Youngest on Top - Chapter 204

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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 204

* * *

One week later.
In front of the Grand Sacred Maiden Selection Tournament arena.
As I stepped down from the carriage, I was taken aback.

“It’s Saelika!”
“Sae, look over here!”
“She looks surprised. How cute!!”
“It feels different in person than on broadcast.”

A crowd of people had gathered in front of the building.

‘What is this? Are they waiting to receive a blessing?’

Just as I was wondering whether I should simply enter.

“Sae!”
“Oh, Dolores.”

Dolores called out to me and approached.
From this mission onward, all the Sacred Maidens from every seed would gather.

‘Since twenty people from each seed were eliminated in the last vote.’

“Did you hear? She called me sister.”
“I want to hear Saelika call me sister too.”

I could hear the voices of people exchanging words.

“Let’s head inside. It looks like almost everyone has arrived.”
“Yeah, but can we just go in?”
“Will you take a photo with us?”
“No, I mean there must be a reason they’re waiting.”
“…?”
“Even if a blessing is too much—maybe a prayer—.”

Puhahaha!
Dolores’s laughter cut off my words.
After laughing for a while, Dolores spoke.

“I was just waiting because I wanted to see you.”
“Me? Why?”
“You’re always like that.”
“…?”
“Why do you think people who approach you must want something?”
“….”
“They could simply like you.”

Dolores brushed her fingers across my cheek.
Somewhere in the crowd, I heard what sounded like a shriek—”Kyaa!”

‘As expected of Dolores.’

Preytsha’s Temple was particularly popular among young girls.
Dolores was one, and so was Petrea, the leader of the priestesses.

Dolores smiled and tilted her head toward me smoothly.
The moment her long fingers twisted through my hair.

“If you’re here, why aren’t you coming inside?”

A sharp voice wedged itself between Dolores and me.

“Nelije.”
“Let’s go. Inside.”

Nelije pulled my hand.
And asked casually.

“Saelika, did you get in okay yesterday?”
“…? Yeah.”

I saw her at our temple branch—why was she asking if I got in okay?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Dolores smiled.

“Ah, so you two saw each other yesterday as well.”
“Ballotel is practically one body with Artemia, so of course. It’s different from Preytsha.”
“It seems Sae and I are truly fated. Even an obstacle like this keeps appearing.”
“….”

Dolores was truly a spitting image of Preytsha.
To interpret it that way.

“Sae is really loved by her sisters, isn’t she?”
“The youngest is overflowing with charm, they say.”

The most surprising thing was how beautifully these people packaged the situation.

* * *

“Congratulations once again, Sacred Maidens! You’ve all achieved excellent results in the voting and earned your place here! It’s thanks to your outstanding performances in the previous missions.”

The Host spoke with enthusiasm.
Only the top ten from each seed could advance here.
In other words, there were a total of one hundred Sacred Maidens in this place.

After chattering for a while, the Host began to explain the mission.

“You all surely understand just how immense the energy the World Tree possesses is. And you must know how great a power the World Tree’s flower would be for humanity.”
“….”
“Therefore, this mission is!”

The Host withdrew the mission card from the mission envelope.

“To bring back a branch of the World Tree!”
“…!”
“A branch of the World Tree?!”
“How are we supposed to obtain that….”

Bewildered reactions erupted from those around me.
Compared to the missions received during the seed-by-seed competitions, the difficulty had suddenly skyrocketed.

‘Now it truly begins.’

The time for playing house with safe virtual monsters had come to an end.
A true confrontation was beginning.
One where lives could be lost.

“Of course, it would be bewildering to suddenly ask you to find branches of the World Tree. So we shall provide you with hints regarding their locations!”

A massive continental map materialized behind the Host.
Red dots began appearing at various points across the map.
Twenty in total.

“Here—these marked points are precisely where the World Tree branches are located.”

‘
Anakin.
‘

Anakin: What would you do without me?

Anakin’s power, 【Eye of Omniscience】, activated, and the continental map materialized before my eyes.
I began marking the locations of the World Tree branches on the map, then froze.

‘Wait.’

The locations of the World Tree branches were strange.
They were all—.

Enrik: They’re all in contaminated zones?!
Anakin: What is it?
Kailros: This cannot be coincidence.

No, there was no way this could be coincidence.

At that moment, my eyes met with the Host’s.
He examined my face, then grinned wickedly.

“Ah, I see some of you have already caught on. Yes, that’s correct. All of these regions are contaminated zones.”
“…!”

The Sacred Maidens looked around in alarm, their eyes wide with shock.

“If she continues to remain in the contaminated zone, the World Tree’s branches will eventually become corrupted. If that immense energy becomes tainted, there’s no telling what catastrophe it might unleash.”

She was right.
As a simple example, it could even summon the highest-ranking Demons who cannot easily enter the human realm.

‘If I combine all those branches, I could even manifest the true form of a Demon King like Misa himself.’

It goes without saying that existing monsters would grow stronger.

“You all understand why we select a Grand Sacred Maiden. For the coming catastrophe. To stand against that catastrophe.”
“….”
“Preventing the corruption of the World Tree’s branches will also aid us in preventing that catastrophe.”
“….”
“Unlike existing missions, this is an immediate combat mission, so many of you must feel the weight upon your shoulders. But a Grand Sacred Maiden is one who bears great burdens. I believe this opportunity will allow you all to demonstrate your capabilities.”

The Sacred Maiden’s calling.
And a mission befitting that calling.
There were Sacred Maidens whose eyes gleamed with determination.

Meanwhile, Nelije let out a small snort.

“They’re packaging it nicely, but honestly, isn’t this mission way too cost-effective?”
“They need to recover the World Tree branches found in the contaminated zone, but it feels like they’re just disguising a Temple request as a mission because they don’t want to formally commission it.”

Dolores nodded in agreement.
Nelije’s eyes twitched slightly.

“I said that to Sae.”
“That’s not something I said to her.”
“….”

No, they both did.

“But twenty branches of the World Tree in the contaminated zone? Did they deliberately bring them there for the mission?”

At Nelije’s words, I shook my head.

“It’s the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“Someone deliberately planted twenty branches of the World Tree in the contaminated zone out of necessity.”
“…!”
“And upon discovering it, they issued this mission.”

Nelije and Dolores’ expressions grew grave.

“Who on earth would do such a thing?”
“…That’s what I need to find out. It must be connected to the calamity.”

The heretical cult I’d been investigating came to mind, but I couldn’t be certain.
Dolores gazed at me quietly before speaking.

“So while you’ve been inactive publicly for years, living quietly, you’ve been investigating this.”
“….”
“You read the signs of calamity that no one else could see, and chose righteousness over immediate power.”
“There’s no need to make such a fuss.”
“From now on, I’ll walk this path with you.”

Dolores grasped my hand.
It was the moment Nelije was about to open her mouth in disapproval.
The Host spoke.

“Of course, I wouldn’t ask you to proceed with such a mission alone.”

The Sacred Maidens murmured among themselves.

“Finally, we can work together with the priests?”
“Yes, the Sacred Maidens shine brightest when working alongside the Temple.”

The faces of the Sacred Maidens from powerful temples brightened.
Meanwhile, the faces of the Sacred Maidens from lesser temples darkened.

The Host waited until the reactions had been sufficiently drawn out before opening his mouth.

“Therefore, this mission is— a team mission!”
“…!”
“The Grand Sacred Maiden shall command all the Sacred Maidens. I hope you demonstrate your leadership in this opportunity.”

Team mission.
Some looked disappointed at those words, while others seemed relieved.

“I hope we end up on the same team. Can we choose our teammates directly?”
“Sae will definitely be on the same team as me, right?”

Nelije and Dolores would never betray me or work against me.
And having watched them for so long, I knew their abilities well.

‘If I could choose directly, they’d be quite excellent teammates—.’

“I said it first.”
“What does saying it first matter? What’s important is how well we work together as a team.”
“Ballotel and Artemia sailed the same ship, so their chemistry is much better.”
“My goodness? Sae and I are destined to be together, aren’t we?”

Crackle!
Sparks flew from both their eyes.
Then they whipped their heads around to look at me.

“Sae, you’re going to be on my team, right?!”
“Sae, take my hand.”
“…”
“If we become one team, it’ll be a perfect combination!”

They both said the exact same thing at once and froze.
And the way they glared at each other…

‘Those two are actually perfect for each other.’

That was when it happened.

“I’d like to be on the same team as you, Sae.”

At the sudden voice, I turned to find Shuellina had approached without my noticing.

“We spoke first.”
“If you’re going to line up, get behind us.”
“What? Oh, yes….”
“We keep getting more competitors! Sae, tell her quickly.”
“Isn’t it obvious? This sister, of course?”

Nelije and Dolores pressed me for an answer.
I smiled faintly.

‘Well, anyone’s fine. As long as it’s not these two.’

“Me! Pick me!”
“Yeah! Whose sister are you going to be!”
“Like we get to decide anyway.”
“…What?”
“The Operations Division would never make things that easy for us.”

Perhaps because neither of them was a 7th Seed, they’d experienced less of the Operations Division’s hostility.
Just then, the Host opened her mouth.

“Those of you gathering near Amelia, there’s no need for that.”

True to the Host’s words, Sacred Maidens had clustered like clouds around Amelia.

“Teams will be selected randomly. The Grand Sacred Maiden must be able to lead any Sacred Maiden, not just a select few she’s comfortable with.”
“…!”
“Now, please draw a card from the front. Four people who draw the same card form one team.”

And so we drew our cards.

“What card did you get, Sae?”
“Sapphire? Tell me it’s sapphire.”
“…! You drew sapphire too?”
“You too…?

Nelije and Dolores fell silent for a moment.
Then they looked at me with an even more desperate expression than before.

“Well, I drew Diamond.”
“Diamond?!”
“Oh, our dream combination…!”

Both of them were disappointed simultaneously.
Shuellina spoke with a rueful smile.

“I drew Emerald. What a shame. I’m on the same suit as Amelia.”
“You’re probably the only one who would say it’s a shame after drawing the same suit as Amelia.”
“But I wanted to be on the same team as Saelika.”

In any case, it seemed no one around me had drawn Diamond.

“Whoever drew Diamond!”

At that call, I turned my head to respond.
And then I froze.

From the other side came voices saying “Me!” and “I drew Diamond too!”
I looked over there and froze again.

‘No, I did say I’d be fine with anyone as long as it wasn’t Nelije and Dolores. I really thought that, but…!’

How could this combination happen?!

Helene, Eyrene, and Zabelina.
These three discovered me holding the Diamond suit and their faces went rigid.

Helene, the Sacred Maiden of Reyatan who used underhanded tactics against me at the gathering.
Eyrene, who provoked the other Sacred Maidens at my first gathering and made them stake their partners in a bet.
Zabelina, who was caught by me after gifting fake angel statues to the Princess.

‘Sigh.’

This wasn’t a dream combination—it was a nightmare combination.

* * *

“This mission has a time limit.”

The Host pointed to the back of the hall.
There stood a massive hourglass.

“When the mission begins, I’ll flip the hourglass. You must retrieve a branch of the World Tree before all the sand runs out.”
“What happens if we exceed the time limit?”
“Then you’re naturally disqualified, of course. Calamities don’t wait for anyone.”

The Host glanced around the room.

“Any other questions?”
“There are 25 teams total, but the map only shows 20 locations.”
“The five teams that fail to obtain a World Tree branch are disqualified.”
….
“Ah, more than five teams could be disqualified. Any team that fails to bring back a World Tree branch within the time limit is eliminated.”
…!

Unlike the previous mission, the Sacred Maidens’ faces hardened at the mention of immediate elimination.

“I understand this is a difficult mission. While teams compete against each other, cooperation and combining your strength is also a viable strategy.”

At the Host’s words, I let out a silent laugh internally.

‘How convenient to mention elimination and team competition like that. The opposite applies just as well.’

Interfering with each other is also a valid tactic!
Some of the Sacred Maidens seemed to catch the hidden meaning, their eyes darting nervously around the room.

‘But you can’t just recklessly sabotage others.’

Because.

“As mentioned beforehand, this mission will be broadcast live!”

The competition will be streamed live starting this mission.

‘And they can even vote during the live broadcast.’

The details regarding voting results remain undisclosed.
But given the nature of the Grand Sacred Maiden position, which requires public support, it might be even more crucial than passing the mission itself.

‘In other words, in this mission, I need to compete with other teams to obtain branches of the World Tree, and also capture people’s hearts to earn their votes.’

It won’t be easy.
But….

“Sae, are you alright?”
“Of all things, we’re on the same team as people we have a bad history with.”

Nelije and Dolores whispered with worried expressions.

‘It’s worth a try.’

I smiled inwardly.

‘Where do the elves live again?’

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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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