#89
Trial of the Holy Sword (2)
The place where the symbol and altar of the Jushin Church were located was similar to the chapel of the main shrine.
‘It seems like the time multiplier is different for each trial.’
Unlike before, the time multiplication here is about three times that of outside.
As he calmly observed his surroundings, this time again, a will resonated in his head.
Twinkle—
At the same time, a soft light came out from the large pattern carved on the wall on the side of the stage.
It was a symbol of the Jushin Church, a holy sign that seemed to depict light spreading out in all directions.
‘Ah, I think I know what this is.’
It was a type that appeared quite often in the records of previous challengers.
Heinrich walked confidently and confidently towards the podium, knelt down in front of it in a natural posture and clasped his hands together.
‘The test of faith.’
The process of this ordeal, which appears almost every time as a regular past question, was very simple.
Because all I had to do was prove my faith.
As he began to pray, the light emanating from the symbol of the sect grew brighter.
Hwaaaa—
And the light began to shine on Heinrich like sunlight pouring down from a window.
Along with that, an enormous divine power seeped into his body.
‘Withstanding and accepting a certain level of divine power.’
That was how I proved my faith in this ordeal.
I had a rough idea of the level required for the Trial of the Holy Sword.
It seems that the difficulty level is determined by considering various conditions such as potential and possibility, so there were slight differences for each person who took on the trial···.
On average, anything between the level of bishop and archbishop would satisfy that standard.
It was a simple matter for Henry, who already possessed the power of a bishop and could increase its limits whenever he wished.
‘So I thought I could pass this ordeal without any problems···.’
But, something was strange.
Divine power surged in endlessly.
Moreover, even though it had already reached a considerable level, its momentum showed no sign of slowing down.
He was slightly confused, but the divine power that kept pouring in was already exceeding the limits of what Heinrich could normally use.
‘Uh, uh… Is this dangerous?’
He hurriedly drew in the mental power resources of other avatars and converted them into faith using the “Mind Hub” and “Persona”.
Hans, who was helping to grow the information organization by collecting black magicians in the area.
Heinz II, who had completed the task of taking over the entire clan, was busy expanding his power.
Harley stayed at the Steel Citadel to hunt monsters in the Northern Mountains.
Hubert is gradually increasing his scale by establishing a stable foundation in Tarak’s realm.
Even Harris, who had attracted the attention of many elves in the Elven Kingdom after the festival.
but.
‘No, how long will this go on?’
Even though I had drawn on the spiritual power of all the avatars, the infusion of divine power was not finished.
The amount of divine power already contained within him was comparable to that of an archbishop.
‘I’ve only been holding it in my body for a short while, so it won’t last long… Ah, this won’t work.’
There was no time to think about anything else anymore.
Han Seong-hyeon, who was watching the situation on Earth, also quickly closed his eyes and concentrated his mind.
And he poured all the abilities and mental strength he had acquired while growing up into Heinrich alone.
In the midst of an urgent situation, his body, which had fallen into a state of no-mind without even a moment’s leisure, was writhing with an amount of divine power several times greater than the amount he usually handled.
How much time has passed like that?
The brightness of the star that was shining on him began to gradually decrease.
But he was barely able to hold on to the divine power that was about to burst out of his body, so he had no time to notice the changes outside.
Swish—
The light of the Holy Symbol, which had been gradually fading, finally went out completely, and the chapel fell into silence as if nothing had happened.
Only Heinrich, who was radiating divine power from his entire body, was different from the beginning.
Then one moment.
A divine power of a different nature than before was flowing through his body.
《The entity has achieved enlightenment by achieving the conditions. It acquires the special skill “Blessing: Increase.”》
A ray of light in an extreme situation.
The divine power that was on the verge of bursting out of his body gradually calmed down and began to follow his control.
And not long after···.
With the will resonating in his head, his deeply immersed mind also slowly awakened.
‘Ah… That was quite precarious.’
I felt like I had really reached the limit and barely escaped.
As he gradually gained some free time, the Avatar’s mind, which had been focused on Heinrich, began to return to its original place one by one.
And he soon realized the change in himself.
‘The amount of divine power that can be accepted has increased.’
It was thanks to the new skills I gained through this incident.
“Blessing: Increase” is an ability that increases the maximum amount of divine power that can be stored in the body, and was a blessing mainly obtained by priests of the priest series.
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Although he did not rise to that rank because he was not promoted, at least his amount was comparable to that of an archbishop.
‘No, it’s not that bad yet.’
Even at this very moment, the divine power that had not yet been recovered was leaking out and brightening the surroundings.
Not only was he not yet accustomed to his new abilities, but his control of divine powers during the Trial was only a temporary achievement, achieved with the help of other Avatars.
‘It doesn’t matter, since the ordeal is already over.’
Thanks to “Blessing: Increase”, the amount of power Heinrich could control alone more than doubled, which was a satisfying experience in many ways.
‘But I think the difficulty level is too high.’
From the beginning, I knew that those who were strong would be given more difficult trials, and those who were still lacking but had potential would be given relatively easy trials···.
Although he managed to pass the ordeal by tricking himself with an avatar, the divine power that was ultimately poured into him was so great that even an archbishop would be overwhelmed.
Paladins with less divine power than them on average will mostly get knocked out here.
The first test of patience would have been quite a difficult one had it not been for his many characteristics.
I think you might need to be at Paladin level to pass.
‘Heinrich is only the first challenger and he’s not that strong, isn’t the standard too strict?’
His strength is not at the level of a Paladin, nor is his divine power at the level of an Archbishop.
But the trials I’ve had to endure so far have demanded both, so it’s inevitable that I’ll feel dissatisfied.
‘No, it’s too early to make a decision. We don’t know what the next trial will be like yet. For the sake of the overall balance, the next trial might be a bit easier.’
Heinrich tried to remain positive and looked around to find the next checkpoint.
Then, I discovered that a brown wooden door that wasn’t there before had appeared at the exit of the chapel.
‘But how many more times do I have to do this?’
The number of trials given to each person was different, so no one knew how many would be given to them.
According to records, only two people have ever reached the front of the Holy Sword.
They were able to stand before him after going through trials three and four times respectively.
‘Of course, I failed to draw the Holy Sword and gain its recognition.’
Hoping that this would be his last ordeal, he opened the door and stepped inside.
“ah.”
And when the light disappeared and my vision returned, the first thing I saw was…
It was a desolate ruin.
A black, rotting land of death where not even a single grain of life can be felt.
‘You’re done.’
I could instinctively sense the ominous atmosphere.
There was no way this was going to be an easy ordeal, and this time around, I was going to be given an extremely difficult task.
At the same time, the will resonates in my head.
It was immediately clear who the ‘enemy’ it was talking about was.
Because there was someone floating in the air far away, looking this way, with an ominous aura emanating from them.
‘Something about this impression feels very familiar···.’
It was a very familiar atmosphere to him.
A tattered, dark robe, and a black wooden staff with several skulls woven into the tip.
And the aura of death burning and rippling from his entire body, and the skeletons scattering red eyes.
‘···Similar to Hans.’
Of course, that sense of oppression was nothing compared to that of the immortal king.
‘Then, is it Richie?’
At that time, the Undead’s leader, the Immortal King Hans, analyzed everything about the bastard, including his aura.
The conclusion reached is this.
“Acriche···.”
It was the undead that Hans had been with just before he became the Immortal King.
And a mature Archrich was someone that even Paladins were reluctant to fight one-on-one with.
[Are you a hunting dog of the church? How did you get here?]
Even though he was quite a distance away, he could hear the scraping sound of metal all the way to where he was.
[No, I guess it doesn’t matter now.]
Acrichi, who seemed to be talking for a moment, immediately gave up on the idea of conversation and raised his black magic.
And he filled the skull staff with black energy and waved it in the air once.
‘No, why are you so impatient!’
But Heinrich’s mind was not concerned, and the energy that spread around like fog immediately seeped into the ground…
Dduk dduk—
[Keheeek!]
Dalgrak—! Dulkreuk—!
[Squeak— squeak!]
All sorts of undead burst out from the ground endlessly.
Beyond the hundreds, into the thousands… no, maybe even more.
‘Wow… the trials are implemented to this extent? It’s even worse when you see it in person.’
I knew from prior information that this was all a virtual space created for the purpose of verifying qualifications, but from the aura of the place to the momentum of each and every undead, it felt as if it were real.
‘But it’s difficult enough to fight Acrichi one-on-one, and now you want me to deal with these undead?’
Isn’t this a bit too much?
But I didn’t have the luxury of staying lost in thought forever.
[Die, you dog of the church!]
Because there were thousands of undead and Archrich leading them, they were all trying to kill that one person.
***
“It’s about to start.”
“···Oh, I see.”
The secret hideout of the Oath of the Reverse Stream, in the southern part of the Continent of Ion.
The large man wearing a robe spoke first, but the old man’s response, usually gloomy and mad, seemed dull today.
‘You’re not scared now, are you?’
This work couldn’t even begin without him.
This is something absolutely unacceptable for a man who has invested more than ten years into the project.
He turned his frowning face toward the old man and examined his condition again closely.
But contrary to my expectations, he didn’t show any sign of fear.
He just opened the lid of his locket pendant and looked inside with a blank expression on his face, not knowing what he was thinking.
Inside was a portrait of a family painted using ignition magic.
“There will be no problem in proceeding with the work, right?”
But the big guy, who had no intention of understanding such sentimentality, asked the old man directly.
Because from the beginning, he didn’t even understand such feelings.
“If you say you’re going to back out now….”
“Ah—what nonsense.”
But before he could finish his words, the old man closed the lid of the rocket and chuckled in his usual voice.
“Kick, I’ve been preparing for this great undertaking for 30 years. And I’m giving it up at this moment? Hehehe…”
Unlike when he looked at the portrait, his eyes were once again filled with madness.
“Rather, my mind has become more determined. After all, this continent shouldn’t be this peaceful. Yes, that’s right.”
The old man began to mutter to himself in a confident voice, and the large man nodded quietly with a satisfied expression.
It seemed that there would be no problem in proceeding with the work.
“This is not the time to be doing this! I have to check it one last time. This is the result of 30 years. I can never fail.”
The old man got up from his seat and left to check the preparations for Dafa again.
“Hmm… Then I guess I should go do my job.”
It was going to get busier in the future, so I needed to prepare in advance.
That preparation will be necessary for everyone on the continent, but…
He had no idea how many people would be prepared by now.
