"Enough chatter. What do you know about him?" Alfia pressed, her tone leaving no room for nonsense.
"Akira, from the Astraea Familia. Advanced to Level 2 in three months. His alias is Morning Star." Erebus reported all the basic intel without hesitation.
Then he added, almost like a whisper of scandal, "Though…according to deeper sources, the real level up time might've been under two months."
Zald raised an eyebrow. "So what's so interesting about him?"
True, ranking up that quickly was rare but not unheard of. And sitting next to him was a peerless genius who reached Level 7 before hitting seventeen.
Alfia remained quiet for a beat, as though weighing what she was about to reveal. Then she said calmly, "I met him on the 17th floor, near the lair of the monster rex."
Zald leaned forward. "And?"
He knew Alfia well. She wouldn't bring someone up unless something about them had truly struck her.
After a moment, Alfia's eyes narrowed slightly. "That rude little brat crushed Goliath with one punch."
"...Huh?" Erebus' voice cracked as he shot up straight, his previous lazy demeanor gone in an instant.
Zald straightened as well. Both of them stared at her, wide-eyed.
Alfia clicked her tongue, annoyed. "I'm not joking."
"No, no, I didn't mean it like that." Erebus raised his hands, waving them furiously. "I'm not Zald—I'd die if I got hit by your Gospel."
Zald, arms crossed, looked intrigued. "Alfia, what exactly happened?"
A Level 2 adventurer defeating a Level 4 monster rex solo—let alone with a punch—was insane. If Alfia wasn't exaggerating, then something was seriously off about this newcomer.
"He has an abnormally high magic power reserve." Alfia explained. "He condenses it into his fists without casting spells, resulting in attacks similar to my Gospel."
At the end of her words, a trace of envy flickered in her tone.
"Not just his magic power. His physical ability is unnatural too. It's not something a Level 2 adventurer should possess. By the time I arrived, he had already defeated Goliath with his bare hands."
She didn't mention what happened afterward. Her eyes darkened slightly, a complicated emotion flashing through them.
For a moment, silence fell over the church.
Then—
"Pfft—Hahahahahaha!!"
Erebus burst into laughter. His voice echoed loudly through the ancient halls.
"Where did this heroic tale come from? Did someone sneak a bard in there?"
Alfia didn't respond. She merely shook her head with a faint frown. "I don't know the details. But I'm certain that brat has more talent than I ever did. Even at my age, I didn't have as much magic power as he does now."
"Both high magic power and an unnatural physique? Sounds like someone combined the best parts of you two." Erebus mused, scratching his chin. "Did Astraea cook him up in secret? She sure got lucky."
Suddenly, Zald smiled. "So, Alfia, does that mean this kid's your pick?"
"...Haha. As if I'd choose some rude brat." Alfia's voice rose with uncharacteristic emotion, veins bulging slightly at her temples.
She thought of the way Akira treated her in the dungeon and her temper instantly flared.
The two men blinked.
Zald was confused. "No need to be so angry. I was just asking."
But as he looked more carefully at Alfia, an idea began forming in his mind. Something about her reaction... It was too intense.
An amused glint entered his eyes as he took a deep breath.
"Alfia… don't tell me you fell for him at first sight?"
Then, without thinking, he added fuel to the fire, "But that kid's only thirteen, isn't he? Did you force him to—?"
Boom!
The air turned heavy. Magic power surged like a crashing wave. The temperature dropped.
"Blessing of the root of evil, curse of birth. My original sin that devoured half of my body. Not hard. There is no purification. There is no salvation. The resonance of this heavenly sound is my sin..."
Zald's face paled. "Hey! Hey! Alfia! That's the long-form chant! What the hell are you doing?!"
"WAIT! I WAS WRONG! PLEASE!" Zald screamed in panic.
Erebus tripped over his own feet in his attempt to flee the room.
But then, at the last second—
Alfia stopped mid-chant. She didn't use Genos Angelus.
Instead, she cast [Gospel].
BOOM! BOOM!
Invisible shockwaves exploded throughout the ancient church. The very air twisted under the pressure, shaking the walls and floors.
After a long silence, dust finally settled from the trembling ceiling. Debris lay scattered across the ground like a storm had passed.
Erebus cautiously opened one eye. His hands lowered from his face as he looked around the demolished interior.
Pews had been blasted apart, pieces of wood lay strewn about like broken bones.
In the center of it all was Zald—flattened beneath a pile of shattered benches, barely twitching.
Erebus let out a long sigh. His gaze slowly turned toward Alfia, who still sat composedly in her chair. Her skirt hadn't even rustled. Not a single hair out of place. She looked as calm as a statue.
Even the food on the table remained untouched. That was how precise her control was—even in rage.
Erebus was quietly in awe.
"Don't joke about things like that with a virgin." Alfia snarled, her breathing still ragged. "Have you been infected by that old man's habits, Zald?! Do you want to die?!"
Her fury hadn't faded. But deeper than the anger… was fear.
The atmosphere inside the ruined church gradually cooled after the explosive chaos earlier.
Erebus tiptoed forward and nudged the motionless Zald, who was still buried in splinters of shattered pews, using the tip of his boot.
"Ugh…" Zald groaned softly, proving at least that he was still alive.
With some difficulty, Zald struggled to rise from the ruins. He brushed the dust off his battered clothes and looked up with a pale face, a lingering trace of fear still etched into his expression.
"Alfia... I admit I spoke out of line. Please calm down." He said with a forced smile, the tone of his voice laced with a rare hint of flattery.
Alfia snorted coldly in response and turned her head away. Her chest was still rising and falling sharply—it was clear that she had yet to fully calm her fury.
Seeing her like this, Erebus quickly stepped in to defuse the tension. "Alright, alright. Let's not stay angry. How about we get back to talking about that righteous little rookie?"
Zald massaged his sore shoulders, straightened his posture, and once more turned serious as he looked at Alfia.
"To be honest, Alfia… jokes aside, did you really set your eyes on that newcomer?"
Alfia frowned. "Zald, what's gotten into you? Why do you keep insisting I've chosen him?"
Zald cleared his throat, a gleam of insight in his eyes as he shared his reasoning.
"Well, for starters, you're paying too much attention to him. And besides…" His gaze dropped to her hand. "One of your gloves is missing. And I doubt any monster could get close enough to you to tear it off."
"In that case, there's only one person who could've touched you recently, right? The newcomer."
Alfia froze slightly. She looked down at her hand on instinct. The glove she normally wore was indeed missing. Her empty wrist betrayed her.
A faint warmth crept up her cheeks, but she quickly masked it with cold indifference. "It was just accidentally torn off during the fight. What of it?"
Erebus's eyes lit up at that, and he eagerly leaned closer. "So you two fought before? Ooh, now I've got to hear about it. Come on, spill it."
Alfia rolled her eyes at him, clearly annoyed. She hesitated for a moment… and then decided to fabricate a story.
(End of Chapter)
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