Chapter 195 - Divine Spear Sefarim

Chapter 195: Divine Spear Sefarim

Despite what the girl said, Edward could tell that she was feeling a little awkward.
And how are they supposed to use the wood elves’ greatest treasure, anyway? Pick her up and throw her at the Drake?
Edward really could not imagine any other outcome aside from letting the Drake having a tasty meal.
“But it’s not like you could use her even if Sefarim had allowed your band to use her—only the most faithful of Luna’s believers who had been blessed by her could!” Brom Daystar interjected just then, although there was a slight sense of schadenfreude to his words. “And it’s too late for you to become converts of the Silver Moon Goddess, just as I regret to tell you that no hero who could use the divine spear of the wood elves had appeared amongst our own tribe for the last hundred years!”
Brom’s words left Edward troubled.
In this realm where the gods indeed existed, the toughest problems are undoubtedly problems of faith.
Naturally, Edward and his party could not be ordained as temporary convert, because that would at once affect their identity as Players and the God of Games’ existing blessing they held. No matter what happens, they cannot switch sides so simply.
And just as Edward hesitated, the Drake which had dropped out of sight for quite some time had suddenly appeared, grabbing the nearest elf with its jaw and lifting him into the air. Muscles were chewed and bones were crunched very loudly, and the elf was eaten even before he could scream!
There’s no time to hesitate!
But when Edward was about to take Sefarim into his arms, Jessica had suddenly stepped up and embrace the little girl instead.
“Allow me.” She said tenderly but determinedly. “It doesn’t matter what happens to me as long as Eleena’s here—our group’s strength won’t be affected.”
She then lowered her head and asked the little girl in her arms. “May I?”
“I’m fine with anyone, but hurry up.” The little girl kept a stony face that read ‘I’ll just pretend a dog bit me’, her dirty little cheeks puffed in tsundere style.
“Hold on, Jessica. Catch!” Edward threw the silver apple-like object he retrieved from the Secret Eye’s leader to Jessica.
“That’s… that’s mine! Why do you have it?!” Sefarim asked in surprise while gaping at the object.
“We’ll talk about that later. Is it useful now?” Edward asked.
“A little…” Sefarim answered vaguely with a pout. “Although I’m not sure how much of my power you could unleash, because Luna is the one who decides who is worthy…”
Then, holding the silver apple between her teeth, Sefarim’s whole body shone with gentle light.
As the light extended, Sefarim’s human form which had been within Jessica’s arms disappeared. In her place was a two-meter long spear that was sculpted with a rather curved piece of wood, upon which were a few curious protrusions where a few silver fruits that resembled the silver apple just now and golden tree leaves were growing out of. Its texture was surprisingly smooth, however, and felt like it was polished so much it would reflect a person’s face.
And it wasn’t just one, but a total of seven.
The edge of the spear was two parallel sharp tips of matchless radiance, having neither tree nor fruit but a tree limb.
In fact, the wood elves’ divine spear was more a tuning fork than a spear.
It was clearly morning, but almost everyone could see a ray of focused light descending from the skies and shone upon Jessica, who now wields Sefarim—Divine Spear of the Wood Elves!
And yet, the profound sight clearly wasn’t a special effect of holding the spear.
It was acknowledgement from the Silver Moon Goddess.
Hence, basking under that light, Jessica understood how she could use the divine spear.
“N-No way! Why would Goddess Luna acknowledge a non-believer, and allow her to use Sefarim?!” A witness to it all, Brom Daystar was left in utter disbelief. “This isn’t logical!”
***
The reason was simple, however.
In his divine kingdom, Xi Wei had found the name of Luna the Silver Moon Goddess rather familiar, and after checking a while realized that she was another member of the Invisible Pantheon.
The Tsujigiri’s first victim had been one of Luna’s believers, and she had entrusted Aslan the Great Lion himself to handle that demon.
Hence, Xi Wei picked up the strand of mane he had and made the call.
Xi Wei: Hiya, you there?
Aslan: No, get lost!
Despite that reaction, Aslan the Great Lion was a softie and a tsundere albeit with a harsh tongue. Moreover, he was very efficient in handling matters maybe because his Divine Order was the God of Justice, and he soon connected Xi Wei to Luna.
Afterward, Xi Wei secured the right to use the wood elves’ divine spear for his believers by offering a tibial bone of Rotten Bones in exchange. And just like how Stoff, God of Craftsmanship and Fine Wine had taught him to use item strengthening, Xi Wei also had to use his own divine power to energize the spear since Luna was only granting Xi Wei’s believers usage authority.
But that was enough.
“O human child, go forth and perform a miracle.” Xi Wei whispered as he looked down upon the mortal realm.
***
Jessica lifted the divine spear and aimed it true at the Drake that was charging fearsomely at them, doing as the lunar radiance instructed to energize Sefarim.
The blossoming leaves and fruits immediately withered then, with every golden leaf and silver fruit vanishing.
Countless golden symbols swirled over the body of the spear as its two tree limbs coiled around each other to form a spiraling tip—anyone looking carefully would find that it was hollow, with its inside filled with silver fruits.
Soon, Jessica felt something being drained out of her body from the hand she was holding the spear with.
“Jessica! Your level!” Edward cried out in surprise beside her.
Jessica looked up and only realized then that her Player Level was plummeting, that her EXP was used to activate the divine spear!
Even so, she did not let go.
She had always been the weak link of her party,
With Eleena, a Saintess-in-training who was basically a powered-up cleric in every aspect, Jessica’s necessary in their band had always been ambiguous and not even the readers would remember her name.
So… she would unleash her own radiance even if it would only happen once!
Or she was never going to catch up to her childhood friends who by now had gone far ahead.
But reality was always cruel—even as Jessica paused and prepared to unleash Sefarim, she did not have the time to do so.
The Drake was going to swallow her in a single stroke in less than ten seconds!
‘No! I’m not going to make it.’
She despaired, but it wasn’t despair in the face of death since she was more or less used to dying as a Player.
Instead, she was despairing in the face of her incompetence.
Even after all this, was she still going to fail and everything would end just like that?
“Vine Cage!”
“Warped Roots!”
“Cane Creepers!”
“Holy Light Barrier: Mirror Reflection!”
The elves who had been fleeing had somehow stopped, turn around and casted their spells at the Drake and doing all they could to stop its advance.
Then, several warm hands touched Jessica’s back, sharing the drain of EXP.
She turned in surprise to find Edward, Joe, Eleena and even Gou Dan whom-they-had-not-seen-for-a-long-time helping her.
They were not heroically taking the draining Sefarim from her and take her place in slaying the Drake, nor were they blaming her for her actions which was meaningless aside from self-gratification.
They simply stayed silent, supporting her from behind and waiting for her to continue adventuring with them.
Jessica almost couldn’t stop her tears.
Nonetheless, she forced herself to smile as she turned somberly towards the Drake and unleashed Sefarim’s splendor.
Like a giant silver flower blossoming upon the world, the attack was quiet and without a presence, but was of unmatched elegance.
The whole world seemed to have its light taken away just then, and even far away from the forests, people could see the flower’s blossoming.
When the flower finally wilted and the rest was silence, the Drake had completely vanished along with an enormous chunk of the ground, leaving behind a geyser and a crater…
“To use Sefarim and unleash a blow of such might… who—no, what are you?” Brom could not help mumbling even as he watched the sight before him.
Jessica remained impassive, rubbing the corner of her eye as she beamed widely, showing her flowery dimples.
“Players. We’re just a few Players passing through,” she replied.