I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 698: The Holy War of Chaos (4)

'Arkenis. You have glimpsed the future.'

The continuing fight was enough to make one grow fond of someone.

What he learned from this was that Arkenis was unexpectedly quite talkative.

Everyone in the religious order revered and looked up to her. Given her position, she had to match the expectations and whims of such people.

There was no opportunity for her to comfortably confide her troubles to others.

Her occasional grumbling to Surna was a reaction to such an environment.

The question of why the saint would do this to him, a demon, disappeared after several rounds of continued complaints.

Arkenis told many stories.

Most of them were about the future she had seen through her Judgement Eye.

-You know, later on, strange iron carriages move without horses? Oh, there are horses too. But they're made of steel. People now only make golems out of stone, but later they make them out of metal.

Arkenis excitedly chattered about having seen such things.

At that time, Surna didn't understand what Arkenis was talking about.

Back then, there was no concept of automobiles, steam golems, or magical engineering.

Looking back now, it was amazing. It meant that Arkenis had seen nearly a thousand years into the future at that time.

Unlike the people of that time who were barbaric by current standards, the reason Arkenis was kind to everyone might have been for that reason.

'Did you see this far? That this war would happen. That I would act like this?'

Arkenis said that the Judgment Eye wasn't omnipotent.

Even if you see it, you can't change the great flow, and if you try to change even trivial things, the ripple effects cause more terrible things to happen.

Moreover, the Judgment Eye didn't show the desired future at every moment.

She could see the near future as naturally as breathing, but the more she tried to see the distant future, the less accurate it became.

The future she saw a thousand years ahead was ultimately just scattered fragments of scenes.

He wondered if explaining such things had any meaning.

But at least in those moments, her appearance as she excitedly chattered about what she had seen was, how should he put it, she looked so happy.

So he just quietly listened to her, as he remembered.

-You know. Someday I want to live in such a world too. Not as a saint or anything, but just as one person named Arkenis.

At least in those moments, she could escape from the position of saint and become a girl befitting her age.

Perhaps it was because he wanted to keep seeing her like that that he continued to challenge her even knowing he would lose.

To meet her under the pretext of fighting.

Surna erased the past thoughts from his past mind.

The past was ultimately something that had passed.

Now was the time to focus on the immediate situation.

"How long will it take for the relic's power to be fully charged?"

"That's hard for me to predict too. But it won't take that long. The problem is what comes after. There are still many walls to overcome."

"I suppose so."

"Are you ready?"

Rudger asked, looking at Surna with transparent eyes.

"It's almost time. This leisurely conversation of ours will be the last."

"Has it already come to that?"

"As I already told you, I cannot help you. I can't spare my strength while Salesin is still around. That guy will definitely come looking for an opportunity."

"I know. I never expected help in the first place. This has to be my fight."

Surna spoke the word "fight."

As if he knew what he would do after this conversation.

"Since this is the last time, let me say this. I don't think what you did was right. Whatever the reason, what you committed was scattering chaos into this world."

"Nagging me now?"

Surna chuckled.

"But I can't deny those words."

"Your actions won't be forgiven. But I've come to understand what you're acting for."

So, Rudger continued.

"At least I will support you in achieving that goal."

The two were different.

Their origins and the paths they had lived were different.

The means they used to achieve their purposes were different, and everything they had born, experienced, seen, and heard was all different.

Originally, the two would never have understood each other.

But with just one thing - knowing what each other's goals were, the two could form a common understanding and genuinely support each other.

"It begins."

Rudger sensed that the ritual had moved to the 4th stage.

The 4th stage brought no changes to the citadel.

Instead, the change occurred in the giant hole in the ground created when the citadel flew up.

The black hole created when the massive structure was completely exposed.

Something squirmed in that darkness that seemed to lead to hell, then shot up at tremendous speed.

The whitish thing was a giant tree.

A gaunt tree with everything tinted white, without a single leaf.

The tree burst out of the hole and reached the Galahad Citadel that had soared high into the sky.

-Creak creak creak.

The tree branches burrowed into the underground citadel's spires that pointed downward.

The citadel that seemed like it would fly endlessly upward stopped.

A tree that grew tall enough to catch the citadel that had penetrated the clouds in one go.

At that surreal sight, the people remaining on the ground doubted their own eyes.

It was the same for Rene.

'It's the same.'

The scene she had seen in her dream was unfolding exactly the same in reality.

Explosions occurred everywhere and booming sounds rang out.

Soldiers who discovered the approaching Cryptids used guns and bombs.

A giant dragon summoned by Helia appeared in the sky.

A localized typhoon created by Luther swept across the ground.

Hans' gloomy howls fighting Pantos spread out.

It's the same.

The very scene from her dream.

How was she back then?

"Ah."

Rene suddenly realized.

Even seeing this scene, she had taken a step forward.

It wasn't an action she had consciously decided to take with her mind, but something that came out almost instinctively.

As if she was physically practicing that she shouldn't go against the given future.

At that moment, someone touched Rene's shoulder.

"What are you doing right now?"

"It's Julia."

Rene naturally turned to look at Julia.

Julia was glaring at Rene with wide eyes.

"Are you crazy? Where do you think this is that you're coming here! Why are you with the saint in the first place!"

"...I had my circumstances too. But more than that, doesn't this situation seem familiar somehow?"

"Familiar...?"

Julia finally realized what Rene was talking about.

"It's exactly the same as the scene from the dream, isn't it?"

"It's the same as the prophetic dream you mentioned. I think it's probably because of the special power I possess."

"So what are you going to do? Go to that chaotic place?"

"If I came here, there might be some pull of fate."

Rene's gaze turned toward the citadel caught by the pure white tree.

"The kind of pull that says I absolutely must go there."

"So you're going there? That's a place ordinary people can't even reach!"

"That's right. But I can go. It's possible with my power."

Rene's magical beast appeared above her head.

Julia flinched at the appearance of that peculiar three-dimensional figure-like magical beast she had seen in class.

"...As you know, I'm on Professor Rudger's side. More precisely, I came here to help my friend who follows the professor."

"I know. You're talking about the professor's assistant, right?"

"Are you planning to stop Professor Rudger? Is that why you joined hands with the saint?"

"I just came because I wanted to know. Why I was born with this power, why I came to see this scene. And..."

Rene said with a voice full of determination.

"To see with my own eyes what the professor is trying to do."

-Roarrrrr!

The giant dragon roared and breathed fire from its mouth.

The dragon's breath, spewing out in a straight line, brightly illuminated the dark world and engulfed Catherine.

However, Catherine tore through the dragon's breath with even more intense light and power, and rushed toward the dragon in return.

Her appearance, moving quickly using her wings, was like light itself.

Catherine's fist, wrapped in light, struck the dragon's thick and massive body.

Before Catherine’s fist, even the dragon's hard scales were useless.

-Crack!

The scales shattered completely, and the dragon's body caved in deeply. The dragon twisted its massive body and swung its tail, but Catherine had already climbed up the dragon's body to around its neck.

A sword made of divine power was created in her empty hand.

When Catherine swung it without hesitation, the dragon's neck was severed and it crumbled away like a mirage.

Seeing this, Helia maintained composure on the outside but was inwardly shocked.

The illusion manifested through authority was naturally weaker than the real thing.

But that was relatively weak compared to the real thing; the dragon's phantom itself possessed power equivalent to a legion.

She had summoned three such dragons.

In the distant past, when she was very young, they were uncles who played well with her.

They were strong dragons in the clan and warriors who would step forward when something happened.

Even with three such dragons coordinating their attack, Catherine didn't budge.

Rather, with violent power unbecoming of the name saint, she had already severed the neck of the second dragon.

Now only one remained.

Helia summoned flying beasts to disturb Catherine’s vision, but it was useless.

Catherine’s sky-blue eyes see through everything.

Catherine ignored the flying beasts and rushed toward the last dragon.

"She really fights dirty!"

Helia complained about Catherine’s reckless fighting style.

It wasn't something Helia, who confused opponents with all sorts of illusions, should say, but for Helia, she had no choice but to shout like that.

No matter what she prepared, Catherine saw through everything with her future-seeing eyes.

Considering that Helia's ability specialized in deceiving opponents, it was the worst compatibility.

Even authority strong enough to overturn that compatibility was useless before Catherine’s overwhelming force.

She had never seen anyone shatter dragon scales with bare fists.

Moreover, that reckless fighting style of rushing forward fearlessly without hesitation.

For Helia, it made her spine naturally shiver.

Even now, despite defeating the dragon, as if she had naturally done what she was supposed to do, she moved toward the next target without hesitation.

"Block her!"

The flying beasts that received Helia's command opened their mouths wide and unleashed attacks.

Acidic liquid, black magic power, ear-splitting sound waves.

All sorts of varied and threatening attacks headed toward Catherine, but they were powerless before overwhelming divine power.

Catherine broke through all attacks like a bulldozer.

The moment she judged this would be dangerous, Catherine suddenly stopped in place.

'What?'

Helia could also understand the reason belatedly.

It was because a giant white tree burst out from below the Galahad Citadel and shot up toward the sky.

The withered and twisted white tree heading toward the Galahad Citadel also looked like a giant monster's hand trying to grab something.

"This is..."

Catherine showed a slightly perplexed expression looking at that white tree.

Helia keenly caught Catherine’s change in mood.

"What. You didn't expect something like this?"

Hearing Helia's mockery, Catherine looked at her.

She didn't respond at all, but that was enough for Helia.

Catherine’s authority isn't perfect.

She can see the future, but not everything.

Being surprised by that white tree was exactly the reason.

"Since it's just a fake made using the saint's power, it's natural if you think about it."

Helia threw out a provocation to shake Catherine’s heart.

"In the end, a counterfeit that couldn't become real. It's natural that you and those sisters can't escape that fate."

"Isn't it funny that you're only opening your mouth now after being beaten the whole time? And if I hear those words, do you think I'll let you go nicely? Or should I tear those cute little lips of yours long?"

"Oh my. Being a fake saint, even your way of speaking is crude. I'm so scared, really."

Helia said that, but knowing Catherine’s mood wasn't good, she was tensed up inside.

She managed to buy time and learned that Catherine didn't possess perfect authority.

But that didn't seem like it would change the outcome of this fight.

'Still, I can drag out time as much as I want.'

As if she had already seen through Helia's shallow intentions, Catherine strongly drew out her divine power.

The flying beasts screamed and retreated at the power of divine force spreading large waves through the air.

Helia sensed that Catherine would come at full power.

"Fine. Let's see if you die or I die."

It's do or die.

Helia also created the most powerful illusion she could deploy.

Behind Helia, who was riding on the head of a large dragon, a dragon head several times larger than the existing dragons appeared.

If the dragons Helia called uncles were about 100m tall, the dragon that appeared now was more than 5 times larger.

If the dragons summoned so far were young men, the current dragon was closer to an old man.

The long beard flowing down below his jaw was proof of that.

But that bulk and presence couldn't even be compared to the young dragons.

"What the hell is that?"

Catherine showed a stunned reaction for the first time.

It was a natural reaction since she was directly facing the strongest dragon that had reached the pinnacle of dragons in ancient times, the king of all dragons, the Great Ancient Dragon Heliodor.

The dragon with deep mystery in its eyes glanced down at Helia, then opened its mouth wide.