Youngest on Top - Chapter 245

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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 245

My entire body stiffened reflexively.
Honestly, there had been more than one or two times I nearly fell to Serha’s hand.

Anakin: Isn’t that too harsh on the child the moment you see him?
Anakin: Asking if he wants to die right off the bat.

Of all angels, it was Anakin himself who was taking my side like this.
I blinked in surprise.

‘Anakin.’

Anakin: Don’t bother thanking me—it’s creepy.

‘That’s not what I meant—.’

Anakin: Well, if you really want to, I won’t stop you.
Anakin: Hmph.

‘But you asked me if I wanted to die too. Did you forget?’

Anakin: ….

Anakin fell silent.

Serha: Where exactly were you planning to beat this tiny little creature?
Anakin: This troublemaker tried to steal my power!
Anakin: Without saying a word to me! Sneaking around!
Serha: So you’re sulking because the child didn’t acknowledge you.
Serha: I wonder where you’ve been storing your maturity all this time. Truly childish.

I was dumbfounded.
Serha was the one who just asked me if I wanted to die.

Enrik: So you’re sulking because the youngest had the essence but didn’t call you right away?
Serha: …Kailros.
Kailros: I didn’t say anything.
Serha: Just hit Enrik once.
Enrik: What kind of thing is that to say!
Enrik: Soliciting assault? What kind of angel is so uncouth— Ow!
Serha: Hit him once more.

I shook my head as I watched the chaotic conversation unfold.

‘Sigh, they’re all so violent!’

Enrik: Who are you to say that!

In any case, I succeeded in establishing a connection using Serha’s essence embedded within the ring.
Now I just needed to borrow Serha’s power.

Serha: Well.
Serha: It’s not difficult to lend a hand.
Serha: If you pay the advance first.

I should have expected this.
Unlike my other brothers who had softened during the years I was gone, Serha remained unchanged.
Still not easy to deal with.

‘…What do you want?’

Serha: It’s been a while. Let me see the little one play around a bit.

My expression darkened.

* * *

Rewinding time to approximately two hours earlier.
Elizabeth, the Sacred Maiden of Badarler, returned to the stadium through the installed magic circle.
Upon her return, she checked the scoreboard.

‘First place is Amelia, second is Saelika, and I’m in third.’

My grip tightened with sudden intensity.
Originally, my rival was Amelia.
We had both been classified as S-rank in the Sacred Maiden Selection Tournament, and there were predictions that the competition would develop into a two-way rivalry between us from the start.
But then Saelika surged ahead in an instant.

“Where is Saelika?”
“I’m not sure what she’s doing. Look at the screen.”

It was exactly as they said.
The crystal display showing Saelika was murky, as if obscured by fog.
Because of that, even the Hosts had lost interest.

Events that made one’s palms sweat were erupting everywhere.
How many people would bother watching a hazy screen?
Whatever was happening, in a competition where voting determined the victor, Saelika was suffering tremendous disadvantage.

‘Well, it has nothing to do with me. Actually, this works out perfectly.’

Elizabeth asked.

“How many locations are left?”
“Only three.”
“…Let’s head to Exmum.”
“But Exmum is on the border of Akaman…”
“Among the remaining locations, that’s the only place where we can truly stand out.”

Elizabeth surveyed her priests.

“Surely you’re not satisfied with third place?”
“Of course not!”

Elizabeth immediately headed toward Exmum.
Not long after, she encountered the other three Sacred Maidens—Dolores, Anastasia, and Saelika.
They had the same idea.

Upon seeing Saelika, who arrived last, the priests whispered.

“Just as we heard—she can’t even properly deploy her Sanctuary.”
“At this level, we can immediately show that we’re superior.”

The priests’ expressions grew noticeably more relaxed.
However, Elizabeth’s face hardened like stone.

“That’s not it. Look carefully.”
“What— huh?”
“This is a contaminated zone, yet they’re completely unaffected…?”

Artemia’s trainee priests walked along, conversing with one another.
If not for the surrounding landscape, they would have looked like they were out for a leisurely stroll.

“This is absurd. How could they possibly traverse such an extreme contamination zone….”
“Then the reason they didn’t deploy a sacred domain was—.”
“Because there was no need to deploy one.”

It was an astonishing feat I had never even imagined possible.
Elizabeth clenched both fists tightly and shouted at Saelika.

“I absolutely won’t concede this one to you!”

And she surged forward faster than anyone else.
The Sacred Maidens and the priests they led competed fiercely in eliminating monsters.

Priests belonging to the upper temples within the Octagon.
Elizabeth, Dolores, and Anastasia were all Sacred Maidens classified as S-rank.
The sacred aura that dyed heaven and earth required no additional purification.

Before long, the boundary stone came into view.
Elizabeth launched an attack toward Anastasia, who was unleashing divine forms.

“Not so fast!”

As Anastasia faltered, Elizabeth pressed forward.
Dolores intercepted her advance.
This time, Anastasia blocked Dolores’s aggressive push.
A perfect balance with no concessions given!

Rumble—.
A low tremor echoed from the earth.
Since the thunderous sounds of battle had been reverberating from before, Elizabeth paid it no mind.

‘Just a little more. Just a little more.’

Not much remained.
The Barrier Stone was within arm’s reach.
If I could find an opening and take just one more step forward.
Just one step.

It was the moment Elizabeth took that single step.

“Get back, Liz!”

At the anguished cry, Elizabeth instinctively threw her body backward.
It was the voice of the priests who had shared her trials and tribulations.

Crash!
A boulder the size of a house plummeted like a meteor shower onto the spot where she had been standing.
It wasn’t just that one location.

“A landslide?!”

The priests cried out as they shielded Elizabeth.

“Damn it, go now!”
“Hurry, get back— Ugh!”

The priests collapsed under the deluge of earth and stone that crashed down like a tidal wave.
Elizabeth’s pupils trembled.

Her priests were standing before her, blocking the way.
They were telling her to escape, no matter what—they would hold the line.
With the resolve to sacrifice their lives.

“I can’t… I won’t…”
“Liz!”
“I can’t go!”

Elizabeth cried out in desperation.
Everyone was exhausted from the continuous battle since the mission began.
She had already used the Sacred Maiden’s power multiple times.
There was no strength left to prevent a catastrophe of this magnitude—a mountain collapsing.

‘But still—.’

“How could I abandon you all!”
“You fool!”

The priests reached out toward Elizabeth.
They wrapped their entire bodies around her protectively.
Beyond the priests, Elizabeth watched the mountain sweep down toward them.

‘Ah.’

She had drawn upon her sacred power, but it was woefully insufficient to stop this calamity.
She could see the priests’ faces.

‘Is this how it ends…?’

That was when it happened.

CRASH!
A deafening roar shook heaven and earth.
And then she saw a figure standing before her, blocking the way.

‘A person— no, an angel?’

Six wings shone with a dazzling, pure white radiance.
The golden halo above their head gleamed more brilliantly than sacred paintings gilded with melted gold.
Slowly, the angel turned to look back.

Eyes of blue clearer than the sky itself.
Hair of gold more lustrous than golden thread.
A sacred and compassionate presence that had come to save her and the priests, gazing down upon them with mercy.

‘How could such a holy and merciful being possibly exist…?’

“Angel…”

Elizabeth called out to the angel with a dazed expression.
The angel reached toward Elizabeth as if in response.
And then.

“Hack!”

She grabbed me by the collar.

“…?!”
“Get your head straight.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened in shock.
The angel had Saelika’s face.

“Saelika?!”
“Gather the priests. Go, now.”
“What on earth—.”
“You said you wouldn’t yield to me, didn’t you?”

At those words, determination returned to Elizabeth’s eyes.
Elizabeth hurriedly gathered the priests.
She hesitated as she tried to slip away at Saelika’s urging.

“What about you?”

Saelika was holding up the collapsing mountain alone.
Or rather, could it even be called holding it up?
The mountain was defying gravity and collapsing in reverse.

‘This is actually possible…’

I couldn’t believe it.
But how long could she maintain this?
And even if she did, could she escape?

Saelika spoke with an air of annoyance.

“Can’t you see? I’m fine.”
“Are you really sure you’re okay?”
“Why are you worried about me? Just go already. You’re in the way.”

At those words, Elizabeth turned away sharply.

“Figure it out yourself!”

Saelika shielded the path as the injured priests retreated.
Watching the rocks and trees that had been falling toward me rise back up again, Elizabeth bit her lip.

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

She had declared so confidently that she wouldn’t back down.
And now look at this state of affairs.
No, that wasn’t even the real problem.

Elizabeth had been curt with Saelika from the moment they first met.
She had never treated her kindly, not even once.
She had actually looked down on her.

It might seem absurd to worry about her now.
But.

“You came to help me because you were worried about me….”

Saelika’s face had gone pale.
Cold sweat dripped down her forehead.

“You’re sacrificing yourself without even asking for help.”

Elizabeth clenched her fists tightly.
By Saelika’s own words, she was a hindrance.

‘But if I could add my holy power….’

Of course, it was fundamentally impossible.
Their essences were different.
However, there was one method.

* * *

The moment Saelika wielded Serha’s power.
The entire continent trembled.

“Good heavens! This is nothing short of a miracle!!”
“It’s as if an angel has descended before us!”
“Even when borrowing divine authority, I’ve never seen a synchronization rate so high that wings and a halo manifest like this!!”

It wasn’t only the Hosts.
Everyone watching the mission—those filling the stadium, crowds gathering in city plazas, people in pubs and homes throughout every location—all gasped in awe.
However.

“It’s unfortunate. Saelika’s vote count is surging dramatically, but even combined, it doesn’t appear she’ll surpass Amelia when accounting for the other Sacred Maidens’ votes.”
“There are limits to how many voting rights can be purchased, after all.”
“Saelika must know that too. She would have seen it while traveling through the installed magical circles.”
“…She acts on what she deems right, regardless of victory or defeat.”
“She was the same during those years she spent in seclusion.”

[You came to help me out of concern…. Yet you sacrifice yourself without hesitation and won’t even ask for aid.]

As Elizabeth’s voice echoed through the venue, the atmosphere grew solemn.

“Sacrifice… Holding back a mountain range’s collapse alone is truly no simple task.”
“Saelika probably….”

The Hosts couldn’t bring themselves to finish their words.

[Protagonist! That’s enough!]
[We’re done here too.]
[We’ve finished as well.]

The priests stationed to the east, north, and west of Saelika cried out.
Dmitri, Ilay, and Edmund.
Saelika shouted back.

[Roana! Are you still going?]
[Just a moment— I’m done now!]

The moment those words left her lips.
The small staff Saelika had been holding revealed its true form.

“Allis Celestia!”

The Sacred Maiden’s holy relic, Allis Celestia, responded to the Sacred Maiden’s divine power and spread its wings wide.
At the same moment, a massive formation connected Artemia’s priests and Saelika.
And then.

“…!”
“This, this can’t be!”

As if reversing time itself, the crumbling mountain was reforming.
The Hosts, faced with the unimaginable, forgot their very purpose and stood with gaping mouths.

This was no longer merely a “miraculous occurrence.”
The miracles from scripture—parting the seas and moving mountains to forge a path.
That very miracle was unfolding once more in this age.
By Saelika’s hand.

“So that person is….”
“The savior who will prevent calamity….”

Gasps of awe rippled through the spectator stands.

That was when it happened.
Saelika flinched and cried out.

[Everyone, be careful!]

* * *

Enrik: Youngest!

A chilling sensation crawled down my spine.
I gripped Allis Celestia tightly and turned my head.

The three Sacred Maidens besides me had thrashed about so violently that the miasma in this entire area was nearly purified.
Yet despite that, an ominous aura that felt as though souls would crumble was pouring forth from beyond.
Along with the acrid stench of sulfur that pulsed through the air.

Sensing the unnatural aura, the children quickly gathered at my side.
Even as they did, the sinister presence drew steadily closer.

“This aura is…”
“A legion of greater monsters?”

The malevolence was so intense it felt exactly like that.
Tension etched itself across the children’s faces.

But what emerged from beyond was only one thing.
A young man with an appearance so immaculate it bordered on beautiful.

My eyes wavered as I confirmed his form.
This couldn’t be real.

‘He crossed over directly?!’

—————
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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