Youngest on Top - Chapter 51

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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 51

“Come now, don’t be so serious. You look like someone caught red-handed.”

Devon waved his hand dismissively as if joking.
Shedmon’s fists clenched so tightly they trembled.
He was utterly bewildered.

‘How did they all awaken sacred power? Not just one or two of them!’

What method had they used?
By what means had those worthless Reyatan Trainee Priests grown so dramatically in such a short time?

The confusion wasn’t limited to the adults.
The Reyatan Trainee Priests directly facing the Artemisia Trainee Priests were the most shocked of all.

‘What?! How is this happening? I thought we’d win even while toying with them!’

Hendrick swallowed hard.

‘No. We just need to maintain our color until the end to win.’

He shouted sharply.

“Move faster! Our territory is shrinking!”
“Huh? Y-yes!”

The Reyatan children scrambled to move.

“Once a tile turns red, don’t hesitate—move quickly! Don’t you understand that we need to claim more territory before we collide with them?”
“Y-yes!”

Hendrick pointed to the children at the very front.

“Group 1, the fastest at changing tiles—advance forward!”
“Understood!”
“Group 2, spread to the sides. Group 3, the slowest—fill in the empty tiles between with red!”

Hendrick shouted commands, rallying the children under his control.
The children, who had been floundering in confusion at Artemisia’s unexpected advance, suddenly moved in perfect unison.

The spectators marveled at the sight.

“Impressive—truly worthy of Reyatan’s trainee priests.”
“Perfectly synchronized. Their organization is impeccable.”
“But Artemisia…”

The audience fell silent as they turned their gaze toward Artemisia’s side.

The Artemisia children had no one commanding them.
Naturally, there was no order either.

“Meat!”
“Meat! Three plates!”
“For a whole week!”

They shouted incomprehensible words like battle cries, dashing about recklessly in all directions.
Yet somehow, the tiles were turning blue—it was almost miraculous.

Ilay exhaled heavily.

‘They’re fast, I’ll give them that, but it’s complete chaos.’

The match seemed simple on the surface.
But as a group territory-claiming game, it actually required strategy.

‘If they keep changing tiles haphazardly like this, they’ll have to backtrack to fill in the gaps.’

Movement efficiency had to be considered.
Ilay spoke to Dmitri, who happened to be passing nearby.

“Hey, Dmitri. Can you get the kids to—”
“Gwahahaha, Dmitri is going forth! Everyone, make way!”

Whoosh—!
Dmitri swept past Ilay like a gust of wind.

That one was the most rambunctious of all.
In fact, he was sprinting in a straight line toward the Reyatan Trainee Priests on the opposite side, creating blue tiles beneath his feet as he ran.

Seeing this, Ilay laughed with an exasperated expression.

‘I forgot about that. He’s the real problem.’

Ilay gazed at Dmitri with clouded eyes.
But soon a small shadow entered his field of vision.
It was Saelika.

Glancing at Saelika, I saw she was sitting in the corner, fidgeting.
Sucking on a fruit-flavored lollipop that the High Priest had given her.

When our eyes met, Saelika spat out the candy with a pft.

“Ilay, what are you doing?”

Saelika spoke brightly, waving the lollipop back and forth.

“Did you come to play? Lucky you? Having fun?”
“….”
“If that’s the case, will you let Sae play forever? Just lie in bed all day?”
“…!”

Ilay snapped to attention and began to run.
Watching Ilay dash off, Saelika turned her gaze to Roana.

“Roana, are you worried about your hair style?”
“Huh?”
“If you go bald, you’ll never have to worry about it again. Right?”
“Gasp!”

Roana flinched and bolted forward.
It wasn’t just Ilay and Roana.

“Ugh, you’re resting there? Sae’s fists want to keep moving! (Ugh, you’re taking a break? Sae wants to keep punching!)”
“No, no! I’m still running…!”
“Tired? Why aren’t you switching out? (Tired? Why won’t you switch?)”
“No, not tired at all! Look, I just switched!”

The children who heard Saelika’s voice accelerated three times faster, as if they’d been fitted with boosters.
The empty spaces filled rapidly, and the blue territory expanded swiftly.
Faster than the Reyatan trainees moving in perfect coordination.

Ilay understood.

‘Before such tremendous speed and overwhelming numbers, strategy becomes unnecessary.’

The efficiency of movement patterns meant nothing.
Without strategy, simply driving people forward would fill the tiles.

The Artemisia Temple trainee priests ran for their lives.
It felt like a fire-breathing dragon was chasing them from behind.

‘If we get caught, we’re done for.’
‘We’re really going to die…!’

Saelika, watching this unfold, put the lollipop she’d been holding back into her mouth.

* * *

Switching tiles—or rather, claiming territory—began from opposite ends.
Which meant they would inevitably meet.
The children who faced off gritted their teeth.

“Get out of the way!”
“Hmph, you get out of the way!”

Boom!
The Artemisia and Reyatan trainee priests collided head-on.

“Yes! Finally!”

At last, the moment the audience had been waiting for arrived.
The spectators watching the match erupted in cheers all at once.
Unlike the excited crowd, Hendrick felt anxious.

‘Damn it, damn it! Our territory is shrinking!’

I had expected the collision to occur when Reyatan had consumed nearly all the ground.
Even if we had clashed at a 5:5 point, my pride would have been wounded, but now we’ve barely surpassed thirty percent.

‘I need to turn this situation around.’

Hendrick was turning the tiles red while scheming how to reverse the situation.
That was when Helene called out to him.

“Hendrick.”
“Sacred Maiden.”
“Don’t be impatient. You have me, after all.”

At the Sacred Maiden’s words, Hendrick and the other trainee priests gained strength all at once.
Hope flickered in the children’s eyes.

“And Hendrick, didn’t Shedmon Elder give you some instructions?”
“…!”
“I think that would be quite helpful in the current situation.”

At Helene’s words, Hendrick grinned wickedly and spoke.

“You truly are the Sacred Maiden.”

A melee was unfolding.
The Reyatan trainee priests had learned many sacred spells.
So they held the advantage in versatility.
But the Artemisia trainee priests knew how to deploy sacred power itself with greater speed.

The trainee priests of both temples maintained a delicate balance.
At the point of collision, neither side was being pushed back or breaking through.

‘In a close contest like this, riding the momentum and creating atmosphere is what matters.’

Hendrick had learned how to create momentum in situations like this.

Fear and shock.
Such emotions were more than enough to freeze children in place.

Hendrick’s gaze swept across the surroundings.
His eyes finally fixed on Saelika.

‘She hasn’t even switched out her tile since earlier, just sitting there sucking on candy.’

Essentially absent from the competition.
Less than a mere spectator.
A child who hadn’t even awakened her sacred power.

How easily would someone like that crumble without putting up a single fight?

Besides, Shedmon Elder had already spoken.

“Hendrick.”
“Yes, Elder!”
“Limbs can break during a competition, can’t they?”
“Well, that is….”
“Even if we’ve gathered for a conference, accidents can happen in a clash of power.”
“An accident…?”
“Grind that arrogant girl’s face so she never smiles again.”

Breaking a child’s arm didn’t particularly appeal to him.

‘But it’s unavoidable for the glory of Reyatan.’

Hendrick’s goal was to become the High Priest of Reyatan, which had become the Octagon.
If Shedmon Elder were to support him wholeheartedly?
He would be one step closer to becoming the future High Priest.

And most of all—.

‘Truth is, I’ve always enjoyed breaking a dove’s wings.’

A cruel smile spread across Hendrick’s face.

* * *

Hendrick quietly approached Saelika, avoiding the ongoing clash.

The child, unaware of the fate about to befall her, unwrapped another candy.
Accustomed to being treated as a mere tagalong, she didn’t seem to expect an attack.

‘How foolish.’

Hendrick despised this type.
The kind of idiot who thought he’d go easy on them just because they were a child.
He hated even more when such fools brazenly climbed above their station.

‘Exactly like this little girl.’

Holy power concentrated in Hendrick’s right arm.
As the leader of the Reyatan Trainee Priests, Hendrick was the strongest among them.
His specialty was close-quarters combat.

The eyes of the Artemisia children who were running turned toward Hendrick.

“What is he doing right now…?”
“Huh?”

Hendrick’s arm muscles bulged, his veins becoming prominent.
The holy power concentrated in his arm was shockingly violent to anyone’s eyes.

It wasn’t simply an attack to steal the opponent’s tile.
It was a powerful force whose very purpose was violence itself—to completely crush a child.

Roana screamed.

“Sae… Sae—!”

Edmund and Ilay stiffened, their shouts piercing the air.

“Sae—!”
“Sae!!”

A massive fist was about to crash down upon the small child.
Something suddenly wedged itself between Hendrick and Saelika.

“…!”
“…?!”

It was Dmitri.
He had positioned himself to block Hendrick.

Crack—!

Hendrick’s fist connected squarely with Dmitri’s face.
It was far more than a simple impact.
The sound of flesh tearing made everyone in the Arena flinch.

The Priests of Artemisia Temple leapt from their seats.

“Dmitri took the hit!”
“Good heavens!”

The Priests of Artemisia cried out, their faces drained of color.

“Will he be alright?!”
“We must stop the match at once and assess his condition—.”

Hendrick’s fist had kicked up an enormous cloud of dust, and the concentrated divine power dissipated like smoke.
Because of this, Dmitri was obscured from view.
They needed to hurry down and check his status.

Just as they were scrambling toward the Arena floor, the Priests of Reyatan spoke up with a chuckle.
The priests of Leviathan chuckled and spoke with amusement.

“You cannot simply halt a match on a whim. It is unthinkable.”
“Indeed, it would be disrespectful to all the spectators who came to this gathering today.”
“Yes, it’s also a matter of courtesy to the audience who came to this meeting today.”

The priests of Artemis raised their voices and shouted.

“The child is injured!”
“This is a match where physical force is employed. Wasn’t it expected that the Trainee Priests would sustain injuries?”
“Minor wounds are one thing! But this is Tile Flipping! It’s not supposed to be a match decided by direct attacks like just now!”
“As long as it’s a match, some level of injury is unavoidable.”
“The severity of injuries has exceeded what could be anticipated from the match’s format!”

The children were still quite young.
That’s why I deliberately structured the competition in an indirect manner.
It carried far less risk of injury than direct attacks against one another.

The Reyatan Priests mocked the Artemisia people.

“My, is there some rule that this match must end with nothing worse than scraped knees?”
“I’ll offer Artemisia some advice. You shouldn’t coddle your children like that.”
“Yes. What will you do later on?”
“When they face monsters, are you planning to keep casting protective barriers around them? Hahahaha!”

The Artemisia Priests clenched their teeth.

“In any case, we must stop the match!”
“Artemisia cannot unilaterally halt the match.”

Shedmon glanced sideways at Sirius, whose face had grown rigid.

“Stopping the match means surrender.”
“…Was that your goal?”
“Goal? That’s quite a leap in logic.”

Shedmon shrugged as if to say he was merely joking.

‘It’s a shame that woman didn’t suffer, but there’s nothing to be done about it.’

If things continued this way, Artemisia Temple would be cornered.
Stop the match, and it means surrender.
Otherwise, a Trainee Priest dies.

At the assembly, I had ignored a dying child to avoid losing.
With just this single fact, Artemisia would be utterly disgraced.

Shedmon asked Anatullio High Priest.

“What will you do? Surrender, or shall we continue the match? I await your decision, High Priest—”

That was when it happened.
The dust from the fist strike settled, and the sacred energy that had turned to smoke dispersed as well.
Slowly, the interior of the arena became visible.

“D-Dmitri…!”

Contrary to what I expected—that he would be lying there with his face covered in blood—Dmitri was standing.
Standing perfectly fine on both feet.

Everyone was shocked at the sight.
The most shocked of all was Hendrick himself, whose fist was still embedded in Dmitri’s cheek.

‘Standing? And he didn’t even budge?’

Dmitri hadn’t moved an inch from where he’d first intervened.
Right behind him stood a small child.

With his head still turned from the impact of the fist, Dmitri opened his mouth.

“What.”

Then he slowly shifted his gaze to look at Hendrick.
The emotionless eyes of Dmitri and the flustered eyes of Hendrick met.
Hendrick’s pupils trembled slightly.

Dmitri asked with an expressionless face.

“Is that all?”

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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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