Chapter 282 The Holy Labor Corps ③
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The Holy Labor Corps¹ continued their march further west. Their progress remained sluggish, hampered by their primary mandate: the total eradication of the local monster population. In a grim inverse of their pace, the strength and sheer volume of the beasts only intensified as they pushed deeper.
”Katz-sama♡! Please, take care of that lot over there♡!” Mother Marian called out.
”Consider it done! I’ll hold the line here!” Katz-sama replied.
The skirmishes, once manageable for the raw recruits, had devolved into desperate struggles. Now, the unit’s heavy hitters – Mother Marian and the Martial Monk, Katz-sama – were forced to the vanguard, their intervention becoming the only thing keeping the line from buckling.
Yet, with every clash, the rank-and-file grew stronger. By dawn, the very monsters that had left them battered and broken the evening before were being slaughtered with single, decisive strokes.
This explosive growth was the true fruit of the Journey of Subjugation², and the reason the Church of Demon-Subjugation’s influence had saturated the world. It was more accurate to say that the only lands fit for human habitation were those where the teachings of the Journey had paved the way.
”Dammit, they just keep coming…!” one recruit hissed.
”We can do this! We’re actually doing it…!” another shouted back.
Though they still relied on Mother Marian’s support, the recruits fought with a newfound ferocity. They were beginning to feel it – the realization that the legends of the Saints found in the ancient archives weren’t mere hyperbole or fiction.
In the Elder Days, when monsters were more numerous and the wielders of Divine Miracles walked the earth, the summit of power was reached only through dozens, hundreds, even thousands of these Journeys.
Before the march, the recruits had viewed such feats as the realm of gods; now, they felt the path beneath their own feet was a direct, if grueling, ascent to that same peak. But even so, the summit remained a distant, shimmering ghost.
”Dammit – guagh!” a soldier cried out.
”Don’t overextend! My Holy Arts can only cover so much ground!!!” Sister Amelia yelled.
”S-sorry, Sister Amelia…!” the man stammered.
Even for Sister Amelia, who trained under Mother Marian’s direct tutelage and possessed far more skill than the common soldier, the feeling was the same. She flicked a curtain of blue flame, shielding an injured comrade, while her eyes darted toward her mentor.
Mother Marian moved like a dervish of crimson fire, reducing monsters to ash in a macabre dance. Even to Sister Amelia, Mother Marian seemed like a distant goal – and yet Mother Marian herself claimed the ancient Saints were further still.
I have to be stronger, Sister Amelia thought. She had grown, yes, but it wasn’t enough. To surpass her idol, to walk the path beyond the horizon for the sake of the people’s peace… she needed more power.
Had I grown too soft? she wondered. Lingering in that cozy little shop… by his warm side? She felt the weight of the ring against her skin. I truly have no right to wear this yet.
Through the fabric of her habit, she felt the ring resting against her chest as she plunged back into the fray. Night bled into morning, and the rising sun began to bathe the landscape in gold. The blood of the fallen monsters caught the light, gilding the grisly battlefield in a horrific, glittering mosaic.
”Goodness, it seems we’re still tidying up,” Priest Samarefuoso noted.
”Given this momentum, it’s only natural. We’ve stumbled into a proper hive. Priest Samarefuoso, shall we?” the Holy Knight, Kuroalmante, asked.
”I suppose. If we delay, we’ll miss breakfast – though I suppose that would be a fine bit of ascetic training in itself…” Priest Samarefuoso mused.
Priest Samarefuoso and Kuroalmante rose from their tactical naps and joined the cull. With the rest of the unit rushing to assist, the entire Holy Labor Corps turned out to suppress the final wave of the morning raid.
Then, the cleaning began. But today, the atmosphere was different. Even during the cleanup, stragglers attacked sporadically. They weren’t the coordinated strikes of the night, but they were persistent.
”Hmm, I wonder if we’re stuck here for another night♡?” Mother Marian wondered aloud.
”Indeed. The infestation runs deep in these parts. We cannot simply leave this rot behind,” Katz-sama added.
And so, the Corps held their ground. By day, they scouted for the larger Alphas; by night, they slaughtered everything that crawled toward their light. As the recruits handled the disposal, the leadership gathered to plan their next move.
Suddenly, Katz-sama went rigid. His jaw set. Mother Marian tilted her head, confused for a heartbeat, until the sensation hit her too.
”Oh, it looks like we have a guest…♡” Mother Marian whispered.
”EVERYONE! ARMS UP!!! IT’S COMING FROM THE CLOUDS!!!” Katz-sama roared.
At Katz-sama’s roar, the recruits looked to the heavens. What they saw froze the blood in their veins.
**GRAAAAAAWRRRRRRRRR!!!!**
With a thunderous, earth-shaking bellow, a dragon plummeted from the sky. It was one of the drakes that had served Zil Meina.
The Corps had no way of knowing, but this was the same beast that had ravaged the Nixfen territory – one of the dragons the Ferguson Kingdom’s army had failed to pin down in the streets of Ulrie.
”It’s a dragon♡! Try not to get eaten, everyone♡!” Mother Marian called out.
Her warning was airy, but “trying not to get eaten” by a projectile from the sky was easier said than done. The most they could do was wait for the shadow to loom over them and pray their counterattacks found purchase.
”Ah – “
The target was a young recruit, his reaction slowed by a straggler he’d been finishing off. He’d killed the lesser beast, but he was wide open for the sky-borne terror.
He looked up into the dragon’s maw, an abyss of teeth and fire ready to swallow him whole. Then, a voice cut through the panic.
”FIRE!!!”
On Priest Samarefuoso’s command, the stunned onlookers unleashed a desperate barrage of Holy Arts. White light erupted – arrows, spears, and blades of pure radiance.
Priest Samarefuoso’s own orbs of light joined Mother Marian’s crimson inferno and Sister Amelia’s azure flames. Even Kuroalmante unleashed a shimmering arc from his blade. It looked like enough to bring down a god. But…
**SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!**
The dragon banked mid-air, snapping its wings shut to deflect the barrage like a shield. It caught the thermal, spiraling back into the blue. Follow-up shots were fired, but the beast danced through them, seemingly unscathed.
”Now you see, don’t you♡? Every time that thing dives, we hit it with everything we’ve got♡! We finish it here! If we let it fly, it’ll just find a softer target to butcher♡!” Mother Marian commanded.
”””YES, MA’AM!!!””” the unit shouted in unison.
The unit’s fear crystallized into resolve. As the dragon dove again, they met it with a wall of light. It did little visible damage, but they didn’t stop. They couldn’t.
The cycle repeated. When the dragon skimmed the earth, the Martial Monks leaped, trying to grapple the beast with bare hands. The Holy Knights launched blade-waves. Yet the dragon remained untouched, vital and mocking.
This was the true horror of a dragon. You couldn’t touch it unless it allowed you to, and even then, its hide was a fortress.
”This is going to be a long morning…♡” Mother Marian spat.
Marian muttered the words to herself. Staring at the sun while waiting for death from above was a special kind of hell. In a war of attrition, the dragon held every card. It could fly away whenever it tired of the game. If only it would commit to a real assault…
But the dragon was content to play dirty. Growing bored of the “prey” that refused to die, it let out a frustrated, primal scream.
**ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!!!!**
It reared its head back, pulling the air into its lungs, gathering its strength with a terrifying, low-frequency rumble. Those who saw the glow in its throat screamed.
”””HOLY BARRIER!!!!”””
**FROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!**
Dragon Breath washed over the shimmering shields at the very last second. This was the second horror: the dragon could sit out of reach and incinerate them at its leisure.
The recruits realized the trap. The beast was just waiting for them to run out of mana.
It would burn them, dive to snap a few necks, then retreat. They couldn’t fight forever. They couldn’t rest. They were being cooked alive in their own armor.
Cold sweat turned to ice. How do we kill it? Do we try to take its head like the one in the Capital? We don’t even know if we can reach it! Sister Amelia bit her lip until it bled.
They steeled themselves for a suicidal last stand. And then, it happened.
**SPLUTTERRRRRR! SPLASH! SCHLORRRRRRRRRRK! SPLAT!**
”””Wait… what?!?”””
—
Summary:
The Holy Labor Corps faces an intense night and morning of monster subjugation, leading to significant level-ups for the recruits. Their progress is halted by a dragon survivor from the Zil Meina incident. The chapter ends on a bizarre, high-pressure liquid sound effect interrupting the dragon’s assault.
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Trivia:
- Amelia is keeping a ring hidden in her habit, which she feels she hasn’t earned yet.
- The dragon is specifically one that escaped the Ferguson army in Ulrie.
- The ‘Journey of Subjugation’ is effectively a religious-themed grinding/leveling mechanic for the world.
- Marian uses red fire while Amelia uses blue fire
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Character Insight:
Amelia is experiencing a conflict between her duty as a warrior-nun and her domestic feelings for the shopkeeper, using her lack of ‘Saint-level’ power as a justification to keep her distance.
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Behind the Scenes:
The ‘Byururu’ (translated as Splutter/Schlork) sound effect is a recurring motif for the protagonist’s specialized adult-goods weaponry being used off-screen.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Marian – A ‘Mother’ and supervisor from the Church of Demon-Subjugation. Her appearance and demeanor defy the Church’s purported ‘chastity,’ instead she has wavy purple long hair, busty, black nun, tear mole under eye, and monroe walk. She has arrived with a clear purpose: to confront Kento about the ‘Devil’s Stick.
• Katz – A Martial Monk and veteran described as an ‘outdated’ relic with immense physical strength, older male and muscular build.
• Amelia – The Sister of the Church of Demon-Subjugating, who usually buys from Kento, has light blue hair.
• Samarefuoso – A Priest and strategic advisor for the unit’s night watches.
• Kuroalmante – A Holy Knight; one of the elites in the hodgepodge unit.
• Nixfen – A viscount aristocrat who has started manufacturing and selling adult goods similar to Kento’s products in the Royal Capital’s pleasure district. He is described as a ‘pretty boy’ or ‘gentle-looking man’ (yasao) but is a territory-holding noble likely trained in combat.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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