Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Holy Sword's Trial (2)
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The place with the Church of the Main God's holy emblem and altar resembled the chapel of the grand cathedral.
'The time dilation seems different for each trial.'
Unlike before, the time flow here was about three times faster than outside.
As he calmly surveyed his surroundings, a will echoed in his mind once again.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Pray to the Main God. Flash—
At the same time, a faint light seeped from the large emblem engraved on the wall by the podium.
It was the holy emblem of the Church of the Main God, shaped like rays of light spreading in all directions.
'Ah, I think I know what this is.'
It was a type that appeared frequently in the records of previous challengers.
Heinrich strode confidently to the podium and knelt naturally before it, clasping his hands together.
'Trial of Faith.'
This staple trial, which came up almost every time, was extremely simple.
All one had to do was prove their devotion.
As he began to pray, the light emanating from the church's holy emblem grew denser.
Whoosh—
And that light began to shine upon Heinrich like sunlight pouring in through a window.
Along with it, an enormous divine power surged into his body.
'Withstand and accept divine power above a certain level.'
That was how one proved their faith in this trial.
He roughly knew the level required by the holy sword's trial.
It seemed to consider potential, possibilities, and various other conditions to set the difficulty, so there was some variation for each participant...
On average, it was between bishop-level and archbishop-level to meet the standard.
For Heinrich, who already possessed bishop-level divine power and could expand his limits anytime he wanted, it was a simple matter.
'So I thought this trial would be a breeze...'
But something was off.
The divine power kept pouring in endlessly.
And even though it had already reached a considerable level, the momentum showed no signs of slowing.
As he grew slightly flustered, the continuously surging divine power was already approaching the limit he could normally handle.
'Uh, uh... this is dangerous.'
He hurriedly drew on the mental resources of his other avatars, using Mind Hub and Persona to convert them into faith.
Hans, who had been helping gather black magicians to build an intelligence network.
Heinz 2nd, who had taken control of the entire clan and was focused on expanding his influence.
Harley, staying at the Steel Fortress to hunt monsters in the northern mountains.
Hubert, who had established a stable base in Tarak's merchant guild and was beginning to scale up.
Even Harris, who had drawn the attention of numerous elves in the Elven Kingdom after the festival.
But.
'No, how long is this going to keep increasing?'
Even after pulling in the mental power of all his avatars, the infusion of divine power showed no end.
The amount of divine power already inside him rivaled that of an archbishop.
'It's just forcibly contained for now, so it won't last long... Ah, this won't do.'
He had no time for stray thoughts.
Han Seonghyeon, watching from Earth, quickly closed his eyes and focused his mind.
And he poured every ability and mental power he had gained through his growth so far into Heinrich alone.
In the urgent situation, with no room to spare, his body writhed with several times the divine power he usually handled, as he sank into a state of no-mind.
How much time passed like that?
The light from the holy emblem shining on him began to gradually dim.
But he was too busy barely holding onto the divine power on the verge of bursting from his body to notice the change outside.
Sss—
The fading light of the holy emblem finally went out completely, and the chapel fell silent as if nothing had happened.
Only Heinrich, emanating divine power from his entire body, was different from before.
Then, in one moment.
A different quality of divine power lingered around his body.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The entity has met the conditions and gained enlightenment. Acquired Special Skill 「Blessing: Amplification」. A ray of light in the extreme situation.
The divine power that had seemed about to explode from his body gradually calmed and began to obey his control.
And soon after...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Second trial complete. Proceed to the next stage through the gateway. With the will echoing in his mind, his deeply immersed consciousness slowly awakened.
'Ah... that was really close.'
It felt like he had reached the absolute limit and barely escaped.
As he gradually regained some leeway, the mental power of the avatars concentrated on Heinrich began to return to their places one by one.
And he soon realized the change in himself.
'My capacity for divine power has increased.'
It was thanks to the new skill he had gained from this ordeal.
Blessing: Amplification was an ability that increased the maximum amount of divine power one could hold in their body, typically granted to priest-class clergy.
Since it wasn't an upgrade, his quality hadn't risen to that level, but at least in quantity, he could now rival an archbishop to some extent.
'No, not quite yet.'
Even now, uncontained divine power was leaking out, brightly illuminating the surroundings.
He wasn't yet familiar with the new ability, and controlling the divine power during the trial had been a temporary achievement through the help of his other avatars.
'The trial's over, so it doesn't matter.'
Thanks to Blessing: Amplification, the amount he could control alone had more than doubled, which was satisfying in many ways.
'But the difficulty seems way too high.'
He knew that stronger individuals received harder trials, while those with potential but lacking received easier ones...
He had passed using a trick with his avatars, but the divine power ultimately poured into him was at a level even seasoned archbishops would struggle with.
Average paladins, with less divine power than them, would likely drop out here en masse.
The first trial of endurance would have been quite tough without his various traits.
Probably only paladin-level could pass it.
'Heinrich is on his first attempt, and not even that strong— isn't the standard too strict?'
He wasn't paladin-level in martial prowess, nor archbishop-level in divine power.
Yet the trials so far had demanded both, so complaints were inevitable.
'No, it's too early to judge. I don't know what the next trial will be. For overall balance, the next one might be easier.'
Heinrich forced positive thoughts and looked around for the next gateway.
Then he spotted a brown wooden door that hadn't been there before, near the chapel's exit.
'But how many more times?'
The number of trials varied per person, so he didn't know how many he'd get.
In the records, only two had reached the holy sword: one after 3 trials, the other after 4.
'Of course, both failed to pull it and gain recognition.'
Hoping this was his last, he opened the door and stepped inside.
"Ah."
And when the light faded and his vision cleared, the first sight that greeted him was...
A barren wasteland.
A dead land, blackened and rotting, without a shred of life.
'This is fucked.'
He instinctively sensed from the ominous atmosphere.
No way it would be easy— this one would be another tough ordeal.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Slay the enemy. At the same time, the will echoed in his mind.
He quickly figured out who the "enemy" was.
Someone floating in the distant sky was blatantly emanating murderous aura while staring this way.
'The vibe feels really familiar...'
It was an atmosphere very familiar to him.
A tattered black robe, a black wooden staff entwined with numerous skulls at the tip.
And a deathly aura flickering like flames around its entire body, with red glowing eyes from a skull head.
'...Similar to Hans.'
Of course, its pressure couldn't even compare to the Immortal King.
'Then, a lich?'
At that moment, Hans, the lord of undead and Immortal King, analyzed everything about it, from its aura onward.
The conclusion was.
"Archlich..."
It was the very undead Hans had been right before becoming the Immortal King.
And a mature archlich was an existence even paladins hesitated to face one-on-one.
[The church's hunting dog, huh. How did you get here?] Even from quite a distance, a grating sound like scraping metal reached him.
[No matter. It doesn't matter now.] The archlich, who seemed about to converse for a moment, soon abandoned the idea and drew up black magic power.
It infused dark energy into the skull staff and swung it through the air.
'No, why so impatient!'
Ignoring Heinrich's thoughts, the energy spreading like mist seeped into the ground...
Rumble—
[Kekeke!] Clatter—! Clack—!
[Keeek— Kk!] All sorts of undead endlessly burst from the ground.
From hundreds to thousands... no, perhaps even more.
'Wow... the trial simulates this much? It's even more intense seeing it for real.'
He knew from prior info that this was all a virtual space for qualification testing, but from the aura to the momentum each undead exuded, it felt utterly real.
'Facing an archlich one-on-one is tough enough, but dealing with these undead too?'
Isn't this too much?
But he had no leisure to dwell on such thoughts forever.
[Die. Church dog!] With thousands of undead and the archlich commanding them all targeting just him to kill.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "It'll start soon."
"...Ah, I see."
In the southern part of the Ion Continent, at the Oath of Reverse Heaven's secret hideout.
The burly man in the robe spoke first, but the usually gloomy and mad old man's reaction was unusually flat today.
'No way he's chickening out now?'
This plan couldn't even begin without him.
For the burly man, who had invested over a decade into this grand scheme, it was unacceptable.
He frowned at the old man, scrutinizing his state more closely.
But contrary to his worries, there was no sign of fear.
He was just blankly staring into the locket pendant around his neck, expression unreadable.
Inside was a family portrait drawn via enchantment magic.
"No issues proceeding with the plan, right?"
The burly man, with no patience for sentimentality, asked directly.
He had never understood such emotions anyway.
"If you're thinking of backing out now..."
"Hah— what nonsense."
Before he could finish, the old man snapped the locket shut and cackled in his usual voice.
"Heh, I've prepared for this great undertaking for a whopping 30 years. You think I'd abandon it now? Kuhuhu..."
Unlike when gazing at the portrait, his eyes were once again filled with madness.
"If anything, my resolve has only grown firmer. This continent can't stay this peaceful. No, indeed it can't."
The burly man nodded in satisfaction at the old man muttering to himself with conviction.
It seemed there'd be no issues proceeding.
"No time to dawdle! I need to check the great ritual preparations one last time. The fruit of 30 years— we can't fail."
With that, the old man rose and left to inspect the ritual setup.
"Hmm... Then I should get to my own tasks."
Things would get busier ahead, so preparations were needed in advance.
Those preparations would be vital for everyone on the continent...
But how many were ready now? That wasn't his concern.