Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 6

 EP.6 Six Days Until Arrival

Lucia.

A commoner-born saintess. Jeong-hyeon had only picked up bits and pieces of information while being dragged around, so he didn’t know the full details. However, one thing was certain.

‘She was said to possess enormous divine power, enough to be called the next Pope.’

Recalling this, he looked at Lucia. Indeed, the healing magic she had performed on him was several times more effective than what the archbishop had done, and she could use it much more frequently.

‘An ordinary priestess having more healing power and divine energy than an Archbishop.’

As this thought crossed his mind, he couldn’t help but smile. All these facts pointed to Lucia being the saintess.

‘But there are three strange things.’

First, the fact that Saintess Lucia was wandering alone without any escort. Second, why a saintess would need to receive education at the academy. And third, despite the divine power she radiated, no one seemed to suspect her identity.

Curiosity about these points arose, but he decided to hold off on asking for now.

‘It’s not the right time yet.’

Knowing that indulging his curiosity could be disastrous, he forced himself to focus on his meal.

***

The next day, Jeong-hyeon attempted to train in the same way as the day before, but he had to abandon the plan when a warning message appeared.

[If you do not attend class, the probability of quest failure is extremely high.]

Quest failure. This meant death, so he had no choice but to delay his training until the classes were over.

Thus, he put on a new uniform… a new uniform?

Seeing that there was nothing in his wardrobe, he couldn’t help but fall silent. He had thought that as an academy student, he would have at least two or three uniforms, but there were none. Searching the room just in case, he found nothing and sighed softly.

‘I guess I’ll have to go like this.’

His tattered, blood-stained uniform would draw attention, but he had no other option, so he opened the door to leave. At the door, he found a note and a neatly folded uniform.

[No matter how much I think about it, just a meal doesn’t seem enough, so I’m sending this as well.

P.S. Please train normally from now on. Seriously, before I end up killing you.

Lucia]

He chuckled at the note.

After changing into the uniform Lucia had given him, he headed to the academy.

[Attend Swordsmanship Class – Class A]

He wasn’t sure if it was fortunate or not, but upon entering the academy, a message appeared, guiding him to his class. Seeing this, he smiled bitterly.

‘It seems all the content is centered around the academy.’

That’s why he hadn’t seen many system messages while being dragged around. Thinking that everything had been wrong from the start, he entered the classroom. Murmurs filled the room.

“Isn’t he the one who messed with Erie?”

“Yeah, I think so. But why did he have to mess with Erie of all people?”

“I heard Jer is determined to kill him.”

These are the reactions to yesterday’s events. Hearing them, he sat down in the seat indicated by the system, drawing more stares.

‘I’m used to this.’

Before his suicide attempt, he had grown accustomed to such disdainful, disgusted, and hateful stares. So, he brushed it off and began preparing for class when someone kicked his desk and shouted.

“You bastard!”

Fortunately, he managed to step back and avoid injury, but the fact that he had been attacked first irritated him. Looking up, he saw a muscular male student who looked like he only ate chicken breasts glaring at him. The student, seething with anger, yelled at him.

“What a coward, attacking someone by surprise!”

Was his head filled with muscles too? Despite being the one who had attacked him, he was now accusing him of launching a surprise attack.

‘But that’s not the important part.’

The important part was that he had been provoked. Just as he didn’t avoid trouble when it came to him, he decided to respond to this provocation. He grabbed his chair and lifted it.

“……”

Seeing him suddenly lift the chair, the other student showed signs of surprise. He probably hadn’t expected him to use the chair as a weapon. Despite his size, the student hesitated and did nothing, but his pride wouldn’t let him stay silent.

“A chair? Do you think lifting a chair makes you something, you bastard?”

His mouth kept running, spewing vulgarities. Jeong-hyeon responded with a brief laugh.

“It does make me something. A butcher.”

With that, he threw the chair at the student and immediately rushed forward. The stats he had significantly increased the previous day allowed him to move swiftly and punch the student hard in the stomach.

Smack!

The sound of something bursting. His divine power had surged, amplifying the force of his punch. Along with the sound, a message appeared before his eyes.

[Your stats have increased.]

A message delivering good news.

‘I was worried about not being able to train, but now I feel better.’

As his anxiety began to fade, Jeong-hyeon inspected his arm. Having struck a human instead of a tree, he found no visible wounds. Realizing this, he smiled.

‘This is good.’

Not only did he get hurt less, but his stats also increased. Confirming this, he checked the time.

[8:40 AM]

Twenty minutes until class started. Before then, he needed to beat up the student and increase his stats as much as possible. Thinking that attending the academy wasn’t such a bad idea after all, he charged at the muscular student again.

***

Archbishop Lea silently surveyed the battlefield after the fight had ended. The white ashes left behind by the once blazing fire perfectly encapsulated the desolation of the scene. Everything seemed futile in this sight of utter devastation, and Lea gazed at the scattered corpses without a word.

– Do you still not understand how much of a blessing it is for trash like you to gain any value through self-destruction?

The voice she had used to shift all responsibility onto him resurfaced every time she looked at the dead.

– Trash deserves trash. You should sleep in the nearest garbage dump.

Though these were her own words, each recollection brought a wave of indescribable disgust. Why had she said such things? Lea held her head, trying to quell her spiraling thoughts, and took a deep breath, attempting to deny them.

‘If only the hero had grown his strength properly, controlled his divine power well, or at least not provoked the kingdom…!’

She wouldn’t have denied his worth so vehemently or tried to crush him. Why did he have to act that way!

Realizing she was once again shifting the blame onto the hero, she covered her mouth with both hands. These repulsive thoughts were slipping out unconsciously.

‘This isn’t me. Yes, this isn’t genuine… It’s just words born out of stress.’

As she repeated this self-reassurance, a familiar voice called out nearby.

“Lea? Can you heal me?”

The second princess, her face weary, approached Lea while wiping blood off her sword. She glanced at the bodies of the soldiers and closed her eyes tightly before speaking.

“… Please, as soon as possible.”

“Yes, of course.”

Lea bit her lip as she looked at the second princess exposing her side. She believed the princess’s poor judgment was a result of her lack of self-control. A surge of anger and violence flashed through Lea, but she managed to calm down and speak.

“Your condition isn’t good. Even with healing magic, you won’t be able to walk properly for a few days.”

“A few days?”

“Yes. So please rest.”

“… Where is the saintess? If she were here, she could heal this quickly.”

The mention of the saintess made Lea’s expression twist. The second princess knew well how much Lea despised the saintess and had brought her up deliberately to make a comparison.

“Find her yourself. That’s not my responsibility.”

The second princess smirked at her response and spoke.

“That’s right, it’s not your responsibility. But managing the hero wasn’t your job either, so why did you torment him so much?”

At that single remark, Lea stopped in her tracks and stared at the second princess. What did this madwoman just say?

“I still remember. You tortured him under the guise of repentance every night. If only you hadn’t done such things…!”

“You participated too, didn’t you?”

“What?”

“Repentance. Why are you pretending you didn’t?”

The second princess fell silent at that. Seeing her reaction, Lea began to release the pent-up frustration she had been holding back.

“And wasn’t it you who created that situation in the first place? Talking about necessary sacrifices.”

“… That was…!”

“No matter how much you try to shift the blame onto me, the dead hero won’t come back.”

Lea closed her eyes tightly, wondering if that last statement was more for herself than anyone else. Just then, Daisy, her face pale, approached them and spoke.

“You still have the strength to fight? If you have that much energy, why not kill one more demon?”

Daisy’s words extinguished the burning emotions within Lea, much like the battlefield she had seen earlier.

‘Disgusting. Everything is.’

The second princess, Daisy, the saintess, and everything surrounding her were all revolting and hateful. Feeling an overwhelming sense of disgust, she gagged, and as she looked at her reflection in the filthy water on the ground, she realized that the most disgusting thing was herself.

The small size of the puddle made it look as if her neck was severed, reminding her of the collar she had placed on the hero. In that moment, everything seemed to distort, and unable to bear the stress, she plunged her face into the filthy water, regretting her actions. But she couldn’t even apologize to the dead.

Everything was meaningless unless he came back to life. Absolutely meaningless.

As Lea’s mind began to sink into a mire of despair, Daisy’s voice snapped her back to reality.

“How about we disband now? Everything’s finished here.”

Lea looked ahead. There was indeed nothing more to do here.

‘…So now, I guess I have to go to the academy as the cardinal ordered.’

To clean up after that damned saintess… No, to drag her down into the abyss with herself.