Chapter 201: The Last Apostle [4]

Chapter 200

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Episode 49 - The Last Apostle [4]

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Behind Adel, the battle between the Apostle and Lumina was fiercely contested, and Lumina had already taken several hits.

’Good, this is the perfect moment.’

After seeing the vision of the future that revealed the outcome of that battle, the first thing Adel had to do was one decisive task.

’I don’t know exactly what the Pillar of the Power of Chaos is, but if I destroy it, the Apostle’s power recovery will become slower.’

Of course, the Apostle was currently recovering his power in real time.

However, the Pillar of the Power of Chaos had given the Apostle a tremendous boost, pushing the Apostle to nearly Class 9.

If the Apostle reached Class 9, stopping the Apostle would become impossible.

Adel and Lumina had barely managed to hold the Apostle back when the Apostle was only Class 7, fighting two against one.

Adel took a deep breath. Then, a pair of black wings appeared on his back.

Whoosh!

The wind roared around Adel as he took flight toward the Pillar of the Power of Chaos.

In an instant, Adel arrived before the pillar and stretched out a hand.

"Annihilation."

"...."

For a second, absolute silence descended upon the area. Then, the Pillar of the Power of Chaos twisted, and in the next instant, it vanished.

’It shouldn’t come back, right?’

The pillar was an external source of energy, different from a living being like the Apostle.

As long as it was not inside a living being, the Pillar of the Power of Chaos could not reappear.

That meant Annihilation could erase the Power of Chaos within a small area of roughly six square meters.

’Now I shouldn’t have to worry about—’

Warning bells rang through Adel’s mind as every instinct screamed that danger was approaching.

Adel tried to move in time, but it was already too late.

Wrapped in the Power of Chaos and amethyst-colored flames, the spear tore through the air at a terrifying speed.

Boom!

Adel felt the exact instant the spear struck. Then, Adel’s left arm was blown away, engulfed in those flames.

"...?!"

Adel tightened the grip on the sword with the right hand and severed what remained of the left arm after feeling a torrent of flames flooding through the body.

Slash!

The rest of the arm fell, and in the blink of an eye, it exploded into a blaze of amethyst fire.

Adel retreated several meters before suddenly ducking.

Kaaang!

A massive sphere of flames exploded exactly where Adel had been standing only a moment earlier.

Adel turned around. The Apostle, who had been near Lumina only a moment ago, was now hovering directly in front of Adel.

Adel raised the sword and blocked the Apostle’s arm, which had transformed into a razor-sharp blade.

Clang!

The air trembled from the impact, but Adel was still sent flying backward.

’Damn...’

Flames swirled around the Apostle as Adel got back to the feet.

The Apostle was about to launch another attack when Lumina appeared behind the Apostle and struck with the palm of her hand.

Crackle!

A surge of silver lightning enveloped the Apostle’s body.

The Apostle’s body froze in place, and then Lumina attacked.

At that very moment, Adel extended a hand and whispered,

"Annihilation."

Then Lumina’s attack struck the Apostle’s body head-on.

Boom! Kaaang!

A silver explosion engulfed the entire sky, and a figure was hurled through the air before crashing into the ground.

Kaaang!

The earth erupted violently, and amid the dust and rubble, the Apostle stood up with much of the body shattered.

Then the Apostle raised a hand toward the sky, creating a gigantic wave of flames.

’Oh, shit...’

Adel quickly rose from the ground. Then, standing about twenty meters in front of the Apostle, Adel extended a hand.

’Even now, I ended up severely injured, just like Lumina, didn’t I?’

Adel had lost an arm, and every part of the body was crying out for a recovery potion.

Meanwhile, Lumina felt as though she could lose consciousness at any moment. Blood spilled from her mouth from time to time, and she pressed one hand against her side, where her bones and internal organs had been crushed.

The Apostle looked at Adel and said,

"You ignorant bastards, aren’t you?"

"It doesn’t really matter if you manage to kill me here, you mere Four-Star Awakened."

"Even if I never return to the Abyss, eventually they will come to this world, sooner or later."

"But it infuriates me that a bunch of damned human brats have interrupted the mission of my life—the glory that I will never be able to enjoy because of you."

"If I die, then I’ll drag all of you down with me, you bastards."

A smile spread across the Apostle’s face.

Adel, however, merely smiled. After extending a hand toward the Apostle, Adel murmured,

"Gravity."

One percent of the world’s gravity manifested and descended upon the Apostle.

Gravity did not increase only where the Apostle stood. An overwhelming pressure descended across a large portion of the mountain.

The Apostle’s body was compressed until it became something unrecognizable. Then, the enormous sphere of flames went out as though it had never existed.

The last emotion Adel sensed from the Apostle was shock and disbelief, as though the Apostle had never expected Adel to possess such an attack.

Whoosh!

Adel fell onto the ground on the back as the surrounding gravity returned to normal.

Adel inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, feeling an overwhelming mental exhaustion.

’I’m so tired... Seriously, I’m lucky that vacation starts tomorrow.’

But then Adel thought about what would happen in a few months.

’It’s going to be a headache, and the mission will probably be just as difficult—or even harder—than this Main Mission.’

Clap!

With a snap of the fingers, the bandage stored in the Inventory appeared around Adel’s eyes.

"...?"

Then, all of a sudden, Adel remembered something.

’Wait... how long has it been since I used Eyes of the End...’

And, as if to remind him, a series of notifications appeared in his mind.

〖!!!Warning!!! The Unique Trait, Eyes of the End, will be temporarily sealed for two days. Until then, find a way to seal them or advance to 5 Stars.〗

〖!!!Warning!!! One of the two side effects of the Unique Trait, Eyes of the End, will be applied as a penalty for failing to unlock its active effects.〗

"....?!"

At that moment, he once again felt his mana being sealed, along with his traits, and to make matters worse...

’You’ve got to be kidding me...’

He raised his hands. They were as small as those of an eight-year-old child.

If Adel could see himself in a mirror, he would probably look like Astrid.

"Ugh... damn it, I can’t even move... this is bad..."

All the cadets would return to the city aboard the airship after using the Gates.

That meant he somehow had to get aboard the airship and remain hidden.

As he thought about it, Lumina continued floating in the air while her vision grew increasingly blurry.

Suddenly, Lumina forced her eyes to focus again. The Apostle had been defeated, and they were still in the middle of the mountain.

They had to return before anyone noticed they were gone.

Lumina descended to the ground. Then she looked around, remembering that Adel was still there.

She scanned the area, but suddenly her body froze.

"....!"

Not far away lay Adel’s armor, but he was nowhere to be seen.

She frowned and walked closer, but then her ears caught the sound of faint breathing.

Lumina quickened her pace, and as she approached, she couldn’t help but stop in her tracks.

"...?!"

Standing before her was Adel... or, at least, a child version of himself.

Meanwhile, as if he had realized that Lumina was standing in front of him, Adel said,

"Um, I need help. I can’t move, and I think we should head back. Otherwise, they might notice we’re gone..."

Adel spoke completely normally, as though his current appearance were perfectly natural.

But for Lumina, it was different.

A memory surfaced in her mind.

"A fun moment at the Academy?"

"Yeah..."

"Mhm, well, there is one."

At the time, Rinna and Julian were talking about their lives at the Academy.

Lumina wasn’t far from them, so whether she wanted to or not, she ended up overhearing them.

"Well, I remember seeing Adel turn into a child version of himself."

Lumina’s ears perked up.

"He said his Unique Trait had side effects, and one of them turned him into a child."

"Oh, hahaha, that’s surreal. If Adel heard you right now, I wonder what he’d do to you."

"A-ah... I’d better keep my mouth shut."

The memory flashed through her mind before fading away. Then Lumina looked at Adel and murmured,

"Little Adel."

"....?!"

Adel thought he was imagining things, but he was certain Lumina had just called him Little Adel.

The corner of Lumina’s lips curled up slightly.

***

After killing the Apostle Kaiser, we returned to the Abyss Containment Team.

Then I stayed out of everyone’s sight, and eventually it was time to board the airship.

With Lumina’s help, I somehow managed to get aboard the airship and make it to the room assigned to me.

But for some reason, I felt a piercing gaze fixed on me the entire day.

Since my senses at the time were no different from those of an ordinary person, I couldn’t perceive what was happening around me the way I normally could.

So maybe it was just my imagination.

’Anyway, even after resting all day, I’m still exhausted, so I’ll check the Main Mission reward tomorrow.’

The Mission Window had appeared when I killed the Apostle, but I thought it would be better to check it the following day.

And now, officially, the vacation starts tomorrow.

End of the Exam Arc.

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📢 Author’s Note

Sorry, everyone. For the past twenty days, I’ve only been able to publish one Chapter a day 😅.

The reason is that I’ve been working on my new novel, which will be released on August 1st ✍️📖. Also, since we’ve reached Chapter 200 (or 201 if we count the prologue 🎉), I wanted to take this opportunity to explain why the release schedule has slowed down.

Anyway, I think I’ll be able to return to publishing two Chapters a day starting tomorrow, and perhaps in a couple of days I’ll even begin releasing three Chapters a day 🚀.

This new Vacation Arc 🌴☀️ will be relatively short and will probably continue until around Chapter 220.

In any case, we still have about three or four major story arcs left before we finish Part One of the three parts that make up this novel 📚.

For those who haven’t read the reviews, I mentioned there that this story is divided into three parts, and Part One will likely conclude around Chapter 300 🎯.

Well, that’s everything I wanted to share in this note. Thank you all so much for continuing to read my novel and for staying with me throughout this journey ❤️✨.