Chapter 18: The best painting

Favorable conditions?

What favorable conditions?

What can I do?

Is there anything I can use?

Ask: What’s the fastest way to level up by jumping grades?

Answer: Have a big shot bring the monster to a sliver of health, then just sit back and collect the kill.

Why bother with chip damage?

Who’s the big shot here?

Selina looked at the paladin.

Even in his severely wounded state, just sitting there, he exuded an aura of authority without even trying.

But healing this big shot would take time.

Was there anyone else?

Selina glanced at the shield knight who had already stopped breathing.

After a moment of silent mourning, she stood up.

With the big shots either dead or crippled, she was now the biggest shot herself.

She played a priest not because she was bad, but simply because she wanted to slack off.

But what about her physical condition?

It wasn’t that great.

There were plenty of other priests here, weren’t there?

Healing severe injuries was tough, but healing a muscle strain shouldn’t be a problem, right?

“Everyone, focus all your healing on me for half an hour!”

She pulled the short sword from behind her back.

After Baoluo and the others were sent flying by a single slap, only she stood in front of the three Goblin Kings.

Baoluo was barely clinging to life, which actually relieved Selina a little—otherwise, she wouldn’t know how to explain things to Milia.

She took a deep breath.

Seeing no other choice, the priests gathered their healing light onto Selina alone.

She had never felt so refreshed, and at the same time, her gaze sharpened.

Holding the short sword in one hand, she spun it once in a simple flourish and charged forward.

The Goblin King seemed tired of these cannon fodder.

Seeing someone else rush up, it casually swung its mace.

Selina leaped, her body tracing an elegant arc through the air.

With minimal stamina consumption, she dodged the swinging mace.

The moment she landed, her left hand gripped the hilt tightly, her right hand pressed against the pommel, and she thrust the short sword upward, slashing at the Goblin King’s left armpit.

In a single exchange, she disabled its left arm.

The large goblin’s attack methods were nothing more than swinging blunt weapons and grabbing with its hands, relying entirely on its physical size and strength advantage.

By getting in close and cutting off the leverage point of its left hand, the goblin’s combat effectiveness was essentially halved.

Its right hand holding the mace was conflicted—should it smash her with the mace, or grab her and snap her limbs?

Selina didn’t give its sluggish brain time to think.

The moment of hesitation was enough for her to stab through its throat.

Under the incredulous gazes of everyone, the Goblin King that had just wiped out a group of soldiers dropped dead.

But a Goblin King was still a Goblin King.

Even if its race was at the very bottom, it was still the king of its kind.

Their intelligence was now on par with normal humans.

The moment its brother died, it swung its weapon toward the fresh corpse.

Using the blind spot, it attempted a lethal strike.

Behind the falling corpse was the one who had killed its brother.

It couldn’t be left alive!

Selina reacted incredibly fast.

The mace was less than half a meter from her face.

She didn’t dodge.

Instead, she crouched low, placed the short sword above her head, and used a clever angle to deflect the incoming mace over her.

She gained an opening for a close-range slash.

Without any hesitation, she followed through with the motion and swung the short sword toward the Goblin King’s neck.

But…

The short sword cut into the Goblin King’s neck but didn’t sever it.

She didn’t have enough strength to chop its head off in one go.

The acceleration distance for the swing was insufficient!

The sensation of death creeping closer again.

The Goblin King’s other hand reached for her.

With no time to think, instinct drove Selina to act.

Ignoring the damage the double-edged blade would cause, she pressed her right hand directly against the sword edge and poured all her strength into it.

Adrenaline lifted the limits of her body, and the priests’ healing continuously repaired her injuries!

There was no rationality left in Selina’s eyes—only the will to survive.

“AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

With a roar, she ignored the state of her right hand.

Before the green arm could grab her, she severed the monster’s head first.

Blood splattered all over her.

Her drenched, bloody appearance was somewhat terrifying.

“Goblin blood is red too…” she murmured.

With a sharp, murderous gaze, she looked at the last one.

Fear made it retreat, but its master’s command forced this king forward.

The barely alive soldiers supported each other, watching in dumbfounded awe.

“AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

Her roar was deafening, still sounding like a little girl, yet more intimidating than any battle cry.

The fatigue in her body was being repaired.

The wound on her right hand healed at a visible rate.

She walked forward slowly, short sword in hand, step by step.

The Goblin King retreated step by step.

There seemed to be no trace of fear on her.

She was only tier 3—why was it afraid?

It was a tier 5 monster, the king of goblins!

A king born less than two days ago.

A king forged by magic.

Tier 5?

It was only at tier 4 level.

Its actual combat ability relied on nothing but its physical body.

That was Qian Mian’s assessment of these three Goblin Kings.

With more time, they might have become true kings.

But it never expected that this “all-you-can-eat buffet” would turn around and take him down instead.

A monster that had lost its will to fight was utterly fragile.

A single slit to the throat, and the three Goblin Kings were dead in less than half an hour.

Selina tossed the short sword aside and sprinted back to the paladin’s side, beginning to prepare a tier 4 healing spell.

She sat cross-legged on the ground, regulating her breath.

She only had one chance; she had to be in top form.

The nuns who had been supporting her gathered around, helping wipe the blood from her face.

Those farther away used their remaining mana to cast low-tier healing to restore her condition.

All her mana converged in her palm, and she silently chanted the incantation for the tier 4 healing spell to aid the casting.

The murderous aura around her calmed down, dispelled by a warm light.

The prototype of the tier 4 healing spell appeared.

Everyone watched with bated breath.

Standing among the nuns, she stood out like a crane among chickens.

The light in her palm grew brighter, soothing everyone’s hearts.

Among the ordinary citizens, some were recording this scene in their own ways.

“Hey, buddy, what are you doing?”

“Can’t you see? I’m painting! It would be a shame not to capture this moment! Even a saint’s descent couldn’t be more than this!”

The painter who had been taking shelter frantically waved his brush.

Even with limited pigments, he tried his best to recreate the scene.

Meanwhile, in the capital, the enthronement ceremony for the new saint was underway.

The priests surrounded her at the center as the sacred rites unfolded.

The painter in charge of recording was determined to capture this moment.

In the resplendent holy temple.

In the dilapidated church.

Surrounded by priests.

Surrounded by nuns.

Offering the holy flame.

Offering the healing light.

To the grieving pope.

To the guardian knight.

Under the gaze of the nobility.

Under the gaze of the common people.

Accepting the coronation bestowed by the goddess.

Accepting the gaze bestowed by the goddess.

That was roughly the content of the paintings.

When the brushes stopped, they both felt it was perfect.

This would be the best work of their lives.

…

Half an hour before the coronation ceremony.

“How are the reinforcements for Messiah?”

“The situation isn’t good. If you calculate the time, the second batch of reinforcements should be arriving soon.”

“What are you afraid of? Even if Messiah falls, it’s fine. The construction of Fort Louis is almost complete; the capital won’t be threatened.”

“What about the civilians between Messiah City and Fort Louis?”

“Forget them. If they become refugees, it’ll be even harder to handle.”

“Don’t let those words reach Captain Olja’s ears. The reinforcements sent are all his men.”

“Got it, got it, got it. I won’t spread it.”