Youngest on Top - Chapter 278

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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 278

* * *

The descent of angels was something that only occurred in the age of mythology.
The most recent instance was the angel’s descent in the Empire’s founding myth.

In truth, even in that founding myth, there was considerable debate about whether an angel truly appeared.
The theological consensus held that it was not a true descent, but rather a revelation through dreams or sacred relics that had been distorted over time.

Such was the magnitude and difficulty of an angel’s descent.
Even in this world where the existence and power of the divine permeated every corner of the land, it remained an unfathomable occurrence.

Yet an angel had descended upon this land.
Not just one, but five.

“Th-the angels….”
“The angels truly have….”

I felt both fear and reverence merely at daring to lift my gaze upon them.
At the same time, my heart trembled and soared as never before.

This moment would be recounted for ten thousand generations.
I had witnessed with my own eyes that historic—no, mythic scene.
How could I not be moved to tears?

I had come to understand that Saelika possessed abilities beyond those of a Sacred Maiden.
But to think she could invoke such a miracle…!

And yet, Saelika herself seemed rather bewildered by the tremendous miracle she had wrought.

‘What? Why did all five come?’

I had naturally intended to summon only one.
Even that alone would have been overwhelming.
But….

“Move over a bit. I can’t see the youngest because of your wings.”
“What do you want me to do about my wings being so grand and magnificent?”

Watching the Brothers bicker, I found myself at a loss for words.
Was the descent of angels really this simple?

* * *

Amelia tensed her body, her face hardening into stone.
There was a clear hierarchy between angels and gods.
Weren’t angels themselves messengers of the divine?

A gap determined from birth itself.
Therefore, no matter how formidable an angel might be, they could never stand as an equal to a god.
That was how it usually worked.
Usually.

Crash!

The problem was that Artemia’s Five Angels were anything but usual.
Amelia’s attack was blocked instantly.

Anakin, who had intercepted the blow, bared his teeth in a savage grin.

“Did you make our child cry?”

She hadn’t.

“Good heavens…! Look at our youngest’s wound! How much she must have suffered.”

It was barely a scratch.
Honestly, it was Amelia who had been coughing up blood and suffering in pain.

“My beloved younger sister wanted to play a game of catch-me-if-you-can with me here on the mortal realm.”

That was absolutely not the case.

“Your baby’s face is all scrunched up? Do you want to die?”

Saelika’s furrowed expression was due to the Brothers, not me.
Not because of me!

‘Those lunatics!’

Amelia ground her teeth.
If only they were merely insane, but each and every one of them was a formidable angel who rivaled divinity itself.

‘I have to escape from here somehow….’

Amelia’s gaze swept across the angels.
Unlike the four angels making a fuss, Asquiel stood motionless.

Asquiel regarded Saelika with his characteristic expressionless and stern gaze.
In those cold eyes, Amelia found hope.

Asquiel, Artemia’s first angel, possessed a rational and cautious temperament.
And.

‘He’s famous for being the harshest on Saelika!’

Saelika’s action of summoning five angels.
The Five Angels directly exercising military force on the mortal realm.
Both violated the Heavenly Accord.

‘Yes, that cold one would surely rebuke Saelika and handle the situation—.’

In that instant.

BOOM!
A deafening roar that numbed the ears shook heaven and earth.
The sky flashed, and divine retribution descended.
Upon Amelia.

“Ugh…!”

Her nerves felt like they were burning away.
Amelia convulsed like she’d been electrocuted.

‘Even though I dodged, it still did this much damage…!’

But there was no time to stand dazed from the impact.
Amelia quickly rolled her body across the ground.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!
There was no opening to counterattack.
Amelia crawled shamefully across the dirt floor.

Meanwhile, Asquiel stood with dignified composure, not lifting a single finger.
She didn’t even look at Amelia.
Elegant and overwhelming attacks.

Amelia bit her lip and gathered her strength to create a barrier.

Crash—!
The barrier shattered as a shockwave resonated through the air.
Amelia staggered to her feet.

“Ugh… Asquiel, have you forgotten the Heavenly Accord?”
“The Accord?”

Asquiel’s head tilted slightly.

“Ah, there was something like that.”

There was something like that?
Amelia ground her teeth.

“Are you seriously saying that? Forgetting the Accord?!”

Asquiel’s gaze turned back toward Saelika.

“It wasn’t enough that you made the child cry and hurt her—you even wrinkled her face because of you.”
“….”

Amelia was taken aback.
Regardless, Asquiel spoke with an expressionless face.

“I’m a bit angry.”
“….”
“Actually, I’m quite angry.”

* * *

The heavens wailed, and brilliant flashes of light painted the east and west.
Something was happening, yet the naked eye could not follow it.
People gazed upward at the sky with their mouths agape.

The power of the Five Angels descended upon the earth.
The monsters could not dare to resist and crumbled away.
The demons dared not lift their heads and prostrated themselves, praying to become whole humans again.

The Sacred Maidens who had suffered while shedding tears of blood ceased their weeping.
Those who had groaned under irreversible wounds gasped in wonder at their cleansed bodies.

Those whose spirits had been broken, trembling in fear before a power humanity could not dare oppose.
Those whose limbs had grown heavy from exhaustion in endless battle.
All of them trembled with an exhilaration that filled their chests to bursting.

A spectacle more wondrous than anything else unfolded before their eyes and within themselves.
The most astonishing part was—.

Boom!

“I, I cannot crumble like this. Not to someone like Artemia!”

Amelia thrashed about convulsively.
Yet she could not shake off the force that pressed down upon her body.

“If only I weren’t bound by the constraints of a human body…!”
“Speak truthfully. If you hadn’t possessed a human body, you would never have appeared on this earth.”

Saelika stepped forward from among the Brothers.
Amelia, forced to her knees, ground her teeth and glared up at Saelika.

“If only you hadn’t existed, everything would have been perfect! If only you hadn’t existed, I would have….”

Amelia froze, then burst into delirious laughter, her voice trembling with madness.

“Hehehehe, you still don’t know? Artemia is actually—.”
“Do not speak Artemia’s name with that filthy mouth of yours.”

Saelika raised Alice Celestia high.
At her will, a crystalline radiance burst forth from the Sacred Maiden’s staff.

Kiiiieeeeeeee—!
A sound that made one’s entire body bristle with dread echoed through the air.
A sound that could never emanate from human vocal cords.

With it, a blood-red aura surged forth from Amelia’s form.

[Cursed Artemia! I will tear her to shreds!]

A fragment of Parmanase shrieked in agony.
Unable to withstand Saelika’s sacred power that filled Amelia’s body, it had been torn away.
In such a weakened state, it could inflict no further harm.

But in that very moment.
The fragmenting aura, unable to maintain even a coherent form, suddenly swelled into something grotesque.

“Saelika!”

The Brothers, sensing the danger, hastily reached out their hands.
Sharp sacred power pierced through the fragment of Parmanase.
Even amid the torment, Parmanase cried out with inexplicable glee.

[Watch from up there!]

Then.
Amelia’s eyes snapped open.

“Your precious daughter will be torn to shreds in my grasp!!”

Amelia lunged at Saelika, dagger in hand.
The Parmanase dwelling within Amelia had not fully separated.
It had only released a portion and feigned departure!

‘What…?’

A blow she had never anticipated.
And words even more unexpected than that.
Saelika couldn’t respond properly.

‘What did I…?’

In that moment, a black blade flashed sharply and surged forward.
The Brothers tried to throw themselves in front of Saelika to protect her, but it was futile.

[Not so fast!]

Parmanase’s remnants would not release them.
Even if all his power waned, he would become shackles to hold them back.
And then.

Thwack—!
With the sound of flesh tearing, crimson blood sprayed forth.
Saelika’s eyes widened in shock.
A scream tore from her lips.

“Shuri—!”

Kaishurit stood before Saelika, smiling.
Slowly, his body began to fall.

“…!”

Saelika caught him with trembling hands.
Her vision flooded with red.
Crimson blood poured endlessly from Kaishurit’s chest.

“No, this can’t be… Shuri…”

Saelika’s hands pressed against the wound, but it was useless.
Scalding blood soaked her palms without end.
Saelika’s breathing trembled.

This was no mere wound.
A curse.

“It’s because of you, Saelika.”

Amelia spoke.

“You’re cursed because of me. To protect you. If you hadn’t used Kaishurit as a shield, it would’ve been fine. This is what you did.”
“….”
“You should have chosen me, Your Majesty. Then I wouldn’t have died such a pathetic death.”
“Amelia….”

Saelika’s eyes blazed with fury.
Amelia felt quite satisfied.
It was a pity that Artemia couldn’t witness her own daughter being torn to shreds, but this result was still gratifying.
It was delightful to see Saelika, who always carried herself as though she stood above everyone, consumed by such rage.

“Now Kaishurit’s entire body will be torn apart. Don’t worry. He won’t die quickly. His limbs will be shredded and he’ll suffer for a very long time until all his blood drains away. You’ll have plenty of time to exchange final words, won’t you?”
“….”
“See? I told you I’m a merciful savior.”

Amelia laughed with a snicker.
It was entertaining to watch Saelika’s expression contort further with each passing moment.

“So Saelika, you should have been the one to die. Then none of this would have happened.”

That was when it happened.
Kaishurit slowly rose to his feet.

“…?”

Amelia stared at Kaishurit in disbelief.
His body, which should have been torn to shreds long ago, remained intact.
Kaishurit smiled faintly at Amelia.

“Unfortunately, curses don’t work on me.”
“H-how….”
“Well, thanks to love, I suppose?”
“Wh-what…?”

Amelia’s face contorted.
But this was not the moment to ponder what on earth had transpired.

Golden luminescence began to ripple forth from Saelika.

“I’m genuinely furious.”
“….”
“More than when someone said Artemia had a terrible personality.”

Uuuuuuuuuung—!
The Divine Hearts of Artemia’s Temple Priest and the Priests resonated and trembled in response to the Sacred Maiden’s wrath.

That was not all.
The rings of Asquiel, Serha, Anakin, Kailros, and Enrik rotated.
Saelika’s fury forcibly drew forth the power of the angels.

“You’re truly finished.”

The heavens and earth trembled beneath the immense power.
A wave arose as if space itself would tear asunder.

A power incomparable to anything before.
A power that burned away darkness and annihilated evil.
That infinitely sacred… and ferocious power crystallized.
In Saelika’s fist.

Craaaaaaaaash!
Saelika’s fist drove straight down upon Amelia.

Kyaaaaaaaaaah!
Black energy erupted from Amelia’s eyes, nose, ears, and lips.

The energy that fled desperately was immediately consumed by the golden luminescence.
Parmanase, who had dwelled within Amelia, was completely annihilated.

“Kugh…!”

Amelia rolled across the ground like a marionette with severed strings.
Her entire body was tattered and torn.

“Th-this can’t be… I… my power…”

Even as she spat out black liquid, Amelia’s hands trembled across her own body.
The boundless power that had filled me completely had vanished.

“A god dwelled within me… No, I was a living god myself. And yet—.”

Despite her ruined state, Amelia glared at Saelika with venomous hatred.

“To be defeated by the likes of you, when I am a living god…!”

Crack!
Saelika struck Amelia across the face.

“Stop testing my patience. I might kill you right here.”
“…”
“The only reason you’re alive is because your judgment isn’t mine alone to deliver.”

Amelia had countless victims.
Saelika had no intention of letting Amelia die peacefully, stripped of everything as she was.
She would ensure she paid the proper price for her sins.

Saelika lifted her gaze.
Beatrix was being dragged forward, held captive by the Fathers.

Beyond them, the sky that had been shrouded in darkness was beginning to brighten.
The calamity was ending.

* * *

‘I thought it was over.’

I gazed uneasily to my right.
Asquiel, Serha, Anakin, Kailros, and Enrik stood with rigid expressions.

I turned my eyes to my left.
Ardin’s Father, Kaiser, Randel, and Serge Uncle stood with clenched jaws.
Beside them stood Mikhail and Demian, as well as Ilay, Edmund, and Dmitri.

And finally, directly before me….

“Ah, should I introduce myself?”

Shuri was grinning widely.

‘Why does it feel like the calamity is starting all over again?’

—————
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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