Youngest on Top - Chapter 208

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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 208

* * *

Before the wager began.
The Diamond Team, persuaded(?) by Saelika, entered a strategy meeting.

“So, let’s map out specifically how we’ll do this.”
“Quite ambitious, aren’t we? You were acting like you wouldn’t do it.”
“If we’re going to do it, we’d better do it without getting caught!”
“We absolutely cannot lose!!”
“For my goal!!!”

‘These are easy ones to handle.’

Saelika let out a quiet laugh.

“Good. Then first—.”

Bang!
At the sound of the door opening roughly, the four Sacred Maidens fell silent and turned their heads.
An Elf stood there with a displeased expression.

“The preparations for the wager are complete. Come out.”

Watching the Elf finish speaking and turn to leave, Zabelina pouted her lips.

“Are all Elves really this disagreeable?”

Following the guide, two glowing blue formations came into view.
In the center of each formation, branches of the World Tree gleamed with light.

“The rules are simple.”

The High Elf Silvester stepped forward and spoke.

“After the time limit ends, we judge which side’s branch is in better condition. That is all we observe. …Remuaas.”
“Yes, Silvester.”

The summoned Elf, Remuaas, stepped forward.
Silvester spoke to Saelika.

“This child will be our representative.”
“Are you sure? We were planning to combine all four of our strengths.”
“Do you really think four humans combining their strength will win?”
“No, but your side only has one person, and he’s far too young. Not even a High Elf.”
“Ha! Do you think a High Elf would bother with the likes of you? No matter how young that child is, he’s lived dozens of years longer than you.”
“If that’s the case, then no excuses later.”
“That’s what I should say. Don’t beg for your lives. It’s pathetic.”

Saelika shrugged her shoulders.
Silvester sent a massive flower blossom floating into the sky.
The time limit would last until all the petals fell from the flower.

“Then let’s begin.”

At those words, Eyrene, Zabelina, and Helene swallowed hard.
While in the room, they had mustered some courage, but now that the moment had arrived, cold sweat dripped down from their tension.

Elves all around them.
The overwhelming pressure emanating from Silvester, the High Elf.
And—.

‘So this is the King of the Elves…!’
‘Damn it, just looking at him—.’
‘I thought I’d adapted by now, but it’s only gotten worse.’

The King merely watched.
That alone felt like turning my back to a beast of prey.
A constant sensation of being hunted.

‘How can I possibly—.’

“Helele, Elele, Zabele.”

A bright, clear voice cut through my thoughts.

“Let’s do our best, okay?”

Saelika laughed and clenched both fists tightly.
The three Sacred Maidens’ expressions grew uncomfortable.

“…Is that supposed to be a fighting spirit pose?”
“But why does it look like you’re preparing to throw a punch?”
“I’m not Zabele, I’m telling you!!”
“Oh, then Zarele?”
“Ugh, seriously!!”

Zabelina scowled sharply and turned her head away.
That girl was impossible to warm up to, no matter how hard one tried.

‘But.’
‘Thanks to her.’
‘We just have to do our best.’

The expressions of the three women shifted.
They hadn’t had time to devise a proper strategy.

But that didn’t mean they were clueless about what needed to be done.
After all, all three of them were Sacred Maidens who led their temples.

‘Saelika said it herself.’
‘That it’s impossible to handle the World Tree better than an Elf.’
‘So our role is crucial.’

Victory in this wager rested entirely in her hands!

Eyrene waited first.
To use illusions without revealing the deception, she needed sufficient preparation.
Her opponent—Remuaas’s aura, the flow of that energy, the changes that followed.
She had to use her power only after confirming all of it.

‘If Zabelina or Helene move first before then, it’s all over.’

And she couldn’t give
or receive signals.
The Elves might notice.

Fortunately, the two of them didn’t move first.
Only after Eyrene used her power did Zabelina make her move.
After Zabelina set up a protective barrier—no, a containment wall.
Helene raised both her hands high.
Reyatan’s curse began to manifest.

The entire sequence flowed as naturally as water.

‘Quite… impressive.’
‘Well, at least they’re not interfering.’
‘Hmm, they’ve got some sense after all.’

These three had been locked in a battle of wills ever since forming a team, so consumed they’d forgotten they were being broadcast.
Yet when it came to committing their little ‘crimes,’ their coordination was flawless.
Without a word spoken, they knew exactly the order in which to proceed.
As if they’d done this dozens, hundreds of times before.

All three thought the same thing simultaneously.

‘These kids are quite despicable and cunning, aren’t they?’

Smiles bloomed across their faces as they glanced at one another.

‘I like them!’

Honestly, how suffocating it had been in the last mission, laughing and pretending to be virtuous.
Inside the virtual dungeon, I’d wanted to shove the other kids aside and rush ahead.
Now, my heart felt utterly refreshed.

‘Good. The elves haven’t noticed.’
‘If we keep this up.’
‘We’ll win—’

That’s when it happened.

“That, that thing!”

Commotion erupted among the elves.
The three’s faces went pale.

‘Could it be that I’ve been discovered?’

Yet the Elves’ gazes shifted slightly past me.
Toward something further back.

“Saelika…?”

The Sacred Maidens who turned their heads gasped in astonishment.

“That, that is….”
“The World Tree?”
“She’s wielding the World Tree?!”

The World Tree was breathing within Saelika’s embrace.
Pulsing branches.
Leaves like jade and emerald gleamed brilliantly.
And among them, a flower had bloomed.

“…!!!”

It was an extraordinarily small flower.
A bud tinier than a fingernail.
Delicate petals.
Yet—.

It unmistakably contained the world within it.
A flower of the World Tree!

“H-how…?”

Both Elves and humans alike stared at Saelika with eyes wide in shock.
Saelika, her eyes now open, smiled softly.

“It seems I’ve won the wager, haven’t I?”

Saelika gestured toward the flower in the sky.
The final petal was falling.

“Without comparison.”

The branch that Remuaas had been holding.
It was blackened with poison spreading across its surface.
The concentration of the three broke, and their power naturally dissipated.

Remuaas’s face flushed crimson with rage.

“What is this…! Did you tamper with my branch?!”
“There was no rule against touching the opponent’s branch.”

I had used deception only because I was worried about facing penalties during the wager.

“How dare a Sacred Maiden be so shameless!!”

Remuaas seethed with indignation.
Then, Silvester stepped forward.

“You…”
“…?”
“You…”

Silvester’s lips moved, but he swallowed his words several times.

‘What’s this? I thought he’d definitely press the issue further given his temperament.’

Saelika, who had been watching him with confusion, suddenly snapped to attention. “Oh!”

“Time! We’re running out of time!”

The hourglass displayed on the broadcast magical tool.
There was barely any sand left inside it.

“Since I won the wager, I’m taking this branch! Aki!”

At her call, the divine beast Alkiers appeared in a flash of blue light.
Helene, Zabelina, and Eyrene quickly climbed onto Alkiers’s back.
This was before Saelika even told them to mount.

‘Whatever it is, we need to escape quickly when the time comes!’

It was the consensus of all three.
Just as Alkiers was about to leap with the four Sacred Maidens aboard.

“…!”

The King blocked his path.
With merely a single step forward, it felt as though a great mountain was pressing down upon them.
Alkiers lowered his stance but could not leap.
He was overwhelmed by the King’s presence.

“The conversation is not yet finished.”
“Next time.”
“Next time?”

The King lifted his gaze to look at Saelika.

“You wish to postpone this until next time?”

‘…I just couldn’t tell him to leave, so I said we’d do it next time.’

Even as she thought this, Saelika nodded anyway.

“…Yes, well.”
“The proof.”

How unnecessarily thorough he is.
Saelika casually threw something nearby.

“Here it is.”

Only then did the King step aside.
Alkiers leaped, tearing through the sky.
Saelika gazed downward with an uneasy feeling.

‘…He’s never had such a heavy demeanor before. This is unsettling.’

Though he must have appeared as small as the moon in the sky, the King’s gaze remained fixed upward.
More precisely, upon Saelika.

‘Well, that much time has passed, after all.’

Saelika nodded in understanding and pressed herself close to Alkiers.
It was time to hurry back.

* * *

Within the imperial palace hall.

“Remarkable!”
“As expected of Lady Amelia!!”

The nobles erupted in admiration.
Amelia’s Emerald Team had retrieved a branch of the World Tree and returned in first place!

“The other teams haven’t even approached the World Tree’s branches yet.”
“And she’s already retrieved it and returned. This isn’t just a difference in skill.”

The Temple Priests of Parmanase straightened their shoulders with confidence.

“This mission is the first time all the Sacred Maidens compete together without being divided into seeds.”
“To be this dominant here—truly, you are Lady Amelia.”
“You’re making it abundantly clear who the greatest Sacred Maiden is.”

The nobles openly manipulated Manashell.
To anyone watching, they were clearly voting for Amelia.

Beatrix smiled and spoke to Kaiser.

“But Sacred Maiden Artemia’s team is still completely silent. I was most curious about them.”

Among the twenty-five crystals, only one remained pitch black.
It was the position of Saelika’s Diamond Team.

“If even one person’s magical tool among the four activated, it would light up….”
“Well, they must be doing something remarkable.”
“I suppose. I thought so at first, but now….”

The Nobles shook their heads in disapproval.

“We cannot spot the Diamond team anywhere on any of the screens.”

Time was running short.
All the other teams had already drawn close to the branches of the World Tree.

For the Diamond team to pass the mission, they should have appeared on at least one of the other teams’ screens by now.

“The fact that they remain so completely hidden suggests they’re still at the very entrance of the contaminated zone.”
“Or perhaps they’re preparing an ambush to intercept whichever team retrieves the World Tree branch.”
“Surely not!”
“Did you not hear what was said earlier? Sacred Maiden Helene has a history of cheating through poison, does she not? It’s entirely possible.”

The tone was unmistakably mocking.

“My, did Your Majesty perhaps cast your vote a bit too hastily?”

At the subtle jab, the Emperor’s eyes twitched.
Yet he chose not to open his mouth to reprimand them.
Emboldened by his silence, the Nobles grew more animated.

“I had hope until the broadcast ended, but it seems it was for naught.”
“Indeed, it was the same before. We had high expectations when they established a branch, but they’ve shown no accomplishments since.”
“One can succeed by luck once, but without skill, it’s difficult to sustain long-term success.”
“This must be the limit of Sacred Maiden Saelika.”

Limit.
Ilay, Dmitri, and Edmund could not restrain themselves and shifted uncomfortably.
But Kaiser was faster than all of them.

A sharp killing intent emanated from Kaiser’s body.
He looked ready to sever the tongues of the Nobles spouting such words on the spot.

It was then.

“Hold back.”

A cold voice accompanied by a weighty aura pressed down upon Kaiser’s killing intent.
It was Perardin Noishurael Duke.

“Acting out here will only harm Artemia.”

Kaiser’s eyes sharpened to a blade’s edge.

“You’re telling me to endure while my daughter is insulted like that?”
“….”
“How convenient to be detached when it’s someone else’s affair.”

Those last words came from Admiral Ekellan.
Mikhail, standing beside Admiral Ekellan, was also raising his presence with a sharp smile etched across his face.

In truth, there was no need to look further.
Demian, standing beside me, was already radiating an overwhelming killing intent.
That emotionless doll of a man was actually seething with such fury.

‘Someone else’s affair, he said.’

It was indeed someone else’s affair.
I couldn’t understand why Admiral Ekellan, Mikhail, and Demian were getting so worked up as if it were their own matter.

But.
When I said it was someone else’s affair, that wasn’t what I meant.

“…I meant you don’t need to step in.”
“….”
“That child will overturn this herself.”
“…!”

* * *

-Wait, why is the broadcast cut off?
-Isn’t it supposed to end soon??? But why aren’t they showing anything???
-The hourglass sand looks like there’s only a handful left.
-Is this really how it ends???
-Seems like the operations team dropped the ball.
What’s with all this nonsense lol, trying to use Saelica Shield and saying all kinds of weird stuff

Throughout the entire mission, there was no broadcast of the Diamond Team.
People typed in the chat with bewildered hearts.
Of course, those who enjoyed this situation and mocked it were overflowing.

Hahahahaha, you can’t do anything, right? Are you going to be eliminated like this, Saelika?
-Saelika was just hype.
-Now that I think about it, the 7th seed had unusually weak Sacred Maidens.
-They just stood out among the lower ranks, but when matched against the real deal, they’re completely pathetic.
-All the kids who came up from the 7th seed right now are so terrible.
Lol except for Shuarina, all the other cards are trap cards hahahaha
Isn’t she just a supporting character that makes other saints look better? lol

Emily, who had confirmed the reactions, wore a satisfied smile.
She nodded toward the Host.
It was a signal that there were no special issues, so the mission could be ended as is.

All teams except the Diamond Team had returned to the mission site.

“Well, there’s nothing more to see.”

Elizabeth, the Sacred Maiden of Badarler, lifted her head.

“I think we can end the mission now? The hourglass is almost out of time anyway.”
“As you said, the time is almost up.”

Having received the signal from the operations team, the Host prepared to end the mission.
That was when it happened.

“Wait a moment.”

Amelia stepped forward.

“It’s not over yet. The sand hasn’t completely fallen.”
“Less than five minutes left? Even if you come within time, nothing changes. The World Tree has twenty branches. We already have them all.”

Amelia shook her head at Elizabeth’s words.

“Still, we should wait until the end. That’s the rule.”
“…Tch.”

Elizabeth turned her head.

Nelije and Dolores lifted their heads with anxious eyes.
The large display screen showed feeds from each relay magical artifact.
The Diamond Team’s screen remained dark and silent.

‘What’s happening, Sae? I thought you’d arrive first and greet us… ‘
‘If things continue like this, even if we arrive in time… ‘

Disqualification.
Without a branch of the World Tree.

Then it happened.

Pop!
The Diamond Team’s screen flickered to life.
The Host’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh! Just now, the Diamond Team’s relay screen has activated! Only about one minute remains! Could an upset be unfolding with just one minute to spare?”

Though the Host’s words were meant to build anticipation, the response in the mana network was cold.

-An upset? lol They can’t possibly turn this around anyway.
-They couldn’t even get a branch of the World Tree.
-Let’s just see what they actually did.
└Doesn’t look like much anyway.

The white-tinged screen gradually became clearer.
And.

-What is this????????
-What’s going on??
-Wow, so handsome.
-They’re gorgeous.
-Wait, why are all these handsome men suddenly appearing lolololol
-This doesn’t seem right. Their appearance is way too unrealistic.
-Huh? Pointed ears?
-Elves?
-Are they actually Elves???????
-What????? Did you say Elves???

The chat exploded.

—————
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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