Chapter 773

Chapter 773

My World Is... (8)

There were many kinds of weaknesses.

Even someone with a strong body could have a weak mind, and conversely, someone with a strong mind could have a weak body.

But the priest could say with certainty—there was no one “weak” here.

The one he had been fighting was a powerhouse, lacking neither physical strength nor mental fortitude.

No, in the first place, if a Transcendent was considered weak, then who in the world could possibly be strong?

The priest grabbed Ghislain’s hand and asked,

“Wh-Who are you talking about...? I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding...”

Ghislain tilted his head back once, then said,

“Him. That one. The guy who was fighting you and is now half-dead. His body’s frail, and his mind’s even weaker. It’s not just once or twice that he’s whined during training and tried to run away.”

“…”

The priest couldn’t believe it. From what he’d just heard, the guy really did sound kind of feeble.

Then who the hell had he been fighting just now?!

But there wasn’t time to dwell on that. The one who now stood before him gave off an even more dangerous aura than the previous opponent.

The priest gathered his energy. He might have been caught off guard earlier, but he didn’t believe for a second that he was weaker.

Rumble!

He grabbed Ghislain’s arm and poured all his energy into it. He meant to shatter the arm completely.

But Ghislain scoffed and said,

“What? Gonna try brute force?”

Ghislain was already in a pretty exhausted state himself. He had fought fiercely with Rahmod, and both his stamina and mana were nearly depleted.

But the priest he was now holding was equally worn out. He had taken a blow from divine power and Kyle’s final strike, and he too was drained.

Ghislain drew up his remaining mana and tightened his grip on the priest’s neck even harder.

Crack!

“Guhak!”

The priest couldn’t even come close to breaking Ghislain’s arm. All he could do was struggle against the immense pressure crushing his throat.

Barely managing to speak, he gasped out,

“W-Who are you...?”

“His guardian.”

“Y-You’re insane...”

The priest was dumbfounded. Even hearing it directly, he couldn’t believe it.

A Transcendent with a guardian? What kind of nonsense was that?!

But Ghislain meant it.

Julien, Deneb, Kyle even after their awakenings, none of them were up to his standards yet.

To fight against the Demonic Abyss and save the world, they had to become far stronger than they were now. That’s why, in Ghislain’s eyes, he still couldn’t rest easy.

They still felt like children let loose near the water’s edge, didn’t they?

Hearing that, Kyle chuckled and collapsed to the ground.

“Damn it... I’m a Transcendent now, you know.”

Saying that, Kyle laid flat on the floor.

He had thought he was a goner but then Ghislain had appeared.

That alone allowed him to lie down and rest in peace. That’s how much trust Ghislain inspired, unwavering and absolute.

So even if Ghislain claimed to be his guardian, Kyle couldn’t argue.

‘Still, I’m a Transcendent now. I must be stronger than Julien at least.’

Kyle closed his eyes and smirked. It finally felt like he had won their rivalry.

‘Maybe I should go ahead and take the position of Corps Commander?’

Ambitious thoughts floated into his mind. With such cheerful musings, Kyle slowly drifted off to sleep. His body was far too exhausted to stay awake any longer.

Ghislain glanced back and smiled.

“You did well. Get some rest.”

At those words, Kyle fully relaxed and passed out.

Now he could leave everything to Ghislain. If he did, everything would be taken care of.

The priest gritted his teeth. He didn’t like how leisurely the man was acting right in front of him.

But his opponent looked quite formidable. First, he needed to create some distance and properly gauge his power.

A force like this couldn’t be shaken off easily. The priest drew out his energy without reservation and fired it toward Ghislain’s face.

Fwaaaaang!

Ghislain tilted his head to dodge it. Taking advantage of that gap, the priest broke free from the hold.

The two now stood face to face. Instead of reaching for the sword at his waist, Ghislain drew a staff from subspace.

Gramdyr was a fine weapon, but it was more effective against strong foes like Rahmod. When it came to weaker (?) enemies, beating them down with a staff just had better feedback.

Even after creating distance, the priest didn’t stop. He unleashed his power again.

Boom!

A black energy split the earth.

From the priest’s fingertips, the force exploded outward like a massive wave.

Shattered rocks, upturned earth, cracked ground.

But Ghislain dodged it all with pinpoint precision.

“That’s it? Looks like it’s only good enough to bully the weak.”

Ghislain surged forward. The priest gritted his teeth and swept his hand through the air.

Fwoooosh!

Black energy swirled around the priest, forming a massive curtain.

Ghislain’s eyes gleamed. He was analyzing the curtain’s structure. The moment he grasped its pattern, he swung his staff directly at it.

The staff, gripped in both hands, tore through the air with a thunderous roar.

Boom!

Ghislain’s staff shredded the curtain of darkness, revealing the priest behind it.

“U-Unbelievable...”

The priest was stunned. He had poured an immense amount of energy into defense, yet it had been destroyed so effortlessly!

And the opponent didn’t even seem to be using much strength.

As he tried to gather his energy again, Ghislain’s figure suddenly vanished.

“...!”

The moment the priest reflexively turned around—

Ghislain’s staff came flying at him from behind.

Boom!

“Guhhak!”

A few of the priest’s teeth were sent flying through the air after taking a blow straight to the face. His body, knocked back in an instant, rolled across the ground.

“Gahhh! You bastard...!”

Coughing up blood, the priest sprang back to his feet.

Ghislain clicked his tongue and muttered,

“Guess I really am running low on strength.”

His attack hadn’t been fully charged with mana, and so the opponent managed to withstand it. He was still using the Power of Will in small bursts, but it didn’t seem like he could keep it up for many more times.

The priest extended his hand and unleashed another black storm.

Ghislain boldly swung his staff toward the oncoming storm.

Bang! Bang! Boooom!

With each swing of his staff, the storm was torn apart and scattered into the air.

Seeing that, the priest stumbled backward.

“W-What the hell? What is that?!”

His opponent wasn’t overpowering the energy with brute force. Somehow, he was disrupting it with minimal power.

This was clearly... similar to the final attack that unconscious guy had launched. No—this was on an entirely different level.

While the priest stood stunned, Ghislain had already closed the distance.

Whoosh!

Seeing the incoming staff, the priest twisted his body just in time to dodge. The staff struck the ground right next to him.

Boom!

“Urgh?!”

The intense shockwave launched the priest into the air. Before he could regain his footing, Ghislain’s staff struck his side.

Thwack!

“Gahh!”

True to being a Transcendent, the priest released energy even as he was blown back.

But a haphazard counterattack wasn’t going to land on Ghislain.

Easily dodging it, Ghislain drove his staff into the priest’s abdomen.

Thud!

The priest’s body bent in half and went flying, rolling across the ground several times.

“Ugh...!”

Coughing up blood as he rose, the priest’s face had turned pale.

‘No. This is someone I can’t handle.’

Judging by the energy alone, he had thought the fight was doable. His opponent looked just as drained as he was.

But once the fight began, he couldn’t even touch the guy’s clothes. The way Ghislain moved—it was on an entirely different plane.

Even setting aside the strange abilities, the sheer level of technique was beyond anything he could contend with.

‘What the hell is he? Who is he?’

His appearance was a mess, his face pale. He had clearly just come from an intense battle but how could he move like that?

‘Wait... if he came here after fighting...’

A grim realization suddenly struck the priest.

As Ghislain approached, the priest stretched out his hand and shouted,

“W-Wait!”

“What? I don’t take surrenders.”

“Who... who are you?”

“Astion.”

“Th-The Mad Mercenary Mage?!”

The priest swallowed hard.

He, too, was well aware of the Julien Mercenary Corps. They had planned to deal with that group after this mission was over.

The corps had interfered in their affairs far too often.

But to think those guys were meddling here too!

The priest cautiously asked,

“You... who were you fighting just now?”

He clearly looked like he had come from battle. And he had appeared from the direction of Valskrum’s royal fortress.

There were two Prophets stationed there. That’s why the priest asked, just in case.

Ghislain chuckled lightly and answered,

“Rahmod.”

“…”

“And that one named Tagmah was there too.”

“H-How did the two of them fare?”

“They’re dead. Cleanly dealt with. They were truly powerful foes.”

“…”

“They were beheaded, helplessly, by the Saintess’s divine power. You felt that divine power too, didn’t you?”

“L-Lies...”

The priest trembled all over. He didn’t want to believe it, he couldn’t believe it.

But he also couldn’t deny it.

If it weren’t true, someone as powerful as Astion wouldn’t be here now.

And there was another reason he couldn’t refute it.

‘Could that divine power really have been...?’

That sudden surge of divine power that had swept through the area.

It had lasted only a moment, but the sheer force was overwhelming. And it had clearly emanated from the direction of Valskrum’s center.

If the Prophets had taken that kind of divine power at close range... then yes, it was entirely possible they had been defeated.

Now, the priest could fully grasp the situation.

The Prophets really were dead, and that empty-handed monster had shown up here to assist.

His face now completely pale, he turned his back.

He had to escape. The other High Priests and Black Mages were probably all dying too.

But before he could even take a step, Ghislain blocked his path and swung his staff.

The staff slammed into the priest’s body once again.

Boom!

“Gahhek!”

With the sound of ribs shattering, the priest was flung aside.

“Run? Now? If you were going to run, you shouldn’t have been bullying the weak in the first place.”

Ghislain darted toward the priest again.

The priest, staggering, tried to push himself up, but before he could—

Crack!

Ghislain struck his knee with the staff.

“Gyaaaah!”

His knee twisted and buckled. As his stance collapsed, Ghislain slammed the staff down on the back of his hand.

Smash!

“Aaargh!”

The priest’s hand lost all shape. Without pause, Ghislain brought the staff down on his back.

Boom!

The priest’s body slammed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. He was now completely dazed by the pain.

‘I-I have to run…’

The priest couldn’t even think of resisting until the end. He was completely consumed by terror and focused only on escaping.

His fighting spirit had already been crushed. He couldn’t even muster the will to self-destruct.

Ghislain raised his staff as he looked down at the priest.

“Kyle nearly died because of you. Time to pay for tormenting someone weaker than you.”

“W-Wait—”

Boom!

“Gaaah!”

Ghislain mercilessly brought his staff down on the fallen priest. The blow was so powerful that the earth cracked beneath the priest’s body.

But Ghislain didn’t stop.

“This one’s for Julien.”

Boom!

“This one’s for Deneb.”

Boom!

“This one’s for Dark, who perished fighting here.”

Boom!

“This one’s for Osval... Lionel... Ereneth... Rio... Andrew... Uh... who else... right, Belinda... Gillian... Arel... Vanessa... Alfoi... Claude... Kaor... Jerome... Parniel... Elena... Piote... Wendy... Lumina... Lowell... Ascon... Galbarik... Rosalyn... Gordon... Lucas... Porisco... Kong... Amelia... Bastet... Kane... Kkoko...”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ghislain just kept swinging his staff, spouting off every name he knew.

Of course, the priest didn’t recognize a single one of them. He couldn’t understand why he was being beaten on behalf of people he didn’t even know.

Some of those names even sounded like animals.

“Gahk! Gahh! Guhhuk!”

The priest screamed as the blows kept raining down. Already weakened, his energy continued to vanish with each strike.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As time passed, the priest’s body became more and more flattened. His screams stopped, leaving only faint, intermittent breathing.

Ghislain’s attacks were powerful enough to crack the earth. After taking dozens perhaps hundreds of such blows, not even a Transcendent could endure.

Eventually, Ghislain stopped and wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Phew... Guy’s got a weaker will than I thought. Couldn’t even withstand this minor bit of discipline.”

He had also prepared for the chance the priest might self-destruct, like others before him. But this one had completely lost the will to fight and didn’t even try.

Had the priest been in proper condition, Ghislain wouldn’t have been able to push him this far.

The priest had already lost much of his power after being caught in the shock of divine power and Kyle’s final strike.

That was why Ghislain, despite his own exhaustion, could drive him back with sheer skill.

‘And someone who only thinks about running is never hard to handle.’

No matter how powerful a person was, the moment they lost the will to fight, it was as good as defeat.

Ghislain turned around.

Kyle lay unconscious, covered in blood.

He was weaker than the priest but he had never lost his will to fight.

He didn’t give up. He fought until the very end.

One had overwhelming strength but tried to flee after losing resolve.

The other never backed down, even at the brink of collapse.

This battlefield itself had proven who was truly strong.

Ghislain smiled with satisfaction.

‘You’ve grown well. More than I expected.’

Honestly, he had thought it would take Kyle a bit longer to become a Transcendent.

But in this battle, Kyle had thrown everything he had into the fight and finally crossed that wall.

Ghislain had heard from Dark about the mindset Kyle held during this fight.

And that spirit—it was admirable. Just as expected of someone destined to save the world. He really was built differently.

Turning back to the priest, Ghislain raised his staff.

“Let’s finish this.”

“S-Spare me…”

The priest whispered with a dying voice.

But Ghislain responded coldly,

“There's no such thing between us.”

Thwack!

With a decisive swing, Ghislain shattered the priest’s head.

With that, every priest from the Salvation Church who had invaded Valskrum was dead. The enemies who had been fighting the Dwarf warriors had mostly been dealt with as well.

“Let’s go.”

Hoisting the unconscious Kyle onto his back, Ghislain began walking back to the royal fortress.

Everything had been resolved.

They had repelled the Salvation Church’s invasion and killed the powerful Prophets. Grondal had even promised to hand over the Sacred Stone.

But it wasn’t quite over yet.

A crucial negotiation with Grondal still remained.