SAINTESS [Chapter 165: Grace of the Mother Goddess] (Patreon)

On the battlefield, where sand and stones whipped through the air, Isatia did not assume victory was hers simply because she had blocked Shikondell’s killing move. On the contrary, she sensed something and looked around.

Through the swirling sand and gravel, several round, dark shadows burst out of the dense sandstorm and sped toward her.

Despite the extremely poor visibility, Isatia’s keen senses detected them in advance. She leaped aside, and one of the round shadows grazed the hem of her dress, tearing the fabric as it shot past.

As it brushed by her, she finally saw what it was, a tiny stone golem capable of curling itself into a ball.

Could these have been formed from the fragments scattered when that rock giant exploded?

Isatia wondered.

If so, there was definitely more than one of them.

Sure enough, after the first tiny stone golem attacked, Isatia heard the whistle of wind from every direction. Several more burst out of the sandstorm, their attacks coming one after another.

Having been ambushed before, Isatia was ready this time. The moment the figures emerged from the sandstorm, she swiftly impaled them with her six golden spears, annihilating them on the spot.

The golden spears struck the tiny stone golems, shattering them into scattered pebbles. However, to everyone’s astonishment, the fragments began to move. Palm-sized stones lifted themselves off the ground and crawled toward Isatia on all fours.

Not only that, but Isatia also sensed the energy within them becoming increasingly unstable.

Realizing what was about to happen, she summoned barriers with her earth and water spears.

[Blazing Barrier]!

[Sandstone Bulwark]!

Two circular barriers large enough to cover her entire body rose around her.

The little stone golems lunged forward and clambered onto the barriers. Their energy became violently unstable, and one after another, they exploded like miniature time bombs.

A fresh barrage of small explosions burst forth, sending sand and dust flying across the area surrounding Isatia. Fine grains and fragments of stone filled the air, shrouding everything in a dense cloud and leaving her unable to see.

Despite being unable to see more than five meters ahead, Isatia remained calm. She lifted her golden spear, embedded with a wind gem, and slammed it into the ground. A powerful gust erupted around her, sweeping away the sandstorm that engulfed the area.

The dust cleared, restoring her vision, and Shikondell’s figure naturally entered her field of view.

Only then did she realize that the dust kicked up by the rock giant’s explosion had dispersed long ago. The only sand still hanging in the air was the cloud surrounding her, created by the little stone golems’s explosions.

In other words, the large-scale sandstorm had already ended. Only the area around her remained shrouded in dust. Blinded by the sand, she had failed to notice and mistakenly believed the entire arena was still engulfed in the storm.

Isatia instantly understood.

Shikondell had used this method to trap her in an area without visibility, causing her to misjudge the situation outside. In reality, the sandstorm beyond her immediate surroundings had already subsided. It was no different from throwing a smoke bomb at Isatia’s feet.

That way, Shikondell knew exactly where Isatia was within the cloud of dust, while Isatia had no idea what was happening outside, where Shikondell was, or what she was doing.

Naturally, Shikondell had done all this to buy herself time.

As for what she needed that time for, the answer was now obvious.

By this point, Shikondell had already dismissed her earth shield. Hovering above her hands was a vibrant green sphere brimming with life, its surface entwined with flowering vines. Clearly, this was the spell she had cast using the initiative she had fought so hard to obtain.

Isatia’s battle instincts instantly revealed Shikondell’s intentions. Her six golden spears gathered around her like loyal royal guards.

She knew that any nature spell Shikondell had spent so long preparing could not possibly be simple.

The spell had consumed an enormous amount of time and mana, and now it had already taken shape. It was too late to interrupt it.

So everything Shikondell had done before was merely preparation for this?

The self-destruction function of the Earth Guardian had never been her trump card. It was only a diversion meant to obscure Isatia’s vision and prevent her from seeing what Shikondell was doing.

This was the move Shikondell had intended to use from the very beginning.

In all fairness, Isatia had never underestimated Shikondell, but in the end, she had still been deceived by Shikondell’s harmless appearance.

Isatia stared warily at the completed nature spell in Shikondell’s hands. Knowing little about nature magic, she still had no idea what the spell did. Was it supportive or destructive?

Out of caution, Isatia did not dare launch a probing attack.

“Oh my~?” In the spectator stands, Aesphyra folded her arms and watched the scene with a beaming smile, though it was hard to tell whom she was laughing at. “Looks like someone capsized in a gutter~”

“Little Brother Dell is amazing too!” Although the card fanatics had not understood Shikondell’s overall plan, nor could they explain what exactly she had just done, they were still duly impressed.

The skilled upperclassmen who had watched the entire match could see far more than they could. They knew Shikondell was no ordinary opponent and that every bit of her strength was genuine.

“Now this is getting interesting.” Winnie’s lips curled into a smile. “That little dummy’s combat instincts are far sharper, and she’s much smarter than I expected.”

As expected of the heroine chosen by destiny, perhaps?

According to the plot Winnie had originally envisioned, Isatia should not have suffered so many setbacks, nor should Shikondell’s plan have gone this smoothly.

That little dummy had truly given him an enormous surprise.

The current Shikondell could almost be said to share only a name with the Shikondell from the game’s original plot. Both were named Shikondell, but the Shikondell he knew was worlds apart from the delicate little princess in the game who could only rely on others.

In the original story, Shikondell had never experienced such a shining moment.

It seemed the little dummy had picked up quite a few things from the time she had spent by his side.

Winnie thought rather smugly.

She had certainly learned a great deal about manliness, in particular.

Enough self-congratulation. In all fairness, his influence had indeed helped shape her, but Shikondell’s own hard work and ambition were what had truly made all of this possible.

She had genuinely taken his words to heart, even those grandiose boasts that he himself knew were nothing more than empty talk.

Winnie was undoubtedly delighted for her.

She had appeared to be suppressed earlier, but it turned out that everything had gone according to Shikondell’s plan. Now the situation had reversed, and she had seized the initiative in one fell swoop.

Even Winnie could no longer tell what Shikondell intended to do next.

However, Isatia was not so easy to deal with.

Shikondell released the nature spell she had spent so long condensing and allowed it to sink into the arena’s soil.

In an instant, boundless vitality erupted.

With the ground beneath her feet as its center, grass and flowers spread outward. Vines and saplings flourished, and greenery blossomed across the barren arena, transforming the world around the Moon Elf girl into a thriving jungle.

That was...?

Winnie stared in astonishment.

Creating an entire ecosystem did not seem like something ordinary magic could accomplish.

“That’s Little Dell’s [Divine Blessing].”

“Mm-hm?” Winnie turned in shock toward the big dummy who had somehow appeared and seated herself beside him.

“No, wait, Milian, when did you get here? Can you teleport or something?” Winnie could not help asking.

“Tch! This princess arrived ages ago! You were just too absorbed in watching Little Dell to notice me.” Milian snorted, a trace of resentment seeping into her voice.

“Since you already know Little Dell’s identity, you should also know she possesses a [Divine Blessing], right?” Milian lowered her voice until only Winnie could hear her.

“Dell’s [Divine Blessing]?” Indeed, logically speaking, both Shikondell and Milian possessed one. It was just that they had been so insignificant in the original game that they had barely appeared.

“Uh... I don’t think I’ve ever seen it, so I wouldn’t know.” Winnie scratched his head.

“Little Dell’s Divine Blessing is known as [Grace of the Mother Goddess]. It grants her the ability to create a miniature ecosystem, with its size determined by her own strength,” Milian explained. “Since this [Divine Blessing] isn’t designed for combat and requires considerable preparation, it’s no wonder you’ve never seen Little Dell use it before. After all, it was never intended for battle.”

“Then what is your [Divine Blessing], Milian?” Winnie asked.

“My [Divine Blessing] is-” Milian was about to answer when she suddenly came to her senses and glared at Winnie. “What are you doing? Were you trying to trick me into revealing my secrets?”

“Oh? You figured me out?” Winnie looked at Milian with an expression that seemed to ask, Have you finally gotten a little smarter?

“Go die! Why are you humans so awful? Tch! Good thing this princess is clever and didn’t reveal anything. That was close!”

“Pfft.”

No wonder people enjoyed teasing dummies so much. Milian’s sulky pout made her resemble a tiny, golden-furred kitten trying to hiss at someone. The sight was simply too adorable.

“What are you laughing at?” Milian asked unhappily when she saw Winnie smiling.

“Milian, surely you can’t even forbid me from laughing? Am I not allowed to be happy when I see you?” Winnie teased.

“Tch! As if you’d ever think that!”

“I wouldn’t.” Winnie looked away.

“You!”

‘Virtue + 60.’

‘Current Virtue: 20, 589.’

“All right, Milian. No one’s interested in your [Divine Blessing]. Even if you told me, I couldn’t be bothered to listen.” Winnie laced his fingers behind his head and even yawned as he spoke.

“Keep pretending. Just a moment ago, you were trying to pry into this princess’s [Divine Blessing].”

“You’re not going to tell me anyway, so what are you afraid of?” Winnie laughed. Ignoring Milian, he turned his attention back to the match.

However...

Winnie’s expression gradually became solemn.

Why had Shikondell gone so far as to use her [Divine Blessing] to create a jungle?

But that was not even the most important issue.

The real problem was Shikondell’s [Divine Blessing] itself.

Those who knew nothing about elves or such abilities would not realize it was a [Divine Blessing]. They would most likely mistake it for some advanced form of nature magic.

But what about those who knew better?

Would they see through Shikondell’s identity?

That was what truly worried Winnie.

He swept his gaze across the spectators in the stands.

No, no. Surely none of them could tell. He was only overthinking because he cared too much.

Naturally, Winnie had no intention of bringing up her concerns with Milian. The big dummy sitting beside her hadn’t noticed anything amiss, so there was little point in mentioning it to him.

Shikondell had finally found a goal of her own, something she wished to fight for. That was why she had even resorted to using her [Divine Blessing].

Even so, what was the point of creating a jungle? Was it simply because elves received various enhancements while in a forest?

If that were all, this hardly seemed worthwhile. The gains could not possibly offset the losses. Besides, with such a perfect opportunity, would it not have been better to ambush Isatia instead?

“Haah.” Winnie shook his head.

He knew Shikondell had done her best, but there was nothing more she could do.

“Why did you suddenly sigh?” Milian asked in confusion.

“It’s nothing.” Winnie rested his head on one hand and sighed again. “Dell has done her best.”

“You make it sound as though you think Little Dell will lose.”

“It’s not that I think she’ll lose. She’s definitely going to lose.” Winnie did not look at Milian.

“What?” Milian looked utterly baffled. “What makes you so sure?”

“Have you considered that while Dell has used her ultimate move, Isatia also has one of her own?” Winnie asked helplessly.

Besides, as far as Winnie could tell, Shikondell’s ultimate ability truly was not combat-oriented. It might be excellent for ecological restoration, but that was merely a difference in specialization. The [Divine Blessings] of the sages’ descendants each possessed their own unique beauty.

“Huh? That black-haired poker faced girl has an ultimate move too?” Milian asked in confusion.

“Yes. Oh, right, you probably haven’t seen it before.” Winnie glanced at her.

“What are you acting so smug for? I haven’t seen it, but have you?” Milian retorted indignantly.

“I have.” The corners of Winnie’s mouth rose. “Not only have I seen it, I’ve even been inside it.”

“Been inside it?” Milian was completely dumbfounded, unable to understand what he meant.

What kind of [Divine Blessing] was a place someone could enter?

“It’s on another level.” The more Winnie thought about it, the more he felt the difference between them was simply too vast.

No wonder people always said certain skills in games were absurdly overpowered while others were woefully underpowered. It seemed this was true not only in games but also here on the continent of Terraria.

On the battlefield, Isatia did not lower her guard after seeing that Shikondell’s “spell” had merely created a jungle.

She had never seen nor even heard of such a “spell.” To her, it represented a total information gap, and that made her wary.

Most importantly, Shikondell had spent so much time preparing this “spell.” She had even passed up a perfect opportunity to launch a surprise attack just to complete it. That alone proved its importance.

It could not possibly be this simple.

Surely its only purpose was not to create a jungle?

At this point, if someone told Isatia that the jungle was filled with traps and man-eating flowers, she would have believed them.