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Chapter 377: The Shield Of The Sanctuary!
🕑 Added 2024-11-10 11:01:01 +0000 UTC"What are you talking about? Now that we know Roswaal has ulterior motives, why would we stick with him? That's just seeking death!"
Before Emilia could say anything, Natsuki Subaru had already interjected emotionally in response to Wood's suggestion.
Having dealt with the White Whale and the Archbishop of Sloth, Subaru now understood that the so-called "Witch Cult" were nothing but madmen—dangerous individuals. Since Roswaal dared to associate with such people, he was evidently a complete lunatic. Subaru, seeing Emilia as his goddess, certainly didn't want her to knowingly walk into danger by heading to the Sanctuary.
While losing Roswaal's support would be a significant setback for their faction, Crusch had already extended her hand to them following their recent victories. They could certainly join forces with Crusch to defeat the other competitors in the Royal Selection.
"I already said, Roswaal might not necessarily want to harm Emilia. He may just want to use her to achieve some goal. Otherwise, considering his strength, even with Puck around, Emilia might not be enough to stand against him."
Subaru still wanted to argue, but he was interrupted by Emilia, who had remained silent until now.
"I'm going to the Sanctuary. On one hand, it's to help the villagers of Arlam, and on the other, it's for myself.
There's something about my origins—about my connection with the Witch of Envy, Satella—that Roswaal must know."
After a moment of silence, Emilia spoke seriously, and her decision didn't surprise Wood at all.
He didn't know what kind of person the Witch of Envy was, but the Emilia he knew was pure and kind, like a blank sheet of paper. Now that she understood she was the cause of innocent villagers getting involved, there was no way she'd stand idly by.
Wood also had a feeling that going to the Sanctuary would provide answers to many lingering questions, so he leaned toward Emilia making that journey.
After dealing with the White Whale, Wood and the others returned to Roswaal's mansion and obtained a keystone from the head maid, Frederica. The keystone was necessary for mixed-bloods to enter the Sanctuary.
At first, Wood thought Frederica, the strict head maid, was in league with Roswaal. But from her actions, and information provided by Elsa, it appeared Frederica was just another pawn discarded by Roswaal.
What convinced him of this was that just before setting off for the Sanctuary, Meili, the beast handler, arrived with a message from Elsa. Surprisingly, Roswaal had contacted the underground assassination organization again and had issued a commission.
The content of the commission was strange—Roswaal had asked the assassins to attack his mansion while Emilia was heading to the Sanctuary, and kill everyone there.
This "everyone" included Frederica and Beatrice, the caretaker of the library.
Apparently, Roswaal had no idea that the underground organization was now under Wood's control. Elsa had accepted the job and taken an ample deposit, only to immediately send Meili to notify Wood.
After hearing Meili's report, everyone lost any remaining trust in Roswaal, and they set off in force for the Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary was on land managed by the Mathers family for generations, under Roswaal's jurisdiction. It wasn't far from the mansion, and after just a day of travel, the group arrived before the barrier known as the "Lost Forest."
The Sanctuary was originally an experimental site created by the Witch of Greed—a place where she had lived, conducted her experiments and eventually died. To prevent those inside from escaping, and outsiders from entering, she had placed a barrier around it. Or so the legend went—it had been centuries, and no one knew for sure what was true.
In Wood's group, apart from Emilia being a half-elf, the others were either pure-blooded humans or part of the Oni clan. Thus, the barrier didn't hinder their progress.
Shortly after crossing the barrier and entering the Sanctuary, even before they could find Roswaal, two figures blocked their path.
The pair consisted of a young man and a young woman, both seemingly not much older than teenagers.
The young man had spiky golden hair and looked around fourteen or fifteen years old. He wore a vest, exposing his lean chest and abdominal muscles. His eyes were fierce, and his sharp teeth made him look wild and aggressive.
The young woman had long, waist-length pink hair and pointed ears, holding a staff almost as tall as she was. She appeared even younger than the boy, around eleven or twelve.
Upon encountering these two in the Sanctuary, anyone could tell they weren't here to offer a warm welcome.
Especially Natsuki Subaru and Emilia—one carried the scent of the Witch, while the other looked like a spitting image of the legendary Witch of Envy. Naturally, both drew hostile gazes from the young pair.
"The boy is Garfiel Tinzel, known as the Shield of the Sanctuary. He's Frederica's half-brother and the strongest demi-human in the Sanctuary.
In terms of individual combat prowess, he's stronger than Julius, perhaps comparable to the Sword Demon Wilhelm.
The girl is Ryuzu Meyer. Though she looks like an eleven or twelve-year-old, she's been around since my first visit here years ago. She's one of the oldest residents of the Sanctuary, and even Roswaal speaks to her respectfully."
Seeing the pair, Ram, who was familiar with the Sanctuary, took it upon herself to inform Wood and the others.
As Roswaal's personal maid, Ram had visited the Sanctuary multiple times, so she knew some of its most important figures. Garfiel and Ryuzu were among them.
Ram also knew about Garfiel's "Blessing" and abilities. He had been her suitor, and to rid herself of him, she had often fought him.
The fact that Garfiel was called the "Shield of the Sanctuary" spoke to his strength. He had a "Blessing of the Earth Spirit," which allowed him to heal by touching the ground and even manipulate the terrain to some extent.
He also had a quarter beastman blood, and could enter a beast transformation—either partially or fully. In his full beast form, he turned into a massive tiger, losing some reason but gaining tremendous power.
To put it simply, before regaining her Oni powers, Ram couldn't defeat Garfiel. Even injuring him was difficult when he had his Blessing.
As for Ryuzu, Ram knew little, but she doubted she was any weaker than Garfiel.
In fact, even without Ram's reminder, Wood could sense how powerful they were just by looking at them. The boy, Garfiel, was clearly a strong warrior, and the girl, Ryuzu, emanated an amount of magic power greater than even Great Spirits like Puck.
"Ram, I never imagined you'd fall so far as to mix with Witch Cultists. If you want to invade the Sanctuary, you'll have to go through us first!"
Garfiel, though infatuated with Ram, valued the Sanctuary more. Though he didn't want to kill her, he still assumed a fighting stance.
Emilia and Subaru tried to explain, but Wood stepped forward to stop them.
"They know Roswaal well. One of you looks like the Witch of Envy, and the other reeks of Witch's scent—did you really think they'd listen?
Instead of wasting words, just fight them. Though these two look strong, as long as they don't have troublesome powers like the Archbishops, they're not really a big deal."
Hearing Wood's words, Garfiel, usually arrogant and dismissive, looked irritated. He was about to retort when he realized Wood had already appeared in front of him.
Caught off guard, Garfiel was stunned—his retort got stuck in his throat.
Seeing Wood clench his fist and punch with enough force to create a sonic boom, Garfiel quickly crossed his arms to protect his face, abandoning all pretense of underestimating his opponent.
Seeing Garfiel maintain such composure under pressure, Wood's expression showed a hint of admiration. In the next moment, his Haki-covered fist struck Garfiel's crossed arms.
Boom!
The massive shockwave from the impact burst forth between Wood and Garfiel, instantly cracking the ground beneath their feet.
Garfiel had always been confident in his strength. In a pure physical match, neither Roswaal nor Ryuzu was a match for him. He was the strongest warrior of the Sanctuary.
However, at the moment he blocked Wood's punch, he realized just how much he had underestimated him.
The overwhelming force traveled through his elbows and into his body, and soon Garfiel found himself unable to resist it. Though his feet stayed on the ground, he was sent skidding backward several kilometers, carving deep grooves in the ground.
Seeing Garfiel—even with his "Blessing of the Earth Spirit"—blown away with raw power, Ryuzu looked horrified.
She raised her staff, beginning to cast a spell, but saw Wood already spinning to deliver a roundhouse kick her way.
Recalling Garfiel being sent flying, Ryuzu interrupted her spell and used a short-range teleportation spell to escape into the air.
Ryuzu' teleportation wasn't like the Authority of Gluttony; it was a Yin magic spell, with a very limited range.
Wood's missed kick turned into a brilliant blue slash, cleanly cutting through a massive tree behind where Ryuzu had been standing, leaving an unnaturally smooth cut.
Watching the enormous tree—which took four or five people to encircle—collapse, Subaru could only click his tongue in awe. He couldn't help but note that when Wood got serious, he was quite ruthless—Ryuzu was a cute girl barely eleven or twelve, and yet Wood had no hesitation to attack with lethal force.
Hovering in the air, Ryuzu looked shaken, knowing full well that if she hadn't dodged in time, she'd have been severely injured if not killed.
She didn't know what Roswaal had done to provoke someone like Wood, but recalling Roswaal's instructions and their connection, she steeled herself to act.
Hovering above the ground, Ryuzu began gathering mana, and soon the winds of the forest gathered before her, forming an enormous wind spear over a hundred meters long.
Ryuzu swung her staff down, sending the giant wind spear hurtling toward Wood with a fierce sound.
However, standing below, Wood maintained his composure. Seeing the massive wind spear approaching, he extended his own hand towards Ryuzu.
"Water Saint Magic: Spiral Water Spear!"
A blue magic circle appeared above Wood's outstretched left hand, and torrents of water gushed forth, forming a massive swirling vortex before condensing into a spiraling lance of water.
