Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG)

728. How To Save Mavos Academy

It was not over.

It couldn’t possibly be over.

Whether it be out of desperation, or be from some other purpose, her mind refused to accept that it was over.

Even if it seemed to be over.

Even if the battle seemed to have been lost.

Even if her friends called for her to stop.

“Edithe!”

The redhead could hear their voices echoing behind her. But she didn’t glance back. She just pressed forward. Despite the swarm of Supreme Spirits hovering overhead, sending their blasts of iridescent light down into the crater in the distance, she showed not a hint of fear.

The voice called out again. This time, it was drowned out by the low, rolling thundering booms in the distance. Bright, multi-colored lights flashed out, blinding Edithe’s vision for a moment, making her stumble down the rocky slope.

And yet, Edithe refused to listen. Not to their reasoning. Not to their logic. Not to what her eyes saw.

Because the Archangel couldn’t be dead. She refused to believe that it was dead. After all, if it was dead, that meant… that meant…

This was all for naught.

That she was now trapped in the Spirit Plane.

That her death was guaranteed.

And she refused to accept that.

Her teeth clenched, and her fists tightened over a heavy object she dragged behind her. Glancing back briefly, Edithe regarded the weapon she had found lying on the ground. It was an ornate pole with a gilded blade protruding from its tip and curving downwards.

A scythe that was decorated in rubies, diamonds, sapphires, and gold.

A Legendary Grade Weapon.

The first Edithe had ever seen.

[Scythe Of The Arcraem: Legendary Grade - ???]

Edithe had never even thought that a Legendary Grade Weapon could possibly exist. She had been told it was just a hypothetical theory, and that the highest grade of any artifact3 was a Mythic Grade Weapon. But after what she just witnessed no more than an hour ago— with how the battle between the Archangel and the Spirit Lord played out— she could no longer question anything that contradicted her previous understanding of the world. Because it was clear that her knowledge of how anything worked was evidently lacking.

So the only thing she should even be questioning at this point was what she used to know.

Shaking her head, Edithe looked back to the front— towards her destination. It was still far away from her. In fact, she didn’t know exactly where she was headed. Just that this was the general direction she had to go.

Because she had seen the Spirit Lord flick the Archangel— or whatever had become of the Archangel— into the middle of this mountain range in the distance. So that was where Edithe was headed, until she found the crater where the Archangel landed.

And she hoped that the Archangel somehow survived. Because if not, it didn’t matter even if Edithe had a Legendary Grade Weapon in her possession, she would still be trapped in the Spirit Plane. She would die here, and Mavos Academy would be destroyed. So she couldn’t allow that to happen—

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“EDITHE!”

The voice shouted, interrupting the redhead’s thoughts.

Blinking, she slowed to a stop as she saw the floating [Will O’ Wisp] hovering before her. She hadn’t even noticed he was there until he flew right up into her face and yelled as loud as he could.

But she steeled herself despite his presence.

“Willy, I already told you, you can’t stop me from doing this!”

Her entire figure was shadowed over as behind her, another pillar of iridescent light flashed in the distance. She was resolute. But the [Will O’ Wisp] just scoffed.

“We’re not trying to stop you— not anymore.”

He flitted back past her, and she blinked.

“What do you mean by that?”

Edithe watched as he flew up to a pair of approaching figures. Both Centina and Druma were trailing after the redhead across the valley. Together, they came to a halt right before her.

“We’re coming with you.”

That was all Willy said as Edithe glanced between the three figures.

“Wait, are you serious? You’re not going to try to stop me?”

Edithe asked in disbelief. Centina nodded back at the redhead and spoke in a determined voice.

“Yes. It’s as you said, this is our only chance of saving Mavos Academy.”

Meanwhile, Druma bowed his head respectfully.

“I will follow you wherever you go, master.”

Edithe swept her gaze between them as he heard their answers. Her gaze landed at Willy who just scoffed.

“We’ve already come this far, might as well keep going.”

The [Will O’ Wisp] flew forward as Edithe stared for a long moment. Then she nodded as she took in a deep breath.

“Right, let’s get going.”

And with that, the four of them pressed on as the corruption was purged behind them.

“I really can’t believe it’s working.”

“Me no believe either. Me think it’s trick.”

“But have you not seen the results? And you said it yourself— Centinels aren’t very smart!”

“But Matriarch Centinel is smart. Me think its ploy by her.”

Oriur came to a halt when he heard what Kron had to say. Slowly, he turned to face her as she crossed her arms. The [Krokodis] looked like a young Human woman with orange hair at the moment, because of her illusion magic.

Meanwhile, Oriur himself looked like a Human boy with blond hair and blue eyes. Ordinarily, Novis and Bellum would be with him, and they would wear a similar disguise. However, they weren’t here today, having stayed up all night play-fighting with each other.

“Do you really think the Matriarch Centinel commanded her Centinels to befriend Rachel? That’s almost too ridiculous to be true.”

“Me believe Centinels are evil.”

Kron huffed, and Oriur frowned at that.

“But what about Centina?”

That made the [Krokodis] pause. She stared at the juvenile Wyvern disguised as a Human for a long moment, then she shook her head haughtily.

“You no understand. You not spend time in Bloodied Gulf like me. Centina is exception.”

And with that said, Kron marched forward, heading into the thicket of trees. Oriur watched her go for a moment, but he didn’t argue with her because she evidently didn’t want to keep up the topic.

However, he couldn’t have but ask himself this question:

Why is Centina the exception? It was the very same question Rachel always asked. And even Oriur had been adamant that this was the case. But now…

Oriur trailed after Kron and exited from the thicket of trees. At the other side was the edge of Mavos Academy— the bubble-like dome that shielded the campus-city glowed brilliantly. There, a little girl sat as she conversed with a small audience.

Except, the audience was not on this side of the dome. It was at the other side of the barrier.

It was an audience of Centinels.

Oriur swept his gaze over the gathering. He saw [Junior Centinels], [Young Centinels], and even an [Ancient Centinel] present there. And they all listened intently as the young girl spoke cheerfully.

This was what Rachel had done that defied Oriur’s expectations entirely.

And that was why he now believed in her plan.

He believed that what she said could work.

That perhaps… just perhaps… the Centinels could be reasoned with.

And Oriur smiled as he approached her from behind.