[Vol. 7] Chapter 272: The Riddle People Showdown!
At the same time, in the real world…
“H-How is she, Miss Violet? Can Her Highness still be saved?”
Amid the broken ruins, the black-haired girl pulled her hand away from the chest of the unconscious princess, who lay with her eyes closed. Other than her partly torn clothes, her body seemed to have fully recovered.
The girl glanced over at Yir Bernard, the [Flying Flower Sword], who stood nearby looking nervous and worried, clearly afraid of interrupting the healing process. She couldn’t help but smile gently.
No wonder she’s said to be chosen by fate… she’s like the main character in a yuri dating game, Carinvega sure has captured the hearts of many girls. Let’s just hope she doesn’t end up like another Minchen…
She took out a long coat and draped it over the princess to cover her exposed chest. Then, the priestess, who had shown up late on purpose after everything had already happened, slowly stood up.
“Her external wounds are not a big deal. I’ve already healed them all. But by the time I arrived, Her Highness’s life signs had already completely stopped. Even if I fix the body using normal holy magic, it’s just restoring her body, there’s no way to bring a dead person’s soul back.”
“What?!”
The pink-and-blue-haired girl’s face turned pale in shock. The others standing nearby, all powerful warriors keeping watch to prevent any more enemies from interrupting, also looked deeply worried. After all, this priestess was said to be the most powerful holy magic user in the whole Academy City Sainz, maybe even the whole world. If she said there was no hope...
Xiluo, still standing guard over his sister with his injuries untreated and a dark look on his face, couldn’t help but speak up.
“Miss Violet… You’re the top holy arts user alive. My sister only stopped breathing just a short while ago. Isn’t there anything that can be done, since she’s only recently passed?”
Although he’d had many disagreements with Violet in the past, she didn’t seem to mind. She wasn’t trying to be difficult, she just told the truth honestly.
“Recently dead, long-time dead… dead is dead. Before death it’s called healing. After death, it’s called resurrection. The level of difficulty between those two is completely different. Do I really need to explain that to you?”
Even though she said that, Xiluo still didn’t give up. He continued, speaking seriously and respectfully…
“But… I heard that the ‘Redemption Saintess’ among the Three Saintesses of the Holy Empire holds the miracle of reviving the dead. She hasn’t even reached the highest level yet, so since your powers are above hers, shouldn’t you be able to do something similar? If you’re worried about the cost or the burden of using resurrection magic, name your price. As long as it can…”
“That’s not really the issue here.”
Not wanting to waste more time arguing, the priestess waved her hand and interrupted Xiluo, shaking her head.
“Relax. Carinvega may have stopped all vital signs, but I’ve already taken the necessary emergency actions. As long as she’s smart enough, and truly wants to change everything from deep in her heart, then [Fate] will surely respond to her wish.”
“And what we need to do now is wait.”
“Huh?”
Everyone nearby, including Xiluo, frowned at her mysterious and confusing answer that didn’t seem to make sense logically.
But Violet didn’t give them a chance to ask further questions.
In truth, the priestess did have the ability to bring Carinvega back to life quickly and wake her up. But doing so in front of everyone would cause all kinds of trouble. She had no desire to deal with endless people coming to beg for similar miracles.
Besides, if she revived the princess in public like this, it would make all her earlier efforts, disappearing on purpose, allowing the “Immortal Magician” to attack and even kill a royal, completely pointless.
It was like how a mother eagle pushes her chicks off a cliff once they’re old enough, forcing them to learn how to fly. Without pushing Carinvega to this life-or-death edge, she would never awaken the true power hidden inside her.
To steer her fate toward a future she was never meant to have, one ending in death, Violet had spent a long time making careful plans.
Sure, it might sound like she was setting the girl up, but in truth, Violet had only guided and encouraged what Carinvega was always going to face. And she had already helped quite a lot. She’d cleared the path for her so thoroughly… surely the girl wouldn’t still mess it up, right?
Thinking this, the black-haired girl suddenly turned her head toward a certain spot, as if sensing something.
At that very moment, a small figure cloaked in dark red landed gently nearby and stood silently at a short distance.
The two girls exchanged a silent glance. Lucine gave a small shake of her head.
“Didn’t catch him. That guy actually used the [Origin Storm] in reverse to hide his tracks. Looks like he stayed in [Morst Underground Labyrinth] all that time just to study it... So sneaky. Ugh, such a pain. One day, I swear I’ll take him down…”
She didn’t say this quietly. In fact, it sounded like she wanted the others nearby to hear her. Sure enough, when the swordsmen realized the attacker had gotten away again, their faces, especially Xiluo’s, turned even darker.
But they knew their place. If it weren’t for Lucine, the Academy Headmaster, that scary magician who came and went like a ghost wouldn’t even need to run. They weren’t dumb enough to point fingers at her for not catching him.
Lucine also didn’t pay much attention to the younger ones. She just glanced at the badly injured imperial prince, Xiluo, made sure he wasn’t in danger, and then looked back at the peaceful face of the unconscious princess. As if no one else were around, she started talking to Violet.
“How is she now...?”
“I’ve done everything I can. Now it’s up to her to pull through. Anyway, you should take the others and leave. If everything goes as planned, what happens next isn’t something normal people can take part in or even watch.”
Saying this casually, Violet suddenly turned her head toward the distant [Tower of Origin], like she remembered something.
“Oh, right. How are things going on your side?”
As if they were on the same strange wavelength, Lucine nodded right away.
“Because of the changes at the [Tower of Nature], the Seven Towers are recovering even faster than expected. The [Desecration]’s influence over Sainz has basically been cleared. The infected are being slowly healed, and the rest are locked up safely. Overall, the damage to the [Tower of Origin] is still within what we can handle. But the main issue now is...”
When she met Violet’s knowing gaze, the priestess nodded slightly in return.
It might sound cold, but no matter how many people died because of the invasion by the [Five Reversed Gods], [Nightmare] and [Desecration], as long as the situation stayed under control, it wouldn’t cause major problems.
Right now, Carinvega’s life was far more important than those random casualties. Even if saving her wouldn’t fully stop the Austre Empire from going to war, it could still change a lot of things.
Since they had formed an alliance, Violet knew she had to think more from Lucine and the Academy City’s point of view.
“Got it. I’ll take full responsibility. I’ll get everyone out of here. Oh, and don’t forget that little girl named Orluk. Even though she just went boom and self-destructed, she probably isn’t totally dead yet. Take her with you too. Otherwise, I bet a certain princess will be mad when she wakes up~”