I Became the Youngest Disciple of the Martial God

None of the three believed her.

It was only natural.

Evan knew the Church was a deceitful group.

Charon wasn’t one to trust the word of his enemy so easily.

And Sellen simply relied on intuition.

Of course, Princess Ferith didn’t seem to care whether they believed her.

Instead, she sipped her tea with her characteristic grace. Sellen found that dainty raised pinky quite irritating...

The moment Princess Ferith set her teacup down, a battle began.

Clink.

The walls on both sides flipped and a hundred puppets poured out.

The three did not panic.

The young heroes immediately created distance and engaged in their individual battles.

“...”

The princess watched with interest.

Rather than group together, they scattered upon the appearance of enemies. It was as if they knew they wouldn’t work well as a team.

In that case, fighting within their respective spaces without interfering with each other was the best they could do in this situation.

“...”

That was the best option they could grasp, but it was not the optimal one.

Fighting alone against enemies on all sides was very different from doing so with three people.

The princess observed the three simultaneous battles.

Charon Woodjack: Wielded multiple weapons. Had the keenest eyes. Even when surrounded by puppets, he occasionally glanced her way—proof of his wide field of vision.

Evan Helvin: A man of strong fundamental skills. As a young hero, that was expected, but he appeared to possess latent talent that would develop over time. His swordsmanship and movements were simple yet solid. His type often became formidable martial artists with no weaknesses.

Sellen Goodspring: In addition to her many blessings, she seemed to have completed her contract with a divine beast. She skillfully wielded the challenging rapier and occasionally her cold ki.

And all three have cards hidden up their sleeves.

The princess chuckled silently.

As expected. They are interesting opponents.

They hadn’t even fully matured yet, but that made this all the more fun. They’d probably grow a stage or two through this fight alone.

Princess Ferith liked to eat slightly uncooked steak, and she enjoyed the unique taste of unripe fruit. They held unexpected elements compared to the normal taste and texture people preferred.

That was why she found “well done” boring.

Once the peak of flavor was reached, the only way to go was down.

“Hmm hmm...”

The princess suddenly began to hum a tune and tap her fingers in the air as if playing an invisible piano.

Under the crimson light, her actions only made her look like a madwoman.

But... perhaps because she was royalty, there was a strange dignity in her movements.

And somehow, from somewhere unknown, piano music began to play, matching the princess’s gestures...

It was at this moment when the chaotic movements of the puppets became orderly.

Of the three young heroes, Charon was the first to realize it.

Charon watched the lunatic dancing under the moonlight and thought, No matter how many times I see it, her physical abilities are pathetic.

In other words, Charon could kill the princess if just two conditions were met: A distance of less than three steps, and time for a single breath.

“...”

Charon’s eyes darkened. He realized he was the only one here who could fulfill that role—he doubted the other two had any experience with killing.

Still too far.

If three steps was not possible, then five would suffice.

In Charon’s head, he created simulations. Even if he had to strain and push himself, he could throw his sword at her to pierce the princess’s throat completely.

Back in reality, Charon was subtly closing the distance to the princess, step by step.

That woman, relaxedly hitting invisible keys in the air, was oblivious to Charon's silent but determined advance, seemingly lost in her complacency.

Big Bro is dead?

Not even a scoff escaped him.

Charon Woodjack...

He hadn’t simply succumbed to Luan’s violence. He didn’t call Luan “Big Bro” because the pain had scared him or because the suffering had been unbearable. Charon had never met anyone who had greater pain tolerance than himself.

—You were taught all wrong.

—You’re not his disciple, you’re his substitute.

—Is it really fun, living as a puppet?

For as long as Charon could remember, his father had ever been in the back of his mind. Going to the training camp had been his father’s will. Afterward, he had been ordered to return immediately.

Yet Charon was at the academy.

For the first time in his life, he had defied his father.

When he’d done that, his mind had been filled not with dread or fear but exhilaration.

The feeling of freedom, as if floating through the sky... He’d never realized how joyous it was to be able to think for himself and make his own decisions.

Only then had he understood.

Luan’s words had angered him not because his father had been insulted but because it had all been true.

He could have ignored me.

He could have pretended a human like me didn’t exist.

But Luan hadn’t done that.

He took the trouble to correct me. His violence was harsh, but now I wonder...

Perhaps Luan’s punches hadn’t just broken his body but also the chains binding his mind.

Charon was truly grateful for his big bro’s efforts.

There’s no way he’s dead, you stupid woman.

She might have the status and the looks, but the brain? He wasn’t convinced.

A sneer crossed Charon’s face as he took another step forward...

* * * * *

* * * * *

On the other side of the room, Sellen was quietly admiring the princess’s tactics.

Did she study military strategy or something?

She was handling the puppet soldiers with impeccable uniformity.

Of course, managing mindless, fearless toy soldiers was far easier than real humans...

Even so, Sellen was impressed.

The puppets' formation is getting annoying.

Not only was there a lot of pressure from their well-organized formation, but the princess even had individual puppets moving independently to catch them off guard.

If this was a display of the princess’s skills and tactics, then this situation was a whole lot more serious than they’d thought.

It meant the princess was not just commanding them as an army but micromanaging each one individually.

Sellen found that hard to imagine.

To achieve this... how finely must her thought processes be divided, and how wide must her view of the battlefield be?

Of course, it might be possible because she’s facing just us three, but...

While her tactics showed her genius, something was off.

It felt as though her strategies were those of a seasoned general who had fought dozens of wars.

Sellen pondered why that might be, but she found no clear answer.

However, one thing was clear.

I will be the one to defeat her.

Without warning, Sellen was struck by a pang of discomfort. She scoffed as she thought, How ridiculous.Surely I’m not actually considering the princess a friend?

Seren sneered and thrust her rapier forward.

Shhk!

Nearby, Evan, who was swinging his sword, suddenly thought, Am I the one in the least danger?

A quick glance around confirmed it.

The puppets surrounding Evan were significantly lower in both number and quality, suggesting he was the least threatening of the three.

“Evan the Young Hero” felt humiliated... while “Evan the Vice-Cult Leader” saw this as an opportunity.

Which side should he prioritize?

Evan was torn, but after a moment of contemplation, he leaned toward the latter.

Pride was an important part of being human, but now was not the time to worry about that.

There's only one thing that matters.

When the opportunity eventually came, Evan the Young Hero wouldn’t be able to seize it.

But Evan the Vice-Cult Leader would.

No, actually, he didn’t have to wait for an opportunity. If he were to use the demonic energy stirring inside of him right now, he could kill or subdue the princess.

The memories of evil were whispering to him.

Despite her royal blood, despite that she’d even summoned a demon lord, she was still a cultist. No matter how talented she was, the vessel of a vice-cult leader was different from her, a mere cultist.

Furthermore, the demonic energy emanating from the princess wasn’t particularly strong.

It was clear that she was controlling the puppets, but her level as a cultist didn’t seem particularly high.

Maybe her royal blood was causing some sort of rejection?

Evan wasn’t entirely sure about the process of an imperial member becoming a cultist, so he couldn’t say.

The only problem is...

If he used demonic energy here, Charon and Sellen would undoubtedly witness it.

This was the sole reason he was hesitating.

Even if he managed to kill her, it would be meaningless if it meant exposing himself as a member of the Church.

Right now, Evan was struggling with his identity. He did not want to abandon his identity as either a hero or a vice-cult leader. Not yet.

Charon and Sellen. In the heat of this battle, Evan could admit that he saw a semblance of camaraderie forming between them.

However, trusting them was another matter. To be truthful, he didn’t trust them completely.

In fact, even if his closest friend Karis were here, Evan would still hesitate to use demonic energy.

Evan found his situation laughable. The only person he could truly trust now was Luan Bednicker.

Is this right?

To think he would trust a Bednicker, the family led by the strongest demon hunter.

But even though that guy knew that Evan was a cultist, he’d kept quiet.

...How am I supposed to go about this?

For the first time since his awakening as a vice-cult leader, Evan felt extremely confused.

All the while, Evan the Vice-Cult Leader kept whispering, It’s simple. Kill the princess. Kill Charon. Kill Sellen.

Murder, obliteration, a perfect crime. Isn’t it perfect?

...Shut up, Evan muttered internally.

* * *

My blessing suddenly activated, just like that?

I was puzzled, but I quickly scanned my surroundings.

Something... feels off.

I’d only experienced this blessing once before, but even so, I was sure this situation was not normal.

The unidentified voice cutting out was strange too.

I was still surrounded by darkness, with an eerie mist drifting in from somewhere.

Jingle.

Amidst it all, the sound of a bell reached my ears, and I knew exactly what the sound was.

It was the sound of the bell attached to the end of Senior Sister Cheon’s iron fan.

Senior Sister Cheon had the faintest presence of all the martial artists I knew.

Sometimes, even when she was right in front of me, it felt like I was gazing at a calm lake, not a human.

One day, when I’d expressed my discomfort to her, Senior Sister Cheon had chuckled softly and attached a bell to the end of her iron fan.

She’d only done it out of consideration for me, but it somehow felt like putting a bell on a cat’s collar.

Jingle.

Now the sound served as something like a landmark in this place where I couldn’t see an inch ahead.

So, given a hint, I slowly made my way toward the sound of the bell...

Before long, I arrived somewhere even stranger.

There was a signpost planted in the darkness.

“Mm...”

These damn signs. Nothing good ever happens whenever these things show up.

Anyway, the sign had two arrows pointing in different directions.

Did that mean the road forked?

Jingle.

The sound of the bell was coming from the left.

The moment I glanced that way, the mist, which had been drifting gently, began to gather in the air and slowly take the shape of Spirit Mountain.

There, on the rocky mountain, I saw a blurry figure. It clearly was the source of the sound.

I walked toward it instinctively before suddenly stopping in my tracks.

If the left led to Spirit Mountain, then what about the right?

To my right, the mist also began to take shape.

Like objects reflecting on a rippling water surface, blurry shapes began to form...

There, too, familiar faces soon appeared. Young heroes in the middle of a fight.

Had they already come across the princess?

Honestly, their situation didn’t look great. They were on the brink of hopelessness, but I could tell their odds were slim.

“...Oh.”

Suddenly, I understood the situation.

I haven’t regressed yet.

To be precise, I was in the moment just before regressing.

If I went left, I'd go straight to Spirit Mountain and regress...

If I went right, I would return to the original timeline.

“...”

Faced with this sudden choice, I spent some time in silence.

____