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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 80
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"First, the Apostle of Sacrifice, living up to its epithet 'Sacrifice,' is an Apostle that can convert the corpses of monsters, or various other living creatures, into its own power."
I listened intently to Kali's calm voice.
"I encountered the Apostle of Sacrifice when I had only been commissioned as an officer for about half a year. I was quite inexperienced back then. Both in terms of my power and my personal maturity, I was truly lacking. That's why, even when I faced the Apostle of Sacrifice, I couldn't properly recognize it as an Apostle."
However, the statement that she didn't recognize it left me puzzled.
Apostles possess a presence far beyond that of other monsters. Most monsters referred to as Apostles are immediately identifiable upon encounter.
"Excuse me, Instructor. Don't people usually distinguish an Apostle the moment they face one?"
"That's right. Cadet Han Cheon-seong's question is natural. How do you know about the feeling of an Apostle so well?"
"...I thought an Apostle would be clearly distinguishable from other monsters."
"You're right. That's true for 'most Apostles.' They are generally very distinct from other monsters. Their visible appearance, the aura they possess, even the strength of their presence can be felt physically from a distance."
Tap.
Kali, who had been speaking, suddenly tapped the table lightly, and my gaze followed her hand.
Tap.
And again, the gesture of tapping the table.
As I stared blankly at Kali, she smiled faintly.
"Cadet Han Cheon-seong, how did you react just now when I tapped the table?"
"...Even if you ask about my reaction, my eyes just followed your hand."
"Exactly, didn't they? Even now, your gaze follows my actions. And any officer or soldier on the battlefield has their senses heightened to the maximum. Their lives depend on it. They can't help but be in a state of extreme tension. So, if my gesture of tapping the table just now, as an Apostle might have done, had drawn your attention, what do you think would have happened?"
"If an Apostle drew attention, I suppose my gaze would naturally be drawn to it. Surely not…"
"Yes. When the Apostle of Sacrifice appeared, we were already confronting another Apostle. That's why our attention was greatly dispersed."
...My eyes widened instantly.
The mere presence of an 'Apostle' was a disaster for the officers and soldiers on the battlefield.
Apostles were classified as monsters that were incredibly threatening.
'An Apostle, and not just one, but two appeared...?'
That was virtually a situation where retreat was the only option, no matter the circumstances.
"Seeing you so surprised, Cadet Han Cheon-seong, I find it a little fascinating myself."
Kali laughed, as if to lighten the heavy atmosphere a bit, and I awkwardly composed my features.
"Actually, the first Apostle that revealed itself was in its final stages, so looking back, it wasn't a life-or-death situation. However, it struggled fiercely until the very end, drawing a great deal of our attention. That's why, at that moment, no one noticed when the Apostle of Sacrifice appeared. Looking back now... that was the beginning of the tragedy."
...Tragedy.
As Kali ended her sentence with that peculiar word, I found myself unable to speak.
The weight of the battlefield, a place where even now many individuals at the Empire's borders were struggling and confronting monsters, was something I dared not claim to understand.
Therefore, I couldn't easily respond to Kali's words.
"When we finally finished off the Apostle known as 'Immense Power,' the countless monster corpses we had killed suddenly began to converge in one place. And then, it even absorbed the Apostle we had just killed, taking on a bizarre form. Should I call it a purple-hued ogre? It felt as if we were facing another Apostle. We were eventually able to defeat even that Apostle, which was dyed purple, but we had to endure some sacrifices..."
Sigh.
Kali, who had been explaining the events of that time, suddenly let out a deep sigh.
"But. That was just a clone, not the true form of the Apostle of Sacrifice."
As she said that, Kali seemed to express a hint of regret. As if recalling that very moment.
And I, too, naturally imagined it.
The omens that appeared with Letheia's emergence in the story.
They always followed the spilling of countless amounts of blood. Letheia never reveals its true form first.
Even when it does reveal itself, it always appears in different guises.
A small animal like a squirrel, or taking the form of a bird as it did for Karite, or even disguised as other monsters, it manifests its power by sacrificing various corpses.
A distinguishing feature is that a trace of purple always remains in its mimicry.
"When you kill an Apostle, you usually get a certain feeling, but that purple ogre gave absolutely no feeling at all. It vanished like a mirage even at the moment of its death, so we only found out later after a proper investigation. That the Apostle of Sacrifice existed, and that it rarely revealed its presence. It was so long ago, actually. The shock I felt back then was immense, but since then, I've faced far too many Apostles."
Watching Kali speak, I truly came to realize several facts I had overlooked.
'Corpse...'
It felt like I was realizing the core point far too late.
Until now, I had focused on Karite being sacrificed in the first episode, 'The Condition of Sacrifice,' but the most crucial keyword related to Letheia was 'sacrifice.'
Letheia would never reveal its true form without a 'corpse' to manifest its power.
"..."
My breath seemed to catch for a moment.
The possibility of Letheia directly appearing to kill Karite and unleash its power was virtually zero. No, considering its habits, it was impossible.
In the story, Leonhardt struggled immensely because of this.
...Then something was very odd.
'Who exactly is going to kill Karite...?'
Because the prerequisite for Letheia to appear wouldn't be met.
Clearly, Letheia wouldn't appear without a corpse.
Which leads to the conclusion that the entity that kills Karite wouldn't be Letheia itself.
If Letheia truly isn't the one to kill Karite, then there must be another entity that will.
'...Who could it be?'
The outdoor lecture was scheduled for next Wednesday.
Even though Letheia was indeed the culprit targeting Karite, there had to be another villain involved.
"Cadet Han Cheon-seong?"
I looked up blankly at the sound of my name.
"...Yes, Instructor Kali."
"What's wrong all of a sudden? You look so serious..."
Seeing her expression full of concern, I managed an awkward smile.
"I think I unconsciously... imagined the battlefield."
As I answered, cold sweat seemed to trickle down my entire body.
In the story, the first episode, 'The Condition of Sacrifice,' merely ends with the sacrifice of an innocent cadet.
The Apostle-class monster that appears as a result is quickly suppressed and resolved by the instructors. But that's all.
The exact cause was never revealed.
The world of Groa, which had previously been portrayed as a calm romance, suddenly became tense, and the atmosphere grew heavy.
Looking back now, it wasn't simply a chilling first episode to dismiss.
'There's an unrevealed entity in the story.'
Something was connected to Letheia, the Apostle of Sacrifice.
Whether it was another Apostle, or if Karite met her death through an accident related to a monster, I didn't know.
The story didn't properly explain it.
However. I didn't think such a culprit was an Apostle or a monster.
'Outdoor lectures are conducted under strict instructor supervision.'
So, let alone an Apostle, there's no way an instructor wouldn't notice a monster's approach.
Their levels are far superior to ours. At least, the monsters we might face in an outdoor lecture would never be a match for an instructor.
So, while Letheia is the fundamental culprit, there must be an entity that helps Letheia.
Among humans. Either a student who would be moving with us, or...
'An instructor...?'
My thoughts spiraled out of control.
Clasp.
Suddenly, a different warmth enveloped my hand.
"Cadet Han Cheon-seong."
I snapped out of my dazed contemplation at her resolute voice.
It felt as if I had approached a shocking truth, forgetting even reality at that moment. She pulled me back to the present.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but don't think too deeply about it. It's certainly a good attitude to want to learn about Apostles. But there's no need to be afraid already."
At Kali's words, I belatedly became aware of my own state.
As I felt the warmth from Kali's hand holding mine, I also felt moisture.
It couldn't have come from Kali's hand, so it was naturally my own cold sweat.
I had been feeling fear without even realizing it.
"...Instructor Kali."
"Hmm?"
"Is there ever a case where we encounter an Apostle during an outdoor lecture?"
...In the midst of an overwhelming sense of crisis, I asked Kali.
I knew there hadn't been such cases so far. Yet, I wondered.
If this world was somehow different from the Groa I knew...
At my words, Kali smiled brightly and shook her head.
"Cadet Han Cheon-seong. I can state with certainty that there has never been such a case. Having Apostles and cadets face each other – that's something that shouldn't happen in the future, and it can't happen."
Kali met my gaze and spoke with a confident tone.
As if to say I didn't need to worry unnecessarily, I nodded blankly.
"...I see. Understood."
"Hmm... I'm not sure why you're so worried, Cadet Han Cheon-seong. Was the literature on the Apostle of Sacrifice written with such serious content? It's certainly a dangerous Apostle, but you probably won't ever see the Apostle of Sacrifice. The literature I've read states numerous times that the Apostle of Sacrifice has never reappeared within 20 years after manifesting its power. It must take a great toll on the Apostle of Sacrifice to manifest such power."
As Kali spoke with a gentle smile, I merely offered an awkward one in return.
For a moment, I was overwhelmed by the urge to correct her words, but I barely managed to hold back.
Kali's reaction right now was perfectly normal.
The outdoor lecture wasn't even taking place outside the Empire; it was merely about subduing monsters within the Empire's borders.
While the exact reason for how Apostles appear hasn't been definitively revealed, there have been no cases of Apostles appearing within the Empire's interior until now.
Dangerous species within the vast territories of the Empire were considered to have been subjugated, and currently, suppression teams were steadily eliminating monsters in the Empire's internal territories.
How could I, a mere cadet, suddenly claim that an Apostle would appear within the Empire and cause an incident?
There was no clear basis or reason for it...
"Instructor Kali."
"Speak."
Despite my complex feelings, I offered a faint smile at her calm tone.
"Thank you for explaining everything in such detail."
"No problem. It's my duty as an instructor to inform cadets about Apostles. Oh, and by the way."
"Yes, Instructor."
"Can I ask you something too, Cadet Han Cheon-seong?"
As she suddenly met my gaze, I nodded, my mind still somewhat dazed.
"Was something going on with Cadet Karite yesterday?"
"...Karite and I just had a conversation."
I was momentarily surprised that she knew about Karite and me, but I answered without hesitation.
"A conversation?"
"Yes. Yesterday, while attending the 특성 (Aptitude) lecture... Karite, who was also attending, didn't look well. I just couldn't pass her by. So, I talked to her directly."
As I relayed the facts, I didn't avert Kali's gaze.
Her gaze was direct, yet it held no anger or coldness.
It was merely a gaze that observed me.
"...I see."
"Just in case, I want to say that there was absolutely nothing that could cause Instructor Kali to misunderstand..."
"Oh, no! No, I wasn't misunderstanding you, Cadet Han Cheon-seong! I've decided not to view romantic relationships between cadets negatively anymore, so you don't have to be so self-conscious."
Kali flustered more than I expected at my words, and I just accepted it, thinking, 'Is that so?'
Today, I gained a significant insight from an unexpected question, and while it wasn't a complete answer, I was able to clearly grasp the direction I needed to take.
—Protect Karite.
At the very least, I could be by her side on that day. That meant I could directly protect Karite.
That alone felt like the most crucial answer.
Because the simplest answer was for me to become stronger.