Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Oracle - 2
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“Kakaka! Is that all you’ve got?”
Grog burst into hearty laughter at the sight of Sian blazing fiercely from within. No matter the blessing of Oronak, he moved without issue in this time-frozen domain.
“Your laughing days are over!”
“Kaka! I hope so!”
Sian’s attack, with Robera raised high, posed a real threat to Grog, whose exceptional physical prowess came from the troll’s blessing. Had his immortality not held, that single strike would have ended him.
But Grog didn’t die, and as time wore on, Sian grew sluggish once more.
“You truly are an entertaining being!”
“Huh?”
“To infuse divinity into the flesh but fail to channel it into a weapon! It’s like a child learning to jump before even walking.”
Grog unleashed the Northern Blade ritual while imparting his lesson to Sian.
“A prideful race like yours will grasp it quickly once you feel it firsthand.”
“You bastard…”
Of course, his teaching method was brutally direct—crashing into Sian with maximum-force blades to drive the point home.
Kwaaaang!
Sian tried to block with his blackwood shield and Robera, but fully stopping it was impossible. The blackwood shield was now half-shattered, barely functioning as a shield anymore.
“Divinity holds the property of preserving essence. The Northern Blade is a physical miracle that exploits this. A sword infused with Lord Oronak’s divinity unleashes a frost storm.”
“Like this?”
“Kaka?”
Kwaang!
Grog failed to react to the exploding red blade in time and was cleanly sliced. Unlike before, his severed body didn’t reattach.
This was because of the divinity lingering in the strike.
“I can’t believe I didn’t realize something so simple. I just needed to breathe life into Robera.”
“Kakakaka! It’s not that simple, yet your prideful race makes it seem so!”
“What’s with this ‘prideful race’ crap?”
“Kaka! Figure it out yourself, as I said!”
“Just tell me…”
“Sorry, but time’s up. Kakakaka!”
Grog’s body began to burn from the miracle-infused strike Sian had unleashed, Hestia’s power within it. Gradually, he transformed into something grotesque.
Into the form of the “One Who Walks the Lowest Depths.”
...
Mountains beyond mountains.
Watching Grog’s form twist into something nightmarish, I immediately retreated to the blue flame domain. Helen approached and worked her miracle to heal me.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. I blocked most of it, so no serious injuries.”
“Not your body—I mean your mind. The backlash from overusing miracles strains the soul.”
“Really? Doesn’t feel that way to me.”
“Is that so? As expected of Sian, bearer of a mighty soul.”
“Helen, do you know what Grog meant by ‘prideful race’?”
“I do. But I can’t explain now. Exploring your essence is good, but focus on the oracle for the moment.”
“Got it. Explain properly after, though.”
“Understood.”
Plenty of mysteries, but now wasn’t the time with the situation unfolding.
“Sian, if you’re infusing divinity into your blade, use Lord Oronak’s instead.”
“Why?”
“The myths say the ‘One Who Walks the Lowest Depths’ was defeated by Oronak. His divinity should pack more punch than Lady Hestia’s.”
Helen’s explanation made sense, but it worried me. I still didn’t know how to wield Oronak’s miracle.
Then Irina approached me.
“Focus on the blessing.”
“The blessing?”
“Indeed. Lord Oronak will respond to your will.”
“Hmm…”
Vague as it was, I tried as instructed.
“‘■■■ ■■ ■■■■’”
Just then, a sound came from the relic of the god.
Grog?
Would’ve been nice, but the thing—now evoking a deer—had become an entirely new entity. Its grotesque form and surging divinity filled everyone with dread.
“Goddess Hestia, protect us!”
Helen swiftly erected a thicker divine barrier than before to shield us all, but the surging black shadow light caught her off guard without warning.
“Helen!”
“Apostle!”
Helen froze solid, like the time-stopped others.
Damn! The only one among the expedition who could stand against the relic was out in one hit.
Despite the sudden crisis, Camille stayed calm.
“We must protect Irina and Sylvia at all costs!”
“Yes!”
The holy knights raised shields to guard Irina and Sylvia, while Camille gathered her sword aura to its limit and launched it at the relic.
“Tch!”
But despite the power, it inflicted no damage on the relic.
“Sian! Without divinity, we can’t harm it.”
“Damn! The difficulty’s insane!”
“Can’t you fire divine blades like the troll king?”
“If I could, I wouldn’t be struggling like this!”
The divine blade I learned from Grog let me infuse divinity into my sword like a fourth-rank knight, but I couldn’t project it as sword aura like he did.
“So we have to get close after all.”
“Yeah.”
Another surge of black shadow light.
Weaker than what Helen had blocked with her body, but at near-light speed, dodging was a pipe dream.
“You dodged it?”
“My instincts are sharp.”
Luckily, I read the precursor and evaded. But to take it down, I had to approach—and outside the blue light, my body slowed.
Meaning no way to dodge its attacks once out there.
“I’ve got a ranged option.”
As Camille and I inwardly despaired, Clara drew a frost arrow and spoke up.
“Heard from the apostle before we left. This arrow holds a trace of divinity.”
“But it won’t deal significant damage to that thing.”
“It’ll at least draw its attention.”
Camille nodded in agreement, but I couldn’t.
How could any man happily let his woman volunteer for danger?
Camille nailed me with a sharp retort.
“Fail, and we all die.”
“I know!”
Knowing time was short, I charged out of the blue light.
“Don’t worry—I’ll protect Clara.”
Camille bloomed aura on her shield like in our spar, forming a wall-like sword barrier.
“Take this!”
Clara unleashed a barrage of frost arrows.
The relic reacted to the divinity, its gaze locking onto Clara.
“Damn!”
I dragged my sluggish body forward as fast as I could.
Jeeeng!
Then, like with Helen, a wide-area black shadow light targeted Clara.
Thankfully, Camille’s protective bloom shielded her.
“I leave the rear to you.”
But Camille, the barrier’s core, took the hit.
“Damn!”
Even at full sprint, I was only halfway there.
Why? It hadn’t seemed that far before.
I’ve slowed down.
The deceleration was on another level now. Even taking a step was a chore. Reaching it like this would take forever—and everyone would fall by then.
Kwak!
Suddenly, a spear pierced through me, shoving me forward.
Vivian’s black spear.
Why?
To get me to the relic faster.
Sure enough, I was one step away.
“Die!”
And so I swung Robera.
...
As Sian swung his sword, a blinding black shadow passed by, plunging the world into darkness.
Sylvia thanked the time-frozen holy knights who’d protected them at the cost of themselves, then supported her dazed aunt, Irina.
“Aunt, are you okay?”
“Lucky for me, yes.”
Irina rose shakily, carefully gripping the “Burning Ice” and advancing slowly.
Sylvia then spotted the frozen Clara and Vivian.
“Ahh…”
“Don’t grieve too much. Destroy the relic, and all will return.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Sealing and destroying a relic were worlds apart, but Irina didn’t let on.
They reached the relic, not far off.
“Sian…”
There stood Sian, who’d cleaved off the relic’s deer-head form.
Black shadows still rippled around him intensely.
“Just to be safe, don’t touch your son-in-law.”
“Yes…”
Irina hadn’t explained, but Sylvia sensed the danger of the divinity around Sian.
One wrong move, and she’d freeze too.
“Wait. Your auntie will handle it all.”
As Irina prepared to destroy the “One Who Walks the Lowest Depths” relic, even at the cost of her life.
Clap, clap, clap.
“The Holy Kingdom’s strength is not to be underestimated.”
A man in a creepy mask approached slowly from where Amyeon lay sprawled.