Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Customizing (1)
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Roars of murmuring—
In the heart of the Roselia Cathedral, the injured were carried out one after another and transferred to treatment rooms.
A sight no one could have imagined witnessing here.
Saintess Riesta watched them with a heavy expression.
They had all thrown themselves into the fray with everything they had, but it felt like she had failed to fulfill their efforts because of her own shortcomings.
At that moment, the saintess's eyes turned toward a Holy Knight surrounded by priests in one corner of the treatment room.
It was Heinrich, whose body was still discolored black in places despite having undergone several rounds of purification treatments.
"Haa..."
Another sigh escaped her lips—one she had let out countless times today.
"Saintess, you're still here?"
"Ah, Cardinal Cordelia..."
Then, a cardinal with an equally weary expression approached and spoke to her.
"You've pushed yourself too hard today as well. You should rest now."
"My heart feels so uneasy that even when I try to rest, it doesn't feel like resting."
She had overused her divine power excessively in the battle against the Immortal King, and right after the fight ended, she had squeezed out her remaining strength to tend to the wounded, reaching her absolute limit...
But seeing this scene, she couldn't possibly rest easy.
"And that final moment from back then... I still can't forget it."
"That moment... I see."
Cardinal Cordelia's gaze followed the saintess's to one spot.
"Sir Heinrich..."
"His life isn't in danger. Though his recovery period will be quite long."
"That's a relief."
"But..."
Having examined Heinrich herself, the saintess knew all too well how vicious the curse's energy he had endured was.
A type of black magic that inflicted extreme pain along with severe mental damage.
Even a paladin would be rendered combat-ineffective if hit defenselessly.
'Normally, one would wrap themselves in divine power and not suffer damage to that extent...'
Yet Heinrich had endured it with his bare body.
He must have known the danger of that curse activating right in front of him, but he held out purely through willpower.
He poured even the divine power meant for defense into his sword tip, sharpening his blade with sheer determination.
Not for his own safety, but to pierce the Immortal King's heart—to increase those slim chances even a little more.
For the mission... for his beliefs.
His foolish determination made her chest tighten, especially since she knew they couldn't have defeated the Immortal King without him going that far.
"At the time, I thought that was the only way, but was it really? If I had tried harder... wouldn't there have been another possibility?"
Spatial movement ability—one that could activate instantly at the desired moment—was an extremely rare power.
To the point where, right there on the spot, Heinrich had been the only one with it.
She had thought it was the best option back then, but was it truly?
Wouldn't it have been better to steer things toward her own sacrifice rather than pushing someone else into danger?
If so, perhaps they could have dealt with the Immortal King right there...
"Saintess!"
Cardinal Cordelia raised her voice with a stern expression, cutting off the saintess's endless self-recrimination.
"That was the best option at the time. Everyone present gave their all for it, and he exceeded all our expectations. There's no room here for you to blame yourself."
"But..."
Seeing the saintess still hesitating, Cardinal Cordelia gave her a gentle smile, like a grandmother looking at her granddaughter.
"And... thanks to that, we've gained a new hero, haven't we? With the Immortal King resurrected now, we absolutely need a hero who can stand against him."
A young Holy Knight in his early twenties with divine power at the bishop level, equal to that of the Holy Knight Order captains.
His combat prowess was no slouch either, making him a talent with immense future potential.
"This ordeal will only make him stronger. He's not the type to break easily from something like this. After all, he's a hero who's drawn the attention of the Main God Himself."
The cardinal concluded that their role was to support him so he could grow even faster and greater.
'Hero...!'
The saintess clenched her fist tightly as she looked back at the unconscious Heinrich.
Come to think of it, that was right.
Just as in all the hero tales she had read so far, wasn't the saintess always the hero's supporter by his side?
Even reflecting on her experience devouring countless hero legends, she had never seen a story where the saintess took the lead and smashed the demon king.
'Demon king, hero, saintess!'
The daydreams of an 18-year-old girl swelled up.
Cardinal Cordelia simply watched the saintess—now with a brighter expression and eyes sparkling with firm resolve—with a pleased smile.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Clap clap clap—
"Excellent, simply excellent."
I couldn't contain my admiration and stood up, giving a standing ovation.
Praise directed at myself, who had played both lead and director to stage such a brilliant scene.
"The first button has been fastened well. Now the narrative rivalry between Hans and Heinrich as arch-enemies is complete."
The already perfected final boss, Hans, and the rapidly growing hero candidate, Heinrich.
At this point, he was more than qualified to be called a hero candidate.
The bishop-level divine power he had reached this time was on par with what Holy Knight Order captains possessed.
Of course, his actual martial techniques and experience were far inferior, but that could be compensated for later through effort and the skills Heinrich possessed.
'And acquiring 「Blessing: Light Sword」 is fantastic too. An ultra-effective attack that slices through darkness like paper.'
Whether he had truly awakened it purely through his own power at the perfect timing, or if his watchful patron had supported him for dramatic effect, didn't matter anymore.
'What's important is that this power suits a hero legend's protagonist perfectly!'
He had also left a strong impression on the church's upper echelons, so he had squeezed every last drop of benefit possible.
'Of course, the biggest gain is something else.'
My gaze turned to the corner of the room, toward the floor.
Shhh—
The floor blackened in an instant, and a dark silhouette slowly rose from below.
A skeleton clad in a tattered robe from the fierce battle.
It was Hans, now the Immortal King.
Thanks to thorough concealment, no energy leaked out, but just looking at his presence sent chills down my soul as if it were freezing.
'His aura is no joke.'
In truth, his abilities were even more insane.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Entity Name: Hans
Race: Undead (Immortal King)
Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Persona」, 「Clear Mirror Still Water」
Entity Traits: 「Immortal Heart」, 「Wicked Wisdom」, 「Forbidden Knowledge」, 「Path of the Archmage」, 「Abyss Eye」, 「Mana Dominion」
Special Notes: Fully inherited the 'Immortal King's Heart', becoming one of the three great Immortal Kings, the calamity of the Outerica dimension. Infinite black mana supplied through the heart. Regenerates endlessly unless the heart is destroyed. Has transcended death to become the king of all undead and the enemy of all living.
I had already tested 「Abyss Eye」 before, and while it wasn't usable infinitely, its effects were highly satisfactory.
「Immortal Heart」 went beyond simply enhancing existing abilities—it amplified all his skills, like 「Wicked Wisdom」 and 「Forbidden Knowledge」.
On top of that, 「Mana Dominion」 strengthened his basic mana control and even allowed him to steal some control from opponents...
'The ultimate evolution for a spellcasting class.'
He was the Demon King incarnate.
Moreover, unless the sub-space heart was directly struck, any damage was meaningless—he was effectively immortal.
'That's why this play succeeded.'
Hans looked far too intact for someone whose heart had been pierced and seared by divine power.
Since 「Blessing: Light Sword」 had no space-cutting power, it had naturally regenerated long ago.
Heinrich needed a considerable recovery period due to the curse's aftereffects for dramatic flair, but that was just part of the hero's trial—unavoidable.
Thus, the prelude to Operation "Home Theater: Demon King and Hero" had wrapped up smoothly.
Per the setup, the "wounded" Hans would operate on Earth for a while, but he could use the time to catch up on overdue cleaning.
Now, what remained was...
'Collection time! Time to settle the admission fees.'
It was a play performed for the entire continent.
Of course, it would take time for the aftermath of this incident to spread elsewhere.
Its direct influence was still confined to the church, but with achievement rewards, the karma granted immediately shouldn't be insignificant.
『Karma Shop』 『Unique Skill Enhancement (800,000)』 『Status Enhancement – View Details』 『Held Karma: 1,641,132』 'Oho, roughly a million increase?'
The points needed for an otherworld-transferred Awakener to return to Earth in one go.
Karma earned from a single incident.
'Though the scale of that one incident was pretty massive.'
Either way, it was good for me.
Without hesitation, I selected Unique Skill Enhancement.
The familiar headache throbbed a few times, and I realized I could now create yet another avatar.
And...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 《Your Unique Skill has grown, unlocking new potential. You have acquired the Special Skill 「Customizing」.》 Avatars could now have various settings changed once each.
'This is...!'
The customization service that makes you agonize for hours before even creating a game character!
My hands itched to try it right away.
And right then, Hans was standing blankly in front of me.
The other avatars were busy with their own tasks, so Hans was the only one available to test on immediately.
Plus, if 「Customizing」 could alter appearances, he might even revert to human form!
Harboring such hopes, I immediately used 「Customizing」 on Hans...
And promptly lost my words.
• Smooth skull, bulbous skull, cracked skull...
• Round eye sockets, upturned eye sockets, drooping eye sockets...
• Even teeth, pointed teeth, vampire fangs...
A detailed list floated before my eyes. And not just that—I could fine-tune and sculpt my own custom skeleton as desired! '...So racial limits can't be overcome, huh.' In truth, since Hans always wore a mask anyway and couldn't form human relationships, appearance changes weren't particularly helpful. 'If needed, I can just layer on illusion magic. Now that my magic level has risen further, it won't be easily detected.' Rationalizing it that way, I checked the other functions, but disappointingly, the only thing usable on Hans was appearance alteration. The 'Initial Status Settings' included in 「Customizing」 was limited to newly created avatars. 'Still, this is great! Now I can preset stats based on future professions?' His current stats were evenly high across the board thanks to point distribution. Great for adapting to any field quickly, but efficiency suffered as a result. But now, I could specialize those balanced stats in one area. Mages in intelligence and mana, warriors in strength and stamina, like that. 'Perfect timing since I can make a new avatar. Let's test it right away. What direction should I go this time...' The moment I tried to use 「Customizing」 for avatar creation. "Huh?" Suddenly, a piece of information flashed through my mind. Skills don't reveal all info from the start. Unlocking specifics through personal realization or achievements—and raising skill proficiency that way—was key. 'No! That's not the point right now!' This newly unlocked function held absurd potential. 'I can create avatars of related races using a 'medium'!' The term 'medium' was vague, but I intuitively knew what it meant. I headed to the potted plant in the corner of the living room. Cecily's eco-friendly air purifier... no, the 'Branch of the Withered World Tree' was there. 'I've quite liked it so far.' Regrettable, but unavoidable—I grabbed it and pulled it from the pot. This was the medium that would let me create an 'Elf' avatar.