Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 32

EP.32 Uncomfortable Encounter Part 2

Lee Jeong-hyeon was in the middle of a conversation with Lucia in the infirmary when suddenly, Lucia, sensing something ominous, then she stood up abruptly.

“Wait a moment!”

Her face was filled with alarm. Looking at her in confusion, Lucia spoke with a worried expression.

“… Bishop Lea is coming here.”

“What?”

The unexpected news that someone was coming here caused Lee Jeong-hyeon to be taken aback.

“I thought she had returned to the church?”

“I heard she went back, but… it seems she came back right away!”

Lee Jeong-hyeon tried to escape immediately upon hearing this, but realizing there were no windows, he bit his lip.

‘Damn it, I’m screwed.’

He didn’t want to encounter her if he could avoid it. As he sighed deeply, wondering why his luck was so terrible, Lucia, looking distressed, seemed to come up with a solution.

“I’ll do my best to keep Bishop Lea from coming in here. Please hide inside!”

“Hide?”

“Yes… Ah, explaining why you need to hide right now is complicated, but… please, just hide. I’m begging you!”

She then pushed him under the bed and continued.

“No matter what happens, don’t come out! Even with that face recognition suppression ring, it probably won’t work on Bishop Lea.”

“Why?”

“I’ll explain later! For now… Ah, she’s here.”

Lucia took a deep breath, looking terrified, then steeled herself and spoke again.

“Even if I get hurt or cry, don’t come out. No, you mustn’t get caught. We’ll talk about the rest later.”

With that, she rubbed her face a few times with her hands and quickly left the infirmary.

***

Lea, with a face full of triumph, grabbed the handle of the infirmary door.

Despite countless attempts to meet him and the misfortunes that seemed to follow her, she had never been able to approach the ‘replacement’ for the hero.

‘This time.’

She had cornered him in the infirmary, a place with no escape routes. Even if he tried to hide, he would be easy to find if she searched thoroughly.

With this in mind, she opened the door and was about to check inside when…

“… Bishop Lea.”

The saintess, whom she hated so much that she wanted to tear her apart every time she saw her, emerged from the infirmary.

‘I expected him to be in here, but…’

It was surprising to see the usually timid saintess glaring at her with defiance, but that was not the most important issue at the moment. Lea decided to ignore this and spoke up.

“Saintess Lucia, how have you been?”

Lucia responded silently, staring at Lea with intensity.

“Yes, I’ve been doing very well.”

Seeing Lucia’s unusually sharp tone, Lea felt puzzled. Although Lucia had experienced various events recently, it was unusual for her to change so drastically from just one incident.

However, since the dungeon rampage incident, Lucia had transformed… or rather, perhaps it was more accurate to say she had reverted to her original personality.

‘She’s giving off the same look she had back when she was just a commoner.’

The look she had before she was intimidated by Lea. Lea sighed inwardly, feeling a mix of annoyance and resignation. She then forced a smile and addressed Lucia.

“That’s good to hear. I’d like to have a brief chat, but since there are ears and eyes around, perhaps we could discuss this inside?”

Lea’s suggestion was so naturally offered that it would usually be hard to refuse. She assumed Lucia would accept it, but…

“Didn’t you just call me ‘Saintess Lucia’? If you’re comfortable saying that openly, it seems there aren’t any ears or eyes around, doesn’t it?”

Lucia’s response was unexpectedly confrontational, pointing out her perceived mistake.

‘… Ah.’

Seeing someone who had once been so meek now acting up, Lea felt a mix of frustration and confusion. She couldn’t understand what Lucia was relying on to act this way. Lea, feeling that continuing the conversation was pointless, tried to ignore Lucia and go inside.

“What are you doing?”

Lucia blocked the doorway with her whole body, glaring at her.

Trying to suppress her rising anger, Lea managed to speak calmly.

“Saintess Lucia, are you hiding something inside?”

“No.”

“Then please step aside. I have business here as well.”

“If you tell me what business you have, I’ll step aside.”

Lea could no longer tolerate Lucia’s refusal to cooperate. She repeated the words she had previously used to bind Lucia.

“… Ha. Please, don’t be difficult, Saintess Lucia.”

At that short command, the saintess froze as if her entire body had turned to stone. It was no surprise—she had been haunted by those words every time she had attempted something, making it almost a trauma.

As Lea prepared to enter, smiling inwardly at the sight of Lucia’s rigid form, she was suddenly jolted by a sharp pain.

Crash!

Something pierced through the wooden door and lodged into her shoulder.

“… !”

Lea was caught off guard. She had never expected such a bold attack within the academy. Overwhelmed by the sudden pain and confusion, she could do nothing but stand there in shock.

From inside the infirmary, an enraged voice erupted.

“You damn bitch… Do you even know where you’re trying to barge in?”

The voice, filled with anger, had an eerie familiarity that stirred something unsettling yet strangely nostalgic within her. She felt a jarring discomfort as she looked forward and saw the intense divine power she had been searching for.

‘… Why?’

The first thing that came to mind was confusion. Judging by the amount of divine power, it seemed that the one who had thrust the sword into her was indeed the ‘hero’s substitute.’ But why would someone who had never encountered her before attacking her like this? Lea could not fathom the reason.

However, she pushed the confusion aside, recognizing that it was not the most pressing concern.

Feigning a weak and pitiful voice to provoke sympathy, she spoke in a manner intended for the ‘hero’s substitute’ to hear.

“Ugh… It hurts.”

Sympathy was a powerful weapon. The moment someone felt pity, they were likely to offer help and make sacrifices.

‘So, if I keep moaning and complaining in pain here.’

The hero’s substitute would be compelled to focus on the fact that they had injured a helpless priestess, shifting their attention from their anger to guilt and self-reproach.

‘Then it will be easy to take control of them.’

Lea was confident she could more easily mold him into the warrior she envisioned.

‘Perfect.’

Therefore, she could endure this pain without issue.

As she continued to whimper in a fragile voice, she felt the sword twitch slightly before it was slowly withdrawn from her shoulder and returned behind the door.

‘It seems the sympathy tactic worked. How simple.’

With such a straightforward approach, Lea expected that there would be no one easier to control. Just as she was feeling her success, another sharp sensation pierced through the door.

Thrust!

This time, the sword was thrust into her lower abdomen.

“Ahhhhh!”

The pain was far more intense than the previous wound to her shoulder. Lea writhed in agony, letting out a scream as the searing pain overwhelmed her.

Lea pulled the sword from her body with trembling hands and immediately cast a healing spell.

‘That crazy bastard!’

How dare he swing a sword at her not once, but twice? This was unforgivable. Gripping her hands tightly, she shouted at the hero’s substitute.

“The church will never forgive this!”

Using the term “Church” deliberately to intimidate, she saw the door slowly beginning to open. With a mixture of satisfaction and intense anger, Lea glared as the door revealed an unexpected face.

‘…A, aah?’

The face was so shocking that her entire body trembled, as if she couldn’t even think or speak properly. And no wonder—standing before her wasn’t just any hero’s substitute.

It was the real hero.

Yes, the true hero.

The moment Lea recognized this fact, her face lit up with uncontainable joy. She looked at him with the expression of someone who had just encountered the god proclaiming the world’s salvation.

However, the man in front of her merely wore a nonchalant expression and spoke.

“What are you looking at, you bitch?”

His crude tone would have angered anyone, but it only made her smile wider, reminding her of the hero who had taken his own life. The hero, looking disgusted, infused his sword with divine power and spoke again.

“Perfect timing. I was wondering when to kill you, and now seems just right.”

He took a large step forward, genuinely intending to kill her. The intense flow of divine power seemed ready to tear everything apart. Lea coated herself in divine power to resist, but the sharp sensation pierced through her body, paralyzing her.

As she stared blankly, Jeong-hyeon reached her and raised his arm high, then without a moment’s hesitation, severed her left arm.