Volume Three: Academy in Total Rampage - Blood Blade Knights

Xiao Wu stood before a tombstone for a long time, her gaze lowered and her lips tightly pressed together.

That's a man's grave.

The surrounding area consisted of sparse, lifeless woods, lacking any pleasant scenery or solemn atmosphere; it didn't seem like a suitable place for a cemetery at all.

Ye and Haoyue were both puzzled as to why she would build the tomb here.

Only she knows the reason.

In a small cemetery in the suburbs, there is a small grave where Margaret is buried.

There's also a small grave behind a research facility in the north; that's where Auntie Lucy is buried.

Ling Ye's grave is located right in the middle of the line connecting Margaret's and Lucy's graves.

The deaths of these three people changed her life.

Thinking about it carefully, my life is a complete mess.

I've never truly gained anything, yet I've lost quite a lot.

Stumbling and falling, experiencing happiness, but mostly sadness.

And now, she has personally buried someone who had hoped to bring her happiness.

This wasn't the first time, but she hoped it would be the last.

She felt so suffocated, so blocked up, so miserable, but strangely, she wasn't particularly sad.

Standing here and looking back, I no longer feel resentment and regret, but rather a sense of transcendence, as if I were looking at the world from a higher perspective.

I have experienced sadness, I have understood sadness, but I no longer wallow in it.

This is probably what Ling Ye truly hoped she would achieve.

"... Thanks."

Try to think positively.

When her mother went missing, her Auntie Lucy adopted her and gave her a home.

After Lucy's death, she soon met Monet and Margaret, escaping her loneliness.

After Margaret died, she met Xiao and many, many lovely children.

When faced with a crisis, she gained two very bad but very reliable new companions, Ye and Haoyue.

Thinking about it this way, I realize I'm a very lucky person.

Every loss, every despair, every crisis brings a new salvation.

"Thank you, everyone, for staying with me until now..."

Xiao Wu took one last look at Ling Ye's tombstone, closed her eyes, and then opened them again.

"It's time to say goodbye to the past."

Only a few footprints remained in front of the tombstone; no one else was to be seen.

The crisis is finally over.

It begins with the arrival of three Special Class Combatant, the exposure of the Black Crystal, Fiaz's madness, and the actions of Ling Ye and Soya, and ends with the Leader and high-ranking members being forced to retreat by the World Will.

The death toll reached over 200,000, and the number of injured exceeded one million. More than half of the buildings of the Central United Academy, including the headquarters of the General Council, the League of Scholars, the headquarters of the Enforcement Team, and many other core facilities, were completely destroyed, and neighboring countries were also affected. Boundary Breaking Armor and Water Heart were completely taken away, and the direct economic losses were astronomical.

Such a massive wound is unlikely to heal for at least a century.

The world's top university is now defunct in name only.

According to Givinia, Jili used his powers to recreate the Emperor Slaying Sword and the Crystal Realm Fruit, but only the damage caused by those two Divine Item remained; the sword and the crystal themselves were not found.

The items that Jili recreated using his "Past Reappearance" ability should theoretically be able to exist normally, and wouldn't disappear even if he stopped using the ability. However, the act of "bringing the deceased back to life" completely violates the fundamental laws of the world. Not only Jili be hunted down by the world, but the things he recreated that should have disappeared will also be erased by the World Will, which is why they cannot exist for long.

"'Recreating a past event or an object that existed...'"

Leaning against the hospital bed, I murmured to myself.

Before transmigrating, I read many novels featuring protagonists or bosses with cheat-like abilities that could manipulate time, but this was the first time I'd ever heard of such an ability.

At first glance, it may not seem very powerful, but it has a wide range of uses and its power is terrifying upon closer inspection.

It was the third day after the disaster. Countries that had—or rather, had—close cooperative relations with the Central United Academy of the Central People's Government sent rescue teams and management personnel to form a temporary governing body to deal with this enormous mess. As for how they should deal with it, whether to rebuild or completely divide it up, that was none of my business.

"Gurgle... um..."

"Monet, are you alright?"

"Hmm, it's nothing, just a little itchy..."

Monet lay on the hospital bed, limbs outstretched, her body covered in a layer of red liquid—a membrane formed from my blood. She had suffered numerous horrific wounds at the hands of that pervert, Fiaz, and it was incredibly fortunate that she had been saved at the hospital. Now, those wounds were slowly healing under the influence of my blood.

When treating Haoyue, it only took less than a minute to completely heal all her wounds, but that wouldn't work on Monet. Haoyue is a resilient warrior, while Monet's constitution is inherently weak. The powerful life force in her blood would overload her and cause damage, so it would have to be done slowly over several days.

And now--

"Hang in there, Sister Monet!"

"You've suffered!"

"I'll treat you to some snacks after you're discharged!"

The girls, no longer feeling any sense of crisis, were all gathered in the hospital room, making a ruckus and filling the fairly large single room to capacity. Of course, I paid for the room; after all, I'm a rich woman after the rally race!

Click, the sound of the door opening.

"Ah, Sister Sakura Dance is here!"

"Sister, can you peel some fruit for me?"

"Stop arguing! Monet is still recovering!!"

""""Cut--""""

Xiao Wu glared at them, then winked at me. I immediately left the noisy ward, figuring the blood would heal itself even without my supervision.

Upon entering the corridor, they discovered that not only Xiao Wu, but also Kogetsu, Shino, and Givinia were there, along with a girl with light blue hair who looked somewhat familiar.

"And this is...?"

"Let me introduce myself first," the blue-haired girl bowed slightly. "I am also a member of the organization, Direct Subordinate of the high-ranking Lord Huang Huo, named Fogg Silver. I was assigned to the Central United Academy, and I usually infiltrate the Black Crow organization, pretending to be Black Crystal's right-hand man, codenamed 'Gold Silver Grass'."

The Huang Huo Direct Subordinate.

That's enough. She's one of us, after all, someone who wants to betray the organization along with Huang Huo.

"Wait a minute," Xiao Wu's eyes were icy cold. "Since you're a subordinate of that 'Huang Huo,' you must also be against the organization, right? Then can you explain to me why you handed over Evelynths?"

Yin's expression immediately turned awkward. "This... is also due to various uncontrollable factors. Little Sister Evelynths is the host of the Karmic Fire—you should all know that, right? Originally, Lord Huang Huo planned to avoid the sight of the other high-ranking officials and quietly come here to hand over the Karmic Fire to me, taking only the Karmic Fire and not Evelynths. But in the end, the Leader suddenly demanded that he take Evelynths, who is the vessel, with him as well. He couldn't openly disobey the Leader's order, so he had to compromise..."

"... snort."

Since that was the case, Xiao Wu had nothing more to say and could only suppress her dissatisfaction. Regarding Evelynths's whereabouts, she told the other lolis that "Evelynths suffered some special injuries and had to be transferred to another place for treatment, so it would be impossible to see her again for a while," and they accepted it.

"So, what should we do next? Of the six materials for the World Crossing Gate, it seems like only the Truth Incantation is left." I looked at Givinia and Silver.

"Indeed, the Truth Incantation is the sacred Divine Item of the Divine Law Cult, the super religion that rules the West Saint Continent, and its circumstances are rather special."

"Special?"

"Among the groups that possess or have possessed Divine Item, the Divine Law Cult is the only one that has thoroughly researched all the secrets of Divine Item and can fully or even beyond unleash their power. This is also the reason why it has been able to rule an entire continent for more than a thousand years. Among its three Goddess, the Heavenly Law Goddess, who is in charge of military force, possesses combat power equivalent to that of the higher-ups."

"What measures has the organization taken against it? I remember it was something like..."

"Madam Winsani, one of the high-ranking officials, has lived there for a long time, and my position in the organization is that of her Direct Subordinate."

"I see... But since the Divine Law Cult is so powerful, why don't they send more high-ranking members?"

"Such a large-scale operation by powerful individuals is easily exposed, and Madam is very skilled in infiltration warfare. I'm afraid she has already sown the seeds of disaster within the Divine Law Cult. Moreover... you may not know this, but a large-scale uprising is currently breaking out on the West Saint Continent, and the situation is extremely chaotic."

"Uprising!?"

"The Papacy has been corrupt and decadent for over two hundred years, enslaving the people under the guise of God. My Blood Blade Knights are Revolutionary Army born to overthrow the corrupt Papacy."

Suddenly, someone appeared.

Without any warning, without a sound, not even Givinia noticed.

"Who goes there?!"

Xiao Wu immediately raised her fist--

"Please don't use force, I mean no harm!"

It was an exceptionally clear and crisp sound.

The newcomer was an average-looking girl, but her demeanor and movements were quite ordinary, so ordinary that she would be easily lost in a crowd.

This guy looks familiar.

"... Um, who are you...? Oh?"

It took me at least ten seconds of stammering to finally remember her name.

That was during my brief time living in the Mikael Girls' Academy; she was my roommate, so ordinary that no one could remember her.

"... Her name is Elina, right?" (Author's note: See chapters 174 and 175 for details. Surely nobody remembers her anymore, and that's perfectly fine.)

"Thank you for remembering my name, but that's just an alias for convenience. My real name is 'Dorothy'."

"A pseudonym? And, 'you'...?"

"Actually, after you appeared at the Northern Realm Rally, I, with my ability suitable for covert operations, was assigned here to get close to you. I've been observing your actions and every battle you've fought from the shadows. I know this is impolite, but thanks to it, I, and we, can finally be certain—"

She suddenly knelt down on one knee, and at the same time, more than a dozen people dressed in dark red robes appeared behind her, all kneeling in front of me in the same posture.

"I, Dorothy Westwyn, Vice Commander of the Seventh Division of the Blood Blade Knights, pay my respects to His Majesty the Blood Emperor!"

I vaguely remember seeing her memories in my dream.

Memories from over two hundred years ago, before she joined the organization.

They coldly observed the sea of the Blood Sea and mountains of corpses; there were paladins among them, but even more innocent civilians and clergy from the Holy See.

"As expected, it doesn't exist..."

They demolished temples and churches, soaked idols in blood, slaughtered devout believers, snapped the necks of several Saintess, and even fought a fierce battle with the Heavenly Law Goddess.

Having gone this far, why doesn't the so-called omniscient, omnipotent, and loving deity punish itself?

And so, she finally confirmed something.

"It's all a lie. The existence of God has been a lie from the very beginning."

"--That's right!"

A deep male voice suddenly came from behind her, but she wasn't surprised, because she had already sensed the other person's presence.

"Another paladin? Or perhaps a higher-ranking Templar Knight? It doesn't matter—"

"Please calm down. I am not a lackey of the Vatican, but someone who, like you, is rebelling against the corrupt Vatican."

"... My actions were solely to verify the existence of God, and had nothing to do with whether the Vatican was corrupt or not."

"That's enough."

The imposing man, with a resolute smile, bowed deeply to her.

"I, Francis Bradwich, extend an invitation to you to join us, to join my newly formed Blood Blade Knights."

"I refuse."

Without hesitation.

"... Could you please tell me your reasons?"

"'Blood Blade Knights' —what a stupid name."

"... What if we change the name?"

"That's not troublesome."

"Please don't misunderstand," Francis said with a wry smile. "I don't expect you to become our fighting force, but I hope that you, the first human in history to dare to publicly insult the Papacy so openly—you, Ai Kasser —will become our symbol."

"Symbolism?"

"A symbol of resistance against the Vatican, a symbol of freedom, a standard-bearer of the new era, and a pillar of the Revolutionary Army."

"..."

What is your answer?

"You'd better understand this first. I can slaughter millions without hesitation just to verify whether God exists. I still have the self-awareness of a sinner. Are you sure you want such a madman as your spiritual pillar?"

"... Hey."

Francis, a man destined to be remembered in history, smiled slightly—a sly smile.

"That's easy. I just need to do some radical propaganda to whitewash your actions as 'a necessary sacrifice to expose the ugly face of the Vatican,' right?"

"You mean you're deceiving your subordinates and the people? What a righteous revolutionary leader you are!"

"Throughout history, none of those who have achieved great things have been kind-hearted fools."

As he spoke, Francis's gaze became resolute and heavy.

"As long as I can overthrow this corrupt papacy and liberate the countless people of the West Saint Continent —I would gladly become a sinner condemned by all."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blood Sister truly lives up to her reputation as the root of all evil—a heartless woman.

There's one more chapter in Volume 3, and Volume 4 will begin with Chapter 278. At that time, several characters promised to longtime readers, including Nid, Loxue, and Yang Yujie, will gradually appear. Of course, how each character ends up depends on how the plot unfolds, hehehe.

Don't forget to vote in the popularity poll for Volume 3!