”

The mana stone had been the most troublesome aspect when facing the serpent monster.
Even without directly attacking the mana stone, whenever the monster found itself in danger, it would unleash a torrent of condensed malice from the stone.
Knights struck by the death beam collapsed helplessly, and we had been forced to retreat more than once.

“Yet she’s canceling its activation so effortlessly?!”

She wasn’t even using offensive holy magic.
She was simply—

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Pounding it.

“…Wasn’t the Sacred Maiden supposed to be a healer and buffer?”

Compared to the house-sized serpent, Saelika’s fist was infinitesimally small and delicate.
It was dwarfed even by the hundreds of eyeballs embedded across the creature’s body.

Yet every time Saelika drove her fist down with a thud, the serpent’s head reeled backward.
The monster tried to dislodge Saelika from atop its head.
But with each impact, the resonating shock prevented it from responding properly.

“Just how strong is that fist?”
“I told you I have a diamond hand.”
“…So that’s what you meant by diamond?”

I had thought it simply meant a precious hand.
But it was literally a hand as hard as diamond.

While I was reeling from shock, the monster that had taken dozens of chops from Saelika finally collapsed.
Its massive body crashed down, kicking up a cloud of sand.
Ryubik muttered.

“Finished it.”
“You shouldn’t say that.”

Ilay warned gravely.

“…?”
“It’s an incantation that resurrects even the dead.”
“There’s no way such a resurrection spell exists.”

Ryubik let out a hollow laugh.
That was the moment.

Kuuuung!
The ground trembled and a deafening roar echoed.

“D-Did such a spell actually exist?!”

The serpent monster hadn’t been resurrected.
Quicksand formed as sand began to be sucked downward.
A quicksand pit!
A monster the size of a house that had been hiding beneath the sand burst forth.

“…Damn!”

Saelika clicked her tongue and grabbed the nearby Nelije.
Bad luck.
Not every monster that burst forth would create quicksand.

“Sae!”
“Saelika!”

Ilay and Prince Ryubik called out to Saelika.
Saelika shouted back to Ilay.

“Protect the Prince first!”

If something happened to Ryubik here, it would be catastrophic.
Saelika leaped away from the quicksand, cradling Nelije in her arms.

* * *

“Sigh.”

Saelika exhaled deeply and brushed her hair back.
Beside her, Nelije was spitting out sand that had filled her mouth.

‘Ilay should be fine.’

The last thing I saw was Ilay deploying a protective barrier that enveloped the Prince and himself.
Prince Ryubik was accustomed to the desert, and with Ilay by his side, there would be no problems.

‘The problem is me.’

Looking across the vast desert, all I could see was sand and Nelije.

‘Lost in the desert.’

Enrik: I think it’s to the right.
Kailros: Right? Just head northeast.

‘Which way is northeast?’

Kailros: Look at the shadows, my brother. That will tell you the direction.

‘Oh.’

For the first time, Saelika felt admiration for Kailros.

Kailros: Head northeast, then go straight southwest, circle around three times, and then head toward the most conspicuous location.

‘….’

Saelika decided to ignore Kailros.

Then Nelije suddenly spoke.

“I’m sorry.”
“You dug a trap to lure the monsters, and now that only the two of us remain, you’re apologizing? Because you need my help to survive?”
“No!”

Nelije cried out in frustration.

“The monsters appearing was an accident!”
“….”
“People could have died, so such a scheme….”

I could sense sincerity in Nelije’s words.
Indeed, when the monsters first appeared, Nelije was the one who nearly died first.
If she had known, such a thing wouldn’t have happened.

‘Though it wasn’t really an accident—it was Parmanase’s scheme.’

He must have thought it would be even better if Nelije died as well.

“Either way, it was a trap.”
“…That’s the same for you too.”
“The same?”
“You schemed to push out our temple and seize the kingdom!”
“Of course. The temple isn’t fulfilling its role properly. For the sake of the kingdom’s people, we need a temple that can fill that void.”

Nelije’s face turned bright red.
This was an insult.
An insult that her temple was merely a name without substance.

“Don’t make excuses! You were trying to increase followers to satisfy your own greed!”
“That’s true too. I have my own gains. But the people benefit as well, don’t they?”

I found myself at a loss for words as Saelika so readily admitted it.
Above all, it was true that the people benefited as well.

“If the Balotelo Temple had simply done its job properly, monsters wouldn’t be swarming through the desert. Isn’t that right?”
“…The Danthalian Desert lies beyond the kingdom’s borders. We cannot possibly oversee everything outside our realm.”
“But it’s close enough to border our lands.”

The Danthalian Desert was a wasteland inhabited by various minor tribes.
No nation, no temple existed there.
Therefore, it was the Balotelo Temple that should have been the first to watch for any disturbances in the Danthalian Desert.

Nelije bit her lip.

“Under normal circumstances, we would have responded properly. But the situation was difficult.”
“Because the High Priest is clinging to his position?”
“…!”

Nelije’s pupils trembled with shock.

“How did you… how could you possibly know that….”
“Think through why the High Priest became that way, step by step. And then consider it.”
“What do you—.”
“This is sincere advice.”

Saelika met Nelije’s eyes.

“Can you truly trust the one whose hand you’re holding?”
“…!”

Nelije swallowed hard.
How did she know about joining hands with another temple?

Well, she already knows the High Priest is ill.
She could have already grasped that much.
But more than that—.

“Judging by your expression, you were already harboring suspicions.”

Nelije swallowed hard.
Just as Saelika said, Nelije harbored doubts about her trading partner.
She had even begun to wonder if it might not be the Preytsha Temple at all.

“Was it really just a coincidence that the monsters appeared as if they were waiting? You’re not a fool.”
“B-but Uncle promised me. He said there would be no danger.”
“Your uncle could have been deceived by the other party. Or else—.”
“….”
“Your uncle could have deceived you.”
“That’s impossible!”

Nelije cried out sharply.
Saelika spoke in an even tone.

“I know the pain of betrayal well. Our temple had a rat too.”
“….”
“I also understand how cruel such situations are for trainee priests and the Sacred Maiden when adults cannot guide them properly.”
“….”
“But you are the Sacred Maiden. In such situations, you must lead the temple. Then shouldn’t you be the one making proper judgments?”

Nelije’s eyes trembled uncontrollably.

Valotelo was the kingdom’s only temple, but its influence was weak.
The king disliked temples gaining power.
Unlike the Empire, which actively wielded temples as political tools.

The Valotelo Temple’s influence was low, and its divine power could only be weak as a result.
It was a vicious cycle for the temple.

Then, the High Priest suddenly collapsed.
They tried to heal him, but divine power had no effect.

Fortunately, her uncle Frederick had obtained medicine through a trade with the Preytsha Temple.
The medicine did not improve his condition, but it prevented it from worsening.
And so they joined hands with the Preytsha Temple.

Preytsha wanted to prevent the Artemisia Temple from gaining power through successful Caston trade.
So Nelije moved as Preytsha desired.

Yet, a nagging sense of unease persisted.

What exactly was the High Priest’s illness?
Was that medicine truly suppressing his condition?
Why did his symptoms worsen whenever I harbored suspicions about Preytsha, necessitating more medicine?

Who benefited most when the High Priest collapsed from illness?
Who was responsible for his treatment?
Who spearheaded the dealings with Preytsha Temple?

When I connected the suspicious threads, they all pointed to a single person.

‘But it couldn’t be anyone other than my godfather…!’

It was impossible.
My godfather must have been deceived as well.

But what of Saelika?
She openly declared her intention to establish the Artemisia Temple in the Bennaise Kingdom.
Her demeanor toward me was arrogant.

‘But she has never lied.’

She always stated her true intentions with astounding boldness.
Nelije clenched her fists tightly.

“…You said I wasn’t a fool earlier.”
“….”
“No matter how I think about it, trusting you over my godfather, whom I’ve spent my entire life with, seems like a foolish choice.”

Nelije’s lips curved upward awkwardly.
It was a complex smile—one that seemed on the verge of tears.

“Your words must be wrong. I suppose I am a fool.”
“….”
“Thank you for the advice. It helped me make a decision.”
“Nelije.”
“I must think properly as the Sacred Maiden of Valtelo. Even if it’s my godfather, I need to view the situation objectively.”

It was as if she were making a vow to herself.

Saelika wore a bitter smile.
She claimed to understand the pain of betrayal, but it couldn’t compare to Nelije’s wound right now.
The betrayal of someone like Gawain was a different matter entirely from that of Randel or Kaiser.

“The temple I’ve joined hands with is Preytsha. He’s targeting you, so you should be careful.”
“No. It’s not Preytsha.”
“It’s not?”
“It’s Parmanase.”
“Parmanase…?”

Nelije looked confused, but she didn’t press for details.

“Parmanase intends to use you to make us destroy ourselves together.”
“…Indeed.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
“I cannot forgive it.”

Saelika grinned widely and extended her hand.
Nelije gazed at that small hand before grasping it.

The enemy of my enemy is a reliable ally.
It was the moment when two young girls first united in purpose.

“Well then, now that our secret talk is finished, shall we escape the desert?”

At Saelika’s words, Nelije looked around.

“Do you know which way to go?”
“No. But in any case, we’re at the edge of the desert.”
“Right, if we just get the direction right, we should be able to escape quickly.”

The problem was that she didn’t know the correct direction.
Saelika spoke seriously.

“Let’s head out.”
“…Head out? The desert is far more dangerous than you think.”
“It’s fine. Artemia will guide us.”
“Indeed…!”

Nelije’s face brightened.
Saelika was a Sacred Maiden with exceptional abilities.
Of course she would be guided safely!

Saelika closed her eyes and offered a prayer.

‘Artemia, please help me escape the desert as quickly as possible!’

* * *

Three hours later.

“I think we might have taken a wrong turn.”

Saelika muttered before the endless expanse of desert stretching before her.
Nelije hung her head, gasping for breath.

“You said Artemia would guide us?”

Saelika trembled with a sense of betrayal.

‘Artemia, I trusted you! How could you do this to me!’

Kailros: I told you we should have gone right?
Enrik: No, first we should head northeast and then—

Watching Artemia’s Messengers argue, I began to suspect that perhaps Artemia had guided us after all.
Only, she was just as directionally challenged as her Messengers.

Wandering through the desert without proper preparation for crossing it was dangerous.
Saelika pondered.

‘What should I do? At this rate, things will truly become perilous.’

The desert was more dangerous than the monsters.
That was when it happened.

“What? An apple?”

A voice called out from across the way.
For a moment, Saelika thought it was Admiral Ekellan.
No one else called her by that name.
But it wasn’t.

“Really an apple? Why is an apple here?”

A young boy she had never seen before tilted his head in confusion as he looked at Saelika.

—————
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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