SAINTESS [Chapter 49: Leave it all to me]

“Now I see. This armor is your soul armament, isn't it?” Cantarius looked down upon Winnie with disdain. “Embedding armor into a Soul armament, merging them together, quite an ingenious idea. Clever design. But judged by appearance, it seems more like a mass-produced Soul armament, nothing high-grade, right?”

As expected of Mars's Ancient King. Despite never having seen [Armour Fortress], he could still tell that the magical aptitude required for [Armour Fortress] was extremely low.

“What use is a Soul armament that simply makes you better at taking hits?” Cantarius raised his absurdly heavy spiked club and swung it down towards Winnie.

Although Winnie's [Armour Fortress] had affected several enhancements, he still dared not directly block this terrifyingly heavy, specially crafted club.

It wasn't that he couldn't block it, it was that after gaining the characteristic of lightness, his armor had drastically reduced in weight. Why bother enduring the blow when he could simply use that lightness to dodge?

Cantarius also noted Winnie's dodging was exceptionally agile. Judging from this, the seemingly enclosed, large-plate armor probably wasn't as heavy as it looked. Therefore, its defensive capability likely wasn't that strong either.

Winnie now felt his condition was terrible. The physical exhaustion from carrying Isatia for so long hadn't been restored, and he'd continued fighting Cantarius all this time. With his opponent resurrecting repeatedly, launching nonstop attacks, Winnie was utterly worn out.

Still, Winnie didn't fall into the mistaken belief that he had to kill Cantarius to buy a brief moment of respite and delay.

Seeing how each resurrection seemed faster than the last, Winnie realized killing him would only accelerate his revival. The faster he killed, the quicker he'd lose.

The more dangerous the situation became, the clearer Winnie's mind grew. From beginning to end, he never forgot that his mission was to buy time for Isatia, not to fight this giant pig-headed brute to the death in some endless stalemate.

Buying time was the main objective.

Thus, after using [Annihilation Stomp] once again to smash Cantarius into meat pulp, only for him to resurrect, every one of Winnie's spells entered cooldown.

At this moment, he had no choice but to engage Cantarius in close combat.

If Winnie had still been fit, he might've managed a few exchanges with Cantarius. But now, with his stamina completely depleted, and considering Cantarius, as King of Mars, might lack in magic compared to Winnie, yet greatly surpass him in actual combat experience, things looked grim.

Moreover, after fighting this long, Winnie discovered a massive problem.

Cantarius hadn't used his Soul armament at all.

He'd merely kept swinging his spiked club, relying solely on the dungeon's revival mechanism to fight. Aside from using a primitive earth-element spell at the beginning, he hadn't cast any other magic, let alone activate his Soul armament.

Perhaps ancient-era magic had long casting times and complex incantations, but what about Soul armaments? After all this fighting, why hadn't Cantarius activated his Soul armament yet?

Was he deliberately holding back against Winnie, or did he simply believe victory was guaranteed and didn't need to use his Soul armament?

Winnie suddenly realized Cantarius was using his arbitrary infinite revival mechanism to test Winnie's trump cards. Now, Winnie had practically exhausted all his spells.

“Foreigner, I must admit, your magical talent is indeed impressive. Or perhaps, your magical research is astonishingly advanced. If Mars hadn't entered the realm of [Eternity] and [Continuance], facing your strength might have led to serious losses.” Cantarius offered his assessment.

"But alas, it's too late. Now, both this king and Mars are blessed by divine authority, [Eternity] and [Continuance]. I have ascended to the throne of godhood. So, tell me, do you really think you can slay a god?"

“How dare you raise your weapon against a god! Do you know the consequences of such an act?”

“I think you're the one with mental issues.” Winnie, taking advantage of his long weapon, spun around and thrust his spear into Cantarius. The blade sank in like quicksand, requiring tremendous effort to pull back.

This guy's muscles were way too thick!

Cantarius paid no mind to the bleeding wounds, swinging his spiked club straight toward Winnie's head.

Winnie raised his spear to block overhead. A violent metallic screech rang out. Winnie felt his arms go numb and lifeless, as if they'd disappeared entirely. Simultaneously, his legs sank, he was hammered into the ground like a nail.

What terrifying strength!

Even the shaft of [Frost Fang] bent slightly under the pressure.

Winnie gritted his teeth, while thinking.

No way, close combat with this guy is impossible!

But all his spells capable of harming Cantarius were now on cooldown.

Only one move remained.

And right now, he had no other choice. Seeing the mocking gaze through the mask, Winnie thought:

‘This giant pig thinks he's won. He's toying with his prey now, not rushing to use full power. He's just using half his strength to pin me down, letting me struggle, unable to break free, helplessly watching the spiked club draw closer and closer, until I'm finally crushed.’

Just as Cantarius grew bored and prepared to smash the club directly onto Winnie, Winnie's eyes sharpened. Frost surged from the spear's blade. A twin-clawed ice dragon spiraled around the shaft, using crystalline wings to ensnare Cantarius.

After Winnie ascended to the Warlock tier, the ice dragon formed by [Roar of the Frozen Earth] had grown to the size of several carriages linked together. It clamped its jaws onto Cantarius's head, dragging him into the air, whirling and jumping, its roar reverberating, before crashing back to the ground, deep-freezing both Cantarius and the earth beneath.

"Well done, despicable foreigner. Truly magnificent magic. Even this king must commend you." When Cantarius finally broke free from the deep freeze, he found no one before him.

The chamber stood deserted, with only him remaining, muttering to himself.

‘Did he escape while I was frozen?’

Surveying the chamber, now three feet deep in ice, scattered with white ice fragments and cocoons, and sprouting jagged ice spires, Cantarius clenched his fist, sneezed, and casually strode out of the chamber.

Occasionally playing cat-and-mouse wasn't so bad.

“Huff… huff!” Meanwhile, Winnie sprinted out of the chamber, carrying Isatia along an unknown path within the Mars Palace.

“Hey, Isatia, how much longer?” After running a stretch, Winnie could no longer continue. He set Isatia down, slumping beside her and gasping.

“You've bought us extremely valuable time.” Isatia stared intently at the parchment in her hands, not once glancing at the battered Winnie.

She knew that saying anything now was futile. The only way to help them both was to accelerate her understanding of the Mars Palace's structure.

Earlier too, after confirming Winnie wasn't in mortal danger, Isatia had focused entirely on scanning the parchment.

Worrying about someone's safety while distracted was foolish, it only wasted the precious time Winnie had secured.

Winnie panted heavily, aware that Isatia was exceptionally rational and knew what mattered most at this moment.

To lighten his load, he deactivated [Armour Fortress]. Now, his student uniform was completely soaked in sweat, his hair matted together, his clothes torn and ragged, riddled with countless amounts, utterly disheveled.

Clearly, this was another dance on the edge of death, and he'd reached his limit.

The only thing worth being thankful for was that, having ascended to the Warlock tier, he still retained a fair amount of mana. But previously, he'd cycled through every spell, leaving all of them in cooldown.

“Someone's coming.” Before he could catch his breath, Isatia's calm voice rang out.

Winnie suddenly looked up. Indeed, hurried footsteps approached from afar, seeing to surround them from all sides.

It was the palace guards on patrol. They knew intruders were inside, and they knew their exact location!

Without hesitation, Winnie gritted his teeth and, despite his battered bones and utterly exhausted body, hoisted Isatia up again.

He barely had time to breathe. Right now, he was giving everything.

Isatia saw it all, silently.

'Virtue + 60.'

'Current Virtue: 2774.'

Winnie didn't even notice the Virtue change. At this point, he couldn't even trigger passive proficiency, the extent of his exhaustion was clear.

As he ran, sweat dripped from his body, soaking into Isatia's hair and clothes.

Isatia remained oblivious, completely focused on the scroll in her hands. Soon, she discarded another parchment.

“Eliminate the intruders!” As they turned a corner, they collided with two golden-armored Mars guards. The guards immediately raised their weapons and charged at Winnie.

Winnie instantly activates [Armour Fortress], leapt high, and stomped down hard.

[Annihilation Stomp]

The two Mars guards were flung into the air, shattering into many pieces.

Winnie instantly deactivated [Armour Fortress] and resumed sprinting, although he had no idea where he was going.

His lungs and heart burned with pain. His vision blurred. A leaden heaviness spread from his legs through his entire body. His thoughts slowed down. His eyelids drooped. It felt like if he tripped and fell, he'd never get up again.

But he knew, he had to persist. Even if he bit his tongue, he had to keep going.

Two more Mars guards blocked their path. Winnie responded with magic.

[Frost Snow Flame] roared forth, instantly blasting the two guards into countless burning ice shards.

Along the way, Winnie continuously used magic to kill enemies. But strangely, the pursuers multiplied, footsteps growing denser.

Only then did Winnie notice, those guards he'd slain resurrected in less than a second. No matter how gruesome their deaths, even if shattered into ice fragments, they rose again and continued pursuit.

Just as he suspected, a certain law was buried deep within the secret realm. These guards were forever trapped in a nightmare called 'ETERNITY,' becoming undead just like their king.

More curse than blessing.

A sudden light appeared in the dark, sunless underground chamber. Winnie, whose body felt weightless and whose mind seemed to soar on wings, didn't hesitate, he rushed toward it.

His legs kept moving, kept advancing, yet Winnie felt nothing. He felt as if his entire being had entered a trance, there was no one else in the world, not even himself.

“Thud!” He didn't know how long he ran. Winnie only knew he saw the light, reached beneath it, then collapsed with a thud, vision swaying. Isatia also fell nearby.

Lying on his back, Winnie gasped for breath. His face was purple, limbs limp and numb, his consciousness fading.

“Who… who… turned off… the light?” Winnie asserted incoherently, mentally disoriented. The extreme overexertion left him seeing black, even under blinding light.

In Isatia's vision, after Winnie fell, golden-armored guards poured in from all sides, quickly surrounding them both, forming an impenetrable ring.

“Your light… will indeed be turned off.” At that moment, Cantarius strolled leisurely to the front of the crowd. Without issuing a single command, he swung his spiked club down, crushing the guards in his path into pulp, then stepped forward himself.

The raised Mars guards followed behind him, staring in awe.

Isatia surveyed the surroundings, realizing they'd reached a vast arena, apparently a colosseum within the Mars Palace. Spectator seats lined all four sides, separated by rails, and below, guards already filled the space.

It seemed every guard in the royal city had been summoned, surrounding them completely, leaving no chance of escape.

Isatia released the parchment, her fingers tightening slightly around the claw-shaped gem.

She knew, this was the moment of final confrontation.

The archives of the Mars Palace contain far too many documents. Even she couldn't possibly read them all in time. Clearly, it was too late.

Now, only one option remains.

The claw-shaped gem dissolved into streaks of purple radiance, flowing into Isatia's body.

Isatia closed her eyes. Moments later, when she opened them again, she had regained mobility and stood up.

Yet, she didn't immediately face the enemies. Instead, she walked to Winnie, knelt, and gently let the nearly foaming-at-the-mouth Winnie rest his head on her black-stockinged thigh. From her crown pendant, she took a pale pink potion, uncapped it, lifted his jaw, and slowly poured the liquid into his mouth.

The surrounding Mars guards, without Cantarius's command, dared not take a single step forward.

As for Cantarius, he watched the scene with amusement, and seemed curious about everything about Isatia, especially that noble, transcendent aura about her.

Thus, he had no intention of stopping her.

Would a king who ascended to godhood through worrying merit about mortals harming him?

Seeing Winnie's complexion improve slightly, Isatia gently laid him back on the ground, patted his shoulders, leaned close to his ear, and whispered softly:

“Thank you. You've done enough. From now on, leave everything to me.”