Youngest on Top - Chapter 259

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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 259

Dmitri seized his opponent’s fist and hurled him away with a sharp flick of his wrist.
The overwhelming disparity in strength sent his opponent tumbling across the ground with thunderous crashes.

“Hmph, what a pathetic display from someone so full of themselves.”

As Dmitri dusted off his hands, the Artemia Priests whistled in appreciation.

“Wow, that was impressive!”
“As expected of our cutest little Dmitri.”
“Oh, seriously!”

Dmitri flared up in indignation, but the Artemia Priests only giggled and teased him further.
The Parmanase Priests ground their teeth.

“Such a lack of seriousness. There are limits to how much you can mock us…!”
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking that fool is on the same level as us.”
“We’ll prove right here why our temple is called the strongest.”

Shing—.
Silver blades materialized simultaneously in the priests’ hands.

“Can you block this like you did before!”

Holy power surged along the blades like roaring flames consuming everything in their path.
As if devouring all existence itself!

[Magnificent!]
[That’s the Holy Sword that Parmanase boasts of!!]
[Countless monsters have fallen to their knees before it!]
[It’s far more impressive than the rumors suggested! Usually tales are exaggerated, but this is the opposite!!]

The sword strikes danced like flames in the wind, pressing down upon the Artemia Priests.
Simultaneously, radiant magical circles bloomed across the air in dazzling patterns.
Attack spells poured forth, targeting blind spots and escape routes.
The Artemia Priests found their movements completely sealed off.

[A perfect coordinated assault from the Parmanase Priests! Quite skilled indeed!]
[This doesn’t look like a duel—it’s more like watching a hunt where prey is being driven toward slaughter.]

As the battle continued, the Parmanase Priests grew bolder and more fearless.
The stronger the connection with the Sacred Maiden, the greater the surge in combat power.
Especially within the Sacred Maiden’s sacred domain.

[Could this difference really be due to the disparity in the Sacred Maiden’s capabilities?]
[Yes, exactly as it appears—Amelia’s sacred domain holds a complete advantage!]

Amelia’s sacred domain covered nearly the entire arena.
Saelika’s sacred domain merely spread thinly around her.
Even that seemed precarious, as though it might be consumed by Amelia’s overwhelming sacred domain.

Saelika was struggling desperately to defend against Amelia’s fierce onslaught!

[This is completely different from what people expected!]
[Yes, many people assumed Saelika’s abilities would be superior because of her impressive performance in the previous battle against the demons.]
[But now that a full-scale battle has unfolded, it’s different.]
[Amelia truly deserves to be called the strongest Sacred Maiden!]

The Host’s commentary resonated throughout the stadium.
The spectators nodded in agreement as they listened to the commentary.

“Sae.”

At Ilay’s call, Saelika spoke with a furrowed brow.

“Something’s wrong.”

Since earlier, Saelika’s gaze had been fixed on the Parmanase Priests.
Ilay nodded.

“Yeah, at first I thought their morale had just risen from the power of the sacred domain, but it’s not that. They’re not just fearless—”
“They seem completely unable to feel fear. Even pain.”

Rumble, crash!
Edmund’s holy magic struck one of the Parmanase Priests directly.
Lightning descended from the heavens like divine punishment.

Naturally, someone hit with a stun should be incapacitated for a while.
But the opponent charged at Edmund despite being struck by lightning.

“That’s not from the Sacred Maiden’s blessing. Rather—”
“It’s closer to a berserker.”

Saelika picked up on Ilay’s words.

Berserker—a frenzied warrior.
Literally a madman who cares about nothing but attacking.
A curse rather than a blessing….

‘Though to call it a true berserker, their rationality hasn’t completely vanished.’

Either way, something was undeniably wrong.

“Meanwhile, our priests are passive.”
“When a madman charges, normal people instinctively dodge.”
“Well, there’s that too.”

Saelika glanced around at the children.
The Artemia Priests had almost never fought against people.
At best, only sparring within the temple.

Their real combat experience came only when facing monsters, with lethal intent exchanged.
So against people, they unconsciously held back.

The difference this created was unmistakable.

[It’s an intense exchange, but the outcome is becoming clear.]
[As they say, you can’t judge until you see it firsthand. Defying everyone’s expectations, the Parmanase Priests are overwhelming the Artemia Priests!]

Either way, I couldn’t leave things as they were.
As Saelika stepped forward, Ilay asked.

“How?”
“Well…”

Ilay let out a hollow laugh watching Saelika clench her fists as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Saelika tensed her abdomen and opened her mouth.

“Listen up, you brats.”

The children defending against the relentless assault flinched at her voice.
In an instant, cold sweat drenched their backs.

‘Why, why, why is she calling us like that? She’s making us nervous.’
‘Are we getting beaten because we’re slacking off?’
‘No, I’m not slacking off.’
‘If we don’t knock them down in three moves or less, she might actually hit us…’

Goosebumps erupted across their skin at the mere thought.
Honestly, I wanted to pretend I hadn’t heard her while focusing on combat.
But the fear of future consequences was far worse than ignoring her now.

The children turned their heads to look at Saelika.
Sure enough, Saelika raised her tightly clenched fist.
Then with a snap, she extended her index finger, pointing directly at the Parmanase Priests.

“…?”
“Those bastards harassed me!”
“…?!”
“They called me a petty thief who steals from Amelia!”
“…!”

‘Well, that’s what I said before the regression anyway.’

So it wasn’t exactly a lie.
Saelika thought to herself.

‘And I don’t think I’d say anything different now anyway.’

Meanwhile, the Parmanase Priests stared at Saelika with bewildered expressions.
Was that really what she had to say in this situation?

‘Here’s the Sacred Maiden losing everything, and she’s throwing a tantrum like that.’
‘She’s nothing like Amelia.’
‘Those poor Artemia Priests.’

The Artemia Priests had frozen solid, utterly dumbfounded.
And then.

“What the hell are you bastards talking about?!”
“…?!”

Her eyes transformed completely.
As if she’d lost her mind.

Roana spat and shrieked.

“Sure, our youngest is violent and does whatever she wants and enjoys threatening people!!!”
“But she’s not a thief! And certainly not a petty one!!!”
“Our youngest doesn’t steal such trivial garbage!!”
“Why would she steal a trinket?! Our youngest has standards?!”
“That’s right! If our youngest stole anything, she’d steal an entire nation! How dare you compare her to Amelia’s belongings!!!”

The Artemia Priests erupted in a cacophony of noise.
Each word they spoke unleashed a vicious assault that couldn’t be ignored.
Every single attack was lethal.

That fierce madness… no, that fighting spirit—the Parmanase Priests were beginning to feel a fear they’d forgotten.

‘A-are they insane? Why are they suddenly like this….’
‘What are these people. Something’s wrong. I’m terrified.’

“Die!”

Dmitri swung his sword like a berserk warrior consumed by madness.
The arena shattered.

“I’ll erase your very existence.”

At Edmund’s gesture, the sky wailed as dark storm clouds began to gather.

‘Good, that works.’

Saelika nodded with satisfaction as she watched the scene unfold.

‘Honestly, they all got swept up in it. If they’d done it right from the start, this wouldn’t have happened.’

“Why are you just standing around, Ilay? Aren’t you going?”

Ilay remained silent with his head bowed for a moment.
Only when Saelika began to look at him with confusion did he whisper softly.

“I was just saying something.”
“Hm?”
“Before you regressed, the Parmanase kids bullied you, right? Did you hear things like that back then?”
“Well, that was….”
“Answer me. Is it true?”

Ilay smiled sweetly.
Saelika broke into a cold sweat.
To be honest, she was a little—no, quite terrified.

* * *

Amelia bit her lip.

‘What on earth is happening?’

If Saelika had done something extraordinary, she could at least understand it.

‘Just because she reported that they bullied her, they’ve changed like this?!’

Something absurd was unfolding before her eyes.

The Artemisia Priests moved so differently that one might question whether they were the same people from moments before.
Until just now, they had focused on defense.
Even when they attacked, their purpose was to threaten their opponents and force them back.

‘But now….’

Each and every attack was perilous if not properly evaded or blocked.

‘If by any chance my priests were to suffer grave wounds or even perish….’

Honestly, it didn’t matter much.
The fury of losing comrades would transform into hostility toward Artemisia Temple, becoming excellent fuel for her purposes.

‘But people are watching.’

That was the problem.

‘Everything traces back to my incompetence!’

Rallying the priests with powerful sacred power, making them stronger, commanding the battlefield from the front—that was the Sacred Maiden’s role!
Losing soldiers was ultimately the commander’s failure.

‘…After all, my abilities surpass Saelika’s.’

What had changed were the Artemia Priests, not Saelika herself.
She was still barely managing to hold back the sacred domain Amelia had unleashed.
Which meant—.

“No matter how much luck you conjure, I will prevail.”

In the end, Saelika had no choice but to lose to her today.
No matter how much she struggled.

“Lord Parmanase….”

Amelia whispered the name of her god.
In that instant.

“…!”

The world trembled.
Birds took flight in frenzy as wyverns shrieked.

A tremendous power emanated from the heavens.
A divine authority.
As that power touched Amelia’s forehead, traces of divinity began to manifest.

[W-what is happening!]
[Good heavens, this is… Ugh!]

The Hosts could not continue their commentary properly.
A violent gale swirled around Amelia.
The Temple Priests, mages, and Aura Knights watching the match quickly began erecting barriers toward the spectator stands.

[The Temple Priests are establishing barriers!]
[This stadium itself has barriers installed as well….]
[But this power far exceeds the impact anticipated during design!]
[Simply magnificent and astounding! As expected of Amelia…!]

A colossal sphere composed of pure divine power materialized.
It was as though a sun had risen from the earth itself.

“Insane, something like that….”

It was the moment Roana muttered with a look of exasperation.
Saelika surged forward rapidly.

“Sae!”

Saelika stood alone.
She had not drawn her divine power to its limits as Amelia had.
All she possessed was the Alis Celestia gripped in her hand.

The blazing sun shot directly toward Saelika.
Saelika neither blocked nor evaded.
She simply—

CRASH!

—collided head-on.

A sound like the world was being torn apart erupted.
The Artemia Priests screamed until their throats were raw, but their voices were swallowed by that tremendous roar and went unheard.
The world, now blindingly white, buried everything beneath it.

* * *

After the violent collision.

“What…?”

The spectators, who had been hunched over with their heads in their hands, began lifting their faces one by one.
Thanks to the additional barriers that had been deployed, there was surprisingly little damage.

“The arena is…”

With such a violent collision, the Priests in the arena should not have escaped unscathed.
Especially Saelika, who had taken the brunt of that attack at the very front.

The spectators craned their necks to survey the arena.

“Ha, ha ha, ha…”

Amelia exhaled a ragged breath and laughed.
Then she gazed at her opponent before her.

“So that was the truth after all.”

Remarkably, Saelika was standing perfectly fine.
Well, not perfectly fine, to be precise.

Her two hands, which gripped the Alice Celestia, were tattered and shredded, and blood dripped steadily from the corners of her mouth.
Yet she stood firmly on both legs.
Her back defended completely.

“Ah…”

The people gazed at Saelika with somewhat solemn expressions.
The youngest Sacred Maiden had protected the Priests with her small, delicate body.
How could one not be moved before such a sight?

However, that emotion shattered at Amelia’s next words.

“Saelika, I didn’t want to believe that you had violated the taboo.”

Taboo.
At that word, people murmured in confusion.
Amelia waited for their reactions to build sufficiently before continuing.

“Shuellina may have wronged you, that’s true. But even so, this is unforgivable.”
“….”
“You killed the Sacred Maiden and took her power! How could you do such a thing?!”
“…!”

It was a shocking revelation.
The crowd erupted in murmurs.

“What is she saying?”
“Did Saelika kill Shuellina and become stronger?”
“No, that doesn’t make sense.”

Unlike the shocked crowd, Saelika herself remained composed.
She even let out a smirk.

“Right, how could I do such a thing?”
“What?”
“Isn’t that what I should be asking you?”

Amelia sighed deeply, regarding Saelika with pity.

“You’re trying to pin your own crimes on me and escape responsibility. But I have solid evidence and witnesses.”
“Is that so? I’m curious.”
“…I’ve given you countless chances to repent for what you’ve done, yet you remain unchanged.”

Amelia nodded.
Then the Parmanase Priest brought something forward.
Those who recognized it gasped in shock.

“A, a corpse?!”
“It’s Shuellina’s corpse!!”
“Good heavens…! She didn’t just escape—she was murdered?!”

Saelika gazed at the corpse with an indifferent expression and asked.

“Surely you’re not suggesting that a silent corpse serves as both evidence and witness?”
“Of course not. Ted.”

At that call, a man ascended into the arena.
Though he appeared ordinary at first glance, the sweet smile playing across his lips was strangely striking—impossible to ignore.

“Saelika, are you still thinking of evading responsibility?”

Amelia regarded Saelika with eyes brimming with the exhilaration of victory.
As if to say: no matter how much you struggle, you can never defeat me.

That was when it happened.

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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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