A Miracle of Fire and Healing
Tae-hyun also possessed a few of Sadiq's Authority skills. Though they varied, every single one of them boasted incredibly explosive firepower! If he used them as they were, there was a very high chance he would burn the monster to a crisp, rendering any taming skills completely useless.
"It is quite alright! We shall assist you!"
"I certainly hope your idea of 'assisting' isn't helping me burn it to the ground!"
Carbanog remarks that the world is spinning in truly bizarre ways if we've lived long enough to trust the Sadiq Church...
...Shut up!
Tae-hyun summoned Sadiq's Flame and unleashed it toward the wyvern.
You possess the skill Sadiq's Authority! The attribute of Sadiq's Flame is added to all fire-related skills used!
Due to the Engineering skill, fire-related skill damage is...
You possess the Red Dragon's Breath skill! The attribute of the Red Dragon's Flame is added to all fire-related skills used!
The Primeval Fire is...
...
...
...
Carbanog is utterly bewildered, asking if this isn't way too powerful!
There was something the Sadiq priests had forgotten. Tae-hyun hadn't just received skills related to Sadiq. He also possessed additional fire skills related to the Red Dragon, a master-grade Engineering skill, and a master-grade Blacksmithing Skill. On top of that, there were all the titles he had acquired up until now. When all of these effects combined...
Although his magic skills were limited to Sadiq's Flame and Primeval Fire, the additional bonuses he received were enough to slap the face of any high-ranking Pyromancer specialist.
Fwoooooosh! The flames unleashed by Tae-hyun roared with a terrifying sound, threatening to tear the wyvern apart.
Tae-hyun turned to the Sadiq priests and asked, "Priests of Sadiq! The fire has been lit! Now, go ahead and purify it!"
"Uh..."
"Well, the thing is..."
"..."
...
Tae-hyun, his party, and Carbanog all stared at the Sadiq priests with deadpan expressions. You guys aren't... going to say you can't do it now, are you? Sensing the weight of those gazes, the Sadiq priests cried out in a panic.
"We knew we needed the Holy Power of the Pope, but we had no idea it would be this powerful!"
"Just what on earth have you been doing for your fire power to be this absurdly strong?!"
"Ugh! It won't listen to us! The flames have gone wild!"
The Sadiq priests have failed to control the flames!
The fire is spreading rapidly!
—Screeeech! Skreeeech!
Normally, they were supposed to gather all of Sadiq's Flame in the vicinity and use that concentrated power to attempt purification. However, because the Sadiq priests failed, the flames simply continued to assault the wyvern.
"...Should we just look for the next monster?" Cain asked, but Tae-hyun shook his head. It was best not to kill the monster if possible. Besides, if they killed it now, a massive debuff would be applied to everyone who had used fire (including Tae-hyun)!
"Priests of Sadiq! Do not give up. I believe in you!"
"Kim Tae-hyun...! No matter how much you lie, there has to be a limit. Who would ever believe such a—mmph, mmph!"
"Just shut up for a second." The others quickly muffled Cain's mouth.
"Priests of Sadiq. Your faith in Sadiq is genuine! Do not give up!"
"Actually, to be honest, we were thinking of just giving up and converting to Archisus..."
"Shut up and do not give up!"
Using Highest-grade Eloquence Skill...
Using Highest-grade Tactical Skill...
Powerful Luck is influencing the outcome...
A threat—no, an encouragement—forged from the combination of Eloquence, Tactics, and Luck! Under the influence of Tae-hyun's powerful encouragement buff, the Sadiq priests bit their lips and reluctantly attempted to control the flames once more. They had to tame the fire!
"You Sadiq priests! If you fail, I'll fire every single one of you and turn your temple into Carbanog's Temple! I'll turn the statues in your temple into mere lawn ornaments to be placed in front of Carbanog's statue!"
Carbanog cheers enthusiastically!
You have successfully executed an extremely powerful Threaten!
The abilities of the Sadiq priests have increased exponentially!
"Uwoooooh! Uwoooooooooh!"
"Aaaaargh!"
The experience of the Sadiq Church's highest-grade priest has increased significantly! They have promoted to Sadiq Church Bishop!
The Sadiq Church advanced priest has...
...
...
Throwing oneself into the impossible naturally fosters growth. The priests of the Sadiq Church grew at a rapid pace. Tears welled in their eyes. Ah, so this is the profound wi—
"What are you crying for?! Focus!"
"W-We are terribly sorry!"
Naturally, Tae-hyun felt absolutely no emotion toward such system messages. The only level-up notification that could ever move him was his own, not someone else's. To think they were bawling their eyes out over a promotion when they should be focusing with everything they had!
Flame control successful!
You have achieved a miracle impossible at your current level! Your Luck stat increases!
The power of the Sadiq Church increases...
The priests have...
...
...
It worked!!
—Sadiq's Purification!! Sadiq's Purification!!
Having successfully controlled the flames, the priests immediately initiated the purification. Because the fire was so incredibly potent, the plague of the Idergo Cult was incinerated in an instant.
The plague of the Idergo Cult has been consumed by the flames...
...
...
Purification successful!
Quest completed!
"?"
?
—? What quest?
The Paradox of Fire
Sometimes, the power of healing emerges from the most destructive forces. The Sadiq Church is often misunderstood as a faction defined solely by destruction and flames, but the great Sadiq also possesses the power of healing. Naturally, one must walk the most arduous path to uncover this healing power. Yet, at the end of that path, the healing power of Sadiq shall be bestowed upon you!
🎁 Reward: Sadiq's Authority Skill
Carbanog asks when on earth you ever received this quest.
I don't recall ever receiving it either...
Sadiq was the kind of god who would just hand over an Authority skill once the conditions were met, even if the quest hadn't been formally accepted! A glimpse of kindness that was a far cry from the Archisus Church.
Sadiq's Healing Fire
Summons flames imbued with Sadiq's power. These flames heal anyone they touch.
You have acquired Sadiq's Healing Fire.
Your Infamy is extremely high...
Your Holy power stat has met the required threshold...
A new quest, Sadiq's Monster Authority, has begun!
Carbanog wonders why Sadiq is acting like this.
If he had the power to spare, he should be showering his own Sadiq priests with it. Why on earth was he giving it all to the Avatar of Archisus? Of course, this wasn't something Sadiq had intentionally planned. It was simply that the quest triggered for anyone who met the qualifications!
The Sadiq Church was famous for dominating powerful monsters through sheer force. However, one could not rule over monsters with raw power alone! To truly dominate a beast, both the carrot and the stick were required.
Sadiq's Monster Authority
Lash the monster with Sadiq's ferocious flames, then restore it with Sadiq's healing flames to capture it!
This is the follow-up quest unlocked upon acquiring Sadiq's Healing Fire, aiming for the Authority skill to control monsters. To obtain this, you must defeat a monster using Sadiq's flames, persuade it, and put it to work!
🎁 Reward: Sadiq's Monster Control Authority Skill
Tae-hyun instinctively glanced at Heuk-heuk. Heuk-heuk probably doesn't count, right?
Carbanog says that a creature who is already a divine beast likely won't work.
However, the quest was completed in an entirely different manner. The wyvern, which had been burning all this time, bowed its head to the ground and surrendered the moment the purification was complete.
—Skreeeech!
The Wyvern has surrendered!
Your Speech skill has slightly increased.
Your Holy power has increased.
Your reputation with the Sadiq Church has increased.
...
...
Quest completed!
Your Taming skill has evolved into Sadiq's Flame Taming!
Your current Taming skill level is too low. It has been adjusted to Advanced due to the influence of the skill!
...
...
"...Sadiq...!" Tae-hyun cried out Sadiq's name, deeply moved. Was this Sadiq's affection, burning as hot as his flames?! On top of that, he hadn't expected to level up until after escaping the Plague Wasteland, yet here it was!
I'm sorry for always ignoring and mistreating you, Sadiq!
Carbanog joins in on the apology!
It wasn't as if Sadiq could actually hear them—and if he did, he would probably be even more furious—but Tae-hyun and Carbanog offered their apologies regardless.
With the Sadiq's Flame Taming skill, this is definitely doable. It would make things go infinitely smoother than struggling alongside the Sadiq priests!
"Did you see that, Pope?! This is the miracle of Lord Sadiq!"
"It is thanks to Lord Sadiq's power that this wyvern came to its senses and surrendered!" The Sadiq priests quickly seized the opportunity to shout. So please, give us some funding in your territory too!
"Wasn't it just beaten into submission after having its HP shaved off by fire? I don't think that was Sadiq's power." Cain, who had been released, voiced a perfectly logical question. Everyone nodded in agreement. It seemed to be entirely thanks to Tae-hyun frantically buffing them from the side, not particularly because of Sadiq...
The Sadiq priests jumped in protest. "The purification was entirely thanks to Lord Sadiq's flames! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to purify a plague?!"
They had a point. The plague of the Idergo Cult was toxic and wicked, stubbornly resisting all kinds of healing magic. It was Sadiq's Flame that had spectacularly blown it away! ...Of course, even when they explained it that way, people weren't really listening.
As expected, those Sadiq guys really can't be trusted...
I guess the only useful religion in Kim Tae-hyun's Valley is the Archisus Church. I was considering Sadiq's fire, but it seems pretty garbage.
Looking at that fire, they can't even control it properly. It's perfect for team-killing. It's just a budget version of a bomb. The guild members gathered there quickly finished their evaluations. And these evaluations were shared with others even faster.
Their infamy was rising rapidly, but the Sadiq Church priests, completely oblivious, were practically bursting with pride.
"Pope. Now that they have witnessed such a miracle, won't the number of adventurers who believe in our church increase at least a little??"
"Well... I don't know... If it were that easy, why do you think I had to go through so much trouble?"
"?!"
—Sadiq's Flame Taming! The moment Tae-hyun activated the skill, a lasso made of fire flew toward the giant turtle monster. Snap!
The MP consumption is indeed quite severe. Taming skills generally consumed a massive amount of MP. For someone like Tae-hyun, who lacked a large total MP pool, this was a rather unfortunate penalty. It meant he couldn't deal insane burst damage while simultaneously using taming skills.
Carbanog is taken aback, asking why you are harboring such heinous thoughts.
If you're going to tame it, just tame it! Why are you thinking about beating it up! However, Tae-hyun was a man who was always prepared to slaughter a monster the moment taming failed. If he lacked MP, he would simply load up on bombs instead.
Your Highest-grade Eloquence Skill is...
Your Holy power is...
Your Reputation is...
Additional fire damage is...
—Groooan! Groan!Thud! The giant turtle monster fell to its knees.
You have successfully tamed the Divine Turtle!
Your Reputation increases!
If you safely return this monster to the Phaitos Church, the Phaitos Church will be deeply grateful.
If you return it after raising it, additional rewards will be...
"Oh, are you going to send it back?"
"Are you insane?" Tae-hyun cut him off flatly. He was already holding their church's hero hostage; there was no way he would return their divine beast!
Idergo's plague monsters are approaching to stop your activities!
"Prepare for battle! Get ready to support the monsters we've gathered!" As Tae-hyun's group began to make a scene even within the Plague Wasteland, monsters started swarming in from all directions.
This is actually perfect. Tae-hyun intended to test if the monsters he had gathered could hold their own in a fight. This was the first step toward escaping the Plague Wasteland!
The Divine Turtle asks if it really has to fight, as it doesn't want to.
"Hey, guys. That turtle says it wants to stand at the very front."
—Squeeeak! Squeak! At Tae-hyun's command, the other monsters quickly lifted the turtle and placed it at the very front of the line. Since it was the divine beast of the Phaitos Church, it had to be sturdy, right?