Chapter 269: I'm Coming to See You Now (6)
Chapter 269: I'm Coming to See You Now (6)
“What’s this, what’s this? You want me to buy you some time? How much?”
“As long as possible.”
“Hmm.”
Iona narrowed her eyes, as if weighing her options, while staring at the swarming monsters.
Seeing her expression, one of the Holy Knights gave a bitter smile and spoke up.
“If things take a turn for the worse, please just take Yandel and retreat. Strictly speaking, this is our Order’s responsibility. And… if anyone is to be saved, it should be someone more important than us.”
The other Holy Knights nodded calmly, clearly sharing the same sentiment.
“…Well, if you’re going to put it like that. Fine. I’ll help as much as I can, so Student Yandel, go ahead and try whatever it is you want to do!”
“Thank you, everyone. Oh, Professor Iona, do you want some more blood?”
“Yes, please! It’s always better to recover if we can!”
With practiced movements, Iona sank her teeth into my neck. Meanwhile, the Holy Knights were soothing their exhausted bodies with the potions I’d handed out earlier, just in case, rather than relying on divine arts.
Once the brief feeding was over, I handed them a generous supply of potions from my inventory and glared at the red curtain.
I just needed to punch a hole in that thing. It didn't require some grand divine art. All it needed was a sufficient amount of high-purity divine power.
The problem was that I didn't have any. The moment the Fallen Ritual was activated, all recovery had been cut off. But were priests the only ones who possessed divine power? Not necessarily.
I lightly closed my eyes and focused inward.
As I replicated the Lintblum Breathing Technique almost perfectly, my body became a single mana-processing organ.
What happens when you combine the Mana Affinity trait with the resulting system correction?
The answer is simple. If I set my mind to it, I can perceive everything within the confines of my own body.
Even the bone marrow working hard to produce blood to replace what Iona had just drained was no exception.
…I’d wondered if this was only possible in theory, but it’s easier than I thought.
Indeed. My heart became the core, my blood vessels became mana roads, and mana naturally began to dissolve into my blood.
And since there isn't a single part of the body that blood doesn't reach…
In other words, mana was stretching to every nook and cranny of my being, and thanks to the power of Mana Affinity and system correction, I could perceive it all without missing a beat.
The next part was what mattered.
Simply focusing on the changes occurring within my body meant nothing on its own.
Normally, a human cannot possess such a rapid recovery speed. So, what exactly was stimulating and activating my body?
I’d caught the faintest thread. Now, I just had to dig deeper and perceive the Sun God’s Blessing to pass the first stage, but…
“Ah.”
Perhaps because Iona hadn't taken that much blood, the recovery finished.
The sensation of being on the verge of grasping something vanished along with it.
I needed to reverse-engineer the path leading to recovery, but if the recovery itself wasn't happening, it was impossible to track it.
I guess I have no choice.
I drew the Shining Lion Dagger. After a moment’s hesitation, I sliced deep into my own wrist.
Squelch.
“Urgh…”
The sensation of the cold blade carving through flesh. The pain that followed a beat later, and the hot surge of blood.
Did I cut too deep?
…No. Actually, this is just right.
The deeper the wound, the harder the blessing would have to work.
Forcing myself to ignore the throbbing pain rising from my wrist to my head, I submerged my consciousness.
Was it because the wound was much larger than when I’d just had some blood drained? Or was it because I’d already tried it once and gotten the hang of it?
The moment I closed my eyes, the sensations became vivid—the gaping flesh mending, the blood vessels knitting back together, and the replenishment of missing blood. I could feel it all as if I were holding it in my hands.
This time, I had to go even deeper.
I pushed my concentration to the limit. My body was my domain. There was nothing I couldn't perceive, and nothing I couldn't achieve.
My senses were honed so sharply I could perceive every single cell. At the end of that focus, I felt a faint sense of dissonance.
Found it.
I desperately pursued the energy my consciousness had snagged, refusing to let go.
It was a reckless pursuit, like chasing a butterfly through a typhoon or tracing footprints on a riverbed. But my current body made it possible.
How many times did I sink my consciousness deeper along those traces?
I reached a place so deep I was certain it was the very bottom of my physical being. Several clusters of light were shimmering there.
Among them, two masses of light were connected to the traces I had been following.
One was somewhat dim, but its harmonious shimmer of various colors was reminiscent of a rainbow.
The other was a brilliant, pure white light that illuminated the surroundings with blinding intensity. It was as if it believed itself to be the sun.
The former was likely the Blessing of All Gods, and the latter was the Sun God’s Blessing bestowed upon me by Righteous Light.
Since it was granted directly by a god, it was a crystallization of divine power purer than anything any priest could possess.
And the sheer quantity of it? It was staggering, reflecting how Righteous Light had poured everything into me with the intention of making me her Apostle.
If I could detonate this all at once, punching a hole through the Fallen Ritual would be more than possible.
Now, the question was how to pull it out…
It wouldn't be possible through normal means. Although it was deeply connected to my body, the blessing was a granted power, not my own.
Just because my connection with Righteous Light had been severed didn't mean I could control it at will.
Therefore, I had to use an abnormal method.
If I couldn't extract only the Sun God’s Blessing… I just had to grab everything around it and rip it all out together.
“Whew…”
I took a deep breath and channeled my mana.
Pinpointing the location was the hard part; regardless, this was the inside of my body. Extending my mana here wasn't that difficult.
I wrapped the mass of divine power with the mana I’d gathered. It was like applying a coating.
Once the Sun God’s Blessing was completely encased, there was only one thing left to do.
Pull the mana and rip it out by force.
“Gah!”
An agonizing pain surged from deep within. I wondered if this was what it felt like to have one’s internal organs pulled out without anesthesia.
The blessing that had saved my life countless times now felt like it was trying to kill me.
As if telling me I had no right. As if telling me this power wasn't mine.
But what did that matter? I gritted my teeth and pulled the mana again.
Tighten.
Divine power and mana don't repel each other, but they don't exactly mix well either.
Thanks to that, the white sun was slowly forced from its rooted position, pushed by the mana.
The problem was that the mana I’d used as a coating began to clash with the fluctuating blessing and scatter.
The solution to this was also simple.
Swallowing the blood rising in my throat, I poured in even more mana. I filled it back up as fast as it scattered.
Since the Sun God’s Blessing was a staggering A+ rank, the density of the divine power was immense, and the rate of consumption was insane.
If I didn't have the Mana Affinity trait, I never would have been able to forcibly drag it out like this, no matter how much mana I had.
The mana I’d used for packaging would have disintegrated long before then.
If anyone were looking at me right now, I probably looked like I was just wasting massive amounts of mana into the air.
Crack.
Did it not like that I’d let my mind wander for a second?
Whatever problem the rising divine power was causing now, warm blood began to trickle from my nose.
Still, I was almost there. Even without diving deep into my psyche, I could clearly feel the presence of the massive divine power.
I slowly opened my eyes. I raised my staff—no, the Shining Lion Dagger—toward the curtain that still refused to allow any outside intrusion.
If I was firing divine power instead of mana, this would be far more efficient.
By this point, not just mana, but divine power was starting to leak out as well. My entire body trembled as the strain on my system doubled.
But it didn't matter. There was only one thing left to do.
I guided the mass of divine power, which was screaming to be let out, toward the dagger.
Then, I swung it toward the curtain.
“Ugh, AAAAAAAAGH!!!”
Flash!
Light erupted with explosive momentum. A mass of divine power, curved sharply like the fang of a giant beast, struck the red curtain.
They seemed to struggle against each other for a moment, but soon the fang pierced through the curtain, sinking halfway in.
In that state, it triggered a magnificent explosion.
BOOOOOM!
The brilliance was blinding, and the roar was deafening.
However, I wasn't caught in the blast. The divine power I’d fired had only moved forward.
When I reflexively opened my eyes, my blurred vision slowly regained its clarity.
The curtain was collapsing, turning back into mud. Shards of divine power fell over my head like snow, shattering into pieces.
And beyond the chapel wall destroyed by the aftermath of the explosion, I saw Helena, her eyes wide with shock.
No, was it Righteous Light? Seeing the lion ears and tail made of light, there was no doubt.
I gave a weak smile to her, as she stood there hiccuping repeatedly from the shock.
“You were so late, I came out to meet you.”