“He was actually right,” Asterion says from the side.
“I can’t believe this,” Zibrek facepalms. “He managed to have her spit it out.”
“HAHA! The lad is incredible!”
Nimirea turns her head around, with Vyrrak pressing the blade deeper into her neck, drawing blood.
“You…” she trembles in abject fury.
“Yeah, I actually had no idea who you were. Yet, while we wait for Vyrrak’s poison to paralyze you so that we can bring you back, I’ll tell you how I did this.”
Nimirea just stares at the Fake Champion.
“The Headmaster keeps putting wrenches in front of us Champions. I’ve started to suspect that he knew about the real power level of the Cultists in the Tomb of Fate. I have a hunch that he even knew about Iskara’s brother. Now, though, you might ask, ‘how does that make you suspect me?’ And I get it, it’s a bit twisted.”
Jacob scratches his nose, turning to the Prince.
“By the way, spread your men around her, please. And just be ready for anything. I’m not sure how strong she is. She’s probably the strongest Dark Champion.”
“How do you know?!” Nimirea spits out, stunned.
“Again?!” Asterion sounds amazed.
“He’s too sharp,” Kaelrik the Orphan says.
“I never imagined he would actually make this plan work. I was so convinced this would be a waste of time,” Sabrina Margrave says, frowning.
“Once again, you just told me,” Jacob smirks. “We knew from Azrakel, Iskara’s brother, of you Dark Champions. I mean, to be precise, he never actually mentioned Dark Champions. But he did mention that he was not nearly the strongest. And so, I told the others that it was likely that, if we are the Generation of Legends and the Cult of Asmodeus is rising again, there would be enough… Karma? I don’t know what you’d call it. Anyway, enough Karma would be bound into making great enemies for us. But I thought, the way Azrakel talked about it made it sound very… precise. As if there would be a reckoning of sorts, or about the precise existence of someone bound to be our nemesis in the near future. Mind you, I had no idea that there would be Dark Champions. That sounds really ominous, doesn’t it? But I knew that the Celestial Tower can only be entered by those below Diamond Rank. Even the Prince here is just at the Peak of Platinum Rank in terms of level, despite his power being higher than that.”
“You… you guessed that there would be a threat and you just… suspected me?” Nimirea is actually confused.
“I know it doesn’t make much sense when you say it like that. The thing is, you’re missing the real reason why I suspected you.”
Nimirea tries to think about what that could be. Was it too obvious the way she had tried to gain his sympathy, by having him save her? Was it how agreeable she had been with him? Or what else could have—
“The Headmaster,” Jacob says.
“What? That bastard told you?! How did he know?!”
“So, no, the Headmaster did not tell me anything. I’m pretty sure he knows—or at least I’d bet money on it. Nothing goes on in the Academy without him knowing. Even though you’re part of the Cult of Asmodeus, I doubt you could have infiltrated the Academy without the Headmaster knowing. Now, the Headmaster has scolded us Champions severely, and I imagined he would let more trouble come our way. The last course I attended before coming here was led by a corrupted Professor, someone who was scamming students. Then, I understood the Headmaster lets crooks live under his nose so that students and Knights can take action themselves.”
Nimirea keeps not following.
“And you guessed, what, that the Headmaster would let a Dark Champion come to the Academy?”
“Not exactly,” Jacob replies, shrugging. “I did know that there would be trouble. I didn’t know what it would look like, however. When the Headmaster personally delivered my mother’s letter, I knew he must have been plotting some shenanigans. Why deliver the letter personally? Why not one of my siblings? Why would the Headmaster take time to deliver this letter to me, the Guide of Champions, when I’m sure he has much more important matters to attend to? It doesn’t really make sense, does it?”
“So, you… gathered all the Champions because there was a chance of me being…”
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“A problem,” Jacob says, nodding. “It was a shot in the dark but circumstances seemed suspicious enough that it might have been a problem. Plus, I wanted to bully the Prince out of the Dungeon in case you were innocent. Thankfully, you gave yourself away and now we can bring you back to the Academy in order to gather as much information from you as we can. I wonder if the Headmaster will award more Merit Points for this.”
“You what?!” Prince Lenaer says.
“Incredible,” Nimirea says slowly. “I underestimated you, Jacob Cloud. This was… masterful. The fact that it was so incredibly unlikely that you could ever figure something out never led me to believe you could know my real identity—which you didn’t. Yet, your own foresight made you investigate and bet on the fact that I could be a threat. I must admit, I’m impressed.”
* * *
“No shame in losing to the best,” I wink at the woman who thought she could fool me and then turns away for a moment. “Now, Asterion, do you have the chains for—“
When I look back at her, Vyrrak’s dagger has shattered and I find Vyrrak flying away, a trail of blood in the air escaping his mouth.
“What the—“
Every Champion and the Prince assume fighting stances as Nimirea brings a hand to her neck to the wound. She brings the bloodied hand up and looks at it, disappointed.
“Close. This was too close. Thankfully, you’re stupid enough not to bring overwhelming force. If you had brought an Elder, I might have been in trouble.”
“The poison isn’t working,” Asterion says.
[Grimoire Analysis.]
[Skill Detected.]
[Body of a Myriad Poisons (Rainbow Skill)]
[The user is completely invulnerable to poison. Any ingested poison acts as an elixir, temporarily boosting the user. The type of boost depends on the type of poison.]
[Current Boost: Haste.]
“She’s immune to poison,” I say slowly. “She has a Rainbow Skill that makes her invulnerable to poison—the more poison she assumes, actually, the stronger she gets.”
Nimirea retrieves a vial from her Interspatial Ring.
“Stop her!” I shout.
I see Iskara, who has already layered as many buffs as she can, speeding toward Nimirea.
Iskara’s power is at Peak Diamond Rank as she swings against the Leader of the Dark Champions. Therefore, I expect the blow to land—or at the very least to distract her.
But Nimirea slightly shifts backward and smiles at Iskara as she downs the poison.
[Grimoire Analysis.]
[Giantkiller Potion (True Diamond)]
I don’t read the rest of the effects, but I feel Nimirea’s power break through Diamond Rank and, as Iskara tries to attack again, she grabs the Infernal Princess’s wrist, twisting it, breaking it.
I can’t use Hellish Reversal on that! It’s too high-leveled!
Iskara shouts in pain and I can see a sardonic smile blossom on Nimirea’s face.
How…
Even Rainbow Skills have limits. Namely, the user. But it doesn’t seem that Nimirea is bothered in the least.
How is she so comfortable wielding True Diamond power at her Rank?!
Vyrrak appears out of nowhere and swings for Nimirea, who just dodges as easily.
That must be…
[Grimoire Analysis]
[Eye of the Prophet (Rainbow)]
[Eye of the Prophet: it allows the user to see in a circular radius around them and is not stopped by anything. Eye of the Prophet creates a projected trajectory of every attack on the battlefield. Furthermore…]
I don’t bother reading the rest since, at a glance, I can tell it’s not relevant to this battle, and I just shout.
“She has a Rainbow Skill that allows her to foresee attacks! And she can see from any angle!” I shout, trembling.
“Two Rainbow Skills, lad?! Are you sure?!” Boomgar has a bomb in his hand but he can’t do anything since Nimirea is still grabbing Iskara’s arm so tightly I hear the sickly sound of bones crunch.
“But how is she so strong?!” Sabrina Margrave has summoned water all around her and throws a giant lance at Nimirea. The half-Elf swats it aside like a fly after creating a lookalike lance that is thrice the size and shooting toward Sabrina.
Kaelrik jumps in the middle and cuts the skill, disrupting it and letting it drench both him and Sabrina in water.
“The difference between me and you,” she says, switching grip and taking Iskara by the throat, “is that when I got my first Rainbow Skill, I didn’t sleep for a week. I knew what a huge blessing it was. And so, I practiced until my body broke down. My bones fractured under the pressure of my Skills, my mind was almost torn apart by the effort. But I never stopped—“
Asterion jumps forward with three orbs of light shooting forward to slam into Nimirea, but Nimirea erects a water barrier that blocks them as if they were little balls of cotton trying to get through thick mud.
* * *
Nimirea looks at the group of Champions and feels her blood boil at the spectacle of Rainbow Skills.
“Well, I wasn’t supposed to kill anybody of you. But one, I suppose, won’t hurt my plans too much.”
Nimirea starts tightening her grip on the Infernal Princess’s throat, dodging all manners of attacks coming her way when, suddenly, a terrifying pressure crushes her aura and, before she can even realize what’s happening through Eye of the Prophet, her hand has been pried away from the throat of the woman.
She’s looking at a Jacob with a skull tattoo that suddenly appeared on his face and she widens her eyes.
“You don’t just have that creature’s inheritance…” She mutters. “You’ve got his soul.”
“Flee. I will bring this foolish woman into the Dungeon with me. She’s too strong for all of you.”
Without waiting for anyone’s response, Nimirea feels herself being forcefully dragged toward the Dungeon’s entrance.
Oh my! Nimirea feels a wave of excitement coursing through her body. I can’t believe this! I thought so much had been for naught!
As Jacob, possessed by Baalrek, drags her toward the Dungeon—moments before entering—she creates a whip of water that drags the Elven Royal Prince together with them right when they’re almost in.
