I Became the Martial God's Youngest Disciple Episode 88

Episode 88

The mont Junian looked at us with a puzzled expression, Charon moved. Just as he had when he fought before, he swung his dagger from a distance.

A blade of wind erupted from the weapon and shot toward Junian, but she showed no surprise. She rely stretched out her hand without even moving.

The wind blade, sharp enough to scar a giant tree, dissipated like a harmless breeze. Not a single mark remained on Junian's palm.

Insane durability, I thought.

Was it just her palm, or her entire body? Either way, facing her alone would definitely be difficult.

"Hector!" I shouted loud enough to be heard outside before joining the fight.

Was Junian even human? I couldn't tell, but for now, I used Hidden Steps.

Yet, sothing felt off. Junian's eyes never left my face.

What kind of visual acuity does this woman have? I wondered.

The Sun Church's inquisitors were few in number but elite. Rumor had it their combat prowess rivaled master-level martial artists. Apparently, that wasn't just a rumor.

At that mont, Junian kicked off the ground and appeared right before . It was the first ti Hidden Steps had been so ineffective, and I was a bit slow to respond.

How would she attack?

I kept my eyes on her every move when Junian opened her palm toward and uttered, "O' Aton."

The instant she invoked the na of the Sun Church's god, divine power surged from her palm.

I crossed my arms to block the energy blast, but the impact sent hurtling backward. I crashed through the conference room door and tumbled across the ground outside.

"Luan!" Evan sprinted toward from a short distance away. "What's going on?"

"Still figuring it out," I answered honestly.

I still didn't know if she was an enemy or not.

Just then, the wall shattered. Charon flew through the debris, rolled to a stop near , and sprang up, glaring at the wall.

"So short-tempered..." Junian stepped through the hole, scanning the area with a sharp gaze before locking onto a familiar face. "You're alive, Evan Helvin."

"Yes?" Evan sounded dumbfounded. After all, he hadn't expected the theology instructor, with whom he'd had little contact, to call him out.

I clapped my hands, and the dazed onlookers snapped to attention, quickly forming a loose circle around Junian. I didn't think it gave us much of an advantage, though.

Junian brushed back her hair and said, "I'm not an enemy."

"Then why did you attack?" I asked.

"You attacked first," she answered flatly.

That was true. I'd been the first to doubt her, but I hadn't expected Charon to charge in like a madman.

I sighed. Among the Dark Church's powers—or those of the demon kings—was necromancy. They could reanimate corpses or possess living bodies.

Yet Junian had just proven she wasn't one of them. The divine power of the seventy-two gods was irrefutable evidence.

The saying, "Only baptized church mbers can claim absolute purity," referred to the Sun Church's priests, and the logic was simple: the Dark Church's mbers could never receive the Sun Church's baptism. Even the blessings granted exclusively to the Great Families' descendants had proven incompatible with curses.

Of course, whether considering the seventy-two gods or the demon kings, also called the gods of disaster, they were after all simply gods beyond the confines of good and evil. Blessings and curses were rely different words for the sa divine power.

Thus, the divine power Junian had just unleashed proved her innocence more convincingly than a hundred explanations.

I was the first to relax my combat stance. Gradually, those around followed suit.

"You're a church mber," I said, incredulous. "Why didn't you recite the scriptures?"

It couldn't be that difficult to utter a few lines.

Junian averted her gaze. "Just as people excel at so things, there are also things they can't do."

"What now?"

"morization isn't my strength."

"The scriptures?"

"What's the point of rembering them?" She folded her hands, closed her eyes, and assud a prayerful stance. "What matters is faith in God."

We fell silent. For a mont, the sight of her praying against the backdrop of a ruined building felt sacred. Honestly, what I had just witnessed was enough to make believe she was a saintess.

"Now that your doubts are cleared, shall we talk inside? Would you like sothing to eat?" she suggested.

***

We followed Junian back to the instructors' building, where we sat at a moderately large table in the cafeteria. Using the communication crystal from the conference room, we shared the footage we had seen.

"The priest is Instructor Juan?"

"That is ridiculous."

Hector and Evan were visibly shocked, while Saren seed lost in thought.

Junian disappeared briefly before reappearing and tossing sothing at us. "Take this."

One was a water bottle, and the other looked like a hardened block of compressed mixed grains.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It's called an energy bar. You'll eat these often once you beco official heroes, so you'd better get used to it," Junian answered.

Although it was tough to chew, I focused on filling my stomach.

Junian studied us. "Are you the only surviving hero disciples?"

"There are a few more," Hector replied.

"I see."

Charon gnawed on the tasteless bar and asked, "What happened to the other instructors?"

"They've either been killed or subdued."

"By whom?"

"Instructor Juan. Or should we call him the priest now?"

"Priest."

I turned to Hector, whose face had gone rigid. "Brother Hector, do you know anything about the Martial Arts Master? What was his past before becoming a Great Master?"

At this point, I wondered what the hell the family was doing. How had a priest infiltrated the main house as a Great Master? Had no one noticed?

Hector answered, "Instructor Juan ca from the Vasquez family, a southern noble house. He displayed natural martial talent from a young age and joined the Third Imperial Knights as their youngest recruit. By thirty, he'd risen to the rank of captain. He declined an offer to beco an imperial instructor and instead ca here as our Great Master."

"I see."

He ca from a prestigious family with a successful career in the Imperial Knights—nothing about his background seed suspicious. Given his age, there shouldn't have been ti for him to be involved with the church. So how had this happened?

Evan murmured, "What do we do now?"

Junian fixed her gaze on him, her stare so intense it bordered on unsettling.

Co to think of it, she has been watching Evan closely.

Just as Evan started to squirm under her scrutiny, she looked away. "For now, we can't expect outside help. The barrier surrounding the Butterfly Forest prevents it."

We waited for her to elaborate.

"Under normal circumstances, that would make sense. But sothing feels off."

"Feels off?"

"Even if this is an Archmage's barrier, the incident is too severe to go unnoticed. Would the Badnikers truly remain unaware?"

She was perceptive. It wasn't that her logic was airtight—just sharp intuition.

Hector scowled. "Are you saying the Badnikers condone this?"

"I'm just saying it's strange. How would I know what the higher-ups are thinking?" Junian remarked. "We're isolated among enemies with no hope of reinforcents. In situations like this, we should abandon false hopes and strategize with what we have. Most likely, we'll have to kill the priest alongside the survivors."

Seren t Junian's gaze, her clear eyes unwavering. "Even the instructors couldn't do anything and were slaughtered. What can hero disciples like us possibly accomplish?"

"The priest didn't kill them," Junian replied. "The demon king intervened because they gave him an opening."

"What do you an?" Seren pressed.

Junian crossed her arms and explained, "You saw the communication crystal's recording, didn't you? The priest said it himself—ignorance is a tragedy. They attacked him at the start of the ritual, giving the demon king an opening. So, we must disrupt the ritual another way. Then, the enraged demon king will kill the priest."

Her words ca out in a rush.

The demon king will kill the priest?

I couldn't fully grasp her aning, but Junian was an inquisitor. They knew more about the Dark Church than even active heroes.

"How do we disrupt the ritual?" I asked.

"Steal the sacrifices, scatter the forest's mana, smash the altar—we must do whatever it takes to stop him from completing it."

I humd in response.

"Of course, that's the most extre approach. There may be other ways, so we should consider our options." Junian studied us before adding, "For now, rest. Also, Luan Badniker?"

"Yes?"

"Co with for a mont."

Just ?

When I pointed at myself, Junian nodded.

With no other choice, I followed her.

Junian led upstairs to a private room. Its layout suggested it belonged to her.

"Do you have sothing to say to ?" I asked.

"Yes. Let ask you. You are their leader, aren't you?"

Frankly, I wanted to avoid the topic, but I nodded since no one else could take the role.

Junian made a noncommittal sound before opening a drawer and producing a tobacco pipe along with so dried leaves.

Pressing the leaves into the pipe, she said, "Let's talk about Evan Helvin."

Evan's na again. Sohow, I suspected her reason for calling here was related to him.

"Did you notice anything unusual about him?" she pressed.

I replied, "Definitely not."

Evan had sealed Raven alone and fought recklessly against monsters, but I doubted that was what she ant.

"Why are you so fixated on Evan?" I countered.

"Hmm. You noticed?"

"You've been watching him closely. I'd have to be a fool not to see it."

"That's right. But it's not who's fixated—it's the priest."

"What?"

Junian suddenly grimaced. It seed she didn't have a match to light her pipe.

Unbelievable.

"Here." I focused Fire Qi on my thumb and ignited the tobacco leaves.

"Oh, you're pretty good," she praised.

"It's nothing."

Junian took a satisfied drag before continuing, "The demon king's summoning raises too many questions. The most glaring issue? The sacrifices are insufficient."

She leaned against the wall, gazing out at the cold, dark forest. "The demon kings—or as the church calls them, the gods of disaster—are demanding gods. Once a priest begins reciting the Evil Scripture, the Dark Church's Bible, they must finish flawlessly. A single misstep brings mutation or death."

"Makes sense," I said with a nod.

"So priests take great care with rituals. If one fails after it begins, all participants suffer the consequences."

It was interesting information, but what did this have to do with Evan?

"Yet there's one being exempt from such penalties. A being who can fail rituals without punishnt, commune freely with the demon kings, and is favored by all six. The empire's greatest enemy—the embodint of evil."

I knew who Junian ant. The na was infamous across the empire, yet paradoxically, no one had ever seen this shrouded figure.

"The Dark Pope," I said. "The church's leader."

"That's right. The difficulty of a ritual supervised by the Dark Pope is far lower. The number of sacrifices required will decrease, and there's no need to chant the scriptures to the end."

"You're certain the Dark Pope is here?"

"Not quite. But the sacrifices for this ritual are insufficient, and I overheard the priest's orders."

"What orders?"

"Before the ceremony ends, he must secure the Young Dark Pope."

At that mont, I thought of Evan Helvin from my past life. His downfall had been humanity's most painful betrayal.

But what if it wasn't betrayal at all? What if Evan had rely returned to where he belonged?

I sighed inwardly.

Junian exhaled a curl of smoke and said languidly, "Evan Helvin is the Young Dark Pope the priest seeks."