Youngest on Top - Chapter 280

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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 280

“Saelika…!”

The moment Amelia saw Saelika, her eyes blazed with fury.
She lunged at Saelika with a roar.
But.

Crash!
With merely a slight sidestep from Saelika, Amelia plummeted face-first into the ground.

Beatrix murmured softly as she observed Saelika’s movements.

“What a waste.”

Seeing her again like this, I genuinely felt the loss.

“You were once within my grasp. How different things would have been if the Artemisia Temple hadn’t stolen you away back then.”

Saelika, who had arrived at the Orphanage one day, was not a subject of management.
She was not born during the Mesis period, nor did she possess any remarkable background.
A child of no consequence—one who had never even been reported to Beatrix.

“Everything would have flowed smoothly according to plan. No, it would have been far better.”

Behold the power Saelika possessed.
Hundreds of people had been sacrificed to elevate Amelia’s divine power.
Yet the strength of Saelika alone overwhelmed it all and more.

‘If only I had used that power as a battery.’

Beatrix’s eyes gleamed with avarice.
Saelika let out a soft chuckle.

‘I can see right through what you’re thinking.’

I knew Beatrix well.
I also knew exactly how to deliver a terrible hell upon her.

“It worked.”
“…What?”

Beatrix’s gaze turned toward Saelika.
Saelika met her eyes with a smile.

“What you’re thinking right now—it succeeded.”
“What do you…?”
“I, who grew up in that Orphanage, naturally awakened my sacred power and went to the Parmanasus Temple.”

Beatrix’s lips hardened rigidly.
Her expression was doubtful, but she didn’t interrupt Saelika’s words.

“What happened next, you know better than I do, don’t you? It was agonizing enough to die. Not a metaphor—truly. I actually died.”
“You…”
“Back then, you didn’t even shake hands with the Demons. You thought my power alone was sufficient.”

It was exactly the kind of thought she would have had.
Years ago, she had thought it would be difficult to replenish Amelia’s power as much as she wanted this way.
So she shook hands with the Demons.

“Amelia was truly the world’s guardian and savior. She saved the despairing Perardin Noishurael Duke’s house, lifted the curse of the demon blade…”
“…!”
“How much the Elves and beastmen loved Amelia. At her request, they willingly gave even their treasures. You wanted the power those treasures possessed, didn’t you?”

Beatrix swallowed her breath.
Saelika completely saw through her thoughts.

“Amelia was the only Sacred Maiden who could lift the Crown Prince’s curse, so the Imperial Palace showered her with endless affection.”
“…”
“Thanks to that, the Parmanasus Temple gained tremendous privileges.”

Everything Saelika said was Beatrix’s ideal vision.
She couldn’t doubt it.
These were things no one could know unless Saelika had entered inside Beatrix and come back out!

“Oh, that’s right. The High Priestess selection tournament never took place. Not even the sacred flame that announces calamity burned. Thanks to how perfectly you controlled everything.”
“…!”
“You created quite a fine masterpiece, Beatrix.”

Beatrix’s pupils trembled.

‘All of it… had succeeded?’

I had achieved everything?
I couldn’t believe it.
I didn’t want to believe it.

The current reality was….
Beatrix gazed down at her own hands.
The hands that had always been meticulously maintained were now gaunt and withered.

A past that had already succeeded, yet I couldn’t even remember it.
A present where I had lost everything, a complete and utter failure.
The dissonance between them felt as though my mind would shatter.

“Would you like to know something even more important?”

Saelika’s hand grasped Beatrix’s withered one.

“Beatrix, you couldn’t summon Parmanase back then either.”
“…!”
“That’s why this outcome came to pass.”
“….”
“So I suppose I should say thank you?”

Saelika smiled coldly.
Beatrix’s lips trembled.

“This is… the best outcome I could have imagined?”

She muttered vacantly, then shook her head as if possessed by madness.

“…It’s a lie. It’s a lie, a lie, a lie!!”

Saelika regarded Beatrix with cold eyes.
For someone like Beatrix, this truth would deliver the deepest despair imaginable.
For whatever time remained in her life, she would obsess over today’s events and lose her mind.

On the other hand.

“Hehehehe, what is this?”

Amelia lifted her head.

“So in the end, it was all mine after all!”

She sprang to her feet and shrieked as if seized by madness.

“Perardin Noishurael Duke and the princes, the Elves, the beastmen, the Crown Prince! They were all originally mine, weren’t they? You just said so yourself!!”
“….”
“Yet that wretched little rat of a woman stole them all away—.”
“Yes, that’s right. Amelia, it was all yours.”

Saelika smiled gently and nodded.
She understood Amelia as well as she understood Beatrix.

“But how were you able to possess all of it?”
“What…?”
“You just heard it. Think carefully.”

I could see the mad gleam in Amelia’s eyes turning slowly.

“That’s… impossible. It’s all a lie! You’re saying all of that became possible just by obtaining power from someone like you…? Does that even make sense?!”
“Amelia, you know the truth better than anyone.”

Amelia’s pupils trembled.
Even now, in this moment, she could hear the voices of people.

Saelika, the savior of the world!
Saelika, the noble daughter of God!

It was she who should have been the most special and noble.
It was Saelika who should have stolen it all away.
That’s how it had to be.
And yet.

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!”

Amelia covered her ears and wailed.

* * *

“Are you alright?”

A voice reached me the moment I emerged from the spire.
It was a familiar voice.
When I lifted my head, Shuri stood there, just as I expected.

“How did you know I’d come here?”
“I had a feeling you would.”
“Well, I suppose I do hold grudges.”

I smiled wickedly.

“But I didn’t gouge out anyone’s eyes or sever their limbs. I’m actually too merciful—that’s the real problem.”
“….”

Wait, why was Shuri saying something like that with such a gentle smile?
…It had to be a joke, right?

Though a slight unease crept over me, I shrugged my shoulders.

“For Amelia and Beatrix, what I just said would be far more agonizing than having their eyes gouged out.”

Amelia had lived as the Sacred Maiden of Parmanasus, always revered and praised.
She was the most special being in the world, and everyone else was meant to be nothing but extras for her sake.

“The realization that she is nothing, and that there exists another being she considers truly special—that would be her personal hell.”
“That’s exactly the kind of thought Amelia would have. It would be even more perfect with her eyes gouged out, though.”
“….”
“Every time she glares at you with that resentful look, as if everything has been stolen from her, it truly… irritated me.”

No, this really had to be a joke, right?
His jokes are awfully dark.

I returned to the Artemisia Temple branch with Shuri in the carriage.
Yet something felt oddly turbulent inside.
Recently, every branch of the Artemisia Temple had been crowded and chaotic with people.
But this felt different from usual.

‘What’s going on?’

The moment I stepped inside.

“Saelika.”
“We greet our Savior.”

Several beastmen knelt before me.
They were beastfolk.

“My goodness, what in the world….”
“See, I told you so. They were waiting for Saelika.”
“Those ferocious creatures kneeling like that. Saelika, are you a beast tamer?”

I could hear the whispers of the people from here.

‘Beastfolk have such strong pride. If they cause a commotion….’

But it was needless worry.
Even though the beastfolk’s ears were sharper than mine, they paid no attention.
They remained kneeling, looking up at me.

Paffenpa, the sheep beastman, spoke.

“My apologies, Saelika. But we were deceived as well.”
“….”
“That vile impostor had the same aura flowing within her body as you do. That’s why—.”

I began to understand what power Paffenpa was referring to.

‘Before the regression, the power of mine that Amelia used as a battery must have remained in my soul.’

At the moment when I squeezed every ounce of strength until I was on the verge of death.
The original power from my deepest self—the power from my days as an angel—flowed forth.
It was because of that power that I was able to turn back time.

‘And since I was connected to Amelia as a battery, that power must have flowed into her as well.’

It was a power that could only emerge when squeezed out to the point of death.
While I found it difficult to wield that power, Amelia must have been faintly touched by that aura.

“We who searched for you so desperately and waited for you failed to recognize you, and were deceived by that filthy deceiver. If only that ugly impostor hadn’t pretended to be Saelika….”

Paffenpa’s words continued at length.

‘Hmm, if Amelia heard this directly, she’d really go mad.’

Ah, she’s listening.
I chuckled as I thought of the magic spread throughout the prison.

I didn’t particularly hate the Beastkin.
It wasn’t that I wanted to be treated as someone special by them like Amelia did.

‘Of course, when they interfered with my plans, it was truly annoying.’

That was when it happened.
Reks opened his mouth.

“Make no excuses, Paffenpa.”
“Your Majesty….”

Reks lifted his head, ignoring Paffenpa’s words.

“Saelika.”
“….”
“We who should have aided the Savior failed to recognize the Savior. Our eyes were clouded by deception, and we hindered the Savior. This is an unforgivable sin. Therefore—”

Eyes that resembled both divine and demonic beasts fixed upon me.

“I’ll repay you with my body.”
“…!”
“…!”

The surroundings erupted into chaos in an instant.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my goodness!”
“Did you hear? Did you hear?”
“Wow, they say beastfolk are wild, and it’s certainly….”
“He must be really confident in his body. Well, he has every right to be. Look at those muscles….”

I nodded in acknowledgment.
Indeed, it was a truly beastfolk-like statement.
I raised my fist and spoke.

“Sure! Where do you want to be hit?”
“….”
“….”

A sudden chill of silence descended.
Everyone stared at me with awkward expressions.

‘Wait, that wasn’t it?’

Then there could only be one answer.
They meant repaying through labor.

‘But attending to someone is harder work than it seems. An inexperienced person who’s never served anyone, only been served, couldn’t possibly do it well….’

I politely declined.

“Sorry, but I prefer beastfolk like Barensya over you all.”

Barensya was an incredibly experienced attendant.
She even served someone as difficult as Mikhail perfectly.

The wolf beastfolk Rashka’s eyes filled with shock.

“If it’s Barensya, then surely he was… that kind of preference before.”
“I’ll try, I’ll really try.”
“No, Reks. That’s not something effort can fix. It’s a matter of nature…”

Whatever the beastmen were muttering, none of it reached my ears.
And for good reason—

“…Barensya?”

An overwhelming aura was radiating from beside me.
Shuri’s lips curled into a twisted smile.

“Who the hell is that bastard? What does he do? What does he look like? How old is he?”
“…”
“Ah, you don’t need to tell me everything. Just tell me where he lives and I’ll take care of the rest.”

…What exactly was he planning to take care of?

* * *

The newspapers were in absolute chaos.

Beast King declares, “I will repay with my body.”
Barensya, who is this man chosen by the Great Sacred Maiden!
Barensya, the charm of magnificent fur and sharp features
Crown Prince demands personal information—should this be permitted in modern times?

“What kind of article is this!!”

I crumpled the newspaper with a loud crackle.

‘This won’t do.’

Everywhere I go, I’m the center of attention.
They even reported in the newspapers how I picked up a strawberry that fell on the table and ate it within three seconds.
On the mana network, people were even debating whether the three-second rule was real or not.

It didn’t seem to be this bad before.
How did things come to this?

Whether I go outside or stay inside, it’s a problem either way.
The temple family was one thing, but even my own family’s fussiness was beyond compare.
My Brothers still hadn’t returned to the Heavenly Realm—I had no idea what they were thinking.

‘I naturally assumed they’d return immediately after descending from the altar.’

How could they possibly remain in the mortal realm for this long?

‘No, that’s not the important part.’

Right now, the crucial thing was escaping the temple while evading everyone’s eyes—angels included.
I needed to meet Shuri, but for some reason, everyone had a fit the moment his name was even mentioned.
I couldn’t count how much nagging I endured after returning from the spire with Shuri last time.

‘I can do this!!’

Even in the Heavenly Realm, I had evaded my Brothers and all those countless angels.

In the end, I succeeded.
I managed to meet Shuri without anyone following me!
But then.

“Well, darling. You waited for me in such a secluded place?”

How did Misa get here?!

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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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