Surviving as a Villain at the Academy

89 – The end of Chapter 1. And.

The blue flame impaled the hammer. Gradually, I could feel the hammer, its core collapsing.

No. Estelle shouted, but her voice was drowned out by the noise of the hammer and the candlestick. It was unbelievable that she was caught up in something like this, considering she hadn’t accomplished a single goal.

More than anger and hatred, sadness overwhelmed her.

In her final moments, she finally realized why the candlestick showed hostility towards her. When she resurfaced in the world, using Adrian’s body, the candlestick did not reject her.

However, when she truly revealed her hatred, her anger, when she showed hostility towards the current kingdom which hadn’t committed any sins yet.

The candlestick turned hostile towards her. It judged that she had lost her inherent justice. Even though she had felt confused during her battle with Praach, she eventually had a vague notion that she was wrong.

Praach was right. Her revenge had ended long ago. They had died.

Perhaps Estelle couldn’t tolerate it even more. Knowing that they died so comfortably. Knowing that they died while being blessed by everyone.

The kingdom does not continue through a bloodline succession. Only the choice of God is the most important in the kingdom.

At that time, the composition of the kingdom’s leadership had completely changed. Of course, there were still a few who committed unspeakable acts in the kingdom, but they were a minority.

And there were the descendants of the Pope and Cardinal who sacrificed her. But should the sins of their ancestors be passed on to their descendants? They did no wrong.

If her desire for revenge had not been so great, she would not have killed the innocent along with the guilty. She thought of avenging the previous saints and martyrs.

And it was no different from what those who had wronged her had done. Sacrificing the innocent was what they had done to her.

‘It’s senseless.’

She felt her strength leaving her body. Her control over her body was returning to Adrien.

The last moment was not yet over. Her body, which should have left this world long ago, was still here. The resentment that had filled her soul and kept her from sleeping was now only a faint memory.

She looked up with empty eyes, at the boy holding a torch, its flickering flames casting dancing shadows on the wall.

The boy, Phraehus, met her gaze and said, “You don’t have to worry about what you couldn’t finish.”

Understanding his words, Esther smiled.

“I will avenge the madness of the saints and martyrs.”

She did not speak of revenge, nor did she mention stopping the corruption of the church. But for some reason, Esther felt that he was fully aware of the corruption within the church.

Ah, yes.

Look at that flaming sword. Nothing evil could stand against it.

Then she could go peacefully.

“Thank you.”

She put on the expression of a saint, the one she had worn most often. It was a gentle smile.

And where she had vanished, there remained… only a single, pure, bright divine power, untainted by corruption.

* * *

The priests and monks who had witnessed the scene could not help but question what they had just seen.

A person had appeared, handling the torch of San Francisco.

It was not even the blue flame that had appeared when Phraehus held the torch, a flame that could have burned the world. The appearance was exactly the same as the one recorded in the scriptures, when San Francisco used the torch.

How could this be possible?

“What just happened…?”

The third head of the monks, Aris, looked at the trembling priest, Antonio, and asked with a pale expression. It seemed he couldn’t believe it either.

“Did you see it clearly, Aris?”

“Was it really me who saw it?”

“…If we’re all not wrong.”

“Oh, Deus…”

In one generation, there were three torchbearers. Could it be true?

It is a matter of great excitement for the Empire that Rulsan, the boy who goes by the name of Rulsan, makes his appearance. Moreover, even the small viscount of Lansel managed to recreate the exact appearance of the time when the Holy Valkenja directly used the Sacred Empire.

Is this just a coincidence, or does it mean that the impending evil is that powerful?

Furthermore, even the strongest maiden in the Empire, Saint Tuhi Este, who was hostile to them just now, also mentioned that there is corruption within the Empire.

She did not stay behind out of mere resentment to block their path. Surely, there was something unknown to them.

Moreover, it was true that a cursed land has been gradually forming within the Empire lately, so they nodded with a firm expression.

“Seems like we’ll be quite busy. There might be a corrupt past in the Empire that we don’t know about. And there might be those who continue that corruption.”

Ars cautiously asked Antonio, the bishop.

“…What do you think we should do?”

“We must confront it, shouldn’t we? It seems that Saint Tuhi herself had such strong resentment.”

“It might be dangerous.”

“hahahaha. Has there ever been a fight against evil that wasn’t dangerous?”

“That was a foolish thing to say. I will help too, Bishop Antonio.”

* * *

Chapter 1 has come to an end. The traces of Este and her corrupt divine power were leaving Adrian’s body and purifying into a brilliant light.

My legs gave way, and I slumped down in place.

Honestly, I thought I was going to die. The candlestick had returned to its original shape. The power had completely drained from my body, and I was in a state close to exhaustion.

As I slumped on the ground, I could see a piece of bone fragment wrapped in the radiant divine power that had fallen to the ground.

At that moment, I recalled the wind that had strangely clear sound in the situation where all the other sounds had disappeared, which Este had done earlier.

Calm the wrath of the fallen saints and maidens.

I pledged to her. That I would do what she wanted.

It wasn’t a newly made pledge. In the first place, the content of Chapter 2 was about eradicating the corruption within the Empire.

If Este’s goal was not just the extermination of the entire leadership of the Empire but the extermination of the ‘corrupt’ leadership, then the candlestick probably wouldn’t have been hostile towards her.

I felt a little dizzy. If that was the case, the people lying on the ground here would have been the only ones.

The storyline would have been significantly twisted. No, maybe it was just twisted. Everything was lost, including the momentum towards the future.

It’s fortunate that I managed to stop it. Truly.

Looking at it objectively, even though all of this was my doing, it felt like clearing a big task.

I knew how dangerous it was to interfere with the flow of the narrative.

…The problem is that all the subsequent storylines will be like this. Since Rulsan hasn’t become stronger than this, I would have to help him in various ways for him to become stronger.

Perhaps I should just request a sparring session to help him improve.

That didn’t seem like such a bad idea after all.

I collected the pieces of bones and approached Adrienne cautiously. The priests were already surrounding her, examining her for any injuries.

“Madam Saint!”

Adrienne appeared to be peacefully asleep. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any signs of significant harm to her body… Just to be safe, I asked Bishop Antonio, who was leading the priests, about her condition.

“Is Madam Saint alright?”

“Fortunately, there don’t seem to be any signs of abnormalities. However… it seems she still hasn’t regained consciousness.”

Somehow, Bishop Antonio’s attitude towards me seemed considerably more polite. Well, it’s understandable. I not only saved the Saint, but also prevented anyone from striking Estelle right away.

Furthermore, I even showed him how to handle the candlesticks… So it’s only natural that his attitude towards me would become even more cautious than before.

Considering that Sir Ruslan receives the honor of being knighted as a Holy Knight for defeating Behemoth while handling the candlesticks, there might be a similar occurrence for me as well.

It seems like it might be a bit easier to work in the Holy Kingdom.

Lost in these thoughts, Adrienne suddenly opened her eyes.

Her eyes, slowly regaining focus, met mine.

“Ah…”

A soft gasp escaped her lips.

Then, suddenly, Adrienne grabbed my hands, which were resting on my knees as I knelt down to check her condition, and lowered her head.

“Thank you, Senior Prach.”

Her gratitude surely contained a complex meaning.

In the original work, Lina, who merged with Estelle, fully experienced Estelle’s memories and suffering, so Adrienne must have had a similar experience.

“I only did what needed to be done.”

“Still.”

Adrienne smiled faintly as she looked at me, then sat up. Her brilliant golden hair, the same color as mine, fluttered in the air.

“Let’s go. We’ve wasted enough time because of me.”

Somewhere, I felt a slightly different atmosphere from her.

While watching that sight, I became certain.

Ah, now Chapter 1 is ending and Chapter 2 is beginning.

The Saint has become aware of the corruption in the Holy Kingdom. And quite early on, too.