The Strongest Student of the Weakest Academy

The battlefield froze as if time itself had paused for a heartbeat. Aestrea's form was a blur; the thin luster of the moon trailing behind him like a meteor across the night.

KSHHHT!

The sound was sharp, clean, and sudden.

A flash of silvery light split through the air, so bright it seemed to cut the very darkness surrounding them.

It was almost as if the moon had descended into that moment, lending its luster to Aestrea's sword.

SLASH!

KURAAH...

The Bulking Demon roared, jolting as it staggered at mid-charge, before freezing in place, staying in the same spot.

His massive form quivered as if unsure of what had just happened.

Step...

Aestrea appeared a few steps behind it, his sword pointing to the ground, its edge sopping with an icy gleam that faintly shimmered as frosts began building up along it.

He was standing still, only breathing heavily; blood was dripping down from both his arms and sides.

For a moment, only silence remained.

Then—

CRACK!

A deep fissure ran through the center of the demon's body, splitting it from head to toe. The demon's roaring turned into a choking gurgle as its form began to collapse on itself. 

Black blood gushed out, hissing as it touched the frozen ground beneath it.

BOOM!

The body of the demon fell onto the earth, cut neatly in half, and its purple aura flew away, scattering like smoke in the wind.

It was over.

The battlefield remained silent for a few seconds, everyone staring in disbelief at the fallen demon beast.

"H-he... he killed it..." Iris muttered, holding her arm as she looked at Aestrea's figure.

"Aestrea..." Ella who had been ready to charge earlier murmured, gripping her sword tightly as she took a hesitant step forward.

Nobody could believe that he had killed a named demon beast.

"How did he... after everything, how did he still manage to..." Lucas gritted his teeth as he staggered to get up.

He was beyond shocked to see that Aestrea had really killed the demon beast.

'I could also kill it... but he didn't use any holy-type attack or weapon... he killed it with pure swordsmanship aura.'

That was a level that Lucas had tried to pry into but couldn't.

At that moment, Aestrea turned slightly, his faint smile still in place. His crimson eyes glowed faintly under the moonlight, but his legs wobbled.

"Ah... guess I overdid it a little…"

THUD!

He dropped to his knees, his sword clattering to the ground beside him. Blood pooled beneath him, staining the frost-covered earth.

"Kaugh..."

A mouthful of blood escaped his mouth as he clenched his chest with his hand.

However, his efforts didn't go to waste.

✦Your Strength and Vitality attributes have been increased by 1.✦

After months, his attributes had finally increased.

"Aestrea!"

The group started approaching him, but unfortunately, Aestrea couldn't exactly reply as his vision started getting blurrier.

His eyelids slowly closed as lastly saw a hand reaching out to him.

...

"Ugh..."

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the warmth.

It wasn't the kind of suffocating heat from a battlefield drenched in blood and flames, but a soft, soothing warmth that felt... quite comforting.

The second thing I noticed was the ceiling. High, arched, and bathed in gentle colors from the sunlight filtering through stained glass windows.

'Am I inside the cathedral...?'

I distinctly remember the ceiling when I was in the Saintess's room.

'Wait...'

Does this mean...?

My body ached all over as I tried to move, yet, I couldn't.

Something—no, someone—was holding me down.

Slowly, I tilted my head down.

There she was, the Saintess, fast asleep on my legs.

Her golden hair spilled across me like soft threads of sunlight, and her peaceful face seemed to glow under the dim sunbeams streaming through the windows.

Her breathing was steady, her delicate features relaxed in a way that made her look almost unreal.

'Scheiße...'

I froze, cursing silently unsure of how to process what I was seeing.

"Mhm..."

Her fingers twitched slightly, brushing against the blanket covering me. She sighed softly, snuggling closer as if she didn't want to wake up.

Okay, calm down, I told myself, taking a slow, deep breath. My heart was racing—why the hell was my heart racing?

I searched around the room for answers. The cathedral was silent, that kind of silence which is almost holy.

A washbasin of water sat on the little table beside him, bandages folded nicely in them. There was an almost imperceptible comfortable aroma of herbs in the air.

Someone had treated me which was obvious.

After all, she was here.

My gaze drifted back to her, still sleeping soundly on my legs.

She looked so... peaceful.

Her light, golden robes were slightly wrinkled, probably from staying here all night. The golden sunlight kissed her face, making her look like some kind of angel.

'Ah... this completely ruined my plans.'

My hand ached as I reached over to her head, caressing softly her golden locks.

"What am I supposed to do now?" I muttered to myself, as I took my hand away.

Moving felt like an impossibility.

My entire body screamed in protest, and the last thing I wanted was to wake her.

So I slowly let my head fall against the wall behind me and looked up at the vaulted ceiling: the intricately carved and depicted scenes of angels and holy symbols seemed to mock me as if asking what someone like me was doing in a place like this.

I couldn't even remember how I got here.

The last thing I remembered was when I used the third move of my sword art—『Third Move: Moonlight's One Flash』.

In my entire life, I had only used it a little over twenty times, and the four remaining moves even fewer times than that.

All of them needed a large amount of mana and I couldn't hold that much of mana. At least for now, and that's probably the reason the grade of the sword art is S???.

I didn't sharpen it enough to reveal its true rank.

But then, an image popped up in my mind; the Bulking Demon cleaved in two, then a sharp pain in my chest.

Everything else after that was fuzzy.

'I guess I really overdid it, huh...'

"You're awake."
A soft voice suddenly broke through my thoughts.
I looked down, startled.
Christina's eyes were half-open, their usual radiant pink dulled by sleep.
She blinked a few times, as if trying to shake off the remnants of her dream, then sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Sorry, I didn't want you to see me like this."
Christina gave me a faint smile that contained a hint of warmth.
"I didn't mean to fall asleep like that."
Hearing her words, I also smiled in response.
"It's alright, and I'm sorry."
I bent down my head.
"The Bulking Demon suddenly appeared and I couldn't simply let the civilians die, so I didn't act only mind an—!"
"—it's okay. I understand." 
I felt a delicate hand brushing itself against my cheek. I looked forward and saw the most beautiful smile that I had ever seen.
Her head was tilted to the right, and her lips were slightly parted from each other, with the perfect features of her face being framed by the dim sunlight.
"You did great."
As if talking to a child, she said those words in a really soft tone that could probably melt any living being in the entire world.

Time seemed to have stopped as we stared at each other's eyes...

"Ahh-hem!"

A voice suddenly broke the time as we immediately retracted back from each other.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you love birds, but the Saintess is needed." John with his sarcastic smile uttered with a small smile.

"Ah... right." 

Christina stood up, holding the hems of her robe before leaving the room in a rush.

Then, John sat down at the edge of the bed, giving me a wry smile.

"Did I interrupt your special moment?"

His voice came out in a teasing tone.

"Yes."

I didn't have to deny it.

The atmosphere from a few moments ago was just perfect for me to lean in and kiss her reddish-pink lips.

"Hahahaa... I'm sorry, but the Saintess was really needed." 

"Mhm? Why?"

I couldn't help but ask in curiosity.

"One of the patients was infected by the Dark Order's curse."

"What?"

His words completely caught me off guard.