Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 26

EP.26 Divine Power

‘The Kingdom and the Order targeting the Academy at the most critical moment…’

Even in a situation where they couldn’t afford to pour all their resources into the war, they were focusing on the Academy. This didn’t make sense.

The fact that they were doing this as if it were the most normal thing to do defied his understanding. There had to be something significant about the academy for them to stake their claims so aggressively, but Jeong-hyeon couldn’t figure out what it was.

‘I still lack information.’

Jeong-hyeon didn’t have enough information to be certain about anything.

For now, he decided to observe the situation and see how things unfold. Until more information came in, he chose to focus on his growth.

‘Bishop Lea will return soon.’

Gritting his teeth, he gripped his sword tightly. Jeong-hyeon had to resist the urge to thrust the sword into her neck immediately.

‘I need to become much stronger than I am now.’

Resolving to achieve his revenge, Jeong-hyeon looked at Lucia for more efficient training. Sensing his gaze, Lucia seemed to sense something ominous and spoke to him with a worried expression.

“… You’re not looking at me to ask for help with training, are you?”

“……”

“Are you?”

“Yes.”

At his words, Lucia sighed deeply and collapsed to the ground.

***

Regina covered her blood-stained face, her whole-body trembling violently. In just one hour, everything she had built up had collapsed. Unable to understand or accept it, she voiced her denial in a shaking voice.

“……”

She couldn’t believe it. She threw objects around desperately, trying to deny the reality, but nothing changed.

‘This can’t be happening… Me? Why? Why do I have to go through this?’

The once prestigious clubroom was now a wreck, covered in blood. While cleaning magic and new furniture could restore its appearance, the humiliation she suffered would remain with her forever, like the tea set from Erie.

Regina couldn’t bear it. As she sank deeper into the despair she had created, she noticed a teacup rolling out of the trash can. It was the teacup given to her by Erie, covered in all sorts of protective enchantments. Despite being tossed around and hit by all sorts of magic, the teacup appeared completely unscathed.

Seeing the teacup, Regina came to a sudden realization.

‘… Now that I think about it, if I eliminate everyone who remembers these events, the traces will disappear too, right?’

It made sense. The value diminishes because ‘someone remembers the issue’. If no one remembers, there’s no reason for it to lose value. Reaching this conclusion, Regina wiped the blood off her face and picked up Erie’s fallen teacup. Despite being dropped and thrown into the trash, the teacup still gleamed brilliantly.

Looking at the teacup, she made a calm decision.

‘I’ll have to eliminate Lee Jeong-hyeon, no matter what it takes.’

Only then could everything return to its original state. Placing Erie’s teacup back in its place, she took out the communication magic orb from a deep drawer. Using this, she could call upon her family’s forces.

‘Normally, I wouldn’t even consider using this.’

But she had no other options. She contacted the elite guard unit from the Erza family, which she alone could command.

‘Normally, this would be enough.’

Having witnessed Jeong-hyeon’s skill, she knew she needed more. She spoke to the captain of her personal guard unit.

“… Connect me to the assassination unit.”

She pulled out the most powerful card she could play, one that exceeded her usual authority, but as the second-in-command, she could use it once.

***

Jeong-hyeon took Lucia up the mountain, pondering how to proceed with his training. He needed to decide on a new training method.

‘In the Trial Chamber, I could revive even if I died, so I could be reckless.’

That kind of training was no longer possible. He needed to grow quickly within the bounds of normal training methods.

‘But even if I say that, I don’t have any other methods.’

His proficiency had reached a level where punching trees and rocks or manifesting sword aura no longer increased his skills significantly. He needed a different approach, but he didn’t know any other methods.

‘It would be great if I could find a mentor.’

He had initially thought of seeking out Mertan, but…

‘As the chief instructor, he has to take the responsibility. It will be difficult to see him from now on.’

It is said that he was held responsible for the recent dungeon rampage incident and resigned. This left him with no options, deeply troubled.

Lucia then offered an unexpected solution.

“In that case, why don’t you train your divine power?”

“… Divine power?”

“Yes. Your divine power is vast and powerful on its own, making it a formidable weapon. However, if you learn to use it properly rather than recklessly, its strength could be significantly enhanced.”

At her words, Jeong-hyeon looked down at his hands silently. Indeed, as Lucia said, he had always just poured out his divine power without ever using it in a proper manner.

‘Of course, even when used this way, I’ve never run out of divine power or felt its output weaken.’

But considering the stronger enemies he would face in the future, there might come a day when the merits he possesses could disappear. Therefore, it was necessary to prepare for that possibility.

“I’ll teach you how to manage and use your divine power. Although I specialize in healing and don’t know much about combat, I can still teach you the basics, so don’t worry.”

Jeong-hyeon nodded, and Lucia extended her hand to him.

“Alright then, take my hand, and I’ll guide you.”

Grabbing her hand, Lucia smiled brightly.

“Now that I think about it, this would have been much better than those ridiculous training sessions… Training your divine power makes more sense!”

She continued as she gently infused divine power into his palm.

“Anyway, please pay close attention to the flow of the divine power I send you. This is the path you should follow from now on.”

The path to follow. As Jeong-hyeon recalled those words, he slowly concentrated in the direction Lucia was guiding him. Though he couldn’t understand or grasp anything yet, he felt a strange confidence that he could manage it.

Closing his eyes and following the flow of divine power as Lucia led, he could feel it circulating throughout his body. Lucia’s somewhat astonished voice reached him.

“You’re doing much better than I expected.”

“… Really?”

“Yes. If I didn’t know you, I would have thought you had been training for at least a year.”

Not knowing how impressive that was, Jeong-hyeon just stared blankly. Lucia awkwardly laughed and changed the subject.

“By the way, this is the purest divine power I’ve ever seen. It’s even purer than mine or the Pope’s… Oh, is that blasphemy?”

Lucia cleared her throat and spoke to him again.

“Forget what I just said. If the Pope finds out, I’ll be in big trouble.”

He nodded silently, and she returned to the main topic.

“And usually, the purer the divine power, the less of it one has… But you have both purity and an enormous amount of it, which is fascinating.”

“… Really?”

“Yes. Purity means that the divine power is free of impurities, foreign energies, or anything extraneous. Typically, having pure divine power implies that everything unnecessary has been discarded.”

Yet, even after discarding such impurities, Jeong-hyeon still had an overwhelming amount of divine power. Lucia seemed understandably shocked.

“It’s really unfair. If you had joined the Order, you’d probably be the next Pope in no time.”

“……”

“But what’s concerning is that your power is so pure and abundant that if mishandled, you might not be able to withstand it and could shatter.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Honestly, it’s a miracle you’ve managed to use divine power the way you have without breaking.”

Her words were harsh, and he considered joking about it, but Lucia’s expression was extremely serious. Seeing her like this, he couldn’t help but keep silent. Lucia then stood up, looking determined.

“This won’t do. I was uncertain before, but now you need to train your divine power for 20 hours a day.”

“… But I need to train my other abilities.”

“What other abilities? Right now, you could die if you’re not careful!”

“But if I don’t work on my stats, I’ll lose progress…”

“Be quiet. This is non-negotiable.”

Even for Lucia, this seemed over the line. Jeong-hyeon was contemplating escaping when she said something that obliterated his thoughts of running away.

“And those stats training you’re talking about? No matter how hard you try, it won’t make you twice as strong, will it?”

She had a point, so he nodded.

“But with divine power training, you can become twice as strong in a short time!”

“Twice as strong?”

“Yes. Normally, it’s impossible, but with your talent, it’s definitely achievable.”

Considering this, Jeong-hyeon thought it wouldn’t be bad to invest time in it for a while, and he eagerly accepted the bait Lucia had thrown.