#91
Variable (1)
The interior walls are neatly finished with marble and have delicately carved patterns on them.
From the mystical decorations and prayer stones engraved here and there.
The place Heinrich arrived at after walking along the path of light seemed like a place where some kind of solemn ceremony was being held.
And in the middle of it.
There it was.
‘That’s it···.’
A longsword that was carelessly stuck in the dirt floor, in contrast to its neat and sophisticated appearance.
The goal that brought him here was the ‘Holy Sword’.
Heinrich glanced around and inspected the interior.
As expected, the entire space was tightly surrounded by several layers of sacred barriers.
It was the order of the church to seal something inside and prepare for an emergency.
‘I guess it’s because of that.’
Heinrich’s gaze turned back to the center.
To be exact… it was a small fist-sized darkness that had gathered on the floor where the Holy Sword was embedded.
At first glance, it looked like the shadow of a sword, but it was showing off its presence by wriggling intermittently.
“Is that the abyss…?”
The previous Immortal Kings did not simply inflict material and human damage through war.
Even as they covered the continent with death, they simultaneously worked to tear down the wall with the abyss, and such attempts placed an enormous burden on the world.
Enough to cause tiny ripples in the wall separating the surface and the abyss.
And the scar that had the greatest impact was the one in front of Heinrich…
It was a hole created by the second Immortal King using his own body as a medium.
‘I heard that other scars healed naturally over time.’
However, perhaps because of its origin, this abyss never shrank below its current level no matter how much time passed.
However, I wonder if it is okay to take out the Holy Sword, but isn’t that the reason this place and the Great Temple exist in the first place?
If it had been 300 years ago, then an abyss of that size could have easily been prepared for at the grand temple level.
Heinrich walked cautiously to the center where the holy sword was placed for the final step.
The final gateway to becoming the master of the Holy Sword.
Strictly speaking, this was truly the final ordeal.
‘Those who got here before were never recognized in the end.’
Even those who overcame the difficult ordeal and reached the Holy Sword eventually knelt at this stage.
‘Shall we go right away?’
Of course, Heinrich didn’t care.
He slowly extended his right hand and firmly gripped the hilt of the sword stuck in the floor.
Chiiik—
Although he didn’t feel even a hint of heat, his palm began to burn with a bloodcurdling sound.
The pungent smell of burning flesh spread throughout the surroundings.
The stimulation was not simply a matter of supporting the flesh.
Deeper… an excruciating pain that felt like it was squeezing all of my nerves and internal organs.
‘It’s so stiff that it doesn’t come out well.’
But Heinrich’s expression didn’t change at all, and he just gripped the handle tighter.
Phagec—!
He didn’t let go of his sword until the very end.
This time, sparks flew from the Holy Sword and a huge amount of energy flowed in.
‘This is···.’
The energy that had roughly penetrated Heinrich’s body as if he had been electrocuted went out of control and ran wild, and as a result, his strong body began to slowly disintegrate from the inside.
The pain was doubled, and his vast divine powers were of no help in this situation.
‘Is this part of the qualifications? … I guess I’ll have to hurry up.’
The pain was fine, but I needed to get this done as quickly as possible before I became completely exhausted.
“Ugh—!”
Chewy—!
He grabbed the handle with both hands, including his left hand, and pulled it up using all the strength in his body.
Ki-ki-ki-ki-ki—
The muscles of my entire body swell and a friction sound resonates from the floor.
The moment the sword began to move little by little…
A massive amount of mind-bending information was directly struck into my head by the Holy Sword.
He paused, frowned, and looked over the information.
‘Is this a battle log?’
From how to wield your weapons, to the tricks of controlling your energy, to how to deal with unusual monsters.
The experiences of previous users in battles with the Holy Sword were pouring down like a waterfall.
‘···It’s similar to when I absorbed the fragments of the Immortal King.’
The only difference is that while at that time the negative emotions were flowing back and I was determined to tear him apart, this time I had no intention of attacking his spirit.
Of course, there was also the risk of mental breakdown if you tried to hold out for too long.
The fact that it was forcibly injected into the head was the same.
‘It’s not just simple information, but the user’s emotions at the time are also flowing in… This must be like a mental attack. The two people who came before here probably fell away.’
If it were simple pain, I could overcome it with strong will, but there was a limit to just enduring this kind of mental contamination.
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What’s more, isn’t this a situation that can’t be overcome even with divine power?
Kik!
Phagec—!
But that didn’t really matter to Heinrich.
A terrible pain continued to radiate from my hand.
Unfamiliar knowledge is running wild in my head.
Blood flows from various parts of the body that has collapsed due to the energy of the holy sword digging into the body.
But he smiled as if it was nothing, as he was able to filter out all the excessive stimulation with the “Mind Hub”.
“Hey, partner. It’s time to stop being so stubborn and come out properly. We have a lot of work to do.”
The moment he spoke with a smiling voice while watching the sword slowly rising.
With perfect timing, the Holy Sword’s blade emerged completely from the rippling black abyss.
Hwaaaaak—
Is it because it’s the first freedom in 300 years?
The elegant silver sword continuously showed off its majesty by emitting a bright light.
At the same time···.
《The entity has achieved enlightenment by achieving the conditions. The skills “Salute Warrior Combat Technique” and “Comprehensive Weapon Technique” are combined to evolve into the special skill “Logia Holy Combat Technique.”》
The battle records that had been forcibly injected into his head were combined and completed into a single system.
‘Oh? This is great?’
The technique, which was derived from the nickname given to the Holy Sword by the first user, was passed down to later generations and developed into a combat system through modifications and supplements.
Naturally, since all the masters of the Holy Sword were geniuses representing their eras, their level was absolutely extraordinary.
While Heinrich was drawing the holy sword, his mind was momentarily distracted by it.
Gulp~!
The fist-sized abyss on the floor shook ominously.
***
A secret location hidden in the southern wasteland of the Ion Continent.
In a huge, gloomy underground stone chamber, a ritual was taking place.
Kwaaaaah—!
The magic circle in the center makes a loud noise and absorbs the surrounding energy.
Blood, corpses, living sacrifices, and strangely-looking magical tools were sucked into the place one by one, crumbling.
“Kihi··· Keukakyakkat—! Now, now it’s almost over! My long wait is finally—!”
An old man laughing madly at the darkness writhing at the bottom of the magic circle, and a large man wearing a robe looking at him from afar.
As the ritual began here, the magic they had arranged began to activate simultaneously throughout the continent.
A huge change was taking place that would turn the world upside down.
***
The mountainous region between the Kingdom of Thalia and the Kingdom of Lesk, in the western part of the Continent of Ion.
[What is your name?]
Hans spoke to the man prostrated before him in a rare, kind tone.
For some reason, the opponent only trembled even more.
For Hans, who had tried to be kind to the person who would become his subordinate in the future, it was only unfair.
“I… my name is Vi, Victor Nolan… yes, yes….”
As he gazed intently at him with his “eyes of the abyss,” the poor black magician who had been studying magic alone in a remote mountain valley opened his mouth with great difficulty and answered.
[Yes, Victor. I am—’Hannibal Strauss.’ I don’t need to explain much, so you know what’s going on, right?]
“···Yes, yes···. Of course. If you spare my life, I will do as you command.”
The warlock Victor bowed his head with a dying face.
It was only natural that his life had suddenly been taken over by a terrifying entity right before his eyes.
The compelling power of the “Eye of the Abyss” that restrains the existence of lower-level demons.
Of course, the effect was not absolute for humans with an established ego, not for monsters that move instinctively.
‘In that case, the most certain way is to use Heinz II’s “Refined Blood Essence” to subjugate him.’
However, even if it was an imperfect binding, if the person who cast it was at least as powerful as the Immortal King, the coercive power due to the difference in rank could never be ignored.
Besides, once the leash is tied like that, it can no longer run away.
No matter where you are on the continent, you will soon receive a return visit from the Immortal King Hans.
[It’s good that you understand quickly. It looks like it’ll be quite useful…, hmm?]
Hans, who had been speaking while looking around the black magician’s secret laboratory, stopped for a moment.
Just now, I felt something very alien.
“······?”
Victor’s anxiety grew stronger as he lay there in the sudden silence, but he had already been pushed down to the bottom of Hans’ priorities.
[···What is this?]
Hans looked quietly to one side.
A considerable sacrificial ritual was performed some distance away.
‘They’re carrying out a sacrificial ritual so openly? What kind of fearless people are these… Let’s check it out.’
Something more concerning than the ongoing recruiting effort has come up.
He told the warlock Victor to pack his bags and prepare to move, and then immediately teleported to the place where the abnormality was detected.
‘Is this the westernmost part of the Kingdom of Lesk? … Indeed.’
Hans, who had been enveloped in darkness in an instant, reappeared in the sky above a fairly large village.
A quiet village for its size.
It seemed as if it had already been entirely sacrificed in some sacrificial ritual, as if there was hardly any life energy inside.
Those who were lucky enough to make it out of the village were left with only the hollow sound of chaos.
‘···Let’s hear directly from the parties involved what they were thinking when they did this.’
Hans flew straight up into the sky.
His robes fluttered in the gusting wind, and his eyes darkened once more.
In the “eyes of the abyss” that look down upon the earth like that…
‘Found it.’
A suspicious group was detected leaving the village naked.
And in the very next moment, darkness rose around them as they ran away without looking back, covering all directions in an instant.
[Stop.]
“Eek···!”
“What···what···.”
Hans, who spread fear around him just by appearing, quietly observed them frozen in place.
The dark magic that can be felt faintly from the bodies of the warlocks and the men caught in the middle.
There was no room for excuses.
[This body has something to ask you. I would appreciate it if you could give me some time.]
Of course, they had no veto.
After that, the conversation that continued inside the barrier where no one could enter proceeded quite peacefully.
Because Hans just patted the heads of the guys who were just sitting there.
‘They really were guys who didn’t know anything.’
Even when I first forced myself to open my mouth through the “Eyes of the Abyss,” I didn’t get a satisfactory answer, so even though I forcibly searched my mind, I couldn’t get any meaningful results.
The black magician among them was just a rookie who followed the master’s will, and the rest were just low-level officials who moved according to orders from their superiors.
‘I just flipped the switch when everything was already ready. I caught him while he was running away before he could get his tail kicked after finishing his work.’
The fact that this kind of activation was possible meant that considerable forces had prepared for a long time.
Fortunately, thanks to searching their heads, we were able to find out who the villain was who did this.
‘The Oath of Reverse… It’s them again. It seemed like it was quiet for a while.’
Well, it was definitely possible if it was at the level of the guys I had encountered before.
I don’t know why this happened all of a sudden.
You can find out about that from now on.
‘There are still traces. Where did all this life force go?’
Hans flew through the sky following the flow.
And at that destination, I was able to discover something familiar yet unfamiliar.
‘Is that the scar of the abyss?’
I had just confirmed the Abyss through Heinrich, who had just entered the Trial of the Holy Sword.
Of course, unlike the abyss in the Great Hall of Picaol, the scars that Hans was now seeing were only traces that had already healed.
It’s not that you can see it unless you pay attention to it, and it’s not a problem in itself, so I didn’t pay attention to it until now…
The flow of life that started from the village was definitely heading here.
‘Let’s check it out.’
Hans immediately mobilized all his abilities to closely analyze the remaining traces and reverse-trace the flow.
So he started to really get into it.
Thanks to skills such as “Eyes of the Abyss,” “Evil Wisdom,” and “Forbidden Knowledge,” as well as the knowledge of the Immortal King, a conclusion was quickly drawn.
He turned his head south.
There was the starting point and center of the ritual that took place here.
‘There weren’t just one or two places where sacrifices were made. They happened simultaneously in multiple places. And this was just part of the ritual. Ultimately, what they wanted was…’
At that moment.
To Hans’s hyper-active senses.
A tremendous flow of energy was detected coming from the south.
[···You opened an abyss.]
It was a huge variable that could affect the entire continent.
