Chapter 57: The Poisoned Sword and the Saint Child

“Aaah…”

“Damn it…”

“How did it come to this…”

Joey had imagined countless plots…

For example…

“WHY!!! WHY DOES THE DEMON KING HAVE TO BE YOU!!!”

Or perhaps…

“Joey!!!”

“Seia!!!”

And then the two of them would have a grand battle in a place called The End-land.

Or maybe…

“Seia…”

“All of this is destiny…”

But…

Joey never would have imagined that the plot would develop like this…

“THIS SWORD IS POISONED!!!!”

‘How did this become a palace drama…’

‘I knew it…’

‘How could that bookworm Seia not know that a member of the Blood Clan wouldn’t die just from being stabbed…’

‘When Aiki was pierced, the toxin must have already been injected…’

‘No, it was even earlier…’

‘It must have been injected when Aiki blocked the toxins for me.’

‘Aiki just didn’t notice…’

‘Can a member of the Blood Clan fail to notice something like that?’

Joey was confused, but he didn’t have much time for confusion…

Because Seia was currently sitting on top of him, repeatedly slamming her fists into his body.

No matter how Aiki tried to interfere from the side, Seia wouldn’t let him go.

Eventually…

Seia found Aiki’s interference too annoying, so she threw a punch directly at her.

Aiki was sent flying, crashing under a tree in the distance.

‘What a useless little servant…’

While Joey was still mocking Aiki, he was being pummeled by Seia’s fists…

The protagonist couldn’t even lift his hands…

Because the toxin had already spread throughout his entire body.

It was the Mana-Eating Python…

The first Lesser Demon Beast Seia had encountered after her “death by a thousand cuts” ended was a Mana-Eating Python.

The name sounded intimidating, but it didn’t actually have many special abilities…

Except for one very troublesome trait…

The toxin in this giant python’s body could continuously consume the Magic within anyone it bit…

However, at that time, the Magic in Seia’s body had been too low, making the python’s attacks ineffective against her.

And being a bookworm, Seia knew this type of monster all too well, so she had stripped its skeleton and fashioned it into a Giant Sword.

No wonder…

She used the python’s body to make a Giant Sword…

As a Stat Monster, Joey’s body naturally had very high poison resistance…

But he had happened to run into Seia, a Mechanism Monster who could harm him.

Furthermore, through her constant battles with him, she had obtained power equal to his own.

The principle behind how Seia could hurt him was the unique nature of her Magic toward the Demon King, combined with the python’s toxin…

The Magic currently in Joey’s body was nearly depleted…

No matter how high his stats were, he couldn’t release a single skill.

He believed that in a little while, he would be beaten half to death by Seia…

He hadn’t expected…

That he would ultimately be beaten to death by Seia…

How pathetic…

However, right at that moment…

*Whoosh!!!!*

An Enchanted Longsword pierced into Seia’s thigh.

“Roar?”

Seia stopped her movements and looked up.

A tall, drunken beauty was holding a Wine Flask, her gaze cold as she looked at Seia.

“Let go of my student.”

Such a massive Magic Wave had appeared around the Maze that the teachers of Morning Sun Academy had noticed it long ago.

Thus, Kail had hurried toward the center of the Magic Wave with the other teachers.

‘Hmm? That annoying drunk…’

Joey turned his head to look.

He saw Kail standing in the distance, walking over with dozens of Grandmaster-level teachers from the Academy.

‘Hey, hey… don’t come here… you’ll be killed…’

However, Seia didn’t attack Kail. Instead, she shook her somewhat hazy head…

Then, the crimson color in Seia’s eyes gradually faded, returning to their original black…

“Jo… Joey…”

Seia looked at the dying Joey beneath her and then at the Grandmaster-level experts surrounding her…

What…

What exactly happened…

Seia’s eyes were dazed.

Looking at Joey beneath her, her expression suddenly became conflicted and contradictory…

“Little lunatic, get away from my student…”

Kail summoned the Enchanted Longsword back to her hand and pointed it at Seia, saying coldly, “Careful, or I’ll chop off your hand…”

Seia looked at Kail and saw a purple, devil-like figure appearing behind her…

Kail was also startled as she looked at Seia.

Seia’s surroundings were completely covered by a thick, dense wave of dark red Magic.

“You…”

Just as Kail was about to say something…

Seia suddenly erupted with a surge of incredibly powerful Magic, blowing back all the surrounding Grandmaster-level experts.

By the time everyone recovered, Seia was gone, leaving only Joey, Anya, Aiki, and the girl from the Priest Academy.

“…”

Kail looked at the traces Seia left behind, her expression gradually becoming complex…

“Take these four students back to the Academy for treatment,” Kail said to a woman beside her.

“Understood, Director Kail.”

“Wait a moment.”

Just then, a voice came from behind the Grandmaster-level experts.

Zilan, dressed in red and white Archbishop robes, walked over with the members of the Order of the Church behind her.

“You can take the other three, but I’m taking Joey.”

“…”

Kail frowned upon seeing this troublesome, beautiful woman and said, “Joey belongs to the Warrior Academy. It would be a bit against the rules for an Archbishop to take him away, wouldn’t it?”

Zilan looked at Kail and said, “The Magic in Joey’s body is exhausted. From now on, he probably won’t meet the requirements to continue being a Warrior, right?”

“Ari, take Joey away.”

Zilan’s expression was cold as she spoke to Teacher Ari beside her.

“Yes, Archbishop.”

Ari nodded, then gave Kail a mocking look before walking toward Joey.

Slash!!!!

Ari suddenly felt a chill in her thigh, followed by a spray of blood.

“AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Ari began to scream, clutching her thigh and rolling on the ground.

“I’m sorry, Teacher Ari. I’m drunk, and I accidentally cut your leg with my sword…”

Kail took a sip of wine and then called her Enchanted Longsword back into its scabbard.

“Archbishop Zilan, I am still the Director of the Warrior Academy. For the Order of the Church to snatch someone in broad daylight is a bit unreasonable, isn’t it?”

“It’s one thing to pull little stunts behind my back…”

“The Grandmaster-level teachers of the Warrior Academy are all here. I’m sure… no one wants to watch their student be snatched away right in front of them, right?”

Zilan looked at the surrounding Grandmaster-level teachers.

Every one of them was looking at her with unfriendly eyes.

Zilan didn’t panic or get angry.

Instead, she pushed up her glasses, took two steps closer to Kail, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Teacher Kail… don’t make a scene…”

“Archbishop Zilan, don’t think I don’t know why you want to take Joey back,” Kail said with a dark expression.

Zilan responded, “So many years have passed, and a chance like this for a Saint Child is rare…”

“This time, it’s not your brother. You don’t need to concern yourself with whether he lives or dies…”

“I hope you’ll learn your lesson…”

“I am not the Archbishop of the Kingdom of Chunai; my methods are not that extreme,” Zilan said, looking coldly at Kail. “However…”

“If any member of the Order of the Church or I encounter any problems today…”

“Then those Warrior students who were injured in the Maze — and any members of the Church who cannot provide treatment because they were harmed by the teachers of the Warrior Academy…”

“Can you afford to take responsibility for that, Director Kail?”

Kail fell silent. Her eyes looked as if she wanted to kill Zilan right then and there…

She took a deep breath and then stepped back two paces.

Zilan wore a slight smile, then bowed toward Kail and said, “Teacher Kail, the Goddess will remember your generosity…”

“Now then, let’s take Joey away…”

Kail could only watch as Zilan personally picked Joey up and walked past her…