Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: The Abyss Opens (3)
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When Heinrich emerged from the stone door of the seal chamber, having stored the holy sword in the stigmata on his palm, he found himself back at the very place where he had first entered for the trial.
Despite all those trials he had endured, the only thing standing between him and the end had been a single door.
'I noticed it when the holy sword constructed the virtual world for the trials, but... it's impressive all over again.'
He gazed at the stigmata on his palm and smiled in satisfaction.
'With this, I could go toe-to-toe with a paladin and not lose.'
On top of that, "Blessing: Holy Sword" was a skill that grew stronger with training, just like his other abilities.
This power he had just gained was far from the end of it.
"You've finally come out."
However, there was a group waiting to greet Heinrich as he stepped out through the stone door.
"Well done, Sir Heinrich."
"Ah, Cardinal Donovan!"
It was the cardinal in charge of the Picaol Grand Temple, along with his elite retinue.
'How did they know I was coming out...? No, what a foolish thought.'
They weren't there to welcome him specifically.
An archlich had escaped through the abyss's hole right in the heart of the grand temple—there was no way the Church wouldn't notice.
'It's only natural they'd prepare countermeasures. And with the spatial isolation from the holy sword's trial gone, they could sense it even more clearly.'
They had rushed over in case of emergency, but the black magic inside had dissipated before they could enter, so they had held position out front.
It might have disturbed Heinrich if he was still undergoing the trial inside.
"Hahaha, I had my suspicions, but as expected... You've successfully become the master of the holy sword!"
The cardinal spotted the stigmata on Heinrich's palm, his face lighting up with surprise and joy.
The reactions from the other priests behind him were much the same.
"I never thought he'd actually succeed."
"We heard the rumors. The holy knight who drove his sword into the Immortal King's heart and defeated him..."
"For the holy sword's master to reappear at a time like this! This must be the will of the Main God!"
Everyone reacted intensely to the holy sword's reemergence after three hundred years.
With the Immortal King returned and the abyss opened, the reappearance of the hero's symbol—the holy sword—carried immense significance.
"This must be fate as well. Tell me, Sir Heinrich, did anything unusual happen inside?"
Cardinal Donovan, who had been nodding thoughtfully, glanced at the door Heinrich had come from as he asked.
"Ah, after I drew the holy sword, the abyss showed some anomalies. An archlich did emerge from it, but..."
"An archlich?"
"I was able to deal with it since it couldn't withstand the power of the sacred barrier. It happened to be carrying the origin, so I could eliminate it cleanly on the spot."
"I see... Still, it's a relief there were no major issues."
Letting out a light sigh, he jerked his chin toward the stone door, looking back at the clustered priests.
High priests and holy knights promptly filed into the stone chamber where the holy sword had been sealed, moving in perfect unison.
As Heinrich watched them with a puzzled expression, the cardinal continued with a wry smile.
"Come to think of it, you wouldn't know about the commotion outside. The abyss suddenly reacted, so we were quite alarmed."
"Ah, yes... I see."
In truth, he knew the outside situation better than anyone, but Heinrich nodded ambiguously with a vague expression.
The cardinal explained the circumstances to him gravely.
Why such an event had occurred in the abyss.
About the second abyss that had opened on the continent, and their plans moving forward.
"Now that the holy sword is gone, we'll need to manage that abyss hole even more rigorously. We'll add more barriers and station some personnel there just in case."
The existing barrier wasn't insufficient by any means, but with an archlich actually emerging, they needed to pay extra attention.
"We're already short-handed as it is. Hahaha! What a mess... Ahem, quite the predicament."
The cardinal seemed to let his true feelings slip unintentionally, but he cleared his throat nonchalantly and led Heinrich outside.
"They'll handle things here, so let's head back. You'll have plenty to do from now on as well, Sir Heinrich."
Given the current situation, there was no time for leisure.
After a brief rest, Heinrich headed to the gate room to return to the Roselia Grand Temple.
Wooong—
The gate began to hum as it activated.
Heinrich turned to Cardinal Donovan, who had come to see him off, with a troubled expression.
"You're so busy with official duties—there's no need for you to come out personally."
It was already a hectic time.
For a cardinal to see him off himself felt burdensome.
"Haha, now that you're the master of the holy sword, you're no mere holy knight. This is nothing. Besides... I have one last thing to tell you."
Indeed, his status was about to change dramatically.
Being the holy sword's master meant he was the Main God's sword representing this era.
"One last thing...?"
At that, the cardinal approached with a serious expression and leaned in close to his ear.
Heinrich leaned in attentively to listen, but...
"You haven't forgotten what I said last time, have you?"
"...Pardon?"
"About the Saintess. Right? Do I need to explain again?"
"...No, I remember. Don't worry."
"Mm, excellent! Safe travels, then!"
"......"
To the meddlesome Cardinal Donovan, whether he was the holy sword's master or not was irrelevant—this was a separate matter entirely.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Welcome back, Sir Heinrich. I knew you could do it!"
Upon returning to the Roselia Grand Temple, Heinrich was greeted by the Saintess with her gentle smile.
After exchanging warm pleasantries, their conversation flowed lightly.
"By the way, how is Cardinal Donovan's health?"
"...Yes. I heard he's quite advanced in age, but he seems remarkably robust."
Heinrich recalled the cardinal's bulging muscles despite his years and answered with a subtle grimace.
"Hehe... I was worried since he went to the Picaol Grand Temple and has been so busy, but it seems he's still keeping up with his workouts. He was always so fond of me when he was here."
Their casual chit-chat continued for a bit.
But given the circumstances, the light atmosphere didn't last long.
"You look exhausted, Saintess. So much work on your plate, I take it."
"Sigh— This incident is on such a massive scale; it's not easy."
The Saintess sighed deeply, her expression darkening.
The biggest issue was the second abyss opening, but even before that, the sacrifice rituals performed across the continent were no small matter.
"Dozens of sacrifice rituals activated simultaneously all over the continent. From small slash-and-burn villages to entire border towns."
It was terrorism targeting places without thorough magical defenses and lax security.
So meticulously hidden that no one even knew they existed until they activated.
'Hearing it like this, those guys seem even more formidable.'
Slash-and-burn villages aside, targeting a border town with over a thousand residents required no ordinary preparation.
"The damage is still being assessed, but... we've already confirmed tens of thousands dead. And it could climb much higher."
The unprecedented mass slaughter had put every nation on the continent on high alert.
Of course, the victims were mostly commoners from poorly policed areas, so the damage itself wasn't critical to the upper echelons.
'But the sheer scale means the leaders can't help but be on edge.'
Who could guarantee that a force capable of this wouldn't target them next?
"...Truth be told, the real problem is the Immortal King Hans's reappearance and the second abyss opening."
Reports from those dispatched south were coming in real-time to the grand temple, and investigations were ongoing.
"What emerged from this abyss is 'madness.' However, we're assessing it differently from the Immortal King incident a thousand years ago."
Unlike the Immortal King's heart that fully descended to the surface, this madness had been incompletely extracted.
As a result, it couldn't maintain its form and scattered across the continent...
"That's not a good sign at all. In some ways, it's trickier than the Immortal King."
No major anomalies had surfaced yet, but nothing pulled from the abyss would bring good to the continent.
Problems would gradually emerge over time.
Moreover, with madness blanketing the world, tracking demons had become far more difficult than before—a perfect storm for the Church.
"And above all, the Immortal King who orchestrated all this..."
The Immortal King who had reappeared before the Church members—astride a bone dragon.
He had deliberately lingered at the scene, mocked the Church contingent, and then leisurely departed.
Leaving behind only a single death breath from the bone dragon.
"...Fortunately, the damage wasn't severe. Those present weren't pushovers. It could have been dangerous if follow-ups had continued, but..."
The Immortal King had simply left.
"In other words, it shows how utterly he looks down on us. Like he's toying with us, granting mercy to see how much we can resist."
The Saintess ground her teeth, her usually serene face hardened beyond recognition as she murmured.
"Saintess..."
"Haa— I got a bit worked up. Still, this is good news. Proof that this Immortal King is that arrogant."
It was an opening to exploit against the Immortal King, who had shown extraordinary cunning until now.
Even if there was a chance to end it decisively, he'd prioritize his amusement, underestimating his foes and giving them opportunities.
The typical mindset of the strong.
And the weakness that had felled countless such powerhouses.
"We'll target that complacency. For the continent, a momentary humiliation is nothing. In the end, we'll be the final victors."
Watching the Saintess steel her resolve with a grave expression, Heinrich nodded enthusiastically, inspired.
"I'll help too, Saintess. With the holy sword's power, we can finally put him down for good."
"I believe in you, Sir Heinrich! You are the one chosen by the Main God to oppose the Immortal King Hans!"
Zeal surged, conviction filled him.
Heinrich met the Saintess's eyes and slowly nodded.
'...She still calls him Hans. He has such a cool name like Hannibal Strauss now. I should emphasize it next time.'
All while entertaining other thoughts inwardly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A stone chamber buried deep underground.
"Mm...?"
Amid air stagnant for ages, a second change occurred following the previous one.
A pair of red eyes began to glow faintly in the darkness.
"...What is this...?"
But some profoundly alien 'something' had jolted him awake unwittingly; his voice was still thick with sleep.
Despite the chamber being perfectly sealed with no outside air seeping in, some insidious presence had ignored physical limits to rouse him.
'...Ah, right.'
Now fully awake, he sensed once more the anomaly from before.
Something had gone wrong with the clan.
'I need to get up.'
Whatever was unfolding in real-time—some unknowable crisis—and the clan's issue were no ordinary matters.
Both grave enough to warrant him rising immediately to investigate personally.
Thus, the being tensed to spring from his seat.
"Seriously..."
No—he had only thought as much; his body didn't follow through.
His form wriggled repeatedly as if trying to rise.
But...
"...I should, but, yaaawn—."
A yawn escaped unbidden, and his body slumped back down.
Of course, not enough to fall fully asleep again.
The irritating energies stirring around him wouldn't allow it.
Even now, his hibernating body was gradually reactivating.
It was too soon to move freely, but...
It probably wouldn't take much longer.
And so, the Brocoslak Clan's Sacred Blood—awoke from his long slumber.