Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 5] Chapter 149

[Vol. 5] Chapter 149: Marching Route and Snow-Capped Peaks

Taking out a small porcelain bottle from one of the rings among the storage items he carried, the grey-clad swordsman poured out a few round, pill-like objects. He swallowed them all, took a few deep breaths, and his pale face quickly showed some improvement.

After adjusting his breath for a moment, he almost instinctively looked at the golden figure not far away, exuding a terrifying sense of oppression and a sacred aura. His gaze lingered especially on the large two-handed sword planted in the ground before he struggled to stand, bowing his head somewhat shamefully to Miss White Fox behind him.

“Apologies… I am not skilled enough, Miss Dawn. I must have made a fool of myself…”

There was no reluctance or resentment in his voice, though there was some disappointment. The ?Dead Soul? knew clearly that he had been utterly defeated just now. If it hadn’t been for the young girl’s intervention, he would have likely fallen off the mountain and been smashed into a pile of flesh.

He thought this would be the end of his journey of learning, but after anxiously waiting for a while, all he heard was Miss White Fox’s indifferent remark—or was it a taunt?

“You really are quite stupid. You had flight wings on your back, and I even reminded you before the battle. But you were about to fall to your death and still didn’t think to use them. Were you trying to make me laugh? When did I ever say that the test was to defeat your opponent?”

“Huh? I…”

Upon hearing Miss White Fox’s reminder, Mr. Dead Soul finally remembered that he indeed had a piece of equipment called ?Artificial Wings?  strapped to his back. Recalling the earlier situation, he lowered his head in embarrassment, once again repeating the words he had already spoken many times today.

“I’m sorry…”

However, after scolding him, the girl named Dawn didn’t seem inclined to pursue the matter further, nor did she immediately send him down the mountain. She merely nodded and then pointed to the distant golden-armored warrior still silently standing with his sword.

“That is the opponent you will need to challenge for the time being. Let me emphasize once again: your goal is not to defeat it, nor is it possible for you to defeat it.”

“Fifteen minutes—no matter what method you use, when you can last fifteen minutes without being defeated, you will have passed this first test. Of course, it won’t take your life, and it won’t attack the flight wings on your back. Remember these two points and do your best.”

Like an ethereal figure, Miss White Fox’s silhouette floated gracefully and flew toward the distance. Her final words lingered in the air:

“Someone will bring you food at this time every day. If you need healing medicine or anything of that sort, you can ask her. And of course, if you feel like giving up and can’t hold on anymore, you’re welcome to tell your examiner at any time. It can understand what you’re saying~.”

“Ah, Miss Dawn…”

Gazing at the girl’s silhouette, which disappeared almost instantly, he raised his hand to touch the cold, iron-like, yet still smoothly operable wings on his back. Taking a deep breath, the ?Dead Soul? gradually focused his gaze.

“I understand. Then… let’s begin.”

Finding his beloved sword, which had been stuck in the ground and was now marked by wind and snow, the grey-clad swordsman took firm steps toward the golden figure, as imposing and unmovable as a towering mountain.

As he advanced, the golden-armored warrior finally drew its magnificent greatsword, engraved with ornate holy patterns, and silently pointed the blade toward him.

The young man bowed slightly, raising his sword in response.

“I am ?Dead Soul?. Please, teach me, master!”

……………………

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed.

According to the plan, the expedition army was still advancing quickly toward the predetermined rendezvous point, the Angel City in the Eastern Holy Empire. Traveling day and night, they were getting closer to their destination, and it was estimated that within three more days, the vanguard would be within the city’s radius.

As for the other side of the progress…

“Huh? Miss Dawn?”

Hearing a slightly puzzled voice behind her, Miss White Fox standing at the edge of the temporary camp turned around, meeting a pair of beautiful, lively light-golden eyes, accompanied by a soft chuckle.

“Are you heading off to bring that guy his meal?”

The girl with four white wings in her back, carrying no items in hand, nodded and glanced at the “round disk” she held, answering without hesitation.

“Yes, as per your instructions, I bring him a meal at this time every day. Is something wrong, Miss Dawn?”

The girl shook her head.

“No, I’m just a bit surprised that kid hasn’t given up yet. I did tell Lucas to give him a good beating…”

When this topic was brought up, Leila’s expression became somewhat odd.

“From what I’ve observed, instead of giving up, he seems to be enjoying himself. Although he gets beaten to a pulp every time, by the next day, he’s completely recovered, and he’s always full of energy. It’s like he doesn’t know what fatigue or fear is. What a strange person.”

“Haha… If he weren’t a strange person, he wouldn’t have been so shamelessly persistent in asking me to take him as a disciple. I think I’ll go see him myself today, just to check on his progress. Once we reach the Angel City, we might not have the time to let him train slowly anymore.”

“Understood.”

Handing the round disk in her hand to the girl in front of her, Leila then took a few sealed boxes containing compressed bread from her storage items and gave them to Miss White Fox.

The St. Bergen Mountains are not like ordinary places. Due to the extreme low temperatures at the high-altitude peaks, most food cannot be stored normally.

However, Violet couldn’t just watch the ?Dead Soul? starve to death, so she came up with this solution, inspired by some items from Earth.

Well, as long as it fills the stomach, that’s what matters.

After bidding farewell to Leila, who was preparing to head back, Violet put away the food and used the disk in her hand to summon the previously set up ?Invisible Space Portal?, stepping inside.

Since the expedition army was constantly moving further away from the St. Bergen Mountains, and although Leila could fly, it wasn’t practical for her to make such a long trip every time for something this trivial.

Therefore, the priestess had previously left a portal at the top of the snow peak and connected it to a simplified version of a teleportation terminal that only linked to that location. This saved Leila both energy and effort since it didn’t need to be set up from scratch every time.

The St. Bergen Mountains always gave Violet a faint sense of strangeness, as if there were more mysterious secrets hidden here that hadn’t been discovered yet. Leaving a backdoor like this would make it easier to return later.

Having personally tested the portal, there was naturally no issue. After a brief and familiar spatial jump, Miss White Fox reappeared at the snow-covered peak of the St. Bergen Mountains.

Perhaps she had arrived at just the right time, for not far away in the sky above, two figures were still engaged in an intense battle.

Hmm… Or rather, it might be more accurate to say one was flying around chaotically with no pattern, while the other was relentlessly pursuing and attacking.

The ?Dead Soul? was only at an entry-level legendary strength, far from being able to face Lucas, a Guardian of the Celestial Realm, whose strength is equivalent to that of a demigod in this world.

Even though Lucas wasn’t particularly skilled in offense or destruction, its attacks were still far beyond what a human who couldn’t even withstand extreme cold could handle.

As for defense, it went without saying that even if Lucas stood there like a wooden post, the ?Dead Soul? wouldn’t be able to scratch even a single scale of its armor.

Aside from the rules of not harming him or attacking the flight wings, Violet had also specifically instructed Lucas to use only one-fifth of its speed and not to activate any special skills, only suppressing him with physical means. That level of combat alone was enough.

Otherwise, no matter how much training the ?Dead Soul? did, even in another year, he wouldn’t be able to last a full fifteen minutes against Lucas.