Chapter 93

Ch.93 Apostle of the Goddess of War

Arwen lay on the cot inside the tent, reviewing the events she had just experienced.

She felt as if she had been stripped naked and humiliated right in the middle of the enemy camp.

She never imagined she would suffer such a sudden, unexpected ambush.

“Ughhh—!”

Arwen bit down on her messy cloak and screamed in frustration.

“It’s unfair! It’s humiliating!”

Thump, thump!

Kicking the cloak with her feet, she repeatedly flushed red in the face.

Naturally,

She was sobbing, tears streaming down her cheeks.

‘I’ve been had. I got completely screwed.’

She hadn’t expected him to realize things so quickly.

The young acolyte from the War Cult was far more capable than Arwen had anticipated.

‘Now that I think about it, he’s technically my junior.’

That thought made it somewhat easier to accept.

He was the next Apostle of the War Cult,

A disciple of Garfenn.

They wouldn’t just bring in some random nobody off the streets.

‘He must be intelligent and skilled with the sword…Just like I was once, a brilliant, shining gem in my youth.’

That boy, Sion, wouldn’t be easy to deal with either.

However.

Even considering that, it didn’t excuse her failure.

‘I was defeated too helplessly.’

The cognitive interference magic had been working perfectly, which led her to let her guard down.

She never even considered that he’d figure it out so fast.

When he mentioned going to gather herbs, she saw it as the perfect opportunity to identify his weakness.

It was a fatal mistake.

She had been foolish.

She had lost completely in the battle of wits.

She had been utterly torn apart.

The Apostle of the Goddess of wisdom—

Defeated by a mere greenhorn junior?

How could that make any sense?

“Ugh, ughhh! Ughhhhh!”

Her thoughts wouldn’t stop. She wanted to grab her sword and rush after him to settle things immediately.

But that was exactly what the enemy, Sion, probably wanted.

‘This is the Holy ground of War. The Goddess of wildflowers is also cooperating. There’s no need to deliberately engage in an unfavorable fight.’

She didn’t think she would lose, but you could never be sure.

Being deep in enemy territory introduced too many unpredictable variables.

It would be difficult to calculate and respond to everything.

Clearly, things couldn’t continue like this.

‘I need to try another approach.’

At that moment, Selena approached.

“Apostle, please don’t be too disheartened.”

“Daughter, I’m still a daughter, Selena.”

“But you’ve already been exposed. Instead of despairing, you should seek another method.”

Selena extended her delicate hand as if to pat Arwen’s backside comfortingly.

Arwen shrieked and jumped away. Calling her ‘daughter’ was already too much, but this was crossing the line.

For a moment, the Apostle of Wisdom nearly shouted ‘Pervert!’

Selena, who usually admired and adored Arwen, retracted her arm with regret.

“Tch.”

“Tch? What do you mean, ‘tch,’ Selena?”

Selena spoke bluntly, disregarding decorum.

“Apostle, it’s time to make a decision. If we continue like this, we’ll only be mocked and fail our mission.”

“Y-yes, that’s true.”

“He’s more intelligent than we anticipated, that handsome boy Sion.”

“Handsome?”

“We must remain objective.”

Selena, who usually favored cute and pretty things, could be serious—more serious than any knight of the Libra Order—yet also knew how to relax completely. She was a true knight in every sense.

“Given the circumstances, the plan to seize the priestess by waiting for an opportunity is no longer feasible.”

“Yes, that’s correct, Apostle.”

Then Selena added more explanation.

“Antarius reports that both the War Knights and patrol units have almost no gaps. Their patrol routes and shift changes are meticulously planned.”

“Of course…”

Arwen bit her thumbnail.

The situation was more frustrating than she had imagined.

She couldn’t shake the feeling of being toyed with in Sion’s palm.

How much had he already figured out?

How prepared was he?

The more she thought about it, the larger Sion loomed in her mind.

She knew this wasn’t right, but an inescapable fear had taken root deep within her.

Yet this was familiar territory for Arwen.

When she was part of the War Cult, when she listened to the whispers of wisdom,

And later, during her training in the pursuit of truth—

Her life had always been one of hardship and constant anguish.

Arwen swept aside the silver hair flowing down her cheek.

As always, she rose again with an unyielding spirit.

“The first plan… has failed.”

“It was my mistake, Apostle.”

“No.”

‘Hic’ Arwen swallowed her tears and tightly pressed her lips together.

“It’s my fault. I let my guard down and underestimated my opponent.”

“The mission isn’t over yet.”

“No. We’ll proceed with the second plan. If that fails, we’ll move to the third…”

Arwen clenched her fists tightly, steeling her resolve.

“But let’s avoid resorting to such barbaric methods. Not us.”

“Of course. We must remain rational—that’s what makes us human.”

Arwen nodded.

Selena smiled.

‘You’re so adorable when you’re serious, Apostle.’

***

Time passed quickly. She didn’t even know how she managed to sleep.

Sion’s fatigue had reached its peak.

He didn’t know when or how Arwen might act.

Though more moderate than expected, the Cult was still cunning.

Their method of targeting Kaili would likely be unconventional.

Thus, Sion had stayed nearly sleepless, guarding Kaili.

He dozed off occasionally, lost in thought until dawn, but even that had its limits.

‘I can’t keep doing this forever.’

This, too, might be part of their scheme.

If they waited until Sion’s vigilance wore thin and dulled from exhaustion, their strike would be devastatingly precise.

His response would be sluggish, unable to exert his full strength.

‘I thought bringing her to Elim’s Forest would provoke some reaction…’

But seeing no movement even by morning, he suspected they were waiting for something else.

Sion was human, after all.

He was beginning to feel his own limits.

“Brother.”

Ruina opened the door and called for Sion.

“Hmm?”

Sion looked up at Ruina with bloodshot eyes. Then his eyes widened dramatically.

“A guest has arrived.”

“Ruina, come here.”

“Huh?”

“Quickly. Come stand beside me.”

Ruina moved to Sion’s side, and in her place stood another woman.

Hesitant.

Unable to properly greet him, she just fidgeted with her fingers—a girl.

Perhaps she no longer cared to conceal her identity.

“Arwen.”

“Ah, hello?”

Click.

Sion gripped the sword standing beside the dining table.

“Ah, ah, no!”

Arwen flailed her arms in denial.

“I’m not here to fight!”

“Then why?”

“To talk. To have a conversation…”

She sounded so nervous she was bleating like a goat just to utter a single sentence!

Seriously.

This person…

An Apostle?

And the Apostle of Wisdom, who reveres cold, rational intellect?

No matter how many times he saw her, he couldn’t get used to it.

‘If this is their strategy to exhaust me mentally, then it’s working. I’ve lost, I’ve lost.’

Sion sighed deeply.

“And the other two?”

“They’re in the refugee zone, doing ordinary volunteer work. They don’t intend to cause any trouble. ‘Hmph’”

Ruina interrupted the conversation.

“Brother… who is this woman?”

“The Apostle of the Wisdom Cult.”

“Huh? What?!”

“Ruina. I’ll explain later. For now, go wake up Kaili and head to the bishop’s place, okay?”

Ruina looked back and forth between Sion and Arwen, biting her lip.

She felt frustrated.

Frustrated at her helplessness in this situation.

Frustrated that she could only rely on Sion for everything.

‘Angry.’

But right now, merely being here was a hindrance, a burden to Sion.

Being a burden to Sion was worse than death to her.

Gritting her teeth, Ruina reluctantly agreed.

“…Alright.”

She immediately went into Kaili’s room. A moment later, Kaili emerged, carried on Ruina’s back.

Sion stayed close to Ruina until she left with Kaili. Even though Arwen had come unarmed, she was someone who couldn’t be taken lightly.

Once Sion confirmed Ruina had left, he let Arwen inside.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“W-will you give me something?”

“Yes.”

Sion replied coldly.

Arwen stammered, tapping her fingers together.

“M-milk… do you have any?”

Sion immediately turned around.

Luckily, Ruina had just milked a cow that morning.

Thud!

“Eek!”

He placed the cup down rather roughly.

Sion sat opposite Arwen.

A single drop of milk splashed onto Arwen’s face.

Her skin was so pale it didn’t show.

Arwen didn’t seem particularly bothered.

Or perhaps she assumed it was a tear from her morning prayers, casually wiping it away.

“…”

“…”

Finally, the Apostle of Wisdom and Sion faced each other directly.

Because of their identities, they had narrowly avoided each other until now, but the moment had arrived.

It was inevitable.

Ever since meeting the Goddess of War, arriving in Elim,

And learning that Kaili was the vessel of the priestess—

This psychological battle had been building.

Now, they finally confronted the great disaster that had long been looming.

The overwhelming presence made it hard to breathe.

It was like a storm, like a volcano, like a tsunami—utterly overwhelming.

Outwardly frail, but the soul within was no different from a natural disaster.

A talent once marked by the Goddess of war,

A disciple Garfenn had longed for,

An exceptional knight so remarkable that the Goddess of Wisdom coveted and stole her away.

…The oppressor in the form of a pretty girl opened her mouth.

“T-thank you…”

She bowed deeply while seated.

Then she chugged the milk in one go.

Her throat, lacking an Adam’s apple, moved smoothly.

‘What is this woman?’

Is she dense?

Or simply at ease?

Coming here to steal someone’s sister and calmly drinking milk like this.

He felt angry, but the sheer absurdity made his anger dissipate.

“Phew! T-thank you! It was really, really delicious! I’ve been wanting milk so badly… We couldn’t have any in the selection zone.”

“Oh. Yes.”

“Heh.”

The silver-haired girl shrank back. He wondered how someone with such a timid demeanor could lead an entire Cult.

But she did possess courage.

After all, she had the audacity to act so boldly right in the heart of enemy territory.

Honestly…

“I didn’t expect you to come like this.”

Sion acknowledged his opponent.

He felt completely caught off guard.

When Arwen appeared behind Ruina, he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

He thought his heart would stop.

And then—

“Me neither. I didn’t expect to act like that last night either.”

“You noticed, didn’t you? As I thought?”

“Yes. I tried my hardest not to show it. I nearly threw up as soon as I got there…”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. I’m used to throwing up.”

The Apostle of Wisdom also respected Sion.

They recognized each other as worthy adversaries, their respect evident.

They were both young apostles.

The future leaders of the next generation.

Bad news for the forces of evil, good news for the divine.

But right now, they stood as enemies.

Engaged in a fierce standoff, each striving to achieve their own goals.

In a way, each had encountered the other’s greatest adversary.

After cautiously gauging each other for a moment, Sion spoke cautiously.

“So. What now?”

They had exchanged polite words,

But in truth, it was just another form of battle, hiding daggers behind their tongues.

The probing was over.

Now was the time to reveal their true intentions and fight.

Sion struck first.

He advanced sharply.

“Apostle Arwen of Wisdom.”

“Yes.”

“I heard you were once the successor to the Apostle of  War. By that logic, you’re my senior. Yet you’re doing this. Aren’t you ashamed?”

Arwen winced, as if stung by conscience.

“T-to be honest, I don’t feel good about it either.”

“Yet your actions seem excessive for someone with such feelings.”

“For the greater cause, personal emotions must be set aside.”

“Have you abandoned human compassion?”

Sion glared at her.

Arwen calmly met his gaze with her still-moist, blue eyes.

And then—

When she spoke next, she was a completely different person.

Her icy blue eyes shone coldly,

All hesitation and indecisiveness erased.

“Human emotions—”

She spoke as the Apostle of Wisdom, armed solely with reason and truth.

“—are impurities that hinder a righteous world.”

“What?”

Arwen asked coldly.

“Sion. What do you think of this world?”

Now it was her turn to counterattack.

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