Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Variable (1)
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The inner walls were neatly finished with marble, adorned with delicately carved patterns.
Mystical decorations dotted the space here and there, alongside tombstones inscribed with prayers.
The place Heinrich had reached by walking the Path of Light felt like a site for some solemn ritual.
And at its center.
There it was.
'That's it...'
A longsword thrust haphazardly into the dirt floor, its clean and refined appearance at odds with its crude placement.
It was the 'Holy Sword'—the goal that had brought him all the way here.
Heinrich casually scanned the surroundings, inspecting the interior.
As expected, the entire space was tightly enveloped by multiple layers of holy barriers.
Each one designed to seal something within and prepare for any contingencies by the Church.
'Probably because of that.'
Heinrich's gaze returned to the center.
More precisely... to the fist-sized clump of darkness gathered on the floor where the Holy Sword was embedded.
At a glance, it looked like the sword's shadow, but it writhed intermittently, asserting its presence.
"Is that the Abyss..."
The previous Immortal Kings hadn't merely caused material and human losses through war.
Even as they blanketed the continent in death, they had worked to breach the wall with the Abyss, placing immense strain on the world.
Enough to leave fine cracks in the barrier between the surface and the Abyss.
And the greatest scar from that—the one right in front of Heinrich...
Was the hole the Second Immortal King had created using his own body as a conduit.
'I heard the other scars healed naturally over time.'
But this Abyss scar, perhaps due to its origin, refused to shrink further no matter how much time passed.
Still, could they just pull out the Holy Sword like that? Well, that's precisely why this place and the Grand Temple existed.
Unlike three hundred years ago, an Abyss of that size was something the Grand Temple could handle dimensionally.
Heinrich approached the center where the Holy Sword was embedded, taking careful steps for the final process.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Draw the Holy Sword and be acknowledged as its master. The final ordeal to become the Holy Sword's master.
Strictly speaking, this was the true last trial.
'Those who made it this far before all failed to gain its recognition.'
Even those who overcame the grueling trials to reach the Holy Sword had knelt at this stage.
'Might as well get it over with.'
Of course, Heinrich couldn't care less.
He slowly extended his right hand and firmly gripped the hilt of the sword embedded in the floor.
Sizzle—
No heat was felt, yet a menacing sound accompanied the burning of his palm.
The acrid smell of searing flesh spread through the air.
The pain wasn't just skin-deep.
It was an immense agony that seemed to wring his nerves and very organs.
'It's stuck pretty tight.'
But Heinrich's expression didn't change as he gripped the hilt even tighter.
Crackle—!
Refusing to let go, sparks flew from the Holy Sword, flooding him with massive energy.
'This is...'
The force surged into his body like an electric shock, rampaging uncontrollably. In its wake, his sturdy flesh began crumbling from within.
The pain intensified, and his vast holy power offered no help in this situation.
'Part of proving my worth, huh? ...Gotta hurry a bit.'
Pain was irrelevant, but he needed to finish before complete exhaustion set in.
"Hup—!"
Sizzle—!
Using both hands now, he gripped the hilt and pulled upward with every ounce of strength.
Griiiind—
His muscles bulged, friction screeching from the floor.
As the sword began to budge...
A torrent of disorienting information from the Holy Sword slammed directly into his mind.
Pausing, he grimaced and examined it.
'Combat records?'
From weapon handling to energy manipulation and fighting unique monsters.
Experiences from previous wielders poured in like a waterfall.
'...Feels similar to absorbing Immortal King Fragments.'
The difference: those carried hostile negative emotions trying to devour him, while this had no intent to attack his mind.
Still, forcing it too long risked mental collapse all the same.
'Not just data—the users' emotions from back then flood in too... This is basically a mental assault. Probably where the previous two failed.'
Pure pain could be endured with will, but mental corruption had limits.
Especially when holy power couldn't overcome it.
Griiind!
Crackle—!
But that was irrelevant to Heinrich.
Horrific pain from his hands.
Alien knowledge rampaging in his head.
Blood flowing from his body as the Holy Sword's energy crumbled it from inside.
Yet with Mind Hub filtering excess stimuli, he just smiled faintly.
"Hey, partner. Time to stop being stubborn and come out nicely. We've got a lot ahead of us."
As he spoke with a hint of amusement while the sword rose slowly...
Perfectly timed, the blade fully emerged from the writhing black Abyss.
Whoosh—
Perhaps reveling in freedom after three centuries.
The elegant silver blade gleamed brilliantly, flaunting its majesty.
And simultaneously...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The entity has met the conditions and gained enlightenment. Skills Holy Warrior Combat Technique and Comprehensive Martial Technique have merged into the special skill Logia Sacred Combat Method. The combat records forcibly injected into his mind coalesced into a unified system.
'Oh? This is impressive.'
Named after the first wielder's pet name for the sword, it had evolved through generations of refinements into a complete combat system.
Naturally, every Holy Sword master had been a genius of their era, so its caliber was extraordinary.
While Heinrich was momentarily entranced by the drawn Holy Sword...
Gurgle~!
The fist-sized Abyss on the floor began to writhe ominously.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In a hidden secret location in the southern wasteland of the Ion Continent.
A grand underground stone chamber with a sinister atmosphere hosted a ritual in progress.
Rumble—!
The central magic circle roared loudly, absorbing surrounding energy.
Blood, corpses, fresh sacrifices, and bizarre ritual tools crumbled one by one, sucked into it.
"Kihihi... Kekeke—! It's almost over now! My long wait is finally—!"
An old man laughed maniacally at the writhing darkness beneath the magic circle, watched from afar by a robed hulking figure.
The moment the ritual began here, spells they had prepared across the continent activated simultaneously.
A massive shift poised to upend the world's balance was underway.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In the western mountains of the Ion Continent, between Talia Kingdom and Lesk Kingdom.
[What is your name?]
Hans rarely spoke with paternal kindness to the man prostrated before him.
But the other just trembled harder.
Hans, intending to be friendly to his future subordinate, felt unjustly treated.
"I... I-I'm V-Victor Nolan... S-Sir..."
Under the steady gaze of Eye of the Abyss, the poor black mage who had researched alone in a remote valley barely forced out an answer.
[Good, Victor. I am— 'Hannibal Strauss.' No need for long talk; you grasp the situation, right?]
"...Y-Yes, sir. Of course. Spare my life, and I'll obey any command."
Victor Nolan bowed his ashen face.
His life had suddenly been hijacked by the terrifying being before him—a perfectly natural reaction.
The coercive force of Eye of the Abyss binding lesser demonic entities.
Of course, on a human with a firm ego, it wasn't absolute.
'For that, Heinz 2nd's Purified Blood Contract is most reliable.'
But when cast by an Immortal King, the gap in stature made the compulsion undeniable.
Once leashed, escape was impossible.
Wherever on the continent, an Immortal King Hans visit would follow swiftly.
[Quick on the uptake—good. You seem fairly useful... Hm?]
While surveying the black mage's secret lab and continuing, Hans paused abruptly.
Something profoundly alien had stirred.
"......?"
The sudden silence heightened Victor's anxiety, but he was already sidelined in Hans's priorities.
[...What is this?]
Hans quietly stared in one direction.
At some distance, a large-scale sacrifice ritual was underway.
'Doing a sacrifice ritual so openly? Who are these fearlessly bold fools...? Shall I check?]
Something more pressing than his recruitment overrode his focus.
He ordered Victor to pack and prepare to move, then teleported to the anomaly.
'Western edge of Lesk Kingdom, huh. ...Indeed.'
Darkness enveloped him instantly, and he reemerged high above a decent-sized village.
The village was eerily silent for its scale.
As if wholly offered in sacrifice, scarcely any life force remained within.
Only the belated clamor of lucky escapees outside echoed hollowly.
'...Wonder what they were thinking. Shall I ask the culprits directly?'
Hans ascended higher into the sky.
His robe flapping in the wind, his eyes darkened once more.
Scanning the ground with Eye of the Abyss...
'Found them.'
A suspicious group fleeing the village hastily was detected.
The next instant, darkness bloomed around the fleeing group, engulfing them in moments.
[Stop.]
"Eek...!"
"Wha... wha..."
Hans, whose mere presence scattered terror, calmly observed the frozen group.
The black mage in their midst and the faint black magic wafting from them.
No room for excuses.
[I have questions for you. Spare a moment.]
They had no right to refuse.
The ensuing conversation within an impenetrable barrier proceeded quite peacefully.
Hans merely stroked their heads once each.
'Truly clueless small fry.'
Even forcing their mouths open with Eye of the Abyss yielded no satisfaction, and rummaging their minds produced no meaningful gains.
The embedded black mage was a novice following his master's orders; the rest, mere pawns acting on higher commands.
'Preparations were complete; they just flipped the switch. Fled before tails could catch up, only to run into me.'
Such simultaneous activations implied a major faction's long preparation.
Fortunately, mind-probing revealed the perpetrators.
'Oath of Reverse Heaven... Them again. Been quiet for a while.'
Makes sense, given the caliber he'd encountered before.
Why now? He'd find out soon enough.
'Traces remain. Where did all this life force go?'
Hans followed the flow, flying through the sky.
At its endpoint, he discovered something familiar yet unfamiliar.
'An Abyss scar?'
He'd just confirmed an Abyss through Heinrich entering the Holy Sword trial.
Unlike the one at Picaol Grand Temple, this scar before Hans was already faded.
Neglectable unless focused on, posing no issue—so he'd ignored it until now...
But the life force flow from the village undeniably led here.
'Let's check.'
Hans mobilized his full abilities, meticulously analyzing remnants and backtracking the flow.
As he delved in earnestly...
Thanks to skills like Eye of the Abyss, Wicked Wisdom, Forbidden Knowledge, and Immortal King lore, the conclusion came swiftly.
He turned south.
There lay the ritual's origin and core.
'Not one or two sites sacrificed. Simultaneous across multiple locations. And this is just part of it—what they truly seek is...'
At that moment.
Hans's hyper-attuned senses caught an enormous energy surge from the south.
[...They've opened the Abyss.]
It was a massive variable that would impact the entire continent.