Chapter 28

Everything happened too suddenly. No one knew where the explosion had occurred or if anyone was injured.

All they heard were screams, and then the scene at the Holy Healing Festival’s banquet hall descended into chaos.

Wait, wasn’t this place supposed to be absolutely safe??

Winnie couldn’t believe that the Demon Pillar cultists could launch an attack on the Holy Church and the students right under the noses of the Guardian teachers of Carillian Academy.

Looking around, he didn’t see a single Demon Pillar cultist?

And if they had appeared, the Guardian teachers would have sensed them in advance and taken care of them, right? So where did the explosion come from??

Could it be that the Demon Pillar cultists had planted some explosive magic stones in the back hall of the Holy Church beforehand, set to detonate at a specific time??

The Holy Church wasn’t usually open to the public. Only certified maintenance personnel could enter after obtaining permission.

At all other times, it was protected by anti-magic arrays. It was absolutely impossible for Demon Pillar cultists to enter.

Could it be??

Winnie thought of the scene he had seen earlier, which he had suspected was a misperception.

Now the scene was chaotic, and it was unclear where the attack had come from, where the Demon Pillar cultists were, or if any students were injured or missing.

If the situation was this chaotic, then it was highly likely…….

The Guardian teachers on site were organizing the students to calm down and evacuate them from the now unsafe Holy Church.

As students of Carillian Academy, everyone displayed exceptional composure. Many senior students quickly regained their calm, releasing their Soul armaments.

Some outstanding students even demonstrated strong leadership skills, organizing their classmates into defensive and offensive formations, doing their best to protect the first-year students as they left the Holy Church.

This was the difference between Carillian Academy students and those from other academies, their ability to handle emergencies was on a completely different level.

On the scene, the first-year students performed the worst. It seemed like everyone else was showing off, while the first-years were just getting beaten up.

For example, Shikondel, who was beside Winnie, was so frightened that she hid under the dining table, too scared to come out.

“Dell, stop being a quail! The goddess won’t protect us. We need to hurry and follow the crowd out of the Holy Church!” Winnie shouted to Shikondel under the table.

However, for some reason, there was no response.

Winnie, puzzled, lifted the tablecloth and found Shikondel pale, her eyes unfocused, her small body trembling, and her lips mumbling something incoherent.

What’s wrong with this kid??

She looked as if a scar had been reopened, recalling some unbearable memory.

Winnie suddenly thought that this chaotic scene in the grand, luxurious palace, with everyone fleeing for their lives, might have reminded Shikondel of the fall of the Moon Elf kingdom.

“Dell? Come out, it’s me, Winnie. Take my hand, I’ll take you out!” Winnie extended his hand towards Shikondel and called out.

Shikondel remained silent, unresponsive, still trembling violently. It seemed as if she couldn’t hear anything, completely lost in her own world.

Winnie had no choice but to crouch down and try to crawl under the long table.

“Student, what are you doing?? Hiding under the table won’t help. This place isn’t safe anymore. You need to evacuate quickly, or you’ll be in trouble!” A senior passing by saw this and kindly reminded him.

“Senior, I dropped something under the table. Don’t worry about me, go ahead!” Winnie told the senior not to mind him and continued crawling toward the middle of the table.

“Dell, don’t be like this. You’re not acting like a man right now,” Winnie said as he crawled under the table, reaching Shikondel.

In the urgency of the situation, Winnie didn’t care about anything else and grabbed Shikondel’s hand, trying to pull her out.

But Shikondel curled up into a ball, as if that would give her more security, and refused to leave no matter what.

“Boom!!” At that moment, something collapsed outside. Clearly, the Holy Church was now in great danger, at risk of collapsing at any moment. Although the holy silver jade was quite sturdy, no one could say how long it would hold under magical bombardment.

With the enemy in the open and us in the dark, and with the enemy possessing devastating magical capabilities, hiding in a large building with little anti-magic properties was the most dangerous.

“Dell, don’t be afraid. I won’t leave; I’ll stay here with you,” Winnie gently patted the silver-haired elf’s shoulder. No matter how noisy and chaotic it was outside, even if something else fell, he remained unfazed.

Every second they stayed here increased the danger.

Shikondel gradually emerged from her fear, realizing that Winnie had been by her side all along, and that the Holy Church was becoming more and more dangerous.

“Winnie?…… I……”

“Alright, don’t say sorry this time,” Winnie said, seeing that the timid Shikondel had regained some composure. “Can you walk?”

“My legs… feel weak,” Shikondel lowered her head and bit her lip.

“I can see that,” Winnie said, urgency in his voice. He took off his earring, swung his spear, and split the long table covering them in two.

[Frozen Fang] transformed back into an ice crystal earring. Winnie wrapped one arm around Shikondel’s waist and the other under her knees, lifting her off the ground.

Hmm, she’s quite light. With his strength, he could easily carry Shikondel.

Nestled in Winnie’s arms, Shikondel felt that with every breath, she could smell Winnie’s scent. Although it was highly inappropriate, a faint blush still appeared on her fair cheeks.

‘Virtue + 50.’

‘Current Virtue: 204.’

Was she… being carried like a princess by Winnie??

Feeling the warmth of Winnie’s arms, Shikondel felt an indescribable sense of shyness.

Winnie didn’t think about it that much. Who could think about such things at a time like this?

“Junior, watch out above!” At that moment, Winnie suddenly heard someone shout at him.

Winnie was stunned and quickly looked up.

The holy silver pearl wasn’t strong enough to cause large-scale collapse, but not everything in the back hall was made of holy silver pearl.

For example, the giant statue of a certain church elder wasn’t. And after the earlier shaking, this statue had become quite unstable and was now falling toward him and Shikondel.

Winnie wanted to dodge, but it was too late. He was still holding Shikondel and couldn’t retrieve [Frozen Fang].

If this continued, both he and Shikondel would be crushed into pulp!

“Crack!” At the critical moment, the falling statue was split in two, narrowly missing the embracing pair, with the two halves collapsing on either side of them.

Shikondel in his arms was already terrified, only able to babble incoherently.

Winnie opened his eyes and saw the split statue, wondering who had saved them.

No one else on the scene acknowledged it, as they had already started evacuating the back hall of the Holy Church. By now, the banquet hall was almost empty, with only Winnie and Shikondel remaining.

Now wasn’t the time to figure out who had saved them. They needed to move to an open area quickly.

Winnie carried Shikondel, taking three steps at a time, rushing toward the entrance.

“Are there any students left who haven’t evacuated??” The teacher responsible for the rear saw Winnie carrying Shikondel and quickly flew over, grabbing the back of Winnie’s collar like a chick, pulling both of them out of the Holy Church and into the open courtyard.

“Student, didn’t we call for evacuation a long time ago? Why are you so slow?” the teacher asked with a frown.

“Sorry, teacher. My roommate sprained “his” ankle and couldn’t move. I went to rescue “him”” Winnie explained.

“Don’t do such dangerous things alone next time. You’re just a first-year. Where do you get the courage? Next time, inform the teacher. If something goes wrong, you won’t be able to save anyone, and you’ll be stuck there too,” the teacher’s brow relaxed slightly, but he still admonished.

“Yes, teacher. I understand.”

“Boom!” Before Winnie could finish speaking, another explosion sounded from the front hall of the Holy Church.

“Damn it, what do those bastards want to do??” Seeing this, the teacher quickly went with other teachers to the front hall.

With so many students in the banquet hall, they had to be evacuated in batches. The teachers responsible for escorting the first batch of students hadn’t returned yet, so most students were waiting in the open area.

But because there were so many students, many had scattered and chosen to evacuate on their own.

With no teachers managing the scene, many students formed small groups, planning to break out on their own.

In short, due to differing opinions, students of different grades gathered into teams with different ideas.

Many seniors, in order to reduce the teachers’ burden, teamed up with their friends and acquaintances and left the Holy Church first, with others following suit.

They were students of Carillian Academy, not a bunch of sheep without opinions.

But apart from that, Winnie was more concerned about something else.

Why did the explosion happen inside the Holy Church??

Now that the students were scattering, if that was the case……

Winnie’s gaze wandered through the crowd, searching for a certain figure.

“Dell! Are you okay?!” A golden-haired figure finally found Shikondel in the crowd, anxiously rushing over to ask.

“I’m fine. Winnie saved me,” Shikondel, still somewhat dazed, replied to the worried Miren.

“You… you…” Just as Milian was struggling with whether to thank Winnie, Winnie suddenly saw something in the crowd.

“Let’s not talk about that now, Milian. You’re here just in time. Take care of Dell. I have something urgent to attend to,” Winnie said, then rushed out of the crowd.

“Hey, hey?! Wait, what’s so urgent at a time like this?? Could it be that you remembered you left stove on at home or something??” Milian was confused. What could be so urgent at a time like this?

“Winnie??” Shikondel opened her mouth, reaching out toward Winnie’s retreating figure, but her hand eventually fell weakly.

If only she were stronger, not a burden to Winnie, and could help him.

The moment Winnie stepped out, a figure also passed overhead, unnoticed by everyone, following Winnie.

—

The Saintness Selina Cathedral was now in complete chaos. Although the holy silver pearl’s resilience prevented major destruction, much of the interior had collapsed. In its thousand-year history, the Holy Church had never faced such turmoil.

This male student, like the others, was running around and seemed to have stumbled upon the entrance to the Radiance residence by accident.

Sweating profusely, he looked around at the relatively quiet surroundings, thinking he was safe.

But before he could relax, his gaze sharpened as an ice crystal spear fell from the sky, embedding itself in the spot where he had just been standing. If he hadn’t reacted quickly, he would have been impaled.

“You are……??” The male student stared blankly at the blue-haired youth who pulled the spear from the ground and walked toward him.

“Don’t recognize me?” Winnie twirled the spear in the air. “You’re quite the actor, aren’t you? Should I give you a little golden statue??”

[Ps. Oscar]

“Wait, classmate, what are you talking about?” The male student looked completely confused.

“What am I talking about?” Winnie glanced around. “That’s what I should be asking you. What are you doing here?”

“Classmate, don’t you know? Something happened in the banquet hall. I accidentally ran here……”

“Accidentally you ended up at the Radiance residence? You sure know how to pick your spots,” Winnie sneered.

“But, I was just panicking and ran here??” The male student looked like he had no way to explain. “Besides, this place is the residence of the goddess and the saintess. I thought it would protect me……”

“Protect? You expect a few dead people to protect you? Besides,” Winnie chuckled coldly. “The goddess wouldn’t protect a scoundrel like you.”

With that, Winnie’s [Ice Shackles] flew from his palm, narrowly missing the male student’s head.

“Classmate?! What are you doing??” The male student seemed to be at his wits’ end. “This is the Goddess of Radiance’s residence, under the gaze of the goddess and the saintess. How can you attack your own classmate?!”

“Classmate, I don’t even know you. Why are you trying to harm me?!”

“Keep pretending, you piece of trash.” Winnie raised his gaze. “That stench on you, it can only fool others. I can smell it from miles away!”

“You disgusting creature, choosing to be neither human nor ghost. How revolting!” Winnie spat.

“Stop pretending to be human, [Bronze Blood]’s [Sacrifice]. Am I right??” Winnie said coldly. “From the start of the banquet until now, it’s been almost thirty minutes, hasn’t it?”

“The [Sacrifice]’s ability must be activated thirty minutes in advance. After that, the patterns engraved on your body will gradually appear, from faint to distinct, and once activated, they cannot be turned off.”

“Earlier in the banquet hall, someone bumped into you and pulled down your shoulder clothing. But since you had just activated the [Fanatic] transformation, the red patterns were too faint, so I only caught a glimpse and wasn’t sure if I’d seen correctly. But after coming out, I smelled that stench on you, growing stronger and stronger.”

“That’s when I knew I couldn’t be wrong. You’re the [Bronze Blood]’s mole planted in the academy. I never expected that even a thorough background check before enrollment couldn’t uncover you.”