Chapter 55: Chapter 52: Awakening
In the game, the timing of Eterna's awakening would change slightly depending on the route you were on, but it more or less always followed the same pattern.
On Eterna's route, she would first become aware of her abilities during the Farah event, but she still wouldn't fully awaken until the real trigger: the monster attack during the third semester. The army led by the demon monkey would reach the academy, and as she witnessed the students and teachers die one by one at the monsters' hands, Eterna would finally awaken.
Obviously, that event wouldn't happen in this world—I'd already taken care of that army a while ago.
However, as it turned out, Eterna had still awakened under entirely different circumstances. She didn't even seem aware of what was happening around her. Considering what happened in the game, that didn't surprise me as much. In Kuon no Sanka, Eterna was overwhelmed by her new powers and lost control after awakening. She basically moved on autopilot with only one goal in mind: to fulfill her duties as the saint.
In the game, Verner and the rest of her team had helped her come to her senses by calling her name. Before they managed to do that, though, Eterna had mindlessly slaughtered all of the monsters that had stood in her path. She'd even pushed those who tried to stop her from doing her duty out of her way. She hadn't actually hurt any of them, so I'd always assumed Eterna wouldn't attack humans, but...
"No. You can't...take Verner away. He can't die—not again. No. I won't allow it... I need...to kill them all. All of the monsters..." she whispered, a vacant look in her eyes.
It sounded like Eterna was confusing us with monsters. She's gonna attack us, isn't she?
Eterna pointed the staff I'd given her at me and started gathering mana at the tip.
"What are you doing, Eterna?!" Layla exclaimed, reaching for her sword moving to shield me from Eterna. "I won't stand by and let you hurt Lady Ellize!"
I immediately rested my hand on Layla's shoulder to stop her and walked right past her.
"Eterna seems to be mistaking us for monsters, Layla," I explained.
"She thinks we're monsters?!"
"Can you see the lucifero flower on the floor next to her? The pollen of that flower can cause hallucinations and a loss of reality."
Lucifero pollen could be used as a drug. It didn't even have side effects. From what I knew, there weren't many users anymore, but in the past, tons of people had turned to drug use to escape their harsh living conditions.
Random dudette's flower must've fallen off when Layla had pushed her and landed next to Eterna's face. I wouldn't have expected something like that to work on the saint, but now that Eterna was out of her mind, the situation would be...tricky to handle.
The lucifero flower had been stuck to random dudette's head the entire time the octopus had her covered in dark magic. Some of its mana had probably seeped into the flower. Besides, Eterna was unconscious, so she was unable to snap out of it. The combination of these two factors probably explained why the lucifero toxins had worked on her.
Eterna didn't wait for me to finish pondering over the situation before firing her first spell. It was a large sphere of light, about as big as a balance ball.
Layla understood how powerful her magic was at first glance, so she panicked. "Lady Ellize! Please dodge—"
"There's no need," I stated.
I flicked it away with one hand and dispersed it. You've barely awakened, but you wanna fight me?
Even if we ignored the gap in abilities, Eterna would never be able to kill me with the staff she was currently using. I'd actually put some of my magic in the precious stone that decorated her staff. Whenever Eterna used it to attack, my healing magic would activate at the same time.
To put it in game terms, it was the kind of weapon that always left your enemy with at least one HP no matter what you did. Eterna would never be able to kill anyone as long as she used that staff.
If you're wondering why I'd played a little prank on her... Well, it was obviously to avoid Eterna dealing the finishing blow to Alexia. Eterna's powers worked on the witch. That meant, in theory, that it was entirely possible for her to kill Alexia. If that happened, my entire plan would crumble on the spot.
Eterna had earned her spot in the top eight of the tournament, though, so I couldn't pass her up—it would've looked too shady. Besides, Eterna was capable of following Verner to the basement out of worry even if I didn't ask her to fight the witch.
To avoid her acting alone and messing up my plan, the easiest way was to ask her to participate while making sure she couldn't kill the witch. Having her on the team also meant that Verner and the others had a better chance of surviving.
There was just one little issue—I'd learned the hard way that Eterna couldkill if she attacked without using the staff. The octopus had vanished without a trace, after all.
"Lady Ellize... What happened to Eterna? Sh-She's using the saint's powers, isn't she?"
Um... Yeah, I guess it was a little too obvious for Layla not to notice. What should I say?
I didn't really mind people finding out that I was a fake. If anything, I'd always intended to give Eterna her rightful place eventually. The thing was...I hadn't killed the witch yet.
I'd very happily accept exile afterward, but the timing was pretty damn terrible right now! If I walked away now—when we had the witch up against the wall—everything I'd done so far would be meaningless. Eterna and Verner would kill the witch themselves, and we'd get the same ending as in the game.
I felt bad for Eterna, but I needed to keep up the lies a little longer.
"Those are Eterna's powers. I assume this is why she believed herself to be the witch. Verner's powers resemble the witch's, and it would appear that Eterna's resembles the saint's," I explained.
"Is that...truly possible?" Layla asked. "I've never heard of anyone being able to use the saint's powers without being the saint... It would be unprecedented."
"Everything is unprecedented the first time it happens," I said. "The birth of the first witch, followed by the birth of the first saint, Alfrea... Both of those events were unprecedented as well. There must be some sort of irregularity in this generation."
I gave Layla some bullshit answer. To be honest, I was almost scared of my genius. I was crazy good at spouting the most random lies without batting an eye.
I missed my calling here—I should've become a con man!
Hello, mom? Yeah, it's me, me! Yes, me! Unfortunately, I was in a car accident and I'm in big trouble. They're asking me to pay compensation or something. I need your help! Can you gimme some money? All I need is your credit card number, the three digits on the back, and the expiration date. But you've gotta be quick! I've only got till tomorrow to pay them back. Huh? You're not mom? You're dad, but you're currently cross-dressing?
Yeah, I would've been good at it.
"At any rate, we need to get her to calm down first," I said.
I created a barrier and made sure Layla and random dudette were safe before I stepped out of it. Eterna looked at me calmly, her face entirely devoid of emotion. She lifted her hand and attacked me with her magic once more. A sparkling silver sphere flew straight at me.
I caught it and crushed it with my hand. Eterna had made this sphere much smaller in order to concentrate the mana and amp its destructive power, but it was still no use against me.
Sorry to disappoint! You can boost your attacks all you want, but you still won't surpass me!
"Don't come closer..." she whispered, launching another attack.
This time, she simultaneously created seven beams of light. The silvery rays came flying at me from every direction at once. Actually, the shape of the trajectories was very reminiscent of a whisk. Her magic was trying to turn me into whipped cream!
It won't work, though.
I spread some light magic around my body and used it to drown out Eterna's beams.
Even though she was the real deal, she was nothing but a little chick who'd just barely emerged from her shell. She couldn't compare to me. I'd leveled up countless times by bullying monsters over the years. It was like seeing a newbie in an MMORPG trying to look cool in front of an experienced max-level player just because they'd gotten their hands on some brand-new equipment.
"No... Noooooo!!!" Eterna screamed.
She'd completely lost her grip on reality. Eterna threw her staff and lifted both of her hands, pointing her palms at the sky. Hey! Don't throw it away!
She created a humongous sphere of light and started pouring more and more mana into it.
Uh-oh. This doesn't look good.
She was trying to do something only a newbie who didn't know the first thing about fighting would do: pour all of her MP into one single attack. She obviously didn't care about the consequences.
Taking her low level and the spells she'd already used into consideration, I estimated Eterna had around a thousand MP left. If she dumped all of it into one attack and used the saint's magic—one of the most powerful things out there—the destructive power of her attack would be quite something.
She'll blow this entire building up and kill all the students in the path of her attack.
She still wouldn't leave a scratch on me, but if I stayed here, the students inside the building wouldn't be as lucky.
"Lady Ellize! Please don't!"
I ignored Layla's plea and rose in the air.
If Eterna aimed for me now, she wouldn't hit anyone else. As I expected, she immediately shifted to attack me.
Good girl. You can fire whenever you're ready, sweetie.
Just then, Verner opened the door of the rooftop and screamed, "Eterna, stop!"
Damn. That guy always has the worst timing!
Apparently, his grand entrance did have an effect, though.
Eterna's shoulder shook as she softly asked, "V-Ver... Ver?"
"You have to stop this, Eterna. I know you're not the kind of person who'd hurt others. I'm begging you—come back to your senses!"
Verner's words seemed to reach Eterna. The spark of reason returned to her eyes, and her huge light ball started shrinking.
Perfect. Everything will be fine now. Verner just needs to comfort her with some lame speech.
If he could take this chance to hop onto her route, our long-awaited happy ending would finally be in sight too.
Hang on... This is bad! If she comes back to her senses right now, we're doomed!
"Eterna... Please go back to your usual self," Verner said.
"No, Verner!" I exclaimed. "Don't tell her that! Not now!"
Verner, you goddamn moron! Although I suppose I'm not much better considering how long it took me to realize how dangerous the situation was!
Eterna still had a gigantic light ball looming over her head! If she came back to her senses now, how was she supposed to control it? She was using her powers on autopilot, but that wouldn't work once she started thinking clearly again. Besides, she'd been having hallucinations a couple of minutes ago. She'd obviously panic and let her magic run wild the second she was pulled back to reality.
"Verner? I... What am I... Huh? What is...? Wait— Wh-What is that thing?! What is it?! No way! Why am I holding that?! What's going on?!" Eterna screamed, staring at the huge ball of mana above her head.
She'd snapped back to reality, and sure enough, she was absolutely freaking out. I told you that'd happen!
Now that Eterna had lost control over it, the humongous light ball started descending toward her, pulled down by gravity. Damn.
I let myself fall down sharply. I'd gained too much altitude earlier when I'd tried to make sure she wouldn't hit anything but me. I was flying down as fast as I could, but would I make it? No... I'm not going to make it! The bad ending just found its way back to us!The ball had fallen down onto Eterna, but it hadn't collided with her yet. Verner had jumped in, and he was currently using his dark powers to keep it at bay.
You're doing amazing, Verner! He'd awakened at the last moment! Just what you'd expect of the protagonist! It's kinda your fault we're in this situation in the first place, but I'll forgive you out of respect for your last minute save.
I slipped under the light ball without hesitation and went to stand by Verner.
◇
Eterna had met Verner for the very first time when she was fourteen.
Her birth village, Terracotta, was also where Ellize—the greatest saint in history—had hailed from. For this reason, many people—mainly youngsters who hoped to become knights and people who'd received Ellize's help—visited the village as a form of pilgrimage. Despite all the tourists, Terracotta was a small unassuming village with nothing but fields.
The lord who ruled over the region hoped to expand the village and turn it into a Holy City where people could head to revere the saint, but he had yet to kick-start his project for lack of resources. And so, Terracotta remained a small village like any other. Until Ellize had introduced potatoes to the population, children had often died of hunger there.
The humble village, like many others of its kind, was mostly inhabited by old people and children. Young adults often left to find work in the closest city.
Eterna, who'd never had a friend around her own age, also idealized the city. That was until one day, when she'd finally met a boy her age: Verner.
She still remembered their first meeting vividly.
On that day, Eterna had taken her family's pig to the forest. The wind was ice-cold, and she could tell winter was close. The people of Eterna's village would always bring the pigs to the forest during fall so that they could grow as fat as possible. They would then slaughter them, process the meat, and keep it for the winter.
On that day, though, Eterna was unlucky, and she encountered a bear who'd gotten closer to the edges of the forest in search of food. With winter approaching, the bear must also have struggled to find prey.
To the bear, Eterna and her pig were the perfect meal—nutritious and appetizing. It wasted no time intimidating the girl and immediately attacked, baring its sharp teeth and claws. Eterna should've died on the spot, but she hadn't.
Unbeknownst to her, she was the saint—a bear couldn't hurt her. At that time, though, Eterna hadn't had the mental space to worry about whether she'd been injured or not. Fear had taken over her, and all she could think about was the huge bear in front of her.
The one who'd saved her was Verner.
After hearing Eterna's screams, he'd thrown himself at the bear, armed with nothing but a little twig, and stabbed it into the bear's eye. The pig, which had been blissfully unaware of the danger of the situation, also charged at the bear when it noticed its owner was in danger. It rammed itself into the bear's leg, making it topple down. The bear groaned in confusion at the pain.
Verner was quick on his feet. When he noticed the bear was down, he made use of the opportunity to stab another twig into the bear's other eye. He then picked up a large rock and bashed it over the creature's head repeatedly. The animal eventually stopped moving, and Verner passed out the next moment.
Eterna later learned that Verner hadn't had anything to eat or drink for days after he'd been chased out of his home. He'd wandered through the forest the entire time and used the last of his strength to defeat the bear.
Eterna's family warmly welcomed Verner to thank him for saving her, and after they'd heard his story, they immediately offered to adopt him. As for the pig, it was promoted from emergency food ration to family pet.
Eterna was drawn to her savior, but she could tell from the very start that Verner wasn't looking at her. He had someone else on his mind—Ellize, the saint. She knew that he trained diligently every single day in the hope of becoming her knight.
Part of Eterna wanted to cheer for him, but she couldn't stop herself from secretly wishing that Verner would fail. If Verner's dream didn't come true, he'd remain a simple villager. He'd remain in Terracotta forever with her. She realized how despicable she was for wanting that, but she couldn't help it.
Sadly for Eterna, Verner was a talented boy. He aced the entrance exam and secured himself a spot at the magic academy. And he'd done nothing but improve after enrolling. He soon rose to the top of his year. By now, he'd become the strongest student in the entire school.
Eterna could only watch Verner's back as they grew further and further apart. An indescribable feeling had started plaguing her—a strange mix of irritability, anxiety, and sadness. That feeling had grown even stronger after the recent battle to protect the Bilberrian capital.
Verner had become Ellize's shield, and he'd...died. Ellize had performed a miracle and brought him back, sure, but he'd still died. It had been terrifying.
Eterna could still remember how her mind had turned completely blank. The person she loved would never smile again. He'd never breathe or move again...
Eterna had once thought she understood what death meant. She had never been one to take it lightly. The reality of it, however, was much heavier than anything she'd ever envisioned. At that moment, accepting that Verner was dead had felt almost impossible. In fact, had Ellize not resuscitated him, she would most likely still be in denial. That was just how shocking the event had been to her.
Ever since that day, Eterna lived in fear. She was terrified at the thought that Verner might genuinely die the next time something happened. She knew that it was completely absurd, and that her bitterness was misplaced, but she'd started resenting Ellize. Somehow, she knew that she would take him away from her—for good.
And, as if to confirm her doubts, Ellize had decided to send Verner to a place so dangerous that even she couldn't tell whether he'd come back alive or not.
No! Don't take him away! Don't take Verner from me! Don't let him die again!
When Eterna opened her eyes, all she could see were vicious monsters trying to kill Verner.
I have to kill them, she thought. I need to kill all of the monsters.
She pointed her hand at the "monsters," and light came flying out of her palm. However, the strongest "monster" easily flicked it off. Then, it started approaching her. Eterna was scared. She raised her hand, once more, and tried to get the "monster" to back off. Several rays of light came out of her hand. They flew in neat curves directly for the "monster." They didn't even reach it, though.
The "monster" resembled Ellize somewhat, Eterna thought, but that only scared her more. Verner's death flashed in front of her eyes, and the "monster" in front of her became a grim reaper in her eyes—one who'd come to take Verner.
She needed to drive that grim reaper away. She needed to protect Verner.
Eterna's mind was hazy, but she somehow knew that she had to raise her hands toward the sky. She started condensing all of her mana into a sphere.
The grim reaper tried to run away and flew into the sky.
I won't let you go. I'll get rid of you here and now. I won't ever let you have Verner.
"Eterna, stop!"
She suddenly heard the voice of the person she'd been continuously thinking about—Verner. Eterna calmed down at once. She could feel herself slipping out of a strange dream. It was as though the fog in her mind was finally beginning to clear up. Her sight had been blurry this entire time—as if she was deep underwater—but she was starting to see clearly again. Verner's voice had pulled her to the shore.
The grim reaper was actually Ellize, she realized. And they were currently on the school's roof.
Eterna didn't know why she was there. She didn't know why she was fighting Ellize. None of that made any sense to her. She couldn't tell what was part of her dream and what she'd actually seen and done... The ball of light above her head was real, she noticed, but she didn't understand why she was holding something like that.
"Verner? I... What am I... Huh? What is...? Wait— Wh-What is that thing?! What is it?! No way! Why am I holding that?! What's going on?!"
Eterna had unconsciously controlled that magic, but now that she'd been brought back to reality, she couldn't do it anymore. The next second, she fully lost control over the strange lump of light, and it started falling toward her.
Eterna didn't know her right from her left. She could only crouch down and protect her head with her hands.
With the spell caster relinquishing control like that, the spell could only go haywire. Still, blaming Eterna would have been cruel. After all, the poor girl wasn't even aware she'd created this gigantic lump of light. And so, Eterna simply closed her eyes and waited, unable to comprehend what was happening.
The impact she'd braced herself for didn't come, though.
Eterna thought it strange, so she opened her eyes. That's when she saw Verner's back. He was holding the light at bay with both hands. A dark mist swirled out of his palms as he desperately tried to protect her.
It obviously wasn't easy—the veins on his arms were bulging, and his otherwise handsome face was ruined by his strained expression. His palms were burnt, and an ominous sound filled the silence. In spite of Verner's efforts, the light was slowly closing in on them.
The few seconds he'd bought, though, had been enough for Ellize to reach them. She slipped under the light and joined Verner. She immediately put her hands up and started releasing her own mana.
"We can push it back," she said. "Please work with me, Verner."
"Yes!"
A blinding light began to overflow from Ellize's palms, while a dark glow came out of Verner's. The two spiraled around one another as they rose toward the sky, pushing the ball of light away.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone