#179: I Am Relieved, I Am Truly Relieved' — Starborn Cheat Character

Rumble!!!

A pillar of white light.
No, it was a pillar of light tinged with its unique purple hue.

A powerful, yet intense outburst of energy.

A force stronger than magic.
[Peng Furious Wolf], imbued with <Spiritual Power>, surged upwards to the ceiling.

A huge roaring sound, like a white tiger’s roar, echoed in the ears.

“……”

Divine Light Garam watched in a daze.

She shivered, overcome by the sheer magnitude of power that was unfolding before her.

Right now, Divine Light Garam was helpless.

Jing Daram’s vile tricks had left her completely powerless, rendering her utterly incapable of fighting back.

She had never felt so weak.
She didn’t show it, but the realization struck deep.

It was a shock—a painful wound to her pride.
Divine Light Garam had always been strong.
She had always been the one leading others.
She had always been able to protect herself.

And yet…

Here she was, on the verge of death, saved not by her own strength, but by the very juniors she thought needed her protection.

Ironically…

That was why this scene before her became etched not just into her vision, but into her mind and heart.

“Ah…”

She exhaled softly.
A memory surfaced.
The heroic epics she had once read as a child.
The grand, exaggerated tales of heroes, recorded in myths and legends.

Stories she had once thought were nothing but fantasy were now unfolding before her very eyes.

For the first time, Divine Light Garam wondered…
Maybe those myths were real after all.

Ice-covered outer walls, and meat fragments presumed to be Jing Daram’s body, collided and shattered.
At the very center was unmistakably the figure of a great hero with golden eyes.

“…Huuu.”

Divine Light Garam placed her hand on her sufficiently matured, gently rising chest.

A faint, tingling sensation.
An emotion she couldn’t quite define, but one that burned with an undeniable heat.
She turned her gaze back to Yu Seha.

His presence.
His prowess.
His charisma.

It was awe-inspiring.
It was intimidating.
It was captivating.

And for a moment…

She wished she could hold onto this feeling forever.

Crunch, crunch!

“…?”

She turned her head in response to the suspicious sound coming from next to her.

“Meep, meep, meep!”
“……”

Choi Mari.

Right next to her, she was comfortably seated and eating popcorn.

Additionally, she wore 3D glasses of unknown origin over her eyes.

“Meep, meep, meep!”
“……”

Divine Light Garam looked at her junior with a piercing gaze.

She wasn’t sure about the glasses, but she knew the origin of the popcorn well.

The periodic prayer time.
There, Choi Mari awakened her ability.
A rare-grade ability [Relief’s Leftovers] that used holy power to create food.

‘…Sigh.’

When Choi Mari first awakened this ability and made popcorn, the sisters, including Divine Light Garam, looked at her with indescribable disdain.

That feeling rose again.

“Sister Choi Mari.”
“…Meep! Meeep? Yes?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”

Divine Light Garam stopped herself from saying something.

Unlike her, who was powerless and could do nothing, Choi Mari fulfilled her role well.

-Crunch, meep, crunch, meep.

If she hadn’t periodically healed the [Mark of Corruption], they might have been wiped out before Moon Bora arrived.

-Crunch, meep, crunch, meep!
-Crunch, meep, crunch, meep.

Sure, her contributions should be fully recognized.
Such an absurd deviation…
As the <Mother Superior>, it would be generous to overlook it…

-Crunch, meep, crunch, meep.

“……”

Thud!

“Meep! That hurts!”
“Please, stop eating!”

Eventually, Divine Light Garam couldn’t hold back and smacked the back of Choi Mari’s head.

Divine Light Garam looked at Choi Mari, who was tearing up while going ‘Meep!’, and thought.

‘Perhaps…’

The reason she was bullied wasn’t just due to a lack of holy power.

A moment later.

When the duration of [Ten Thousand Ice Snow Flower] ended, the ice wall easily crumbled.

Step, step.

Yu Seha walked out confidently.

In his grasp was Jing Daram, crushed to a pulp with only the head torn off.

Divine Light Garam’s eyes sharpened.
Even though her mutilated remains suggested absolute annihilation, Divine Light Garam sensed it immediately.
Yu Seha had deliberately spared her life.

Well, no matter how much of a <Beast> she was, she couldn’t withstand such an absurd attack.

‘…That strike was…’

***Surely it was a strike that could even affect the transcendent and great evil Demon King. ***

Crack.
Craack!

With each step Yu Seha took, the floor composed of the <Magic System>’s magical barrier cracked as if breaking apart.

Divine Light Garam had never seen anything like this before.

It was literally an absurd display of power.

The purple <Energy> rising around his body.

His black pupils turned golden, blazing fiercely.

With Yu Seha’s unique, beautiful appearance added, it seemed as if he wasn’t a being of this world.

“…I didn’t know Junior Seha was that strong…”

Divine Light Garam murmured, blushing slightly.

In her view, Yu Seha now seemed stronger than most third-year students and even some mediocre professors.

And, as if it were obvious, Moon Bora replied.

“Of course. He wouldn’t be our leader otherwise.”
“…Truly, your leader is remarkable.”
“…Yes.”

Moon Bora smiled shyly at Divine Light Garam’s compliment.

On her face, without a doubt…
Was the expression of a girl in love.

“He, Yu Seha… is truly a remarkable person.”
“Meep, meep! Crunch, crunch. Amazing!”
“…Sister Choi Mari. Please stop eating.”

‘Phew…’

Everything was over.
Realizing that fact, I was finally able to exhale the breath that had been building up.

[Monstrous Strength], [Calamitous Fiend], and even [Rising Tidal Wave].

The exhaustion from pouring everything out hit me like a wave.

‘…I feel like I’m dying.’

I staggered and collapsed.

Thunk.

Then, a beautiful woman, who anticipated my fall, caught me.

Her white hair was slowly turning a shade of violet.

“……”
“……”

I was silent for a moment.
I pondered what to say.
A slight hesitation came over me.
There were so many things I wanted to say…
So many apologies…
So much to explain, and a lot to clean up, but…

‘Yeah.’

First, I should answer this.

“Thank you. Really… if it weren’t for you, things would’ve been bad.”
“You’re welcome.”

A moment later.

After everything had settled, right after we called for rescue.

Crunch!

Meep!

“Huh?”

At the sound of something breaking, I turned my head.

The shattered exam room door lay on the ground.

And what appeared from within was none other than our angelic Meowi.

“Meow! Meow!!!”
“Me-Meowi?”

Oh…
But…
Something seemed very wrong with Meowi.

The focus in her eyes was off.
Her hair stood on end, pointing to the sky…
It was like a frenzied Meowi.

“M-meow, meeeeow! Meow!”
“M-Meowi!”

Meowi charged forward as if nothing else mattered.

Then, she mercilessly slammed a training shield onto the remains of the <Fusion-Type Demon>.

Thud, thud!

“Meow! Don’t bully our Seha!”
“M-Meowi? Hey?”
“Seha!”

She refused to stop, despite my attempts to restrain her.

And if that wasn’t enough…

“Yong-aaa!”

The sudden arrival of Ju Na-young made the situation even worse.

Like Meowi, her eyes were completely wild, as if she couldn’t see anything except her target.
Flames ignited across her entire body as she stomped forward and took her place right beside Meowi.

“Yong-aaaa!”
“Meeeep!”

The two began to pound the remaining scraps with shield and fist, like beating dust out of a rug on a rainy day.

While I was bewildered, Divine Light Garam stood beside me.

“…Oh my goodness…”
“Se-Senior! Why are those two acting like that now?”
“…Uh, it’s like they’re in a <Demonic Energy Intoxication> state?”
“…What?”

Divine Light Garam explained that inhaling too much <Demonic Energy> could cause a kind of mental derangement.

“It’s a phenomenon often seen in civilians caught in <Demon> attacks. And, rarely, <Hunters> are affected too. In my case, I’ve seen it quite a bit during foreign pilgrimages.”

Apparently, <Hunters> had hundreds of times the resistance of civilians, so this sort of reaction was extremely rare.

“From here on, it’s just my guess… but perhaps the <Perception Hindrance> installed by [Khan’s Mace] was a mass of demonic energy.”

Therefore, by hovering around it continuously to get here, they must have ingested too much…

“In addition, just watching their precious Seha struggling to fight must have also contributed to the frenzy.”

“…Ah.”

I looked at the two with apologetic eyes.

“So, um… is there a way to fix this?”
“Well, normally, you’d brew some herbal tea based on mulberry leaves to remedy them… but we don’t have that on us now. <Demonic Energy> poisoning is hardly affected by divine law.”

“But don’t worry. In about 10 minutes, both of them will regain their senses.”

“Is that so…?”

I let out a sigh of relief at the words that they’d be okay.

Soon, I turned my head to the hand placed on my shoulder.

Moon Bora.

She nodded with a gentle smile, as if to reassure me.

“Both of them must have been frustrated.”

I barely broke through because my mental stats were high…

But in the end, they couldn’t make it here.

“So let’s just leave them to vent a little.”
“Oh… okay.”

Just like that…

With the exhausting battle finally behind me, I exhaled as the intensity of the moment began to fade.

This had been a fight where I had given everything I had.

But more than anything… it was a harsh reminder
that I was still far too weak alone.

Just as that thought settled…

Clatter!

I instinctively turned my head at the sound of the back door opening roughly once again.

I didn’t let my guard down, wondering if it was an enemy arriving late.

But such thoughts disappeared when I met the jewel-like, trembling eyes.

“…Professor?”
“…Huff, huff…”

Peng Jin-ah.

She stood there, covered in sweat and exhaustion.
I was startled at first, but soon calmed down.
The color of the blood splattered on her was black.
It was not her own blood.

Additionally, the sword she was holding was engulfed in <White Flames> and burning.

It surely meant she had been fighting while running here.

Thanks to that, I realized that damages had been occurring not only here but everywhere…

At the same time, I could somewhat guess why the professors were late.

“Professor, are you alright?”
“……”

Peng Jin-ah stared at me blankly.
She gazed silently…
As if she were seeing a ghost.

Tears trickled down her face.

Soon, a stream of tears flowed down.

I was shocked by that sight.

‘…The Professor…’

For her to cry…

Something unimaginable was happening before my eyes.