The Second Divine Trial (3)
Screeech!
Along with the sound of grinding metal, the blindfold obscuring my vision was pulled away.
As the light hit my eyes, the temple revealed itself once more.
Pillars stretched straight up toward the heavens.
Flickering blue flames cast their glow between them.
A low, blue-green mist hung over the figures seated in the tiered gallery, and I could feel their faint, shadowy forms staring down at me.
"..."
It was a familiar sight.
After all, I had seen it to the point of boredom in the game, and this was already my second time facing it in reality.
But there was one thing.
One difference from last time...
'They've set up a new barrier I haven't seen before.'
Rumble!
The air in front of me rippled.
The sheer energy radiating from the barrier was enough to warp the flow of the surrounding atmosphere.
It was a solid shroud, and even a glance revealed how meticulously it had been designed.
They had clearly constructed it after witnessing Cedric von Heibrun's death during the last trial.
'For a barrier thrown together in just a few weeks, it's a fairly decent piece of work.'
Oh, of course...
'It's utterly pathetic compared to the barriers of Doricco Shiro or the Archmage Demarion, though.'
Just then, the voice of the Speaker echoed through the temple.
"We shall begin the Divine Trial."
"..."
"..."
It was a voice filled with the usual solemn dignity.
The moment the declaration was made, the air in the temple grew heavy.
The dozens of gazes fixed on me sharpened, and a heavy silence spread from beyond the blue-green mist.
"The Thirteenth Seeker, Gaon."
"..."
"From this moment, you must answer the Council's questions with absolute truth. Any false testimony will inevitably be judged before the sacred flame."
I almost let out a dry chuckle.
The title and tone the Speaker used to address me had changed.
'You.'
And the honorifics that followed it.
'Now that I've become a Sword Master, they're certainly treating me differently.'
It was a stark contrast to the last trial, where I had been treated as a criminal from the very start and subjected to endless suspicion.
Yet, no matter how highly regarded a Seeker was, they could not bypass the mandatory procedures of the Divine Trial.
For instance, like this.
Whoosh!
Just like last time, the Sacred Flame of Aether began to blaze.
However, there was one difference. In the previous trial, flames had erupted from the three vertices of a triangle...
Flicker, crackle!
...But now, only a single brazier was burning.
It was a precious resource that took decades to accumulate, and since they had already consumed a massive amount during my last trial, they only had one left to use this time.
'The Council must be quite frustrated.'
They were in a position where they had to interrogate me with only a single question.
They had no choice but to choose their words with extreme care.
I suspected that was the reason the trial hadn't commenced immediately, even after the Sword Masters had arrived.
"Ahem."
It was right as I was thinking this.
The Speaker cleared his throat, and the first—and final—question of my interrogation finally flowed from his lips.
"You have chosen to cooperate with Doricco Shiro, one of the Five Nightmares, and the Shadow Society, which has engaged in heretical activities for ages."
"..."
"Even though this decision directly violates the values Midtemple has defended, you must have had a clear reason for deciding that cooperation with them was unavoidable."
The Speaker continued to speak.
"Before making such a perilous choice, did you sufficiently consider other alternatives? Furthermore, did you have no concerns about the risk of their betrayal at any moment, or the fact that their ideologies could shake the very foundations of Midtemple?"
"..."
"Please tell us the decisive reason you made such an extreme choice, even after considering all of those possibilities."
Silence fell.
With the Speaker's question finished, silence once again enveloped the temple.
'It's a rather complex question.'
I fell into deep thought.
On the surface, it seemed like a fair and reasonable inquiry.
However, if one looked beneath the surface, there were multiple layers of meticulously crafted traps hidden within.
First.
By emphasizing the danger of Doricco Shiro and the Shadow Society, the Council was forcing my answer into a corner.
If I admitted they were dangerous, I would be branded as a reckless gambler who took an unnecessary risk.
Conversely, if I claimed they weren't dangerous?
It would expose an overconfidence in my own judgment and control—in other words, arrogance.
'Either way, I'd end up with a disadvantageous label.'
Second.
The question of whether I had sufficiently considered other alternatives carried a far more insidious intent.
It contained an implicit accusation: why did I choose the most dangerous and extreme option when a way to save the world could have been found through the existing system?
'They want to criticize me for not seeking a safer route through cooperation with Midtemple.'
This question was a trap designed to cast doubt on whether my choice was truly the best one, while highlighting the fact that I had disregarded Midtemple's authority.
'And...'
Finally, third.
Asking for the decisive reason behind my choice.
This would force me to explicitly state that all my actions were based solely on my personal judgment.
In other words, this question was not a simple inquiry, but...
'...Nothing less than a preemptive shackle to restrict my freedom of action in the future.'
I couldn't help but chuckle.
It was truly a disgustingly underhanded question.
A query designed to shackle me no matter how I answered.
Any other Sword Master would have fallen helplessly into this trap.
'But...'
I am different.
The malice hidden beneath an innocent-looking question, and the bait thrown out to catch me on a single slip of the tongue.
Thump, thump.
This situation was not unfamiliar to me.
Once, I had naively given honest answers to questions like these.
And in return, I had been slapped with fatal restrictions.
"..."
But not this time.
I slowly took a breath.
The elaborate trap was already clear to my eyes. All I had to do was avoid stepping into it.
My lips curled upward.
I smiled.
The fact that Midtemple had prepared such a sophisticated question...
Paradoxically showed just how much they feared my answer.
'I hold the initiative.'
The anxiety of trying to gain everything with a single opportunity was bleeding through their question.
In fact, a complex question like this only provided me with more opportunities. The longer and more intricate the question, the wider the room for interpreting the answer.
Therefore...
'It won't be me who is manipulated by this question, but you.'
A smirk spread across Gaon's face.
At that moment, the brows of the councilors seated in the temple furrowed in unison.
'He's... smiling?'
They couldn't help but doubt their own eyes.
At least in their eyes, Gaon was in no position to be acting so relaxed.
"Laughable."
"...!"
"Did you truly think I would meekly fall for the intent behind that question?"
But in the next moment...
Hearing his subsequent reply, the councilors finally realized one truth.
"Still, I appreciate the effort you put into preparing the question, so I shall answer them one by one."
"..."
"..."
They realized that Gaon had completely seen through their intentions.
"It is true that Doricco Shiro is a dangerous entity. She is, after all, one of the Five Nightmares."
"..."
"The same goes for the Shadow Society. Having engaged in heretical activities for the past several centuries, I have no intention of denying that their existence poses a threat to Midtemple."
Gaon's cold voice echoed through the temple.
"However, that is strictly by your standards."
"..."
"Those two entities pose absolutely no threat to me."
A sudden commotion stirred the assembly.
They had never expected Gaon to utter such an incredibly arrogant statement.
No matter if he was a Sword Master who had slain Camilo von Taribas, treating one of the Five Nightmares and the Shadow Society as harmless seemed like the height of hubris.
After all, 'killing' someone and keeping them under 'control' were two entirely different matters.
All the more so when the subjects were Doricco Shiro, one of the Five Nightmares, and the Shadow Society, which possessed centuries of history.
"I am not displaying some pathetic bravado right now."
"...!"
"...!"
Yet Gaon completely dismissed the Council's concerns.
"The Shadow Society knelt at my feet long ago."
"..."
"The Transgressor who controlled the society is dead, and the heretics you find so troublesome have now been reduced to puppets who will throw away their lives at a single word of command from me."
Flicker, crackle.
It was an utterly unbelievable statement.
Yet, the Sacred Flame of Aether merely burned quietly.
Without a single flicker of hesitation, proving that there was no falsehood in Gaon's words.
The councilors stared at him with gazes mixed with shock and confusion. Paying no heed to their looks, Gaon calmly continued.
"The same applies to Doricco Shiro of the Five Nightmares."
"..."
"I will not deny that she is a dangerous individual. However, even she cannot cause me any harm."
Gaon went on.
"I easily subdued Doricco Shiro in the Sky Ocean Forest. She herself accepted that she could not defeat me, and she has abandoned any intention of resisting."
"..."
"I could bring forward Adelia von Goldheart, who was present at the scene, as a witness, but..."
Gaon trailed off for a moment, a look of decision crossing his face.
"No, never mind. It will be faster to show you directly rather than explaining it a hundred times with words."
"...?"
Gaon shifted his gaze and faced the barrier.
He slowly raised his right hand. Even that minor movement appeared infinitely graceful and precise.
Slowly, his hand began to reach toward the shroud.
It was a calm, refined motion without a single tremor. Yet, within it, an unspeakable determination was condensed.
Hum!
Instantly, the air trembled.
The energy squirming beyond the transparent membrane suddenly shrank back.
It was a phenomenon entirely different from the intervention of mana or holy power.
It was as if the barrier itself instinctively felt fear at Gaon's touch.
"What in the world..."
Witnessing a sight they had never seen before, a councilor muttered to himself unconsciously.
And then...
BOOM!
The moment Gaon's fingertips touched the barrier.
The transparent shroud shattered in all directions, as if letting out a scream.
Light and sound poured out as one, and the barrier, which had been shining like clear glass, shattered into pieces as if it were a lie.
Dazzling flashes burst from every crack. The momentary explosion was brilliant enough to steal the breath of anyone watching.
The broken shards drifted through the air like fluttering snowflakes before vanishing soundlessly, as if sucked into a void.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Silence.
All that remained was Gaon slowly lowering his hand, and the empty air where not even a trace of the barrier's existence was left.
The councilors in the temple simply could not believe what they had just witnessed.
No matter how hastily constructed in a few weeks, it was by no means a flimsy wall.
It was a result completed by dozens of high priests dedicating themselves day and night, pouring in all the knowledge and experience they possessed.
Furthermore, the foundation of this barrier was a formula of Midtemple accumulated over hundreds of years.
Even if it was completed in just a few weeks, it meant the long history built by the Holy City was fully melted into it.
And yet.
Gaon had returned it to nothingness simply by placing his hand against it.
'If he possesses this level of ability to dismantle magic formulas...'
Perhaps his claim that Doricco Shiro posed no threat was not a mere bluff.
After all, whether it was a barrier or an illusion, the core lay in dismantling the 'formula'.
Of course, the Sacred Flame of Aether had already guaranteed his claim that he could subdue Doricco Shiro, but witnessing it with their own eyes delivered a far more intense shock.
Rumble.
The gazes of the Midtemple councilors were slowly dyed with awe and terror.
Amidst this, Gaon merely let out a quiet breath.
Ding!
Right then, a familiar message materialized in his eyes as he stared into the empty air.
You have used the active skill: Barrier Breaker.
...It was the moment the initiative of the Divine Trial had completely shifted to him.