57 Chapter 56

The footsteps grew gradually closer, to then grow further away again. The tinkling of the armour also moved along.

After a few minutes, the footsteps stopped. Even though by then they were distant, Estelle could still clearly hear them. There wasn't as much as a bird chirping in this moment.

"May dazzling light shine upon you all, taking you out of the dark."

As she said those words, a light shone from her hands as they intertwined with each other. This light went through all objects, shining through walls, mountains and the soil itself. No matter where one was, they would see this warm light for a few miles.

As this light shined, the whole crowd simultaneously stopped staring at the ground and stood up.

'It's as if something is lifting me… what is this feeling?'

It was as if someone was caressing her chin and lightly made her head rise.

Estelle was puzzled but stopped thinking about that as amazement took over.

The light died down, and the High Priestess became visible for all to see. Her whole dress was pure white, with golden finishings. A golden Maltese Cross shined on the back of her dress, lightly covered by a long silver braid.

She then turned to look at the crowd. Her visage was entirely covered by a light veil, leaving only her hair out.

The King and the Queen could be seen kneeling behind her back.

She then signalled for the local priest and his entourage to come over. There were at least a few hundred people in this group. All of them walked with proud steps. They didn't know why the High Priestess had come to this god's forsaken place. But hosting her was the greatest honour they ever had and ever will have in their lifetimes.

Once they were just below the steps on which the Priestess stood, they half-knelt. The priest then chanted a prayer.

"May dazzling light shine upon us, guiding us through the murky night."

Once the priest finished his chant, the rest repeated after him.

""May dazzling light shine upon us, guiding us through the murky night.""

"What might bring Her Holiness here?"

"I had a revelation! A bright light will be born here, and I shall guide it on the right path. Right now, it's just as strong as the light of a candle, flickering in the wind. It might get extinguished if the wind just blows a little stronger."

Now everyone understood why she wanted to visit the academy. She tried to find this fate's chosen one.

"I shall retell the oracle.

A fledgling star to be born,

weak flames dimly burn,

one misstep, and we shall mourn.

On the boundaries of humanity,

the world shall witness a deity."

The words she just spoke made everyone gasp. Oracles were words spoken either by a god or someone closely related to one. They rarely happened, and all of them regarded matters of high importance. It was the main method gods used to communicate with their followers.

An Oracle was something a tiny Kingdom like them had no power over. Hell, even the world's greatest empires would fall overnight if an Oracle wanted it to happen.

A prediction such as this held an insurmountable meaning.

"As for why I'm here, it's because this place is the closest to what we interpreted to be the boundaries of humanity. I'll visit all kingdoms bordering the Great Wall and look for this god's chosen."

Even though Estelle was pretty far away, she heard every word of hers. She then turned and looked at Vince.

'Could it be him?'

She then moved her gaze towards the Priestess once more. The King was now even more moved. For someone worthy of a god's attention to be born here… He couldn't help but shiver at the thought.

The High Priestess then turned towards the King, who was still kneeling. He was a relatively old man, his hair already grey. He had a scar going over his right eye, which was purple. The other eye was green instead.

"Which is why, oh king of this country, could you allow me to witness your nation's greatest talents?"

"It is my pleasure to do so. May a star rise from this worthless land, and may it shine upon the world."

It was the King's way of giving his approval. The Temple could now freely take away this person if so they wanted. It wasn't as if he could really refuse, though. It was simply a formality.

A new voice resounded.

"Then please, take a look at my son. He's the most talented this academy has seen in a millennium."

Saying so, the Queen made a hand gesture towards the closest group of students. One young man thus walked out of the group and climbed the stairs. He then proceeded to kneel in front of the High Priestess.

Even though he was kneeling, he nonetheless had a smug on his face. Being a god's chosen would finally tip the scale over to his side and grant his future coronation.

"He's already in the Enhancement Realm, even though he's merely sixteen. He's the pride of our nation and its future King!"

The Priestess didn't as much as spare a glance. Although her eyes were covered by a veil, the Queen could feel her gaze fixed on her rather than her son.

"Is this really your best talent? One that couldn't even condense a Light Blue Core? Are you taking my words so lightly? He wouldn't even be worthy to sweep the floor in my Temple! To dare and try to use my politeness just to get some empty compliment! Did you think I wouldn't see through this petty scheme? Or maybe you just thought I wouldn't even bother?"

She was then suddenly interrupted by the King.

"Please!"

The Priestess turned a little towards the King to hear what he had to say.

"Please have mercy, Your Holiness! My wife was shortsighted and had eyes only for her son! Which mother doesn't think highly of her son?"

Hearing his plea, the High Priestess snorted. She then snapped her fingers, and the mother and son duo was flung away.

"This will be my first and only warning. Try anything funny, and I'll send you off personally next time. By challenging me, you are challenging the God of Light himself!"

As she was saying this, an imposing aura arose. Nobody could as much as breathe under the immense pressure. Everyone felt as if a thousand hands were strangling them. Once she was done speaking, the pressure was lifted.

Neither the King nor the headmaster were spared from this pressure. Even them had their faces turn as red as tomatoes.

Glancing towards where his wife and son were flung to, the King was worried at first. But soon, a face of relief took over. It was apparent the two had not sustained any serious injury.

"I'll do things my way. Just bear witness to how I find the real talents."

As she said that, an invisible pressure weighted on all students. Many struggled to stand and immediately fell to their knees.

"Young ones, try to hold still as long as possible."

'What power!'

Estelle was shocked, but she stood still. She only ever slightly turned her head towards Vince every once in a while to see how he was doing.

As time went on, the pressure got only stronger. What was astounding was that people were falling to their knees no matter how profound their cultivation was. The relative amount of people falling was roughly consistent across all the school years.

Soon the number of people standing was cut down to one-hundredth of what it originally was.

Among their school year, the only ones that now stood standing were the Prince, Andre Von Rais, Nicole Ware, Estelle and Vince. And everyone but Estelle had strained faces. Glancing to the side, she could only think one thing.

'Is he feigning weakness again? I don't think he could have this much trouble…'

Plop.

Andre Von Rais had fallen to his knees.

Soon after, the Prince fell too.

Most of the other school years by now already had no one standing. And in a matter of minutes, the only school year with people still standing was theirs. The crowd's gazes were entirely focused on them.

Plop.

Vince had fallen too. The only ones standing now were her and Nicole.

'To think she would endure longer than all of the others… I greatly underestimated her!'

As she was thinking that, the pressure she felt sharply rose.

'What?!'

Even though she had been fine until now, she was now sweating as much as Nicole.

'She was struggling before; how is it that she hasn't fallen with this spike?'

Less than one minute later, Nicole started trembling. In a few seconds, her legs gave out.

But, just an instant later, Estelle followed suit.

'What? Why am I falling? There was no spike this time! I simply lost control over my legs…'

Suddenly, a white-robed figure appeared in front of her. It was as if the Priestess had teleported in front of her.

"How could it be? Was the vision I had wrong?? I clearly saw one person who could stand much longer than all others… yet… The last two fell pretty much together!"

The Priestess' composure fell apart as she thought about such things.

Estelle was stunned, but she immediately connected the dots.

'She already knew there would have been someone standing longer than everybody else!'

But for some reason, that event hadn't happened.

It was now clear the Priestess was close to panicking.

"A vision not coming true… It can only be one thing! Another temple intervened! Yes, that must be it!"

As she was saying it, an illusionary temple above her. It was a massive building, so much so it someone could think it was carved out of a mountain.

The gates of this grand palace opened, and a staff flew out of the Temple's gates to then be caught by the Priestess' hands.

Grabbing it with both hands, she stabbed it in the ground and chanted a prayer.

She spoke words in a foreign language, and once her prayer was over, a bright bubble formed all around the city. A city spanning hundreds of miles was wholly covered by this glowing hemisphere.

"My knights! Start investigating. I fear another temple has obstructed us!"

Heeding her words, the silver-armoured knights shot in all directions and started looking for clues.

As things unfolded, the crowd grew increasingly more worried.

***

Days later, the academy was back to its regular activity. Well, more or less… Everyone had gloomy expressions.

After the bubble was formed, the entirety of Duskburg was put in lockdown. Of the countless roads that once allowed access into the capital, only the four main ones remained operational. And each one of them had a Silver Knight guarding it.

The rest were locked off by the bubble. The King had given his complete support in the operation and ordered the guards to enforce a curfew. Their daily lives could go on, but it wasn't as if those weren't impacted.

'To think I would end up in this mess… what kind of bad luck is this?!'

Vince was cursing at what had happened.

'To think someone could have the capabilities to predict the future… and I found one so early. Is this supposed to be funny? Because I'm not laughing at all.'

For once, Vince felt strong emotions. From the moment he saw the High Priestess, he could tell how much of a powerhouse she was, but he still couldn't come to accept the fact that someone was really capable of clairvoyance.

'I can only believe what she said. A god must really have set his sights on someone! And that Oracle…'

'I must lay low! If that person sees through me, I'm done for. And for that purpose… I have to make Estelle lay low as well.'

Today the weekly competitions would resume.

Thinking about what was up ahead, Vince sighed and made his way towards the classroom.

The competition this time would be a contest of agility. They were going to do an obstacle race.

'The competitions sure are the most diverse… it's probably to give everybody a chance in winning something. In the meantime, they can also use this opportunity to scout for people with particular talents.'

He got into the class and sat down. A few minutes later the teacher also arrived but… with him was an unexpected guest.

The High Priestess was accompanying him! And all around her… Vince could vaguely discern some things stirring up the Mana.

'Damn it! Why is she here as well?'

Even though he was cursing her in his head, Vince got down from his chair and knelt nonetheless. He even was the one to salute the Priestess on the students' behalf.

"Class 1-A greets Her Holiness!"

"Oh, act as if I weren't here. You may stand up. I'm simply here to watch your little competition."

As she said that, it was clear that the teacher was in an awkward position. His face was screaming "as if I could!". Yet, the words he spoke next said the exact opposite.

"Stand up, kids! You heard that's what Her Holiness wants!"

The kids were supposed to answer in unison… but this time, only a few sparse yeses could be heard, and none were really convinced.

"Well, then, let's go to the arena where the obstacle course was prepared."

"Oh, no need. Just let me do it."

Saying that, the Priestess snapped her fingers, and… voila! All of the students found themselves in the arena.

'She can cast space magic like that… what a monster. And she couldn't know the coordinates beforehand. Even though I have yet to delve into magic, I read how difficult space magic is to pull off. Well, she had some help, but she's still amazing.'

"So, the way you'll be rated is based on time. You'll take turns in trying to complete the course, and then a leaderboard will be made based on how long you took. As always in such a leaderboard, the other classes will be included as always."

Every once in a while, the teacher would glance at the Priestess. But, since her face was fully covered, he couldn't see her expression.

Sensing the awkwardness, the Priestess repeated herself.

"I already said it. Act as if I wasn't here. I don't bite, you know?"

Thinking back to the scene she made with the Queen, everyone felt shivers run down their spine.

'This woman…'