I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 139 : Holy Nation (5)

Holy Nation (5)

"Young master!! Where have you been?!~"

The Saint of Prophecy, having woken from her sleep, began behaving erratically.

Suddenly, she was showing an intense affection toward that boy, Louis.

"Waaaah!! I was really so lonely!!"

When Pram hugged Louis a little too tightly, Louis felt a bit uncomfortable.

However, at the same time, he was greatly relieved.

"Did anything happen while I was gone?"

"No. Aside from making some things like spirit stones, there weren't any particular problems. Plus, being treated as a saint was so fun! They gave me delicious food, pretty clothes, and all sorts of gems and jewels!"

"Then do you want to go back?"

At Louis's brief question, Pram's expression hardened.

Pram hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke, her voice quivering:

"Sure, living in the Holy Nation was nice. There's no comparison to the 7th Legion. But... but... if the young master isn't there, then it's all meaningless!!"

Shouting, Pram hugged Louis tight once more.

"Living there made me realize just how miserable it is without you, young master! So, I don't need to be saint or anything!! I'll stay by your side, young master!!"

Pram's voice echoed throughout the entire underground space.

Even the elves working below, and those whipping them, paused for a moment.

Of course, tyrone's reaction was beyond description.

"What the...?"

What in the world is this situation?

Not only Tyrone but the rest of the party was left speechless.

The saint, who had been sleeping peacefully, had suddenly woken up and was shouting at the top of her lungs about liking a boy.

It was a situation that no ordinary mind could comprehend.

"Saint Pram! What are you doing?!"

"Return at once! That boy is dangerous!"

Anyone could see the situation was unusual.

Why in the world were the elves being overworked in place of humans?

And how had this boy managed to rise above the elders?

From what had just happened, it was clear the boy was a dangerous element.

There was no way they could leave the saint by his side.

"That's enough. I'm not going back anymore."

But the saint herself refused to return to the Holy Nation.

"What are you saying, saint?!"

"Didn't you hear me? I said I'm not going back!!"

"Don't say such nonsense!"

"I'd much rather be by the young master's side than stay with my oppas!!"

There was no reasoning with her.

In the first place, after ingesting the fruit of the World Tree, her mental age had regressed to that of a child.

Since normal conversation was impossible, brainwashing was the only option left.

Tyrone spoke into a necklace.

"Saint. Please return right now."

At those words, Pram, who was hugging Louis, suddenly froze.

Anyone who ate the fruit of the World Tree would obey the elves' commands.

The necklace Tyrone held was a magitech device that made his voice sound like an elf's.

"We still need you, saint. Until the sacred stone is completely embedded in the World Tree, you cannot leave our side."

"Yes..."

With those powerless words, Pram started to move away from Louis.

As Pram turned her head from Louis, Louis spoke.

"Pram. Are you really going to leave?"

"..."

"You just said you'd stay by my side from now on."

At those words, Pram suddenly stopped moving.

With stiff, awkward movements, she turned to look at Louis, and Tyrone was shocked.

"W-what are you doing! Return at once!"

Tyrone shouted into the necklace again.

Pram looked as if she was about to return to Tyrone, but Louis wouldn't stand by idly.

"Pram. Are you truly leaving?"

"..."

Pram stopped again.

"Saint!"

"Pram."

"You must save the world!"

"Are you really going to stay with those people?"

"If there's no Saint, this continent has no future!"

"Think carefully, Pram."

With a cold expression, Louis spoke.

"If you really leave this time, I'll never come for you again."

At that, Pram turned back to him, her face filled with horror.

"No, you can't do that!!"

Then she rushed right back to Louis and hugged him again.

"I'll never let go this time! Young master, don't ever abandon me!!"

Clinging to him and sobbing, Pram left Tyrone, weissman and the others utterly dumbfounded.

What were they even witnessing right now?

For someone to override brainwashing in this way was beyond comprehension.

"All right, all right. Good girl."

When Louis stroked Pram's head, she stopped crying at once.

Tyrone was dismayed at how easily the Saint—whom he should have been able to control—had been tamed.

"There is no longer any hope."

"What... what do you mean by that?!"

The elders spoke to Tyrone.

"As you can see... all our plans have been exposed to them."

"Who on earth is that boy?"

From the start, they'd known he wasn't just an ordinary boy.

But now, he had clearly surpassed mere extraordinariness.

"Young master... did you say young master, saint?"

Bellain, who had been silent until now, muttered quietly.

Come to think of it, Pram the Saint had been singing "young master" repeatedly ever since the injection.

So if that "young master" was this boy...

"Ah, that's it...!"

Tyrone finally realized.

Among the 7th Legion's Special Task Force from Pram's past, there was a member known as the "young master".

So now, he finally knew who this boy was.

"Why is someone from the Imperial Court's special task force here? Are you here to retrieve the saint?"

"That wasn't my intention at first... but here we are now, aren't we?"

"What do you mean by that?!"

"You see..."

Louis began explaining why he was here.

Originally, he had disguised himself as a migrant to sneak into the village and investigate the World Tree for a brief moment.

Back then, he'd had no intention of harming the elves.

At the time, the elves he knew were a benevolent race who protected the World Tree.

"In short, they started it."

Louis pointed at the elders.

The elders did not deny it; they nodded in agreement.

"That's right. We started it first."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We elves... simply acted as we always have."

Literally, as always—they tried to brainwash human migrants and force them into labor.

They handed fruit as a "moving-in" gift to Louis's party and demanded a development fund of 50 gold.

This was the usual daily routine of the elf village.

There were no other issues.

"But... we met the wrong people this time...!"

It was just as he said.

Normally, everything would have been resolved by brainwashing with fruit.

No human had ever eaten the fruit and remained unaffected before.

"We never imagined humans who'd be immune to our methods..."

"Are you saying fruit brainwashing doesn't work? But this is the elf village! No one can use magic power here!"

There might be cases, like Pram just now, where brainwashing is less effective.

But that still wasn't a problem.

Basically, the exits to this village only appear with the elders' permission.

No one could escape, even if they learned the truth.

Above all, magic power couldn't be used in this village.

No matter how much of a Hero Bellain was, here he was like any other ordinary person.

But...

"No, it's possible."

"What?"

"They... made it possible!"

They'd made it so magic power could be used in this place?

That made no sense—Tyrone looked at Louis and was shocked.

"Magic power? Works just fine for me."

Louis waved his hand, wrapped in magic power.

Seeing that, tyrone broke out in a cold sweat, flustered.

"That can't... huh?"

Just to check, he tried releasing his own magic power.

His magic power materialized without issue—Tyrone's eyes widened.

"We can use it, too?"

"Yes..."

Weissman's couple could also manifest their magic power just fine.

"This can't be. The Great Mage Mirianne once placed a spell here..."

"But what if someone could nullify that spell?"

"What?!"

It sounded unbelievable.

But after everything that had been impossible until now started happening, it somehow seemed plausible.

"Believe it or not, that's up to you. That's not what's important right now."

The moment Louis spoke, a blade was at Tyrone's neck.

"Nice to meet you, High Priest Tyrone of the Holy Nation, right?"

"Ghh...!"

Kelian, who had appeared in an instant, said as he pressed a sword against him, and Tyrone tensed up.

And that wasn't all.

"Don't move."

In the blink of an eye, Rio had a blade to Bellain's neck, who had been standing still this whole time.

"You've been standing still for a while—are you really the Hero?"

"..."

Even after hearing that, Bellain remained perfectly still, for some reason.

"Long time no see, both of you."

Weissman's couple were also being threatened.

"How have you been?"

"Y-you little...!"

"Silia?!"

The couple were shocked to be threatened at swordpoint by Silia, whom they were reuniting with.

"How are you here...?"

"I'll explain later."

Crack—

Crack—

"Kyaaah!!"

"Gahhh!!"

Silia spun the sword around and struck their shoulders with the blunt edge.

With the crack of snapping bones, their screams resounded.

"For what you did to the family head, and to my little brother, I'm returning it all—just like that."

They had once been family on record, but that no longer mattered.

Looking at Silia's venomous face, the couple were seized by fear.

"Huh? Captain! Squad leader! And Rio? It's been so long!"

Pram, still clinging to Louis, greeted the special task force she'd just reunited with.

"Haha. Looks like your mind's gone rotten from that fruit, too."

Kelian could tell what state Pram was in.

"Hey, Pram."

Rio called out in a sharp voice.

"Get away from the young master right now."

Pram tilted her head in confusion.

"Why? I'm going to stay by the young master's side forever now."

"Pram. Move, before I lose my temper."

"No! You got to be with the young master all this time! It's my turn now!"

"So after all that about being the Saint, now you change your mind?"

"That's right! So what if it's now? Just don't butt in!"

As their quarrel went on, Rio's killing intent grew.

Rather than keeping a blade on her current opponent, she looked ready to kill Pram first.

"Elders. Give it to me."

"Yes...!"

Eventually, deciding enough was enough, Louis requested something from the elders.

One of them tossed over an antidote that would counteract the brainwashing.

Louis fed it to Pram, who quietly closed her eyes.

"Hehehe... It really is best to be by the young master's sid..."

With Pram peacefully asleep, Louis laid her down in a corner.

Only after Pram had quieted down did the air settle to normal.

"Young master? Hehe..."

At that moment, Bellain—who'd been threatened by Rio—laughed.

"You... you..."

"Don't move."

Detecting something amiss, Pram put her blade to his neck.

Even as a thin line of blood trickled from his neck, Bellain was smiling.

"Hehehe... Finally found you. I found you...!!"

"Want to die?"

Rio's voice turned deathly cold at that moment.

"That's what I should be saying, girl."

The arm holding Rio's sword suddenly fell to the floor.

At the same time, a sword had appeared in Bellain's hand, as if by magic.

"...!!"

Sensing the crisis immediately, Rio picked up her severed arm and retreated.

And that retreat turned out to be the right choice.

Crash!

The floor where Rio had been standing caved in.

It had been sliced cleanly at a speed too fast to see.

"He's fast...!"

As she reattached her severed arm, Rio spoke.

Her regeneration had improved so much she could heal amputation wounds quickly.

"That damned brat called the young master...!"

Bellain lowered his stance, staring at Louis.

He released all the strength gathered in his legs at that moment.

"At long last, I found you!!"

He charged at Louis, swinging his blade.

Louis dodged with a leap; Bellain mirrored him and leapt into the air as well.

"I will kill you no matter what!!"

With a face twisted in deep hatred, he swung his sword at the airborne Louis once more.

Boom—!

In that instant, a hole opened in the ceiling of the underground, and sunlight poured in.