#91
Variable (1)
Interior walls neatly finished with marble and delicately carved patterns on them.
There are mysterious decorations and tombstones with prayers written all over the place.
The place where Heinrich arrived by walking the path of light was a place where it seemed like a solemn ceremony was taking place.
And in the center.
There it was.
‘That’s it…’
Contrary to its clean and sophisticated appearance, it was a long sword stuck haphazardly in the dirt.
The goal that brought him here was the ‘Holy Sword’.
Heinrich looked around lightly and inspected the inside.
As expected, several layers of sacred barriers tightly surrounded the entire space.
All of them were arrangements made by the church to seal something inside and prepare for an emergency.
‘I guess it’s because of that.’
Heinrich’s gaze turned to the center again.
To be exact… it was a small darkness the size of a fist gathered on the floor where the holy sword was embedded.
At first glance, it looked like the shadow of a sword, and it was wriggling intermittently, showing off its presence.
“Is that the abyss…”
The immortal kings of the previous generation did not simply cause material and human damage due to war.
Even as they covered the continent with death, they simultaneously worked to tear down the wall between the abyss, and such attempts placed an enormous burden on the world.
So much so that there were small scratches on the wall separating the ground 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.
‘I heard that other scars healed naturally over time.’
However, perhaps because of its origin, this abyss did not shrink below its current state no matter how much time passed.
Still, I wonder if I can pull out the holy sword, but isn’t this place and the Great Temple existing for that purpose in the first place?
It might have been 300 years ago, but the Great Hall could have adequately prepared for an abyss of that size.
For the final step, Heinrich walked cautiously toward the center where the holy sword was inserted.
〈Draw the Holy Sword and be recognized as its owner.〉
The final gateway to becoming the owner of the Holy Sword.
Strictly speaking, this was truly the final ordeal.
‘Those who arrived here before were ultimately not recognized.’
Even those who overcame that difficult ordeal and reached the Holy Sword eventually bowed at this stage.
‘Let’s go right away.’
Of course, Heinrich didn’t care.
He slowly stretched out his right hand and strongly grasped the handle of the sword stuck in the ground.
Chiik—
His palm began to burn with a bloody sound, even though he could not feel a single ounce of heat.
The acrid smell of burning flesh spread around.
The stimulation was not just at the level of supporting the skin.
A little deeper… an enormous 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 tightened his grip on the handle.
It’s shaky—!
He didn’t let go of his grip on the sword until the end.
This time, sparks erupted from the holy sword and an enormous amount of energy flowed in.
‘This…’
As if he was receiving an electric shock, the energy that penetrated into Heinrich’s body was out of control and ran wild, and in the aftermath, his strong body began to slowly collapse from the inside.
The pain doubled, and the vast divine power he possessed was of no help in this situation.
‘Is this also part of the qualifications? …I need to hurry up a bit.’
I didn’t mind the pain, but I needed to get the job done as quickly as possible before I was completely exhausted.
“Hmm—!”
Chiik—!
He even used his left hand to grab the handle with both hands and use all his body strength to pull it up.
Gigi Geek—
The muscles of the whole body swell and a friction sound echoes from the floor.
The moment the sword moved little by little…
a huge amount of mind-disturbing information was directly thrust into my head from the holy sword.
He stopped and looked at the information with a frown.
‘Is this a battle record?’
From how to wield a weapon to how to use energy and how to deal with unusual monsters.
The battle experiences of previous users with the holy sword were pouring down like a waterfall.
‘…It’s kind of similar to when you absorb the fragments of the Immortal King.’
However, if negative emotions flowed back and I decided to bite him, the difference this time is that I have no intention of attacking his mind.
Of course, there was a risk of mental collapse if you tried to force yourself to endure this for too long.
The fact that it was forcibly injected into my head was the same.
‘Not just simple information but also the user’s emotions at the time are flowing in… I guess this is no different from a mental attack? Probably both of the people who came here before have fallen out.’
If it was simple pain, I could overcome it with a strong will, but there was a limit to just enduring this kind of mental pollution.
Isn’t this a situation that cannot even be overcome with divine power?
Geek!
It’s shaky—!
Although that didn’t really matter to Heinrich.
Terrible pain continues to radiate from my hand.
Unfamiliar knowledge flourishes in my head.
Blood flows from all over the collapsed body due to the energy of the holy sword that penetrated into the body.
However, as he was able to filter out all the excessive stimulation with the “Mind Herb,” he just smiled.
“Hey partner. Now, stop being stubborn and come out quietly. “Because there is a lot of work to do in the future.”
The moment he spoke in a humorous voice while looking at the sword slowly rising.
With perfect timing, the blade of the Holy Sword completely escaped from the black, swaying abyss.
Haaaaak—
Is it because it’s my first freedom in 300 years?
The beautiful sword body, shining in silver, continued to emit bright light and show off its majesty.
At the same time….
《The entity achieved the condition and achieved enlightenment. The skills “Crusader Combat Skills” and “Comprehensive Weapon Skills” are combined to evolve into the special skill “Logia Holy Combat Technique.” The
battle records that had been forcefully fed into his head were combined and completed into one system.
‘oh? ‘Is this great?’
The technique, which was taken from the nickname given to the holy sword by the first user, was passed down to future generations and developed into a combat system through modifications and supplements.
Of course, since all previous owners of the holy sword were geniuses representing their times, their level was absolutely extraordinary.
While Heinrich, who had drawn the holy sword, was distracted by it for a moment.
Gulp~!
The fist-sized abyss on the floor shook unusually.
***
A secret place hidden in the southern wastelands of the Ion Continent.
A ritual was taking place in a huge underground stone chamber with a gloomy atmosphere.
Quaaaa—!
The magic circle in the center makes a loud roar and absorbs the surrounding energy.
Blood, corpses, living sacrifices, and strange-looking magic tools were broken into pieces one by one and sucked into the place.
“Kihi… kkakyakakat—! Now we’re almost done! “My long wait is finally over—!”
An old man laughing maniacally as he sees the darkness writhing at the bottom of the magic circle, and a large man covered in robes watching him from afar.
As soon as the ritual began here, the magic they had arranged began to be activated all over the continent.
A huge change was taking place that would change the course of this world.
***
A mountainous region between the Kingdom of Thalia and Lesk in the western part of the Ion Continent.
[What is your name?]
Hans spoke to the man kneeling in front of him in a rare kind tone.
For some reason, the other person just dropped his body even further.
It was only unfair to Hans, who had tried to be kind to the person who would become his subordinate in the future.
“I…my name is Viktor Nolan… “Yes, yes…”
As he looked at him with his “eyes of the abyss,” the poor warlock who was studying magic alone in a remote mountain valley forced himself to open his mouth and barely answered.
[Yes, Victor. I am—’Hannibal Strauss.’ Without going into detail, you understand the current situation, right?]
“…Yes, yes… of course. “If you spare my life, I will follow your orders.”
Warlock Victor bowed his head with a dying face.
In a way, it was only natural that his life was suddenly robbed by a terrifying being right in front of him.
The coercive power of the “Eye of the Abyss” that restrains the existence of lower-ranked demons.
Of course, the effect was not absolute for humans with established egos, who were not monsters that moved instinctively.
‘In that respect, the most certain thing is subjugation using Heinz II’s “Refined Blood Tablet.”
However, even if the restraint was incomplete, if the person who cast it was at the level of the Immortal King, the coercive force due to the difference in rank could never be ignored.
Moreover, once a leash is tied like that, it can no longer run away.
No matter where you are on the continent, you will immediately receive a return visit from the Immortal King Hans.
[It’s good that you understand quickly. As expected, it looks quite useful… Hmm?]
Hans, who had been talking while looking around the dark wizard’s secret laboratory, paused for a moment.
I just felt something very foreign.
“……?”
Victor’s anxiety grew stronger due to the sudden silence, but he had already been pushed to the other side of Hans’ priorities.
[…what? This.]
Hans quietly looked to one side.
A sizable sacrificial ritual was held some distance away.
‘You’re carrying out a sacrificial ritual like this? Some fearless bastards… shall we check it out?’
Something happened that I was more concerned about than the recruitment activity currently underway.
He told the warlock Victor to pack his bags and prepare to move, and then immediately moved to the place where the abnormality was detected.
‘Is this the western end of the Lesk Kingdom? … indeed.’
The place where Hans, suddenly enveloped in darkness, reappeared was above a fairly large village.
A quiet village compared to its size.
There was almost no life inside, as if it had already been offered up in some kind of sacrificial ritual.
Only the sound of those who were lucky enough to get out of the village and belatedly causing a fuss echoed hollowly.
‘…Let’s hear directly from the people involved what they were thinking when they did this.’
Hans went straight up into the sky.
His robe fluttered in the rushing wind, and his eyes darkened again.
In the “Eye of the Abyss” that looks over the earth like that…
‘I found it.’
A suspicious group was detected leaving Burinake Village.
And the very next moment, darkness rose around them as they ran away without even looking back, instantly covering the entire area.
[Stop.]
“Hi…!”
“What…what…”
Hans, who had spread fear around them just by appearing, quietly looked at them who had frozen.
The dark magic that can be felt faintly from the bodies of the black magician and the bastards caught in the middle.
There was no room for excuses.
[This body wants to ask you something. [I hope you can give me a moment.]
Of course, they did not have the right to veto.
Afterwards, the conversation that followed behind a barrier where no one could enter or leave proceeded quite peacefully.
Hans just patted the heads of those who were still.
‘They were people who really knew nothing.’
When I first forced myself to open my mouth through “Eyes of the Abyss,” I couldn’t get a satisfactory answer, so even though I was forced to search my mind, I couldn’t get any particularly meaningful results.
The warlock who was caught between them was just a young chick who followed the will of his teacher, and the rest were just juniors who followed orders from their superiors.
‘I just flipped the switch when everything was already ready. After finishing work, he ran away before his tail was stepped on, and he got caught by me.’
The fact that this kind of activation was possible meant that a significant force had prepared painstakingly over a long period of time.
Fortunately, by searching their heads, I was able to find out who the evil criminal was who did this.
‘The oath of reverse heaven… Are they these guys again? It seemed quiet for a while.’
Well, it was quite possible if it was at the same level as the ones I had experienced before.
I don’t know why this suddenly happened.
You can find out about that from now on.
‘There are still traces left. ‘Where has all this vitality gone?’
Hans followed the flow and flew through the sky.
And at the destination, I was able to discover something both familiar and unfamiliar.
‘Is that the scar of the abyss?’
The abyss had just been confirmed through Heinrich, who had just entered the ordeal of the Holy Sword.
Of course, unlike the abyss in the Great Temple of Picaol, the scars in front of Hans were just traces that had already healed.
It’s hard to see unless you pay attention, and it’s not a problem in itself, so I didn’t pay any attention to it until now…
The flow of life force that started from the village was definitely heading here.
‘Let me check it out.’
Hans immediately mobilized all his capabilities to closely analyze the remaining traces and trace the flow back.
So let him start in earnest.
Thanks to skills such as “Eye 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 to the south.
There was the starting point and center of the rituals that took place here.
‘There are more than one place where sacrifices were made. It happened simultaneously in several places. Moreover, this was only part of the ritual, and ultimately, what they wanted was…’
That moment.
Due to Hans’ extremely activated sensitive senses.
An enormous flow of energy was detected in the south.
[…opened an abyss.]
It was a huge variable that could affect the entire continent.
![Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]](https://cpunovel.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/arcane-sniper.jpg "Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]")
